My Stranger

The train to Amsterdam is running three hours late so Cheryl thought of exploring the nearby areas. As she goes out of the train station, she gets mesmerized by the plush green meadows on either side dotted with yellow and white flowers; cattle grazing at their own pace. A whiff of the wet soil that had emanated due to the drizzling of rain, transported her soul to an ethereal world.

At a slight distance she saw a man under a tree, engrossed in painting. She walks to him.

“What are you painting?” asked Cheryl curiously to the man clad in brown jeans and a white shirt, that is no longer white due to the spots his paint brush had inflicted on him.

“Who me?” said the man with a smile and twinkle in his eyes.

There is so much depth in his eyes, thought Cheryl.

” I am trying to capture the beauty of this landscape! isn’t it so beautiful? Away from the daily humdrum of city life ,this place brings so much peace to my mind.Oh! by the way, I am Robb.”, the man introduced himself and gets down to paint again.

“I am Cheryl. Do you frequently come here?” asked Cheryl.

“Yes, it’s been years since I have been coming here. I find this place invigorating and dreamy.” said Robb.

For some reason Cheryl finds Robb’s perspective aligning with her ownself. She smiles as she thinks.

“What happened? why are you smiling?” asked the stranger.

“Oh no! nothing. You seem to be having the same thinking as me.” exclaimed Cheryl.

Robb keeps looking at her for some time as if he was thinking something and then gets down to paint again.” So, what brings you here miss?” asked Robb.

“Well my train to Amsterdam is late by three hours so thought of seeing around.umm..where do you stay Robb?” Cheryl asked hesitatingly.

“Brussels! I stay in Brussels.It is a beautiful place.You should come visit someday.” said Robb, his eyes smiling again like before.

”There you go! please keep this.Hope you like it .” saying so the stranger gives Cheryl a medium sized canvas.She takes a look at the canvas and enthralled at seeing her portrait.It was the most amazing portrait she had ever seen of herself .

“I guess you have made me more beautiful than I look ” said Cheryl blushing.She was already impressed with the stranger and now this gesture nearly flatters her.

“Oh ! you are flawless as one can see ” smiled and said Robb.

“Thank you for your lovely gesture and I will surely visit Brussels someday” said Cheryl.

Robb quickly writes down his address and phone number in a small paper and hands it over to her “when you come to Brussels you...” Just then Cheryl hears the sound of a train whistling.

“I will have to go now. I think my train has come .” said Cheryl and hurriedly takes the paper .However ,although she was leaving she could feel that a part of her still wanting to stay back and keep talking to Robb. There was something very captivating about his personality.

As Cheryl proceeded towards the train she turned back once more to see Robb and saw him standing there looking at her smiling. She waved at him and climbed the train .Slowly as the train moved Cheryl settled down with her small bag .The train didn’t look very crowded as few of the seats next to her were vacant.

Suddenly she remembers the small piece of paper which the stranger had given her and starts looking for it frantically but she could not find it anywhere. Cheryl feels bad about it, ”that’s very careless of me. It’s good that atleast I still have the canvas” thought Cheryl.

The distance from Leiden to Amsterdam was a short one but the memory Cheryl had made was more than the duration of the journey-it had left an indelible mark in her otherwise boring life.

Next day Cheryl started for her office the usual way. Yes, the long awaited weekend comes to an end and her boring mundane schedule starts again .Sally on seeing Cheryl pulls her to a corner..

“Hey Cheryl !! how was the weekend? “asked Sally. Cheryl and Sally are both best pals in the entire office.

“This time it was simply amazing ….” said Cheryl blushing thoughtfully.”but will talk about it later”.

Cheryl is a chartered accountant by profession and numbers is all that has surrounded her all the time , so when she met Robb she felt a kind of freshness in her life.

” Will have to meet him again but don’t know how? ” sighs and thinks Cheryl .

Finally ,the hectic day comes to an end and it’s time to wrap up things.Cheryl waits at the bus stop for her bus when she sees Sally joining her.Both Sally and Cheryl have been staying in the same apartment for the past two years .

“Now you have got to tell me what happened this weekend. I am sure something special must have happened .” said Sally.

 Cheryl wanted to tell her but then she decided to go slow with the whole thing and decided not to tell the complete story but only a part of it.

“This time I had gone to Leiden and it was an amazing place for a weekend.” said Cheryl.

Greatly dissapointed with the answer Sally retorted “and I was expecting something special.”

“Ok.now line up ,our bus is here! “ said Cheryl.

On reaching home,as Cheryl places her things in her purse ,she stumbles upon the tiny paper her stranger had given her .It was lying in one corner as if hiding away itself . She took it out and saw that the paper contained the contact details of Robb.

“Should I call him up ?does he still remember me ?” Cheryl fought with her own thoughts and mustered up the courage to call him up.

She dials the number that is there on the paper .A male voice answers the phone .It is that same painter’s voice ,only that now it sounds more tired .Probably he had a hectic day today.

“Hello Robb ,this is Cheryl. I hope you remember me? “ said Cheryl.

“Sorry ,this is his father. Robb had met with an accident the other day and taking rest.You may please call him tomorrow morning.” said the voice on the other side.Cheryl’s heart sank listening to this.

“Oh ! that’s really bad ! Never mind please .Will give a call tomorrow morning”.said Cheryl.That night she spent a restless night eagerly waiting for dawn to occur.Next morning she calls up Robb on the same number,her heart pounding against her chest.This time a feeble voice Robb answered her call.He sounded little weak.

“Hello.Who is it?” asked Robb.

“Hi Robb.It’s Cheryl. The lady whom you had given a portrait in Leiden.” said Cheryl.

“Of course ! I remember you Cheryl. I was waiting for your call. “said Robb. “Hope you reached Amsterdam safely “, he continued.

“Yes, it was a short one .How are you now ?your father said that you had met with an accident.Never expected to find you in this condition. Did you hurt yourself a lot ?how did it happen?” asked Cheryl sounding sad and concerned.

“Well that’s a very long story but yes my hand got fractured and so had to see the doctor .”said Robb .He was pleased that Cheryl showed concern for him.

“I also wanted to thank you for the lovely portrait”,added Cheryl.

“Is that all you wanted say and nothing else ?” asked Robb ,as if he expected to hear something more.

Cheryl was little awkward and didn’t know what to say.She wanted to talk to him once after returning from Leiden but did not expect to get surprised with an accident episode.

“Yes that is all .Please take care of yourself .Will call you again sometime later .”said Cheryl.

“Sure.”said Robb.His answer was very short as his pain has revived again.

It was time for Cheryl to go for work but she also wanted to go and see Robb . She felt it strange but although she knows Robb only for a brief period there is a kind of concern for him.

As all these thoughts were running in her mind Sally comes shouting like an alarm clock ”hurry up!! get ready for work or we will get late.” Cheryl suddenly recollects herself and hurries up.

“What happened you look very lost?” asked Sally.

“Nothing .Maybe still tired and in weekend mood”Cheryl fakes a smile and says.

Just then the bus arrives and both board it.

“Thank goodness today the rush is little less.We get to sit unlike other days.” says Sally gleefully.

However ,Cheryl was in no mood to strike a conversation today.Her mind keeps going back to Robb,his condition and she decides to meet him.

“Sally I have to get down as I suddenly remember some urgent work .Please say something to boss .Will tell you everything once I return !” saying so Cheryl gets down .

Sally tries to say something but Cheryl is already gone .She finds it very surprising as her friend never looked so perturbed.

Cheryl hurriedly took a cab to the train station .The train to Brussels was in one hour and she was just in time.However much she tried, she still could not contain herself from visiting Robb. Luckily she was carrying the small paper that Robb had given .She called up Robb to let him know that she was going to visit him .

It was then she realised that Sally had already called her six times. She immediately calls her .

“Hello Sally.Sorry I had to leave you all of a sudden .”said Cheryl.

 “Where are you Cheryl ? what are you upto? is everything fine? can I help you? tell me something?” Sally hurled a volley of questions at Cheryl.

“Don’t worry Sally ,will let you know everything once I am back.But for now just know that I am going to meet a very special person who is not well.Bye for now Sally.”exclaimed Cheryl.

The train starts slowly and it will take Cheryl approximately two hours to reach Brussels.Her mind keeps shifting from one thing to another and she realised that it will be stable only after reaching her destination.The enroute journey to Brussels was really captivating, with the beautiful hills draped in fluffy clouds and springs that gushed with the spirit of liveliness .It left Cheryl awestruck “never knew nature could be at its best over here” she thought .

Although for so long her mind was seeped in worries,nature has now helped her to calm down - her hassled mind could think with much clarity .Moreover ,her two hour journey has almost come to an end.

“So I have reached finally ! never thought Brussels will be there in my travel list so quickly.Had it not been for Robb’s condition,I would have taken some more time to come here.” thought Cheryl.

Coming out of the train station she takes a cab to Robb’s house .She has been wanting to meet him for the second time but never thought that the second visit will be on medical grounds.On the way Cheryl realised that he was quite correct, Brussels is indeed a beautiful place with it’s nature still untouched by the claws of modernity . Robb’s house was not very far from the station.It just took her thirty minutes to reach his house.

On reaching the premises of his house she gets spellbound to see the majestic structure.At the entrance was an elderly looking person waiting for her.She thought maybe he is the same person with whom she had spoken with the day before.

“I think we spoke the other day over phone.Are you Robb’s father?”asked Cheryl curiously.

“Oh no no! I am his caretaker.You must be miss Cheryl. Please come along,Mr.Robb is waiting for you in his room.”said the elderly person with a smile.

When she entered Robb’s house she was even more taken aback as she had never seen a house as beautiful as this.It was nothing less than a palace to her.Never did she ever fathom that she would get to see this when she comes to meet Robb as he appeared so humble and charismatic.

The elderly person takes her to Robb’s room where he was lying on the bed with not only his hand fractured but his left leg too.Seeing this tears rolled down Cheryl’s eyes.Robb on the other hand was very happy to see her .

“So finally you have reached” he said with a smile.

“Yes but why didn’t you say anything about your leg.Oh!you are so badly hurt!” cried Cheryl.

“That’s because I know you will get worried.But why are you crying so much”said Robb,smiling as if he knew the answer.

“I don’t know.Maybe just concerned.”said Cheryl blushing.

“But I think I know!!!”saying so Robb takes Cheryl in his arms and hugs her.