The first thing I noticed was the feeling of being higher than normal. Huge oak doors stood closed in front of me while a seven feet tall wall surrounded the house. Beyond the walls the murmur of a crowd drifted in the air along with the periodic crashing of waves against the shore. Two guards outside the gated compound refused to let people near the house and ignored their continuous questions about the resident inside.
I remained standing wondering how I had gotten there and how I would deal with the mortification of him finding me practically in his house. Why did the guards even let me in? I almost wished that they had kept me away like the rest of the hundreds dying to meet him. Illogical thoughts about the good looks of the silver CLS and black Arnage parked in the driveway on my right kept going through my mind. I had completely lost it to be even thinking about cars when I was less than a breath away from coming face to face with him. What would he do when he found me outside his door? Images of a startled face went through my head and I considered turning around and leaving, but reacted a second too late.
I heard the sound of doors being opened before I saw it. Salim stood just inside the entrance, his arms holding the doors open.
This was the man who single-handedly held the adulation and love of almost every Indian. As one of the biggest actors of the movie industry he was constantly sought after by the well off to the poorest man on the street. Having met him pretty much everyone commented on the immense amount of confidence embedded in a certain amount of aloofness he exhibited, which left a person remembering the experience of meeting him. You could have spoken to a dozen other actors, actors popular and with a huge fan following in their own right, but there was something different about the aura around Salim that separated and distinguished him from the rest.
I looked at him, surprised at the lack of shock his eyes expressed. Smoky grayish brown eyes steadfastly looked at me and I felt like he glimpsed the uncontrolled jumbled emotions rolling in me. He arched an eyebrow at my mute and unmoving form and pushed one door wider.
Amazed at how normal it felt for him to be implying that I should go in, that I would ever be in the same world as him and be within an arms length of touching him, I entered the house. Exactly what did he think I was? Had my obedience just acceded to some kind of assumption he had made about me? An odd sense of melancholy began in me, as if I had just become part of a larger force that would carry me with no assured end, but with a foreboding feeling that I would encounter unhappiness and uncertainty whatever happened.
Salim closed the doors and walked by me to sit on one of the many sofas and chairs spread around the step level floor. I glanced around and decided to sit on one of the chairs across the room. He didn't say anything, only looked at me.
His gaze on me was like being physically touched all over. Like he had slowly brushed his hand starting from the skin of my feet and stopped right under my ear. I could not help becoming aware of the fact that he was realising every bit of what I was feeling and it made me uneasy. It was as if he was conscious of a deep-set connection that he knew would resurface eventually and felt an ethereal sense of familiarity and knowing.
"Are you going to stay?" he asked, the sound of his voice echoing in the silence of the room. To me it sounded more like a command than a question.
"No." I got up and moved away from the chair looking for another door. I needed to leave before something happened, before he actually touched me. And I couldn't find a way out! Without worrying about who else might be in the house, I walked through the living room, through the kitchen and found a back way. Thank god, all I had to do was step out, out in the sun, to feel normal again and call a cab. Just as I placed my hand on the door, he came up behind me.
"Don't," he whispered close enough for me to feel his breath on my hair.
"Please don't go, I want you with me. Just for a couple of hours."
