“And after I spent what felt like eternity drowning; you taught me how to breathe.” ~ Unknown
Taani sighed as she unlocked the door of her house. She was bone-tired tonight, and honestly, it had been an amazingly difficult past six months. But now that the weekend was here and she had some leeway in her schedule, she was greatly looking forward to unplugging and unwinding. To that end, she was headed on a camping trip to Damdama Lake for the weekend.
“Hey, Taani!” Aakriti greeted as Taani flopped down exaggeratedly on the couch next to her. “You excited for your couple’s getaway?” She teased, laughing as blush colored Taani’s face. Aakriti took great pleasure in what she’d deemed Taani’s innocence and often made fun of her for still being shy after being in a relationship for two years.
“Honestly, yes, but not for the reason you think.” Taani answered, “I’m just glad that Abhi and I will be getting some time to ourselves away from work and everything else.” She explained, making Aakriti roll her eyes.
“And I’m sure that’s true, but I’ve also seen you two together and I know that you two will be your super romantic selves as usual. Honestly, if you weren’t planning on staying in a tent I’d call it a honeymoon.” Aakriti countered, making Taani blush even as a smile crossed her face.
“Well, of course, that’s true! As much as you call me innocent or the others refer to us as an old, married couple, we are young and romance is obviously important. But I am also looking forward to doing stuff like hiking and boating, it’ll be a good change from all the work I’ve been doing.” Taani said, before sighing and rubbing at her eyes tiredly.
“You want me to heat you up some dinner?” Aakriti asked, looking concernedly at her friend. Normally, Taani was good about having a balance in her days, but the past week especially she had been pushing long hours at work and still trying to meet commitments to the Maitri Foundation.
“Yes, please!” Taani sighed, “Trying to finalize launch details for the Jain Foods campaign while also starting up the TC Medical project AND finalizing contracts for the Mehta project has really been a lot. Honestly, Varun and I are so tired ourselves, but the staff has actually been pulling longer hours than us too.” Taani said, forcing herself to sit upright as Aakriti brought her a plate of food.
“Yeah, honestly, you’ve been pushing yourself a lot. You get home really late and are then still keep working and taking calls from home. It’s good you’re taking the weekend off, you definitely need it.” Aakriti replied as she also helped herself to some food.
“Yes, I really do!”
Abhimanyu Rawat woke up the next morning to his alarm, and a smile crossed his face as he thought of his plans for the day. Reaching for his phone, he immediately typed out a message:
Morning, beautiful! I’ll be by the house soon if you’re ready? Love you!
Good morning, love! I’m just getting ready now, if you come soon we can have breakfast here before we leave…
Sounds perfect! See you soon!
As he quickly showered and got ready, Abhimanyu couldn’t help but think of the girl he was going to see, the girl he loved. He could still remember the day he met her as a new transfer student, 3 years ago.
**********
Abhimanyu was dead, he knew that being late to Shukla sir’s class again would definitely get him written up for a code of conduct violation. Just as he was running down the hall as fast as he could, BANG! He ran headfirst into a young girl, who had her head buried in what looked like a campus map. They both fell to the floor beside each other and the girl let out a noise of pain as her elbow impacted with the floor.
“Oh crap! I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Abhi said, immediately pushing himself up and going to hover over the girl, worried if she was really hurt.
“No, no it’s fine… It’s my fault anyway, I should have been watching where I walked. I just got turned around while looking for my class, and now I’m late on my first day.” The girl replied, standing and pushing her hair off her face.
“And on top of that, I was doing a Usain Bolt impression trying not to be late for Shukla sir’s class and knocked you down and you’ve hurt your arm… you’ve had a pretty bad morning, haven’t you?” Abhi joked as he picked up his bag, although he still didn’t want to leave this girl until he was sure she was okay.
“Wait Shukla sir? Economics 300?” the girl asked, her face brightening up.
“Yeah, you too?” Abhi responded surprisedly.
“Yes, which means both of our mornings are looking better!” she said, “You can take me to class and say you got late showing me around… although we’d better get going!”
“Yeah, it’s this way! I’m Abhimanyu by the way, but my friends call me Abhi. And seeing as you just saved me from Shukla sir's wrath, we are definitely friends!” Abhimanyu said.
“Oh, sorry, I’m Taani! I just transferred here from Mumbai!” Taani said.
“Nice to meet you Taani!”
“You too Abhi!”
**********
He hadn’t known it then, but that friendship would deepen over that last year of college until he finally worked up the courage to ask Taani out for graduation. Now they’d been dating for two years, and in that time both of their careers had flourished and they’d built a comfortable, shared social circle. It was incredible to him that they were where they were now, but he couldn’t imagine his life any differently. Abhi knew, that Taani had dated someone in Mumbai, had loved that guy. It never bothered him per se, because even he’d had a few casual relationships early on in college. He was actually thankful for what he felt was that guy’s idiocy, especially now at a point where they were each other’s anchors because it had allowed him the chance to meet Taani and to love her as she deserved.
Meanwhile across town, Taani was sat down with her morning tea, writing in her journal, a camping bag packed and sitting at her feet.
I can't wait for this break! It's definitely much-needed!
Honestly though, if you'd told the girl I was just three years ago when I came here that I'd be going on a weekend trip with my boyfriend, she'd never have believed it. I never realized this was possible, not before Abhi.
Papa died when I was just a baby, so I never saw what a stable, loving relationship was, especially since Tauji and Taiji were never affectionate or open with one another. So instead I idealized the fairy tale, Bollywood style love story, and when I first saw Rey it was just too easy to envision him as the hero of my story. And when he finally reciprocated my feelings, after all of that time... I was just so grateful. But gratefulness, indebtedness, and admiration don't make a good foundation for a relationship. Especially when we didn't have the basis of a stable friendship, of trust, respect, and communication. It was a bit like trying to ride a unicycle on a path meant for an ATV, just completely unstable and not sustainable. Abhi is so different. He makes me feel valued in little ways, every single day. Like planning this trip, because he knew how overworked I was. That's not to say that I didn't love Rey, or that I won't always hold a special place for him in my memories. I guess... I just learned that life doesn't work like a fairytale, and end on a "Happily Ever After". There really is no ending like that, because life is an everchanging experience. The love that stays with you through those changes, the love that can sustain through different seasons, is what every girl needs. Not a prince charming.
The promo was a perfect prompt for me to write something in my ishtyle! ...
Amidst the tumultuous storm of a high-stakes trial, Anushka Raisinghani, a ...
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Diya @foreverlazy
+ 9
3 years ago
Lols, you really had us all thinking that Varun was the boyfriend, huh? Anyway, I already love Abhi, his and Taani's first meeting was super cute and I really like that they started off as friends! I'm looking forward to seeing them interact more on their getaway. // Ay dios mio, Taani is so easy to tease, poor thing. Why do I feel like you're foreshadowing that Taani's gonna' burn out at some point? // Taani's journal entry hurts, like a good kind of hurt because I'm so happy for her, but it hurts the shipper in me regardless. That last line really hit hard, it's so wonderful to see how Taani has matured and grown up, but she's still holding onto love and didn't completely give up on it just because her perception changed - that was the most refreshing part of all of this. // Favourite Line: "It was a bit like trying to ride a unicycle on a path meant for an ATV." - WHY IS NO ONE ELSE TALKING ABOUT HOW GREAT THIS ANALOGY IS?!
Niketha @atulaya_taarey
3 years ago
Beautifully written....Life is an ever-changing experience...❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Taani and abhi's relationship has a very beautiful foundation and their meeting was quite interesting 😊😊😊
Nikitaparas @Nikitaparas
3 years ago
Nice Taani is handling her business efficiently and I like Abhi
TaaReyNjal @TaaReyNjal 3 years ago Nice update... I like Taani & Aakriti's bond & little teasing session also... Taani is efficiently handling her business & along with that she values her relationship with Abhi... Abhi is not just love her but surely respect & valued her... Will love to see Taani & Abhi's bonding & happy to see Taani's practical yet positive attitude towards life
Moyamoya @Moyamoya
3 years ago
Abhi and Taani's bond has a base of friendship. Taarey still hold a place in each other's heart....
Vish @Vidvish
+ 3
3 years ago
Loved the update. Taani and abhi are a happy couple want to see more of their bond. She still remembers Rey just like he does. Eagerly waiting to see what happens next. Update soon.