Seven years ago
"Maaaahiiiii...Looking hot ya."
Maahi rolled her eyes and looked behind to see Prateek following her. She had never been a fan of his. He always went around thinking like he knew better than everyone else, spoke mostly about himself or else always had an agenda when he spoke to you. Most of the times, she stayed out of his way. But of late, he seemed to have taken a liking to her and kept following her around. She knew he wanted something from her. She just didn't know what yet.
She had just parked her bike and was pulling out her backpack when he called her out. She did look good, she guessed. It was the last traditional day for their batch. She had put in extra effort into the way she looked. She had worn a bright yellow flowery lehenga and choli. She had topped it up with a fitted jacket of the same colour and material. She had done away with the dupatta because she needed to show up for the photography club today and do her share of the duties of documenting the day. Her dadi had taken one look at the outfit and nodded before going inside her room. She had come out with her antique chandbali earrings and handed them to Maahi. These earrings were rather famous in her family. She was yet to know why. She was just told that they were capable of creating stories of some sort.
Adjusting her earrings, she saw that Prateek was now walking beside her. She got straight to the point and asked, "What do you want?"
"Arre? I can't compliment you like that only?"
The look of incredulity made Maahi want to laugh. Instead, she shook her head in amusement and kept walking straight ahead.
He said, "So I was thinking of going to the States soon. Masters and all, you know. Yahaan main kya hi karunga."
She still said nothing. Taking that as a cue to go on, he continued, "But before going na, I wanted to throw this badass party. Like one final sendoff for me. Mazaa aayega."
She frowned and looked at him.
"Are you inviting me to your party, Prateek?"
"Of course! You can't not attend the party. Your presence is vital."
Her frown deepened further. Since when did her presence at a random party of his matter to him? There was clearly something bigger brewing in that ridiculous self-praising brain of his.
"And why is my presence vital?"
"Arre, if you have to click pictures, you need to be there na? Unless you want to become a paparazzi photog and stand outside my house."
This seemed to amuse him no end as he began to laugh. Trust him to laugh at his own jokes. Wait.
Maahi stopped walking and turned around to ask, "What? You want me to click pictures? Of what?"
"My party, duh. I want to take these pictures with me. You know, abroad? So, I was like best kaun hai? Maahi only. So yeah. I need you to come."
Her face must have gone through a series of expressions which if Prateek understood her well enough, he'd be able to read. But since he didn't, he simply went, "What?"
"Pagal hai kya?"
With that, she started walking away. He caught up fast enough and said, "Arre come na. Kya tu bhi?"
She replied drily, "Oh wow, I'm convinced now."
He stopped. Maahi continued to walk. He called out, "Fine. I'll pay you. Ab?"
She turned around and said, "Nope. But thanks."
With that, she reached the college gate and walked in. Thankfully, Prateek didn't follow her through here.
She had picked up the camera bag from the photography room and was sitting on the steps outside of one of the classrooms, checking the batteries. She pushed her hair back to be able to focus better. Just then, she saw a pair of feet come in her range of vision. She looked up and saw Aarush smiling at her.
There was no warning for that smile, was there? It just showed up in broad daylight, making his eyes shine at her. She just kept looking at him, a tad bit mesmerized, with the camera in her suddenly limp hands. She wished she could just get used to being around him. But then that would mean spending even more time with him and she didn't think that was a wise idea considering how she felt about him.
"Hi Mehra..."
She smiled and managed to say, "Hey Iyer, you look nice."
He really did. He was wearing a plain blue kurta and white pants. His hair was flopped all over his forehead as though he hadn't bothered to run a comb through it. But this was Aarush. Even messy hair looked like the plan all along.
He shook his head slowly, still smiling as though he disagreed with her. His eyes then darted towards her earrings and said, "You look nice today, Mehra! Love the earrings."
She reached up and touched one of them. Maybe this was the story Dadi was talking about.
"Thanks! They're a family heirloom."
He looked at the earrings once more and then looked at her again to say, "I can see that. They look like they were made in an era that valued kaarigari."
Why did he always speak like that? Like he had all the time in the world to hold up each word against the sun, weigh it carefully and then speak it.
"Aarush!"
Even before he looked up to see who was calling him, it looked like he knew. He was smiling already. Because it was her. She had just walked in and was making her way to him. Maahi turned around and looked at his girlfriend.
Hair tucked up into a loose bun with a rose tucked behind her ear, a gorgeous grey saree with a red border and twinkling silver jhumkas. Leela looked like she had walked out of a retro movie. All that was left was for them both to walk into the sunset singing 'Pyaar hua ikraar hua'. With her luck, that's just what they would do.
Aarush walked up to her and stopped right in front of her. He took both her hands in his and looked at her as though he was suddenly rendered speechless and could only offer a goofy smile.
Maahi forced herself to look away. For a few moments, she just sat there absently staring into space. There were times Maahi imagined that her heart was probably once a smooth sheet of paper. Shiny, new, crisp. But lately she left like it had begun crumpling. Now no matter how many times she tried to smoothen it; it didn't feel like the same again. All she really longed for was for it to feel unwrinkled again.
She slowly got up from the steps and walked away.
It was going to be a long day.
A few hours later, they were nearly done with the day. They were now getting club portraits done. They had just assembled the literary club in the spot under the tree. Nipun waved at Aarush and asked him to join the team. He was after all an honorary member of the team after having worked on multiple pieces for the magazine alongside Maahi.
He came and stood next to Nipun when he looked up and saw Maahi behind the camera, adjusting the lens. He frowned and called out, "Mehra! Your presence is needed here."
Maahi smiled and raised the camera wordlessly. He pursed his lips in exasperation and marched up to another member of the photography team and had a quick word with them. Needless to say, they both walked over to Maahi immediately.
Without asking, Aarush gently reached out and took off the camera strap from around her neck and handed the camera to her team member. He then held her wrist and said, "Come now. We need a picture."
For years, she had wondered if they would ever get a picture together. She wouldn't ask for one herself ever because on the one hand, she didn't want to have documented proof of what they could look like together. On the other though, the one that was dominated by her heart, dreamed nevertheless.
As they made their way towards the team, Maahi looked at her hand still in Aarush's. For a few moments, her heart soared and she allowed herself to look up at him. She didn't know she was smiling even. It must have been one of those emotions that mirrored her current state of being. He was looking ahead, resolute in the knowledge that he would have the whole team in the picture. And they did. The team picture was finally complete.
A few days later, Maahi was sorting through the photos. They had decided to make a photobook at the end of the year with all the pictures of the batch in it. She needed to look through these in order to pick some from here as well. That's when she came across the picture. The only one that had just her and Aarush.
She looked closely at it to see how her feelings looked plain as day here as he held her hand and pulled her ahead. She was looking up at him with a smile that said she was lost. Lost in a world that was of her own making. One she rarely allowed herself to walk into and be but when she did, she felt like she was walking barefoot on grass. One where the winter sun was out, with just the perfect breeze passing by. One where evenings didn't end no matter how many suns set.
She quickly copied the picture into her personal folder. She then closed the picture on the college computer and pressed shift and delete.