Lost and Found Hearts

Reconnecting.

It is not every day when you move into your own house. With furniture lying around, newspaper and bubble wrap scattered everywhere the 3BHK flat in Asiana Society was a huge mess. Rhythm has been living in a rented apartment since past five years. He had to shift to Bangalore for his job at Octagon Inc.

"Haan Ma, I have taken care of everything. All the utensils and appliances have been arranged in the kitchen, and bedroom, drawing room and everything else is arranged as well. You dont have to worry, okay!", Rhythm chided on the call. "Ma I am receiving another call I will call you back later okay. Bye!"

"Hello"

"Hey Rhythm, how are you man?", came a voice of a man.

"Ahmm I am fine. So., how are you?"

"You do recognise me, dont you?"

"Actually, your voice sounds very familiar but I am not able to figure who is this"

"Rhythm bhai hai tu mera dhyaan rakhna"

"Arey Raghav how are you doing brother?"

"All well bro, you tell me how is your life going. You suddenly disappeared with no sign. I had to get this number from your mom"

"I am sorry for that man. Actually, when I was shifting from Delhi, I lost my phone and a lot of contacts. And after that I got busy with everything here in Bangalore so contacting with everyone just didnt happen"

"Its okay bro. Things like this happen after we get busy in the corporate lifestyle"

"Yeah. Anyways, what are you doing nowadays? And how is Neha?"

"Actually, I called you regarding that only"

"Regarding what?"

"So, me and Neha are getting married"

"Really, CONGARTULATIONS BRO"

"Thank you bhai. But only this wont do anything okay. You will have to come to my wedding and have to attend every single event"

"Bro, I dont know if I will..."

"No, I dont want any excuses. You are coming to my wedding and thats final"

"Okay I will try my best to be there. So, when is the day you give up bachelorship?"

"In the end of this month and YOU ARE COMING"

"Aye, Aye Captain! I will be delighted to be at your acquaintance"

"Hmm good. Now I have to make some more phone calls so"

"Yeah sure. Bye bro"

Rhythm was delighted after reconnecting with his school friend Raghav.

But even though he was extremely happy for his friend, the idea of reuniting with the whole class was troubling him.

Raghav Tej has been Rhythms neighbour for as long as he can remember. Whether it was his house or school, Raghav has always been beside him. He has had a crush on Neha Verma since class 8th but could only muster up the courage to confess his feelings in class 11th. It was only Rhythm who knew about all this. Despite all this Raghav was not the closest to him.

Rhythm was worried that if he will go to Raghavs wedding, he will surely encounter some familiar faces that he doesnt want to see. Some whom he made a promise to stay connected with.

Should he go to the wedding to celebrate the happiest day of his friends life or should he stay here to avoid some disturbing encounters?

Thinking of making this decision later he picked up a cardboard box lying on the ground and started to carry it to the store room when suddenly

THUD!!

The bottom tape of the box broke and everything fell down.

"Argh this was supposed to happen now only! How many times will I have to clean this house?!", he exclaimed while picking up the fallen books.

In doing so his gaze fell on a scrap book. It was his school book having all his school memories. The idea of going through his childhood felt so joyous that he became drawn to the book as there was a precious thing inside it, his past, his school memories which were calling him to be reminisced. With the urge to look at every single thing inside he opened the scrap book.

From his first nursery poem to his last debate, from him winning the maths quiz to him getting a gold medal in Olympiad, from going to the local park for picnic to going Kerala for his last school trip, from his first school photo to his last, there was everything inside, stitched beautifully to the pages of the book with the doodling around it which used to be his favourite hobby. Going through the scrap book felt like his whole school life flashing in front of his eyes.

Looking at the faces of his friends, the fun they had together, the brotherhood they shared, what will he not give to live these moments one last time, to experience this joy again, to reminisce these moments with his friends.

And when the realisation crossed him and he decided what he was going to do.

He started arranging everything back in the box when a picture fell from his scrap book. He picked it up, turned it around and came face to face with the most beautiful set of eyes. Eyes, which he used to desperately search every day in the midst of the crowd. Eyes, which he knew have never noticed him. Eyes, which he wished he could see again.

Just the sight of her was enough to get his heartbeat racing.

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I hope that you liked reading this chapter. This is my first time writing a story so before you encounter any mistakes with my grammar, I'll like to apologise. Also if you have any suggestions or just have something to say, mention them in the comment section.
Looking forward to reading all your awesome comments.

Peace✌🏼