Love...to infinity and beyond

Chapter 15

I stood rooted to the place where I was standing. Neither the sound of thunder nor the rain drops splashing on my skin brought me back to my senses. Warm tears, in contrary to my shivering body and frozen heart, traced their way through my cheeks. I tried to imprison the tears by closing my eyes, but unlike my heart which failed to escape from his imprisonment, the tears drops squeezed pass my eyes.

I heard a bike halting near me and with a few seconds I was in that familiar hug. The warm hug which usually calms me every time, failed to do so. I was not even conscious enough to enjoy the warmth of that hug or reciprocate it.

"It's okay.", Viji's voice came out low.

"I was just about to go fetch Yami here , but here my darling is, standing in the rain crying. See dear, I am not going to ask you what happened, instead let's fetch you what you need."

He held my hand and gently pulled it, signaling me to move. I obliged, quite unsure what else to do.

Yami came within a few minutes Viji saw me. Together we made our to our hostel. Yami held out a salwar kameez for me to change into, considering that my clothes were drenched in rain and tears. Through the five minutes I took to change and get ready, Yami didn't even ask a question to me about what happened. But she did everything to make me not feel lonely and sad.

Within fifteen minutes, I was in the cafe near my college, sipping a cup of hot coffee, with Yami sitting opposite to me, engulfing my free hand in hers, and Viji sitting beside me hugging me from the side.

I scanned the cafe, trying to read the emotions of people. Even in such a odd time of the day, the cafe was filled with people of all age groups. All of them seemed happy. None of them seem like they have failed in their first love. None of them looked like they got rejected in the face by a guy whom they thought loved them. Then god, why me?

As I sat there questioning god and envying those people who get a 'Happily forever', my eyes landed on the beside ours. Two kids, a girl and a boy, who were clad in school uniform, were eagerly looking at the lady seated opposite to them.

"Kids, as you both have cooperated with each other and won the interschool poem recitation competition, I am going to award you both with chocolates and ice creams today.", the lady announced, smiling widely.

"Thank you ma.", the girl replied,"Thank you aunty", the boy thanked the lady. My face broke into an involuntary smile as I saw that cute scene before me.

"Okay. Here, have these chocolates.", the lady said as she laid a chocolate each in both the kids palm."I will go and get your favorite ice creams real quick",and left.

The boy ate his chocolate immediately. The girl, on the other hand, opened the paper with grace and was about to take a bite from the chocolate, when the boy pulled at her chocolate and managed to break a piece of it. He put in his mouth what he had conquered immediately.

My mind trailed back in time.

"Happy birthday to you, Yami", the boys shouted in Yami's right ear, and I in the left. Viji and Abijeet had managed to sneak into the girl's hostel uncaught in the middle of the night. Yami woke up startled and then broke into a smile.

"Thanks guys", Yami said and involved the three of us into a hug at the same time.
"Just thanks? Where are my chocolates?", Abijeet asked.

"Oh my dear chocolate boy, it has become my duty to remind you that you are not five but nearing twenty five years of age", I said pulling his cheeks lightly.

Abijeet glared at me for a second, but immediately turned towards Yami and continued to demand chocolates, or the 'heavenly treats', as he termed them.

"Okay I will bring chocolates for you all", Yami said and exited our room." Where the hell is this girl going to get chocolates in the middle of the night?", I thought. I was about to join Yami in her hunt for chocolates, but the boys made sure that I didn't.

Within a few minutes, Yami came back with chocolates in her hand. While Abijeet let out a girly squeal and Viji dashed forward to grab those chocolates from Yami's hand and glared at her and asked, "Where did you get those?".

"You remind me on those strict mothers in toothpaste advertisements, where they be all strict towards their child at first, but after the start using the magical toothpaste, they will feed their children with chocolates for breakfast, lunch and dinner.", said Viji.

I scrunched my nose at the odd and lenghty comparison but continued anyway,"I didn't get my answer yet"
"I just took a few from the girl next door, she said she had received swiss chocolates from her aunt, remember?", Yami said calmly as she unwrapped a chocolate.

"But that's called stealing", I exclaimed.

" Oh Ms.Straight forward, I kept a five hundred rupee note there. It's called exchanging, not stealing", Yami said as she came near me and put a hand around my shoulder.

"Everything is fair in chocolates and friendship", Abijeet mumbled, dumping a chocolate in his mouth.

Yami tried to feed me the unwrapped chocolate.... tried to. I declined immediately," I don't eat chocolates".

"Well and good. Then more for me", Abi said as he tried to snatch the chocolate still present in Yami's hands, but I succeeded in doing so.

"Oh, then I love chocolates", I said before keeping a part of the chocolate into my mouth. I closed my eyes in reflex, not due pleasure, but due to disgust. How do they eat this thing?!

Before I could open my closed eyes, the chocolate was snactched completely from my mouth as I had kept my lips partially open.

I opened my eyes to see Abijeet put the same disgusting piece in his mouth.

"Yuck! Did you just eat the chocolate will I had in my mouth?", I questioned.

Abijeet just laughed it off and said,"Not a problem for me."

"Yeah...definitely not a problem for you", Yami and Viji said in a sing song tone, laughing.

I came back to reality hearing the giggling sound of the kids.

The boy fed her a spoon of his ice cream."This is for stealing your chocolate." The girl giggled but ate the ice cream offered by him anyway.

Tears filled my eyes.I wonder whether it is just pain Abijeet will give in return for stealing my heart.

Author's note:

Hey fellas....! I just attempted to write a flashback here and to write emotionally as well. Say your opinions about that. I am in dire need of your guidance.

Hugs,
sreevcn