"You think he would be comfortable?" Madira asked as they stepped in the queue for the amusement park's entrance.
Spending a few hours at the Mehrotra mansion, Mihir finally was able to convince everyone to stop telling Madira about things he did not even imagine doing as a kid and left the house before Amrit or Rahil came back from work.
"Of course, just hope he doesn't forget us." Mihir joked, pulling her in front as the two queues merged in one.
"Aunty told me-"
"It's our turn!" He interrupted, taking out the tickets from his pocket as he handed them to the security guy who was tying the entry bands to everyone's wrists.
Two minutes later, they stepped inside the park, an amazed 'wow' leaving her mouth as she looked at the bright lights, happy people, and several rides to enjoy.
"This is…wow."
"I know, c'mon." He replied, holding her hand as he pulled her forward with him, "You wanna play a game first, or should we go straight to the rides?" He asked.
"Your choice." She replied, her eyes darting to their joined hands as she moved a little closer to him, enough to sense his perfume but far enough to keep their arms from touching.
Taking his phone out, Mihir opened the camera, raising his hand up to click a picture of the view, he shifted Madira's hand to his arm subconsciously as both his hands reached for the phone, pulling her closer without realizing.
"It's quite crowded." Mihir said, pocketing his phone as they walked towards a game stall, "Wanna try?" He asked, looking at the ring toss.
"I'm very bad at aiming." She replied as he bought the game.
"No one's judging you, here, try once at least?" Mihir handed her a ring, taking her purse from her hand.
"Okay. Don't laugh, hmm?" She said, spotting the closest thing she could find before throwing the hoop, missing the shot by a few inches.
Turning to him disappointedly, she shrugged, "It's okay, wanna try once more?" He asked.
"No.."
"Here, last try." He said, grabbing her hand as he put the hoop in her palm, giving her an encouraging look as he turned her around.
Giving it two more tries, she won a chocolate, jumping around in glory.
"That's so cool," she said, a wide smile plastered on her face as she looked at him, his like curving into a smile too as he looked at the happiness radiating off her.
Tearing open the chocolate wrapper, she broke it into two pieces, giving the bigger one to Mihir.
"You think- ouch." Her sentence got interrupted in between as someone pushed her from behind, making her hold Mihir for support, the chocolate in her hand dropping on the ground.
"Are you okay?" He asked, following her gaze down to the chocolate, her happy smile fading away.
"Yes, yes. Good." She nodded, looking up as she left his arm, "Thank you."
Looking at her for a moment, he shook his head, breaking the piece of chocolate in his hand yet another time, feeding it to her before saying, "Let's go to the merry-go-round first." He said, walking ahead of her.
"We can?" She asked, catching up to him, "It's...for kids?" She added her words more like a question.
"Said no one. You can enjoy anything you want to." He replied, getting in line for the merry-go-round.
After waiting for a while, the door was opened once everyone enjoyed the ride before leaving the space.
"I'll get the swan." She exclaimed, making a run for the swan before anyone else could. She turned to Mihir as he took a seat on the horse beside her.
Ten rides and two rounds to the bumpy cars later, they stood below the Ferris wheel.
"I'm feeling tired, can we please go back now?" Madira asked hopefully, "It's getting late too." She added.
"No, you said we'll go on this one the last." He replied, pulling her in the line.
"What if it stopped working in the middle?" She asked, "Imagine one of the passenger cars falls? No. It's too high and not safe at all-"
"It's our turn!" Mihir interrupted excitedly, pushing her inside the passenger car as the operator locked it from outside.
She didn't say anything, sitting on the other side as she held onto the seat for her dear life when it suddenly moved, startling her.
Immediately switching places, she took a seat beside Mihir, not sparing him a glance.
He kept a hand over her knee but she was too busy panicking to notice anything, her heartbeat getting higher with the Ferris wheel.
All those fake stories, from the Ferris wheel, getting stuck forever or one of the cars falling to the Ferris wheel getting off its frame and losing control, Jashn used to tell her every crazy story as a kid just to scare her, came back to her as she expected the worst to happen.
"You're too stiff, look outside. Everything looks so little." Mihir said, looking outside the window all while looking at her every once in a while.
"Shut up." She murmured, closing her eyes.
"Look at the lights." He said, trying to make it better for her but she refused to open her eyes.
Her fears came true when the wheel stopped with a jerk and all the lights went off, her eyes peeling open as she looked at him in panic, grabbing his hand tightly.
"We'll die. It's over...I asked you not to get on this ride, no...no..."
"Madira. Calm down." He interrupted.
"We'll get stuck here forever, they'll forget about us here, we're going to die-"
"Hey hey, calm down. Nothing will happen, there must be some issue. Don't worry okay." He said, holding her hand as he pulled her in his lap, wrapping an arm around her.
"I don't want to die. Not yet." She replied, her voice tearful, "I want to get married and have kids and go on a world tour-"
"Madira-"
"I didn't even have my first kiss, I don't want to die-"
"We're not dying-"
"I wanted a painless death, this will hurt a lot, what if-"
"Okay, you're thinking too much. Stop it. Put your thoughts at rest." He interrupted, closing his eyes.
"I can't!"
"What if you could do anything you wanted to right now, what would you do?" He asked, trying to distract her.
"Get off this ride." She replied instantly.
"Did Mummy tell you that I almost ate a worm as a kid?" He asked, his fingers playing with the ends of her hair unknowingly.
"You did what?" She asked, frowning as she turned to him.
"Yep." He nodded, "Papa saw me doing that and threw the poor worm away." He added, "I can't imagine if I ate that." He said, scrunching up his nose.
"That's very... disgusting." She replied.
"I know right? Also, you know I'm keeping Oreo with me tonight?" He asked.
"No, you're not!" She replied.
"Yes, I am."
"You can't. I'm the one who gets to keep him. He's my friend first before you and...you...you can't keep him." She replied, "I'll complain to your mummy, I have her number now." She added.
"Really?" He asked, a sigh leaving his mouth.
"Yes. Avni Bhabhi added me to a group too, it's very-"
"We're here, let's go." He said, tapping her knee as the chair car stopped at the ground level.
"What?" She frowned in confusion, "When did it even..."
•••
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Mihir asked, as she got out of the car, closing the door as he leaned on it.
"Would you like having breakfast at my place?" She asked, playing with her bracelet as she looked at him, hoping for a positive response.
"I would love to." He nodded.
She nodded back, letting out a deep breath, "I'll get going then." She said, taking a step back at the same time he did too, holding her wrist making her look at him in question.
"I'll walk you up." He said.
"It's okay-"
"Please?"
She nodded, turning around as he slowly let go of her hand, following close behind her.
"I had the best day with you." He said, his voice just above a whisper, "Thankyou." He added.
She turned to him, a smile on her lips, "Thankyou for giving me your time, you don't know how much it means to me." She replied.
He shook his head, "I'm the only one who should be saying thankyou, you...you just...you wouldn't get it but thankyou." He said.
Feeling carefree after years was something very refreshing for him, always worrying about making others happy and never being on the receiving end, it was new to him and he craved more and more for that feeling than anything else.
"Where were you this late?" Jashn asked as Madira opened the door only to find him standing inside her apartment already.
"Bhai!" She yelled, getting startled, "You can't keep getting into my apartment without telling me!"
"You weren't answering my calls, I was worried!" He replied, "It's almost 12!" He added.
"I was...you know where I was!" She whisper-yelled.
"And? I was worried for both of you, just a little bit more for you." He shrugged, "Next time, be back on time. And you." He looked at Mihir, who was standing behind her, "You'll pick up my call within three rings when you go out with my sister." He said, stepping outside.
"Why would I-"
"Should I tell her what Amrit told you at the wedding?" Jashn asked.
"I hate you." He murmured as Jashn walked past him.
"Goodnight, lock your door properly, and don't stay awake till late. Mihir, come with me." Jashn said, walking down the stairs.
"Why is he so annoying?" Mihir mumbled under his breath, "Aara hoon!" He replied, quickly dipping in to leave a chaste kiss on Madira's cheek.
(Coming!)
"Drop Oreo here first thing in the morning!" She said as Mihir started to walk away.
"We'll see!"
...