The rains had started already in the city and Naina found herself collecting water in buckets as her roof leaked horribly since last night, it being on the 2nd floor made things worse.

"Kya socha tha, baarish mein garma garam pakode khaungi adrak wali chai ke saath, yahan toh ulta hi ho gaya" she sighed, wiping off the excess water on the floor.

It had been a week since she joined the school and she was enjoying her job heartily. Teaching was something she always wanted to do after she saw how significant good teachers were in shaping a student's future. Her extended family including her father had sworn never to speak to her again, which made her sad sometimes.But she knew they'd come around one day.
After all the 'rain water harvest', she sat down on the space below the window sill, looking out at the overcast sky, when her straying eyes went towards a red Hero Honda parked outside.

So Sameer was home- she thought

After that day, she'd seen Sameer several times.
Yes, she knew his name was Sameer as it was written on the number plate of his new bike. She also knew that he went out at 8 in the morning, and had seen him buying samosas from the vendor near her hostel. Not that she'd been looking at the opposite gate, hoping to catch a glimpse. No. Absolutely not.

But one glimpse of him was enough to put her heart in overdrive. She had averted her eyes once when they crossed paths near the road of her hostel, clutching onto her handbag tightly, pretending to balance her umbrella while Sameer looked at her astonished thinking-

'Aree..yeh toh wohi hai..station wali ladki. Yeh saree mein bilkul alag lagti hai, yaar'

He slapped himself mentally for thinking wayward thoughts and drove away, not before giving side glances till she was out of sight.
_____________________________________________

Sameer had got the job of a manager in a textile factory nearby. One of his Nanaji's close friend had taken him in,although he hated taking favours from anybody. But he'd no choice.

He had come home after completing his shift at the factory and switched the lights on. The blue paint of the room presented him a gloomy sight and the peeling plaster didn't help either.

'Ye ghar kam government hospital jyada lagta hai-'

Sighing, he opened the windows and saw the streetlights lit on slowly in the colony.
He struggled to open another window which was on the other side. It was giving him trouble since he came here-

'Ek toh hawa nahi aa rahi, aur tu ab pareshan karega?"

He said to the window, giving it a hard punch. And miraculously, it opened presenting him a sight of a hostel room opposite to his flat.

The room had its curtains opened and he could clearly see the 'station wali ladki' there. She seemed to be reading something, sitting near the window sill.

'Kamaal hai, yeh toh wohi ladki hai. Ajeeb hai, jabse aaya hun bas yahi har jagah nazar aa rahi hai'-

He thought as he looked on to the other side.
But suddenly something happened that wouldn't let him sleep at night for the following weeks.

The glow of light bounced off her bare skin as the layers peeled off slowly. Her back was to him as he stood rooted, not blinking even once, drinking in the sight presented to him, unknowingly.

Suddenly, he felt like a voyeur and decided to pull the curtains before she sees him and tags him as a pervert.

"Pagal ladki hai. Koi aur hota toh? Parde nahi laga sakti?"

He muttered as he clenched the curtains, anger, fear and an urge to peek through the curtains again, washed through him.

"Maine kuch nahi dekha. Kuch bhi nahi" he assured himself as he contemplated how to tell her about that open window.

On the other side Naina saw his lights still on through the panes of the closed window
"Abhi tak soya nahi yeh? Hmm. Ajeeb hai"

Hence the night found two people on the opposite sides of the street, lost in each other's thoughts.

I tried to give a longer update. The story will move forward in next update. Please tell in comments if anything amiss or if you liked it