Love And Lies Are Red

7

The feeling of first love is a little confusing. You know you can fall in love but you still go for it. Two hearts realise their perfect one the instant they meet, and the mind keeps searching for possibilities. Until life makes it a course of destiny for both of them.

He kept looking out of his window with his black coffee in his hand and thoughts of her in his mind. The Caravan was in a romantic mood just like him, playing songs of missing one's beloved. He could not forget her face when asking for his help, as if she wanted to tell him that look, this has been my life forever. He seemed to have emptied his cup but he still felt parched. Nothing went down his throat because Arshia's last words were never swallowed by him. Her mother was killed. It was a very big word and could have an even bigger impact on the mind that was suffering through all that. Arshia's smile, her touch, her laughing reverberated in his ears. Suddenly, her laughs became clearer as he heard two teenage girls looking up at his window and laughing at his shirtless and bent self. When he stood up, their jaws hung long. His perfectly defined abs shut them up, like he shut the buzzing street view with the curtains on his windows. He could not register his phone ringing on the bedside table, as the memory of her silent wailing had his ears filled.

"Hey, I am so sorry. I was in the shower", Abhimanyu answered the call as he buttoned his shirt. He knew she would not mind if he told her that he was thinking about her, like he always did in his school days, but he could sense the heaviness in her voice. It took him very little time from grabbing his bike keys to stopping right in front of her house. Just then, something hit his gut hard. It was her damn house with her uncle and aunt living inside, and if they were to spot him, it would make things more difficult for Arshia as he knew how restrictive they were about her. She was dropped by the police at her home, and could not find any excuse to leave the house until the lie of going to the college library came up. It was solely to meet him and share a disturbing news with him. She knew he had a lot of questions whirling in his mind, and she was willing to wear the warmth of his sympathy. He did not think it was right to dial her right then in front of them but he could not hold his horses. He prayed she came out as fast as possible or....
"Yeah, let's go", she mounted on his pillion, "I had to distract Pragati aunty in the kitchen saying that the rice cooker overflowed, or she would have wasted my time". Abhimanyu simply nodded.
"You have a stout heart I must say, calling me just a road away from your house is like....wow!", he kick started the engine.
"They anyway never leave their house, they are always so afraid. Now let's go to a calm place. I don't want the police to make our regular cafe their stopover", Arshia told him. Her voice was lower than usual, and he knew something was disturbing her.
"Don't worry, I will take you far away from all your problems. I am always with you", he tilted the rear-view mirror to focus on her face and then rode on.
"I have to tell you something, and I am very unfortunate to have heard it today", Arshia's breath got denser with the reminiscence of all that happened at the police station, as they went on smoothly. Meanwhile, Ghanendra came into the room from the varandah and informed his wife about a boy with whom Arshia just went out.
"A clone of her mother's character, what else to say about this girl?", Pragati snorted. Ghanendra scratched his stubble as he had a thundering plan in his head.

"So, you may begin. Before that, wanna play some Candy Crush?", Abhimanyu bit his lips knowing it was a serious moment but he could not resist flirting with her. Specially when her body-hugging red kurti and chiffon net scarf were pulling out his eyeballs from their socket.
"I know I was your crush and you have repeated that unrequited teenage love story of yours a million times to me. Want to listen my story now? Or I will make you propose in front of everyone here", Arshia threatened him in a jesting manner. Abhimanyu guffawed and slithered down along the barricade against which they were standing, beside a water channel in a public park.
Her throat brimmed up with tears oozing out of her flushed eyes. He returned to his mature mode and tried to co-operate with her. They remained quiet for some time, till total three waves passed through the channel. A part of the water turned into a beautiful fountain some steps ahead, as it carpeted a few rock stairs and went straight into a thick pipe directing the water into the fountain pump. Arshia faced him now, her story completed by the time the jerks in the water became still as night approached.
"So you think your uncle and aunt killed your mother? Isn't that a bit....",
"Revolting, I know. How would you have reacted if your dearest parent was killed by the members of your joint family? My both parents were killed, I have faith in this truth. I might not have seen my father Wasim Aithwal, but it was visible in my mother's eyes often that she hid a lot of things. She just remained quiet for her daughters' sake", Arshia spoke, her dried tears irritating her nasal way. Abhimanyu was running his mind over something.
"So what do you want? I see this is getting complex but quite thrilling", he said to her. She nodded in agreement.
"To dig out the truth. Does diabetes get that fatal if there is a disorder in something? I mean, can it get severely serious like giving one a whole body paralysis? My mother always hid something from me, I know. Why would they refer her as a 'bad woman' every time? What did she ever do to get such a degrading title? And Rafeen di, she is always silent and distant. I wonder why she never had any kid because Maa used to tell me that she was very passionate for parenting. So many things are there to be brought in front of the world, and how can I do all this alone? I have lost my only support, my dearest mother", Arshia took a deep breath just to control herself from breaking down in front of him. Abhimanyu gave her a tiny smile and said,
"I will be your pillar in this journey and I promise to be always on your side", he had zero intended to speak those words out. What was his role in her personal problems? He understood the churning feeling of losing someone right when hours ago, everything went good. He thought that this would also give him a chance to know his childhood crush carefully. And the very day's night, he would be soon realising that he had underestimated her....