My lost one

(Image courtesy: Google)

It was the scent of her hair that caught my attention first. It was the scent of jasmine flowers mingled with coconut oil that wafted before my nostrils when I stood behind her. And somehow, that was enough. The smell- so familiar, a reminder of by gone days, of wedding days and lost childhoods. A scent so exotic that nothing in the world could ever replace it, not even now, not the designer perfumes that now belonged to me. So enticing, so strange, all at the same time. 

Her hair was braided underneath the string of jasmine buds and it reached all the way to her waist, like a thick rope calling out to me. A few inches of skin played hide and seek between the folds of her red saree. I couldn't help but lean into her. The jasmine flowers seemed to notice it more than her, as it is only when the buds tickled my nose & I sneezed that she seemed to realize my presence. She turned her head to the side and looked at me from beneath thick eyelashes.

I drew in my breath. She was beautiful, with luscious lips, a sharp nose and big black eyes. It was her eyes that drew me in, and I stood, as though in a trance. Those hypnotic eyes. I have never seen anything like them before and I doubt if I ever will again. 

A hundred questions rose to my mind and died on my lips that moment. I was truly lost in her eyes. She gave me a half smile, almost as though mocking me. As the driver applied sudden brake, we were thrown together once more and it was as though the entire world ceased to exist.

She got down at the next stop and it was though my body was on auto pilot. I followed. She started walking as I trailed her meekly, not even knowing where she was taking me. She took a couple of sharp rights and lefts till she reached in front of a cheap neon board which said- AVM Lodge. She turned back, arrogantly confident that I was following her. 

Under the night glow of the street lights, she radiated sensuality. Shadows flitted and across her face and played with her eyes, as she held out her hands for me. I was mesmerized. She was so new, yet so experienced. She was a stranger, she was my lover and she is someone I cannot stop loving. 

And that was how I lost my virginity - in room 103 of AVM Lodge, to a girl who smelt of jasmine and coconut oil.When I woke up the next morning, the only evidence that was left of her was a string of crushed jasmine flowers. My wallet which contained a few hundred rupee notes lay on the side table, untouched.