Ankita's P.O.V.
We had been roaming about in the open-air market- "Sonajhuri haat." Yea, I know you might be wondering what is that, it's a market in Shantiniketan, a place in Bengal famous because it is where the noble laureate Rabindranath Tagore established Vishwa Bharati there. Well, that was all you need to guess that I am Bengali.
Before you all go on think of the stereotypes, no I don't know black magic, nor do I go around looking for "maach- bhaat" – fish and rice, everywhere. I am not a fan of fish. Lets keep all these aside.
So, by "we" I meant me and a friend of mine who's so damn infuriating, that he makes me want to rip his read off most of the time. That infuriating friend's name is Aviroop and I am Ankita.
So back to the present, we have been in the market for almost an hour, because I am not done shopping, mainly because all the jhumkas or the sarees that I see, seem pretty. Secondly, it's very unfortunate that I am not Nita Ambani, so naturally I can't buy all the things I like. Hence I have to choose. And I swear the process of choosing is a time taking.
"Are you done yet?" Aviroop said looking at me glumly.
"Just a gift for Ryan, that's all, I have bought for all the others... why old man, are you tired?" I replied with a smug look.
"Old man? Who me? Darlin' you'll be surprised to know what all this old man can do. And for the record, we have been in this stupid market for precisely 1 hour and 20 minutes, moreover, why do you need to bring Ryan a gift?" he replied.
"Can't help it, shopping takes time, especially when the person you are shopping with goes on saying no to the stuff you keep choosing, saying stuff like, the colour's not good or, the design looks horrible," I said turning toward him with my hands on my waist, "And Ryan is a really good friend, who unlike you does not complain all the time, so he deserves a gift."
"And still you came here with me and not your Ryan," he said raising an eyebrow.
I replied, "I came here with you, mostly because Mother wasn't okay with me coming here alone, and also because all my other friends backed out at the last moment."
After mumbling something under his breath, something I didn't get, he said, "Come on, just get over with it."
Soon enough I found a shop selling kurtas for men, I chose a white one and a yellow one. I turned to Aviroop, and asked him which one he thought looked better.
"How am I supposed to know which one would look better on your Ryan?" he replied in a tired tone. Ugh! What is his problem, I just don't get it.
"Tui bol na, toke besi bhabte boleche keo?" I replied. (Translation: Just tell me)
"Yellow one looks good," he replied. I sort of had guessed what he would choose, but wanted some confirmation. Holding the yellow one towards him, I replied –
"Take this, it's for you," I said and paid for the kurtas.
"What made you think that I like wearing kurtas," he said raising an eyebrow. Surprised, I was about to pull back my hand and look for something else for him, when Aviroop snatched the kurta back from me and said, "But I'll take it."
Though weirded out I did not say anything. We took our path back to the hotel. Don't overthink people, we were staying in two different rooms.
On the way, I saw a group of tribal people doing the Shantali dance. When one of them made a gesture to call me, I did not hesitate to join them. Afterall I loved dancing.
Aviroop's P.O.V.
When she suddenly went over to dance, I wasn't surprised. She is an extrovert, and she loves dancing, so I almost saw it coming. Watching her small figure of 5 6' in the yellow kurta and jeans, with the shoulder length wavy hair, I understood I had helplessly fallen for her. When she suddenly looked back at me, I lost my breath. Even though I knew she would never like me back. But my feelings for her had been there from 8th Grade. Call me pathetic for all I care, but haven't moved on, and am still holding onto this unrequited crush.
I took out my phone and took a video of her dancing. When she walked back to me, I told her, "Hoyeche tor? Can we now go back to the hotel?" Not letting her know that I loved seeing her dance. (translation: Are you done?)
"If you were so annoyed, then why did you take my video? Didn't think I would notice?" She said smugly.
"You want to know?" I whispered under my breath.
"What?" she questioned.
"Nothing, please let's go back to the hotel now?" I said. We had almost reached the end of the market and were proceeding towards our hotel, which was a five-minute walk from there. Ankita stopped there, looking at some bauls, one-stringed instrument,
"This is Bengal's real essence," she said looking at the instruments.
"Right," I replied, "Ankita if are we just going to stop at everything that seems to be
'Bengal's essence', let's just say Shantiniketan has a lot of it, so maybe we have to spend the whole night in this market."
"Why are you being so annoying? Where is your patience dumbo?" Ankita said with an annoying look. To be honest I loved getting her riled up. She looked so damn cute.
"Fine, let's do one thing, you go to the hotel, I'll come back when I am done," She said. Was she dumb? She really thought I was going to leave her here?
"Lady don't act smart with me, if you stay here, I stay here. Okay?" I said.
We continued to walk. This time she stopped at a shop just outside the hotel. "Are you serious? We will buy 2l bottles of bisleri and take it to the hotel?"
"You don't know what might happen. If you need water in the middle of the night, are you going to ask the hotel service?" She asked.
"Yeah definitely! Please don't be like our mums, stop being paranoid all the time," I told her.
"I am paranoid?"She asked looking at me with the hands folded. Yeah, she was, but by saying that I wasn't going to add petrol to the fire. I leaned closer, bent down to the ear's level and said, "Maybe... maybe not." On seeing that she was affected my this, I was quite satisfied.
"Shut up!" she said and started walking away. I laughed and said, "Wait? Who's going to take the bottles?"I shouted. She turned back and returned to my side and mumbled something like 'Why am I so dumb?' I smirked and said, "If you ask me, I think you are really smart."
She looked up at me quizzically, wondering whether she had said that aloud. She was about to pick up the heavy bottle when I took up both the bottles in my hands. "What? You don't get to carry both the bottles, give me one," she said, ready to argue.
"Besi pakami korish na, I'll take both of them," I replied.
Suddenly She pressed a hand on my chest and said in a somewhat weird voice, "Is this you trying to suggest that I might be unable to carry it myself?"
Taken aback by her actions, my grip loosened on the bottle, and she got hold of one of the bottles.
Her touching me seemed to arise sensations in me that I never knew I could feel. I almost lost the control that I had managed to keep for years.
Ankita's P.O.V.
Aviroop stiffened under my touch. I realised what I had done. Honestly, I could swear he had worked hard to get those sets of strong muscles.
I hadn't failed to notice the spark that ran through me when I touched him. However he became his normal self so fast that I thought maybe I had imagined his stiffening.
"Let's go," he said in a graver tone and started moving towards the hotel. I stood there confused.
4 years later
Hey there! Yeah, it has been 4 years since the Shantiniketan trip. Okay, for starters, tomorrow is my 27th birthday. I moved to Brooklyn after finishing college. I work as an architect... and though I don't have a boyfriend now, every now and then, my parents keep calling me and pestering me to get married. However, I had no intention of getting married, I was busy with my company, which was growing. I needed no distraction, making me go off-track. That was all for the background history.
So right now I am in a convenience store, picking up the things required for tomorrow's party. I was searching for the chips when I bumped into someone. A pretty wall-like someone. I cursed at my clumsiness under my breath and mumbled a quick "Sorry," while turning around. To say I was surprised was an understatement, I could not make out how this was possible.
"Haven't got rid of your clumsiness, have you?" the tall, dark-haired man in a blue suit said smirking.
"Oh Shut up! What brings you here? I can't believe my eyes!" I exclaimed in astonishment.
"Guess it is what it is, I am here for my business trip... Considering the amount of coke you are buying, I guess you stay here in Brooklyn," Aviroop said.
"Dumbo isn't so dumb after all, it's been years, honestly I kind of missed you," I replied.
"Won't lie by saying I didn't," he said. There was some difference in him, he wasn't that old Aviroop, and he had become more reserved more manly in a way. I'll be honest here, now he is nothing less than the .literal book definition of a Greek god.
"Let me guess, those are for your birthday celebrations?," he said pointing at the cart filled with chips, coke, etc. If I hadn't been impressed before, I sure was now. Dude remembered my birthday?
"Yeah, will be having a few friends over," I replied.
Looking at me somewhat quizzically he asked, "Just friends? no boyfriend?" realising what he said, he quickly added, "So silly of me, I shouldn't have asked that."
"Nah, just my 'friends'," I replied.
"Please tell me you don't have those kinds of boyfriends who give excuses for not making it to their girlfriend's birthday," he asked.
"Nah I don't have one," I said simply. Noticing his questioning gaze I asked whether it was too unbelievable to think that I didn't have a boyfriend.
"It's just that I couldn't believe a woman as pretty as you don't have a boyfriend," He replied in a flirty tone. Guess he really was pushing me to my limits, I swear one more flirty comment, I'll kiss him for sure.
"Ankita, I know probably you won't reciprocate this, and I am not even asking you to, but I kept this to me for too long. Just hear me out, don't be freaked out; I liked you for a long time, and honestly, I have tried to move on, but no one except you felt right, this liking has grown into something really deep, I think it might be love, I don't know whether its truly what I think, but I needed to get this off my chest," He finished saying this in one breath.
It took me several minutes to process this, first I thought he was joking but his serious tone made me think otherwise. Seeing that I was not replying he started saying, "Hey, I understand if you don't feel anything for me that way, we can just forget it, and consider it to be me rambling something stupid, but please reply, the silence has a greater impact on me than your words and-"
No no, he was thinking that I didn't like him back. Infact, I could believe he was confessing, but for one thing I was sure, if I ever felt any spark with anyone, it was him. I moved forward, took his face in my hands and kissed the daylights out of him.
At first, the electric current that moved through me, probably electrocuting the butterflies in my stomach gave me the confirmation I needed. But, when his lips didn't move against mine, I thought maybe he wasn't going to kiss me back. However, the next moment one of his hands moved to my neck, the other to my waist, and he deepened the kiss. I could swear this was one of those heart-melting, bone-crumbling, types of kisses, the best I had ever had.
Once we had finally stopped kissing, mostly because we were out of breath and he was still holding me in his arms, he said, "You don't know how many times I have imagined this, Ankita I swear there's no going back from this. You're mine, and no one can keep us apart anymore."
With this, he again closed the gap between us, and we kissed shamelessly in the aisle of the convenience store.
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Hey people, this isn't my first time attempting to write a story. However, it's my first time writing a complete one. All criticisms are allowed, feel free to let me know, and help me improve. I really make a lot of grammatical errors, so pardon my faults if you find any. I know the story was too abrupt, but I guess in the next ones it'll be okay...
Hoping to find you reading the next chapter. Thank you!! :)
This could be them, Ankita and Aviroop.