Who are you

Krittika got ready for her office. Her wardrobe had latest designs, in vogue dresses, but these days she was picking up only grey and whites and that too plain trousers and shirts. Riddhima did poke at her, that why suddenly she was promoting the plain jane look. Was this look in fashion? She made a joke out of it.

Krittika used to board the bus, the transport provided by her office. In the bus, she had companions from different companies. Various organisations had started this initiative of bus-pool to reduce the carbon footprint. The bus ride was one hour to her office. It was not that she did not know how to drive, but the journey used to give her time to finish her reading and spend some time meditating. She was staying with her parents, and once she was back at home, she was not able to get her " me " time. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with her parents before she gets married. Krittika was the life of her house and in the office as well. A girl who can talk non-stop when she is awake. But the recent incidents transformed her into an opposite character. Everybody around her was worried. Her parents thought that she was involved in a one-sided affair, and Riddhima felt that she is pregnant.

It all started from last Monday. She was waiting for her bus to come. She was looking casually around and then her gaze stopped at a person who was standing right opposite to her on the other side of the road. It seemed that he was staring at her. Krittika dismissed the thought initially thinking that it might be, just by chance, that their eyes met. She shifted her eyes from that person and was looking in the direction from where the bus comes. It was still five minutes to go for the bus arrival. She saw her coach friend coming, and she waved at her. Krittika waved back and saw that person was standing next to her friend. Her friend was moving and crossing the road, but that person was still holding the same place. The eyes were still looking at her. It was a cold Delhi winter, and everybody was wrapped from toe to bottom. He was dressed up as per the weather, and his face shrouded with a scarf. Krittika now gave him a hard look and checked him out from top to bottom. He seemed like a guy of a high built with big shoulders. Dressed in a formal suit, the only visible part of his body were his eyes. It was strange to see that the person didn't blink at all and also why he adored a scarf with the business suit. It did not go well. She was sure that this person is a male figure. The gaze and the thoughts were interrupted by the bus. When she was boarding the bus, she could see still the prying eyes.

It was best to ignore incidents like this and hence she carried on with her bus routine. She finished the fifth novel and with a happy mood the bookmark got shifted to the first page. Books were her best friend. She was still in the world of the book characters and was contemplating the climax. She was getting down on the bus, and when she moved her head up, she saw the same eyes. Her feet froze, and she stood still. What is he doing here? Billions of questions glazed in her mind in that short span. Her bus friend nudged her to get down. She quickly got down and moved towards the office building. She could feel that a shadow is following her. She fumbled for her access card and getting to the lift seemed like a big task. She made her way to the queue. She felt a little safe as he could not enter inside. She turned to make sure that her assumption was correct that the person is not working here. He was standing behind the access zone, in the same pose when she saw him one hour back.

The prying eyes became her companion every morning. It was happening for the past one week, and Krittika wanted to know who is that person and wanted to put an end to this. It was affecting her mental being, and she had the feeling that somebody is watching her steadily for twenty-four hours. The waiting area next to the lift became her safe zone. She was hysterical in being the first person to enter the lift.

She wanted to shake that person and ask him "Who are you "