Shiny kept on accelerating her scooty. All she could see was the traffic signal blinking yellow. It meant she had only a few seconds to cross the junction; else she had to wait for the next green signal which is almost a minute away. It’s not that she was in a terrible haste; she couldn’t stop herself after seeing the auto driver crossing the junction ignoring the fearsome yellow light blinking its hell out. All her self restraint vaporised. Shiny accelerated more.
It’s still yellow. Ten feet more. Still yellow. Five feet. Yello...RED. Two more feet from the junction. Her hands automatically pulled the accelerator high. Shiny closed her eyes. She could hear the vehicles starting from the other end – engines roaring. She tried not to listen. Her speedometer reached levels she herself thought impossible – she would have fainted, had she kept her eyes open!
Her scooty started vibrating. Even if it was a junction of not more than 30 feet of cross-over distance, it felt like taking an eternity to cross it. Her grip on the handle began to hurt. Big drops of sweat covered her forehead. Suddenly all the commotion appeared to be behind her. Shiny opened her eyes to find herself on the other side of the junction. “Yey!,” she yelled inside the helmet clouding the dust-shield with vapour.
Even before Shiny had the time to sip in her achievement, she noticed someone in white dress standing at the centre of the road waving at her to stop. Her Scooty screeched to a halt barely touching him. Shiny was angry at him for ruining her party. “Are you mad, you idi...,” she started to yell. Just before those words and their rest started materialising in her mouth, she noticed the tag “POLICE” neatly pinned on to his white uniform. “So this is how traffic police looks like these days. Nice disguise. You almost got me there,” she thought as she removed her helmet.
Smiling brighter that a 60Watt incandescent lamp, she said, “Hi”. Shiny couldn’t help noticing that the police guy was young and handsome.
Who said shiny couldn’t notice a thing?
*
Sun was scorching the earth as if it had sworn vengeance on it. Vehicles screeched past with horns full ablaze. People ran around looking for shade. Tempers were rising. Sweating was profuse. Decibel kept on rising all around. Meanwhile two people stood in the sun unaware of any of these.
*
“Can’t you see that the signal is red?” The white uniform barked.
Shiny was taken aback by the harsh voice. She was expecting the young officer to be mild on her. Shiny stopped smiling immediately. She blurted out, “It was not red. It was yellow.”
The officer hearing her meek reply, immediately softened. But he continued questioning, “Don’t you know it’s about to turn red? Why didn’t you stop and wait for the next signal?”
Shiny immediately looked up sensing the change of tone. She smiled one of her smiles reserved for special occasions like this. Needless to say, it was not such a pretty sight. The officer must have felt the same because he demanded to see her license.
“It’s in my purse”
“Then go and get it”
“It’s in my room. I forgot to take it.”
“What? You don’t have license?”
“No no no. I do have license. It’s just that I forgot to take it, that’s all”.
The officer tapped his foot impatiently. Shiny hastily added. “I have my ID card. Is that okay?”
“What ID card?” “My company ID card”
“Wha ... No! I need to see your licence.”
“Sir sir sir. I was called to the company on an urgent matter. They are waiting for me there. It’s very urgent that I reach there. Can you please let me go?”
“No I can’t. You must pay fine. Then go where ever you want”
“Sir I don’t have my purse with me.” “So ..?” “I don’t have any money!”
“Oh! Ok. Where is your company located?” “Two blocks away.” “Then call your friends. Anyway its lunch time. Ask them to come and pay your fine.”
“No sir. They are busy. We work in shifts. Their shift just started. Nobody is available,” Shiny replied.
“That won’t do. You call somebody. I can’t let you go unless you pay the fine.” He stood in front of Shiny with his arms crossed. Shiny was thinking, “What a thug! It’s pity that he is handsome. Otherwise I would have shown him my real colours.”
They stood looking at each other. No one was saying anything. Shiny was contemplating whether she should flash one of her special smiles now. She was surprised to find that the charm didn’t work last time. After much deliberation she opted against doing it this time.
The signal changed. A biker was seen jumping the signal this time. The officer could see him doing it. He was in two minds. He wanted to keep staring at the girl in front of him. But he knew his senior was watching them. If he let the biker go, he would have to give a lot of explanations. Since it was his second day on job, he wasn’t keen on displeasing him. But this girl was so beautiful that he wanted to keep her waiting for some more time. But she seemed to be genuinely in a hurry. All through out the conversation, she kept checking her watch. She must be wanted some where else. Darn the biker. Hadn’t he jumped the signal, I could have talked to her for some more time.
The biker was coming closer. He had to make a decision. Biker was almost near. If he didn’t react now ... Anyway I know where she works. I can see her some other time.
“Okay fine. This time you are excused. You can go for now.”
He jumped away to stop the biker. The bike skidded to a halt in front of the officer. Shiny couldn’t believe her ears. She was thinking that he would make her stand there for a long time. She immediately popped the helmet on her head and fired the engine. She could hear the officer barking at the biker – demanding license. She wondered why he was so angry at him.
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