"... Did you turn off the lights?", mom was muttering as Anisha was witnessing their plane approach the assigned gate.
"What? Yes, lights...we're set.", Anu acknowledged her crosstalk.
"Where is the earring? I cannot find it", Suman babbled while searching her hand bag.
Suman was so excited about this trip that she was hyperventilating about every damn thing.
"It's in the bag Ma, relax. You checked it in the cab too", she groaned.
"Fine!", her mom zipped her bag sighing and started to scan her surroundings.
"See, they started the boarding for our flight", Suman announced as she began to gather her belongings.
"Don't get up, they are boarding first class only", Anu checked her new victorian era burner phone for texts.
During her research online she read that the old Nokia phones were virtually impossible to hack into.
Her regular iPhone was kept switched off after the local phone repairing store confirmed that there was a malware installed in both their phones.
Anisha had to cock up a story to convince mom to do away with hers for the time being. They didn't have the time to fix the phones before the trip.
"Hi, Anisha!", she jerked back in her seat surprised to hear her name.
"Abhir? What are you doing here?"
"He is obviously going somewhere", Suman chimed in, Anu side eyed her for the unwanted remark.
"I had to fly in for some urgent family work, heading back today. This pretty lady here must be your mom. Hello aunty, I'm Abhir", he smiled, bringing his hand forward.
"Hi, you're right, I am Anu's mom but call me Suman", she blushed as they shook hands. Her mom was being weird. Wow.
"You guys are on this flight too?", he pointed at the gate.
"Yes", mom and she answered in harmony.
"Wonderful, I will see you inside then... Bye Suman", he waved at her and started to walk towards the ground staff.
At the counter, the airline staff scanned Abhir's boarding pass and passport before letting him through.
It's red?
His passport caught her attention immediately because it wasn't black in color like Indian passports were.
As he entered the walkway, he turned around, their eyes making contact for the last time and he winked at her. Anisha smiled back.
Mom was leading the way to find their seats in economy and was ecstatic that they had one window seat so Anu let her have it.
The flight was more or less full, there were plenty of passengers still finding their way to their seats.
Anisha picked up an in-flight magazine to scroll through while her mom was trying to find a movie to watch.
To Anisha's relief, the aisle seat on their row was still unoccupied.
She felt Suman nudge her elbow while hissing, "Abhir is coming here. Look!".
Anu looked up from the reading material, her mother was right, Abhir was making his way to the back of the plane to where theywere seated, a friendly smile on his face.
He looked past her, speaking directly to her mom.
"Suman, how would you like swapping seats with me?", he grinned.
"Really? In first class?", her mouth wide open. "I can go there?"
"Why not? I've already instructed the crew and they are more than happy to host you"
"Anu?", she was looking at her daughter like a kid in a candy store surrounded by treats.
"Are you sure?", she confirmed with Abhir again, who was crouching over the aisle seat.
"It will be my pleasure", he reassured me.
Anisha stood up to let her mom out into the aisle. Suman followed Abhir to the front of the cabin, occasionally looking back at me, till she disappeared behind the curtains.
Moments later Abhir strolled back casually with a travel pillow around his neck.
"She is thrilled and very comfortable", he stated while settling on the middle seat.
"That was very sweet of you. It wasn't necessary though", she placed the magazine back.
"And miss spending these 4 hours with you?", he tried to straighten his legs in front of him but couldn't due to the limited spaces in coach.
"Regretting it already?", she teased him. Abhir looked so out of place in economy.
"I wouldn't trade this for anything", his head was resting sideways on the head rest, sunlight covering half of his face.
His dark eyes glinting in the light. Their faces were so close to each other that she was thankful for the pilot's announcement that gave her a chance to look away.
Steady Anisha. Don't ruin it.
"All set for the wedding?"
"Ya, I was so over it yesterday with the unending shopping list. Mom can't believe it. It's our first international trip you see, so it's a thing for her."
"I could see the excitement in her eyes. She is cute"
"Thank you for doing this for her"
"I did it for you", he leaned closer or maybe he didn't. It was so cramped up that she couldn't know.
Anu chuckled, looking outside the window, the closeness between them was unnerving. The plane was taxiing to the runway as they were ready for departure.
Abhir and Anu were caught up in random conversations when the crew served dinner.
He was such a smooth talker, there was never a dull moment with him. Anisha was opening up to him so easily about her life.
"Wait, I was meaning to ask you. Why is your passport red in color?", she glanced at him as he was opening his food.
"It's a UK passport. I was born in England", he shared without meeting her eye.
"Huh! I didn't know that about you", Anisha snorted.
There was a sudden shift in his mannerisms, he almost appeared to be agitated.
Perhaps, it was the economy food, or lack of leg space or the talk about the passport but he wasn't smiling anymore.
Abhir was unusually quiet. The dinner trays were taken out of the way, both took turns to visit the lavatory before taking a nap.
A strong turbulence rocked the plane and Anisha was jolted awake, her neck was stiff from laying her head sideways on his shoulder.
Abhir opened his eyes groggily, looking confused so she apologized for waking him up. The cabin was dimly lit and she watched on as he stretched his arms above his head.
They still had an hour of the journey left, the screen ahead displayed their tiny plane mapping a path from Mumbai over the Arabian sea.
"Sorry that I woke you up"
"You're fine. I'll go use the loo", he promptly stood up.
Anisha was fidgeting with the screen when he walked back with a plate of chocolate cake.
"First class courtesy", he whispered as he pulled down her tray. "It's a secret."
"Thank you", she grinned when he passed her a spoon before digging into the cake with his fork. The cake was warm and delightful, it was polished off within minutes.
"You have some sauce on your nose", Anisha instinctively touched the tip of her nose with a tissue.
"Show me... it's here", he pretended to point but smeared leftover sauce from his fork on her cheek.
"Yuck! No!", she yelped, swatting his hands away.
"Shhhh...", he instantly put his hand over her mouth because unlike her he was still aware that they were on a metal tube with sleepy grumpy passengers.
They both started to giggle uncontrollably like toddlers for the next few minutes till the air hostesses disapprovingly took the plate away.
"Wipe my face!", she demanded in hushed voices.
"I am not walking to the lavatory with cream on my face", she passed him a tissue, raising her chin towards him, so he'd have better access to wipe it.
Abhir was trying hard not to laugh as he tenderly wiped her face. His face suddenly got all serious and his gaze moved down to her lips.
Abhir dropped the tissue, cupped her face lightly with one hand and leaned in for a kiss.
Anisha went along, the warmth of his mouth against hers felt acceptable.
She felt his hand sliding below to grip her neck, a sense of urgency taking over him, she kept her eyes shut the whole time.
Siddharth, knew exactly how to make me feel. No!
She abruptly pushed Abhir off her realizing what she was thinking about or rather who she was thinking about.
They both were trying to catch a breath as he peeked at her warily.
Anu rose to step out and create some space between them, to kill the sexual tension that was lingering between them.
Abhir calmly obliged moving aside for her to pass.
Anu entered the lavatory and when she stepped back out, he was waiting in the aisle propped up against their seat.
"You okay?", he straightened himself when she reached the seat.
"Uh...mm...ya", she took her seat and he followed suit.
"I'm sorry", he was leaning towards her.
"Don't be"
"Anisha, I have really started to like you, more than a friend. I know you need time with your ex... I shouldn't have kissed you", he said in hushed tones
"It's fine... really", she nodded with a reassuring smile.
After a few minutes had gone by in silence he blurted, "You liked it"
"Sorry?", Anisha raised her eyebrow.
"You kissed me back", he smirked.
If she didn't know better, she'd think he was being smug then.
"You're making it worse now", she forced her eyes shut to ignore him.
"Okay, I'll shut up", she heard him mumble.
"At least tell me, was this a one-time thing or... I could score a Round two?", she kept her eyes sealed but could no longer keep a straight face as the corner of her lips started to ascend upwards without much effort.
"Stop talking", she giggled, Anu could never stay mad at Abhir for longer than a minute.
He was the kind of man who wore his heart on his sleeves. Unlike Sid. Abhir could make a dead man smile effortlessly.
Abhir bumped her shoulder and pouted when she glared at him for his childlike ways.
"I want you to smile forever. I wasn't sure what was going to happen when I met you but now what it has evolved into, I cannot describe it.", she felt him grip her hand tighter.
"You make me forget my pain and anger"
"You have pain and anger? Psst!", she rolled her eyes at his dramatization.
When he didn't respond like his usual humorous self, she retracted, "Oh! That wasn't a joke? What is it Abhir?", she observed how his jaw had tightened as he looked away from her.
"Nothing...", he dropped his gaze to his feet.
"You said you had some urgent family work... is everything alright?", she placed her hand on his arm closest to her.
"It's my dad, he isn't doing too well. I promised him a few months back that I was going to fix everything for him. He is getting pretty impatient now."
"I understand, parents tend to keep high expectations from their kids. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I believe in you. I have this feeling you will make him proud and fulfill his promises for sure. Let me know if I can help in any way", she patted his hand.
"You're ready to help me?", he raised his eyebrows like he couldn't believe what she was saying.
"I will try my best. Whatever is possible", she nodded.
"I will hold you up to that", he said, she was sensing a warning tone but chose to ignore it.
Her buddy was smiling again, that's all she cared about right now, momentarily forgetting all about their kiss.
When they landed, Abhir excused himself to deal with his car rental while Suman and Anu waited near the baggage carousel to pick up their bags.
Anisha received a text from her uncle that he was running late due to some complications with the wedding venue. Oh no!
Abhir met them near the carousel and in a flash offered to drop them off at their hotel.
As he drove them to the hotel, she noticed a sheet of paper left in the cup holder and got snoopy.
Renter's name: Abhir A?
"Why does your name say A?", she inspected the receipt again.
"What do you mean?", he seized the receipt from her hand and without reading, threw it in the glove box.
"It says Abhir A on that. Shouldn't it be Abhir B. Like B for Bala?", she asserted.
"They probably messed it up at the counter", he dismissed.
As he parked in front of our hotel entrance and mom stepped out of the car, Abhir canvassed, "Can I take you out tomorrow night?"
"Like a date-date?", she teased him.
He stepped out of the car to open his trunk, Anisha walked over to meet him near the trunk.
"Yes and it's a fancy restaurant", he smirked.
"Like Velocity?"
"What?"
"The place you work for?"
"Oh no, better, seven stars!"
"Oooo, I should doll up then", she rolled the bags to the hotel lobby.
"I can't promise you anything, there could be plans with the fam", she pouted.
"Whenever, you have a free evening."
"Okay, I will text you. Thank you for the ride", she waved him goodbye and strolled into the lobby.
Suman was done checking in after which they were escorted to the room.
Later that night, Anisha's cousin Pihu, the bride-to-be came by to pick them up. Pihu's house was decorated with lights and flowers, like any Indian household would be during a wedding.
Anisha finally got to meet so many of her estranged extended family that night, her grandma was there too. Her mom and grandma had a tearful reunion and everyone was elated.
Someone mumbled that her grandpa was asleep and it was better for Anu to stay clear of him.
After all these years he still wanted nothing to do with his mixed bred granddaughter, that's what he named her.
When they had a minute, Anisha finally had a chance to speak to Pihu about her fiance.
"Tell me more about Sharan.", she asked eagerly.
"Anisha, he is the best thing that ever happened to me. I was so close-minded about the arranged marriage situation but if I hadn't opened my heart to it, I would have never met him. He is such a thorough gentleman"
"That's so sweet. I can't wait to meet him."
"You won't have to wait much. We are planning this thing for our friends at this club locally tomorrow night. So, you're coming with us too!"
"Oh, nice! Mishu aunty won't be bothered right?", Anu wanted to make sure the mother of the bride didn't flip out for partying a few days before the ceremony.
"It's all taken care off!"
"Good, so Pihu, would it be okay if I tag along with a friend?"
"Oh, that Abhir guy your mom's being telling everyone about?"
"She is?", Anisha panicked, skimming through the crowd to find the meddler.
She found Suman in the other corner of the room with a bunch of ladies, tattling away.
"I will be back, sorry", she piled out of her chair to shut down her mother.
"Mom!", Anisha nudged her elbow and urged her to step away from the group.
"Why are you telling people about Abhir?!?"
"He is such a wonderful boy, what's the problem?", she was dumbfounded.
"We are friends, that's it. Nothing is happening"
"Your mom must be old but she is not blind. I could see he likes you a lot. What's your problem?"
"Mom, it's too soon. We're taking it one step at a time"
"You're still letting that Punjabi boy control you. Didn't we discuss this already? You have to stop this"
"Mom, his name is Siddharth and he is not controlling anything. Abhir and I are hanging out. In fact, we are going on a date tomorrow but if you continue to carry on this charade, I am going to have to cancel!"
"Alright! I won't say a thing till you say it's okay", she was annoyed. "I promise!", she exclaimed when she raised her eyebrows in doubt.
As promised, her mom was keeping her mouth zipped. Mishu aunty and Mahesh uncle finally had a second to join the party, the night was complete.
As they say, all's well that ends well.