NOTE : It's a sequel to "Lost" and cannot be read as a standalone.
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"Are there any stars?" She inquires and he doesn't understand what she meant.
There were no stars.
"Can you see the moon up there?"...
"Liar." Neha mutters uncaringly and soon realises that sounded wrong than intended when everyone stares at her and Ayansh lowers his head. "I- I didn't mean to take a jab at you. I said it in a casual way because obviously, you won't miss him or any of us when all you'll on your mind is her." She clarifies quickly and Ayansh forces a smile to let it slide and makes his way to the kitchen.
After a few moments, he comes back with the custard pudding he had prepared and serves them all.
"I made it for the kids at NGO and prepared some extra since y'all were coming." He says and grabs a chair for himself.
"You're going to the NGO?" Dhruv asks in surprise.
"Yeah." He answers. "I like going there. It's a special place."
"Ayansh?" Sarya calls out carefully. "Does she know that you often visit there?"
"I don't think so." He replies in a quiet voice. "She never called the NGO after she left the country."
Sarya sighs. "Anyways, my brother is super excited to host you and have someone to give him company at his lonely abode."
Everyone laughs.
"I'm grateful to him." Ayansh says sincerely. "And you too, for everything."
"By the way," Dhruv interrupts, catching attention, "Ayansh, if you fail at business someday then you should open your YouTube channel where you post your cooking videos. It would be a massive success."
"Ironic." He comments. "I try these dishes by watching videos on YouTube and then, you ask me to teach those same dishes in my YouTube videos. Scandalous."
"Okay, fine. Your cooking career is doomed before it even started." Dhruv exhales. "What's your plan there? When will you meet her?" He brings them back to the main topic and asks in a solemn manner.
"I need some time." He bites his lower lip. "I really don't know how I'm going to face her. I need to prepare myself."
"Just don't mess it up, Ayansh." Neha says in a small voice, lowering her head.
"I won't." He retorts immediately. "I promise." He looks at her with desperation, hoping she could trust him but she simply stares at him with an unconvinced expression.
"I'm sure you'll win her back." Kabir says encouragingly only to receive a disapproving and displeased look from Ayansh.
"I'm not going to win her back." A low rumble leaves his throat. "She isn't a trophy or a competition that I need to win. Moreover, I don't deserve her and even she deserves better than someone like me who could never take a stand for her when he should've." He swallows and interlaces his fingers. "If she could even forgive me, it would be more than I could ask of her." He adds, softly.
"I hope you two get back together." Sarya whispers gently.
Ayansh let's out a dry laugh, confusing everyone. "Don't make me want to hope for something as good as this only to let that hope be crushed all over again."
"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Sarya questions in concern. "My brother will be there but still don't you think one of us there with you would be better?"
"I really think you should have let Rahul- "
Before Dhruv could complete his sentence, Sarya cuts in. "Oh, he's better off alone." She stands up and claps her hand. "Let's go and help him take his bags to the car."
Ayansh removes his phone from the charging point as his friends get busy with loading his bags. His screen lights up and a smiling face appears on it. It's a picture he had captured when she covered in flour. That heartfelt laughter, those squinted eyes, the crinkling at the corner of her lips, she looked unrecognisable and yet she was ever so heartbreakingly beautiful that it made his chest squeeze in yearning for her.
"I'm coming," he whispers with shaky voice. "Hope you won't be mad at me." He tells with a tinge of guilt and scrunches his face. "I miss you." Sighing, he adds, "and I love you, more than you'll ever know."
After loading the bags in the car boot, all hug him.
"Best of luck, Ayansh." Dhruv says, patting his shoulder. "Do well professionally. You'll reach there on Tuesday morning. Will you be attending the party?"
Ayansh is quick to shake his head in denial. "It's Mr Stevens moment. He's already doing a lot for me. I don't want to take away more than I'm already taking from him. It's better nobody knows about me till Wednesday. I want it to be as low-key as possible."
"You'll be the next Mr X." Kabir jokes, eliciting a light-hearted giggle from all.
They all talk for some more time before bidding goodbye to Ayansh as he first leaves for the NGO and from there to the airport to board his flight.
If somebody saw Ayansh, it's almost certain that they'll be filled with awe not because he's conventionally good-looking with sharp features impossible to not take a pause and admire but because of what he has achieved in such a short period of time. Some might argue that he has just been lucky with everything he did falling into right place, every step he took, every risk he took reaping profits but then, maybe that's what happens when you focus your attention solely on one thing.
Work was an escape, a companion to his loner self, a perfect distraction from his self-destructive and guilt-ridden thoughts. And yet, his every morning started with prayers for her well-being and every night, he slept to her thoughts and their memories.
Not to forget the diary which has been his knight in shining armour in the truest sense. There wasn't much written in it, just few lines on each page, some random musings but they had guided him, gave him hope, gave him perspective, amused him at times, made him chuckle and most of the times left him wondering. He thinks about the stranger too, the girl he had met yet he hadn't, an uncanny curiousity to know about her gnaws at him and everytime he douses the flame. He hopes she managed to find her miracle atleast, unlike him who couldn't treasure it.
The biggest lesson that he has learnt during this whole period is that true love stays. He didn't know what love was until he knew what it wasn't. It resides quietly like beats of a heart and instills life in you because what is life if not love?
He had his friends, he had Sarya and he was extremely grateful that they'd forgiven him even though Neha still held some resentment against him but the place Inaaya had in his life remained untouched and empty and maybe he had lost the plot entirely but he would give up every single thing in his life if that could give him one moment with her where she's locked in his arms, where he's nuzzling her hair, where she's staring at him with the familiar twinkle in her eyes, where he's looking down at her enamored and besotted that she's real and she's with him, where the world didn't exist, where nothing else mattered.
Ayansh waits in the lounge area for the announcement to be made. He unzips his backpack and pushes his hand deep within to gather a tiny box and pulls it out. He opens the box and the chain of flower rings shimmer at him. A warm smile approaches his face and he runs his thumb carefully over the flowers.
"Am I being delusional to keep and carry you with me all the time?" He narrows his eyes as he whispers. "I probably am but hey, even you know that nothing will do justice to your beauty as her hand." He adds cheekily.
***
Ups! Tento obrázek porušuje naše pokyny k obsahu. Před publikováním ho, prosím, buď odstraň, nebo nahraď jiným.
