“And it’s a hit … !”

She offers him candies. But he reaches out to the cotton placed at the rims of the tray and mumbles a “Thank you” with a goofy smile. She looks at him a little surprised expecting him to pick up some candies as well. But he smiles again and waves his hand to say that’ll be all. She flashes him a smile and continues down the aisle offering candies to the other passengers.

Wouldn’t you have it that it would end there? But, Roger being the kind of guy who goes for smiles can’t put her pretty face out of his mind. On another of her rounds, she offers a bottle of water and Roger reaches out with a smile. Surprises of surprises, she smiles back at him. Of course, it is not unnatural for an air hostess to smile … after all, it’s her job to make the passengers feel good about the flight. But, he still can’t shake her face from his thoughts.

Normally, as had happened a million times before, Roger would just stare out the window and walk out of the plane once he reached his destination and do his best to forget about the pretty face, telling himself that it’s not worth the trouble to try to fraternize with her as she’s completely out of his league.

But this time … no! He decides that he’s gonna make an attempt and give his troubled mind the satisfaction of atleast having tried. So, an hour later, at the destination, he waits for all the passengers to alight and proceeds to the rear exit where the pretty girl is smiling and thanking all the passengers.

Would you believe someone always turns up at the last minute to cause some inconvenience just when you’ve mustered all the courage in the world to do something you normally would never have done? And it takes even more courage to disregard the sign and continue in your path and keep going. That’s exactly what happened to Roger. A family of 8 with an old woman were between him and the pretty girl. They were waiting for a wheelchair for grandma and the uncle tells Roger that he’d better leave by the front exit. But for once, Roger persists and overcomes his shyness and pushes on with a “That’s ok, I’m in no hurry”. Thankfully, the wheelchair arrives just a minute later and the family scuffles down the stairs. Being the last guy to get down, he stops as the air hostess thanks him and flashes another of his trademark smiles. “This is it, it’s now or never” and this is what happens:

Roger: “You’re Taruna right?”

Taruna: “Yes” (smile again)

Roger: (Mumbles) “This is rather weird, and I’m gonna hate myself for it, but … would you like to go out with me for some tea or coffee?”

Taruna: (wondering if she heard right) “I’m sorry?”

Roger: (Raising his voice so the steward and the other air hostess can hear him) “I just wanted to know if you’d like to go out with me sometime?”

Taruna: (Smiling, almost laughing) “Sure!”

Roger: (Totally psyched by the unexpected positive reaction, mumbles) “Wow, that’s great … shall I give you my number so you can give me a call when you’re free?”

Taruna: (Still smiling) “Sure”

Roger: (Pulls out one of his company’s visiting cards, asks for a pen and scribbles his cell number at the back and hands it to her) “Thank you very much!” (Trademark smile again) “Call me anytime you’re free” (and steps out of the flight feeling absolutely weird and elated)

Sometimes, it just takes guts to do something and a little perseverance. Of course this is Roger’s first hit and he is fully aware that the air hostess (being an air hostess) was just being graceful when she said she’d go out with him and didn’t really mean it, is still elated by the experience.

Wishing all the best to everyone out there.

Cheers :-).