Clouded Crossroads

33: Us

Jiya

It took a total of two hours to convince Vihaan this morning that I would be fine going to the meeting with Laila alone. Something tells me he'll still find an excuse for appearing at the building later. I checked my watch, as I waited for the elevator to stop on the floor to the meeting room. 5 minutes to go.

~~

"I'll send these photos to the design manager," Laila spoke, shuffling through the prints. "You'll hear back from him in less than two weeks."

"Okay."

The meeting passed with an uncomfortable aura. Yet, I tried my best not to bring up anything from yesterday and disrupt the professionality.

"You're good to go," she stated, opening the door. I turned to leave, but her voice stopped me once more. "You were right yesterday. Don't make the same mistake I did, Jiya."

One moment I was stunned, the next I was filled with understanding. "I anticipate we'll be seeing each other more often, Laila."

I left the room smiling, feeling as light as ever.

Vihaan

Jiya and I met each other frequently -- pretty much every day. Today we were at my house. She paced back and forth across my room, the screen to her laptop opened on the mail homescreen.

"I don't know why you're this tense. If I were you, I would have given up on this job as soon as I saw who worked there." My face soured at the memories from last week. "I'll find a better place for you. Jiya..."

She continued ignoring me, glancing at the computer screen from time to time. I sighed, knowing it was impossible to win this time. The ting sound of the notification rang in the air, making Jiya scramble to the screen. I stayed laying on the bed, absorbing her cute curiosity.

"Vihaan..." she gasped. "I GOT IT!"

Instantly, I was tackled into a hug.

"I got the job," she whispered. There was something about this moment. The pure happiness in her eyes, her lips grinning as wide as they could go, and the contagious sparkle. Suddenly, I knew what that something was. I was proud. Proud of her.

My arms tightened around her, as she rested her head on my chest. "Congratulations," I whispered, placing a small kiss on her cheek. I met her wide grin with a proud one of mine, holding her tight. Rolling off of me to the side, she put her head on my chest, my chin resting on top of her head.

"Thank you, Vihaan," Jiya breathed, looking up, resting her chin on my chest. Her soft features spoke a thousand more words than that had just come out of her mouth, but I understood it all.

"This is just the beginning, Jiya. Think of all the successes that are ahead of you."

"Us. Ahead of us."

"Us," I breathed back, taking in this new feeling. Even though we had been together for so long, this word still meant a lot to me. It reminded me of commitment, trust, and togetherness. It reminded me of my bitter past and sweet future. It reminded me of my failures and successes. It reminded me of us.

Jiya rested her head against my chest once again, as we laid together in silence for a moment. She started again after a minute. "Imagine this. Us together, in a house, waking up with each other beside one another. I turn around and see you, still half asleep. The sun shines bright through the windows, casting a golden aura around us. So peaceful."

"Hmmm. And I bring you in closer, begging for just 5 more minutes of sleep, but you insist on waking up. Your ruffled morning hair that you brush out of your eyes, dragging the comforters off of me so that I am forced to get out of bed."

I earned a playful slap from Jiya, but she chuckled at the same time. Continuing, "And then suddenly, two kids come into our room, jumping on our bed."

"Two kids?!"

"What? Oh, you want more?"

To this, Jiya started to get up, but I held on. "Okay okay fine, no more. But hear me out."

She relaxed against me and I started again.

"Them laughing and playing, bringing you back to bed to join in on the fun. Me tickling them as they crawl over us. All of us getting a little tired so we all lay down, catching our breath slightly from all of the laughing and action. Hugging each other as we start to laugh again."

"The perfect morning," Jiya replied with a small wistful smile.

"Us," I replied back, summing up all of the feelings we wanted to share.

"Us," she repeated, closing her eyes.

"Us."

🌷

Second to last chapter *excluding epilogue* 🥺