It was a winter night when I was waiting at a station for the last train of the day. I, Fahan, work at an IT company. That day, after the office, I sat at the station looking at the trains passing by. I wanted to get back home, but all that was stopping me from doing so was my condition. I had broken up with my girlfriend two days ago. Though I loved her very much, there had been some things which could’ve never been sorted out. For those two days, I didn’t really talk to anyone; neither at my home, nor at the office. That day, after the office I thought that I needed to spend some time with myself, let that be at an empty station. But I couldn’t have gone back home with this face.

I was busy thinking about Riya for so long that I didn’t notice that it was almost 11:00 at night. I was at the New Alipore Station, which, at night, looked quite horrible. The station wasn’t completely covered, so the darkness of the night could’ve been felt by anyone with his normal senses. And in winter, it would reach another level of elementary. Half the station was covered with fog, which was preventing me from looking at the other end of the station. And the fact that I was the only one there scared me quite a bit. I was scared of Jinns from my childhood. I had heard many stories of Jinns from my dadiji. She used to tell me stories every weekend, and mostly, stories of Jinns. And I would always cover my ears with my hands, but would keep it that much open for the words to enter into my ears. One day Dadiji laughed at me and said, ‘Beta, whenever you are scared of Jinns, you must recite Ayatul-Kursi. For Allah will protect you from the evil of the Jinn and the Shayatin. And if you ever see or meet any Jinn, don’t be scared. For they can make themselves visible to the people they want. And there’s always a reason.’ I never mistrusted her. And being a Muslim, I had a strong belief that this will surely work; so after that whenever I’ve been scared, I’ve recited the 255th verse of the 2nd chapter of Qur’an, Ayatul-Kursi.

But that night, I didn’t recite that verse, as I thought that I didn’t have to recite it. The Jinns wouldn’t come out on that cold night to attack me. I was sitting on a bench, wearing a jacket and a muffler round my neck, and kept rubbing my hands against each other. There was an announcement of the train’s departure from Sealdah, so I had almost thirty more minutes to sit there. Sitting there alone didn’t seem to be a good idea that time, because it kept reminding me of Riya. How she used to keep her head on my shoulder and tell me about her day, sitting on that same bench. She would ask me if I was ok or not. And if she would ever find me disappointed, she would never smile before me. But that day, she saw me sitting on the bench, but didn’t even look at me before getting on the train. She was probably hiding her tears.

As I thought about all these, a drop of salted water came out of my eye. I refuse to call it “a drop of tear” because I don’t want to accept that I was crying.

‘You’re all right?’

I felt a shiver run down my spine. Who would talk to me in an empty station? I quickly raised my head to see who was there. But I wasn’t expecting what I saw.

‘I’m sorry, I may have frightened you.’ She said. A fair lady stood right In front of me, with a stretched arm towards me. She was offering me a hanky. That girl wore a white dress long enough to cover her feet, and let her untied hairs waved like a swan’s quill in a splendid wind. Her arms were adorned with glittering bracelets. And her beautiful bright fingers were reddened by the colour of mehendi.

‘No no, it’s okay. I actually didn’t see you coming. Please take a seat.’ I took the hanky from her and made space for her to sit. ‘I’m Fahan, nice to meet you.’

‘Umm, hmm.’ She sat down next to me. Though she lowered her head, I could see her smile through her hair. Her face was as bright as a pearl that just came out of a shell. And it looked way more beautiful with a smile. ‘I am Afsaana. I saw you sitting here and crying from the other end of the station, so I thought it’d be nice to give you some company.’

‘That’s really generous,’ I said. ‘But how did you notice that I was crying?’

‘I assumed.’ Afsaana said, as she raised her head. And for the first time, I noticed her ocean blue eyes, which kept me looking at them. ‘You always come here with another girl, and you go back at almost 5:00 in the afternoon. But today you are here, alone, that made me think so.’

I didn’t reply to her. I didn’t want to talk about Riya anymore. But I was really surprised to know that she noticed me that much. ‘Where do you live?’ I asked.

‘Here.’

‘So why are you at the station on this drafty winter night? Are you expecting someone?’

‘Nah.’ She sighed. ‘I was waiting for you.’

That was quite interesting. Why would she be waiting for me? I didn’t remember having seen her. ‘Do I know you?’

‘No. But I know you, Fahan.’ She smiled again. ‘I wait here to see you every afternoon.’

‘Don’t you feel the cold?’ I tried to change the topic. It was getting weird to hear these from a stranger woman; specially, two days after your breakup.

Hearing this, she looked at my face, and tilted her head. A smile, completely unknown to me, was occupying her face. ‘This cold isn’t enough to extinguish the fire inside me.’

Her voice was like the nice music of a parrot, and the atmosphere was, unquestionably, contributing to it. But whenever I was trying to focus on her words, it was always confusing. Regardless of my questions, her answers were always surprising to me. I really needed to know whom I was talking to, and her frankness maximized the necessity.

‘Would you mind telling me about you?’ I asked quite hesitatingly.

‘Rather, may I talk about you?’

‘And what exactly is that?’ I was getting frustrated, but I didn’t want to let her know that either.

‘You know, Fahan,’ she started. ‘I have known you from the very first day you came here. I remember the first time I saw you, you were sobbing —’

‘For some reasons; let’s not talk about that.’

‘Yeah sure,’ she continued. ‘People who cry in front of me never fail to grab my attention. So I stood a little far and kept watching you. I didn’t come to you just because that other girl was always with you, resting her head on your shoulder. From that day, I kept noticing you. It’s been a whole year watching you here, but I never managed to come to you. Yesterday was the first time in the whole year when I saw you here, alone. But I didn’t come to you as I thought that the other girl must’ve been late; later did I know that she hadn’t come yesterday. And when she went home alone today, it was enough for me to make it out that you’ve broken up.’

‘Wait,’ I interrupted. ‘You came to the conclusion that we’ve broken up just because she went home without me?’

‘Not really. I wasn’t sure until I saw you sitting here for hours, doing nothing. I know how that feels to be in love, alone.’

That girl had a sharp mind, with no doubt. But I didn’t know why I was entertaining her with all these.

‘Even if we broke up, what do you have to do with that?’ I asked.

‘I love you, Fahan.’ Afsaana said as she looked into my eyes, and tilted her head again.

I saw a sudden change in her expressions. That smile was replaced with an unidentifiable expression; her face became blank. Her right hand slowly touched my hairs, and with that, she regained her smile; but this time, rather suspicious.

‘I love you very much.’ She said again.

I was unable to make out what to do; after all that I was going through, after everything that happened to me and Riya, was it really appropriate to even sit there any longer? I stood up, walked towards the track and sat down. ‘Go away, madam. I don’t want to talk about it.’

‘Think about it, Fahan. Riya is no more in your life. I promise I’ll love you more than her.’

‘But I won’t be able to love you the same as I lo —’ I stopped. Did I mishear her, or was I missing something? Did I tell her anything about Riya? I wasn’t able to remember anything like that. I stood there and turned around. ‘How do you know her name?’

‘Did I tell you that I have heard you guys talking to each other?’ She gave an innocent smile.

‘You know I don’t believe you, don’t you?’

‘I wish you didn’t.’ She said, ‘It’s not okay to mistrust your loved ones.’

‘SHUT UP!’ I finally lost my temper and shouted at her. ‘I DON’T LOVE YOU! Is that clear? Now get out of my face.’

‘Are you sure?’ This time she spoke in a voice I had never heard before. The song of parrot had become the flame of a dragon.

I was quite surprised, but my anger possessed me. ‘Very much. And if God wills, I will never love a woman in my life. Nah, never again.’

‘You better don’t. Or you’ll find her dead.’ She finally stood up. Her face was covered with her hair, except for her lips. ‘Will you promise me one thing?

Meanwhile, the train was finally seen to be coming, so I ignored her first statement and said, ‘what promise?’

She stood still, as if no one was there. I was waiting for a reply, but she kept silent. The train was slowing down, and finally stopped. I had to go home. So I turned towards the train and was about to get on, when she replied in a voice really firm but the same as before.

‘Never cry at night if you are alone. For another Jinn may fall in love with you.’

‘Wait, what?’ I quickly turned back. But by then, there was no one but an empty bench. My eyes kept looking for Afsaana, but I found her nowhere. Was she just a dream? Or was she the one she said?

‘Get on. Quick.’ Someone from inside the train compartment pulled me inside. ‘You would’ve missed the train. You know it’s the last train of the day don’t you?’

It was a middle aged man, presumably, returning from his workplace. I balanced myself as the train started to move again.

‘I’m sorry, I, just —’

‘Were you looking for someone?’ He asked.

‘Actually,’ I hesitated, ‘when the train reached the station, did you see anyone sitting on that bench behind me?’

‘I wouldn’t say I noticed every detail there, but I must say that I’m sure there wasn’t anyone other than you, kid.’ That man replied.

I didn’t say anything anymore. It was all clear to me who she was. Or where did she live. Or why I failed to see her in the first place. Or why she didn’t feel the cold. But the thing that still wasn’t clear to me was, why did she not harm me even when I rejected her proposal? Then my dadiji’s words came into my mind. “And if you ever see or meet any Jinn, don’t be scared. For they can make themselves visible to the people they want. And there’s always a reason.”

So, she loved me? And of course, you don’t hurt the loved ones, no matter what. Maybe I also had some feelings for her, but I could’ve never accepted that I’d fall for a Jinn; and that too, two days after the breakup. I didn’t know if I was supposed to miss her, or not. I didn’t know if I was supposed to expect meeting her again, or not. By this time, I was completely unaware of the fact that Riya wasn’t in my mind anymore. My eyes were searching for a smile very new to me. I’d go to that station the very next day, but I didn’t know if I’d ever meet her again.

As I was thinking about all these, from inside the compartment a sound came to me. A person was listening to a song, which I noticed for the first time.

“Are re are yeh kya hua

Maine na yeh jaana

Are re are ban jaaye na

Kahin koi Afsaana.”

I smiled, looked outside, and said, ‘I promise.’