Three Hearts

Chapter 5

“No, no. That's completely unnecessary. It’s your family function. What will I do there? I know no one.” She blurted out. 

“Don't say this. You know me,” He said slightly offended, “I am not listening to anything. I’m taking this opportunity to invite you on the engagement with your family. You’ll get your invitation card when I reach Delhi because I’ll have to get them printed.”

Nidhi laughed, “You don’t know my address.”

“You can always tell me that.”

“What if I don't?” She teased and he pondered over for a moment, “Well, then I’ll WhatsApp it to you and drop the pin for the location. Technology is such a savior.”

“You don’t even know my number.” She pointed out, laughing wholeheartedly and he pouted, creasing his forehead, “Now, you can’t be so hard on me. I really wanna meet my angel.”

“You like her that much?” She was surprised. He sounded so smitten. 

Updesh gave out a dreamy sigh and reclined on his chair. “Your daughter reminds me of my sister when she was a child. And, I don’t know why but I feel your daughter is… I don’t know, something special to me?” He unsurely shrugged. “I’ve never felt so much connected to babies before. I hardly know one for the records. Yet, I'm totally taken by your girl.”

Nidhi made up her mind in that moment and averred, “Okay, I'll attend the ceremony but I can't promise. You know, she has a fever and…”

“Oh, I totally forgot about that,” He whispered apologetically and rubbed a spot above his eyebrow, “Okay, how about we do this thing? I accompany you to Mumbai. Meet your parents and assure them that both their daughter and granddaughter are safe with me. Drop my details and contact so that they can reach me when you come to Delhi.”

“No, I…”

“And, there’s one more option.” He held up a finger, cutting her short and suggested. “I accompany you to Mumbai, meet your parents and angel. So, if by any chance, you won’t make it to Delhi. I won’t be disheartened because I’m not staying here for long. Just for a month and with the engagement having been done, I’ll be flying off.”

“What do you do for a living?” Nidhi asked, intrigued by his constant mention of leaving from one place to another. 

“Wasting my life in your language.” Was his instant response.

“Excuse me!”

“I am an athlete - an extreme sports athlete. I explore the adventures in my life because they keep me thrilled and occupy my mind for greater concerns than dwelling in the past.” He said, his voice dripping with sincerity. “This work is so intense along with its training that it keeps me exhausted to bemoan the losses. I’ve collaborated for expeditions with many other reputed travel firms and I’ve also been featured in quite a few travel shows.”

“Aren’t you afraid?” She surprised him with a question none asked. The concern for his safety never manifested on the faces of eager investigators except his sister and now the lady before his eyes. She didn’t utter the usual ‘wow’ and ‘sounds cool’.

“Of what?” He found himself asking.

“Of dying.” She intoned, struggling to manage the calm demeanor. She had never met a person so affected by his past that he didn’t appreciate the little things instead focused on ruining the right ones. 

She didn’t know much about his profession but the little did she know was enough to tremble her insides with the anticipation that this man sitting before her could be on papers any day after jumping off a cliff and he didn't even care for that.

Updesh was strangely silent for a moment. “I am afraid of… living.” He slowly matched her eyes with apprehension in his own, “You know the reason. I am very… detached to things because I’m scared of being… attached to them. I think they’ll slip away from my hands and I'll be empty handed once again.”

“They won’t,” She reassured him, covering his palm with hers. “You’ll just have to… keep faith.”

She understood the hidden fear and questions in his gloomy eyes and smiled, spraying a ray of sunshine in his barren, melancholic heart. 

“Faith is what makes you positive towards the worst of the situation and it works. It’s not love that is destroyed by people. It’s faith. You still have love in here,” She pressed a palm over his heart and both their breathes hitched up. The lub dub sound of his heart was so prominent that they could hear it in their ears and heat arose in them. Nidhi wanted to but couldn’t take her hand back. Updesh didn't want to but could only feel the softness of her palm. 

“This is beating which means it has love. Only your faith is destroyed and the day you'll meet the person who restores your faith. Your other feelings will come rushing to you. You won't be afraid of living, you won't be afraid of being attached. You won't dwell in the past instead await the future. You won't cry in vain instead loot the happiness. You won't walk alone. You won't be alone. You won't try to leave your loved ones and you'll make a family which constitutes home.”

She made his heart flutter with her final words. “That day you’ll realize that a home isn’t only a permanent residential address, it is the place where your heart, your mind and your soul belongs to.”

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