The midnight stranger – I

Part 1

The day was 31^st December and unquestionably Mukti had to bring me to a new year’s party. It was all last minute even though she declared that she had been planning this for days. Well, no one argues with Mukti.

In about an hour, we were all dolled up and at her friend’s farm house which gave us the typical party scene: loud music, about 200 random people and good food. People were roaming with half-filled coke glasses pretending to be drunk; some were busy hooking up while some dancing like total idiots. Clearly this wasn’t a place meant for me and I was looking for an opportunity to sneak out when my phone buzzed. Hah! My mother had come to my rescue! I quickly excused myself (with Mukti suspiciously looking at me, obviously not happy) and went on to the lawn area to receive the call, away from the insane music playing inside.

“Hey mom!... yeah the party is pretty boring… of course I know what you would say that it’s just my mind’s play and I should have a good time… okay  bye mom take care.” Honestly, this wasn’t a good idea either.

I wondered what to do next. I checked the time; it was 11:26pm. I had enough time to kill until midnight when the actual party would kick-in.
“Anaya, where are you?”
“Right here.” I saw Mukti limping my way. “What’s wrong Mu?” 
“I broke my heels Anaya.” she said. “Could you please bring me that extra pair I kept in the car?” she asked me with the innocence of a child. I began to laugh. Mukti without her heels is hard to imagine. I took the keys of her Mercedes and left, still laughing. 
I gave her the pair of heels and told her I was taking the Mercedes for a stroll. She didn’t protest. She knew I needed my peace of mind from this chaos. 

I hit the road and turned up the volume of the FM. I drove for about 10 mins when I saw a car standing stranded across the road. I have no idea why I stopped there, but, I decided to get out and check. The lights were on but I couldn’t see anyone behind the wheel. I peeped inside the car hoping to find someone.
“Hey, there!” I heard a voice behind me. Even though I couldn’t see him clearly in the dim light, he appeared to have a built body and a fairly good dressing sense.
“Oh hi, umm… I saw your car lights on I thought if I could help.”
“Well, I am not sure but there seems to be a problem in the fuel tank.” He answered, touching his well-kept beard.
“I know about a gas station about half a kilometre away.” I said.
“Honestly, I’m foreign to this area of the city. I was actually driving at my friends’ for the New Year’s when my car decided to break down in the middle of the street.”
“I could help you find it.” I said, wondering why I was being this helpful when I should be returning to the farmhouse. He seemed okay with the idea. He locked his car and we turned towards mine. I caught him admiring the Mercedes closely.
“That’s a cool ride” He said
“It’s my friend’s.” I said carelessly and started to drive.
He smiled and at that moment I felt something strange within me. 

To be continued...