Chapter 16

Hello everyone..

Back with another back to back update!

Will let you all dive in without further delay!

We move forward by two months now..Please keep this timeline in your mind as we move along the Story.

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CHAPTER 15 – BREWING ‘US’

TWO MORE MONTHS LATER

(MAY 18th – Same Year – Its been Three months and two days to when Arnav and Khushi first met in mid -Feb in Cape Town)

Thursday - 3.00PM

Khushi’s POV

I step out of my examination hall and I feel so so so good, because my paper went very well.

And I quickly run up to the bus stop and just in time as the bus arrives and I get on quickly and make my way to a window seat.

Finally.

I have been pursuing my Charted accountancy side by side ever since I turned 18.I had enrolled in a Accounting and Management degree that was at a SAICA accredited university, and then I had worked and studied overtime in the first two years off my graduation degree so that I could be done in good time with my CA degree too, and then even though I had paused my third year degree for a year after my family’s passing, I had still continued to work at my management and accountancy firm in a internship as my training, which was a prequisite for me to write these two final round of papers.

I had just finished the fourth paper in this group and I had the final group exam in November.I mean exams happened in November and May.I could opt to give them at my convenience, but I wasn’t going to linger this on until next May.

I was going to finish writing the QE2 exams in the financial management route, I wanted to pursue before my 23rd Bday in November.

That was the plan.

So from next month onwards it was going to be full on studying as I was going to join in college too, and then ofcourse I would continue with my shift at Chai and Coffee and then ubers at nights and my Big Bus Tours on Saturdays and private taxi’s on Sundays.(Both the jobs that I was really enjoying)

Lots and Lots of work in store for me again in the coming months along with tons of studying.

Actually it had been this way for the last two months too.

And on that note, I feel such a sense of achievement as I look back on the last two months.

Continuing to intern and work with my management accounting firm – Café shifts in the afternoons until late evening- café accounts- uber shifts- Big bus on Saturday-private taxi tours on Sundays- and then three to five hours to gruelling study everyday too.

Gosh.

It had been crazy.

And I kind of cant believe I had managed to get through all of that and I was super happy with the way I had just performed in my exams too.

And amongst all this craziness – I have one very important person to thank for his never ending support.

He’s just always been there for me.

Always.

Ever since he dropped into my Life – Three months and two days ago!

Hoodie Guy.

(I will get to the personal equation in between of us in a bit)

But before that,So much had happened for him as well, he’d been on a constant cricket duty in a very very hectic schedule for the last two months.

So thank god he had listened to me and shown to the physio over that slight wrist strain two months ago, and he had taken rest and not played in the first three T20 internationals, and was back in shape for the last two games.India had won the t20 series matches 5- 0(which apparently according to Rahul is a very very big deal)

Anyways post that – the world came to a standstill for the cricketing fandom all over the globe as the Indian Premier League began by the end of March,just in a week after the Sri Lanka tour.So then ofcourse Hoodie guy was caught up a lot in between his cricket pitches and planes for all that travel.

So even though I have not been to India ever, my laptop and my phone, both have kind off travelled all through out the various cities in India, where Hoodie Guy was playing for the Mumbai team in all through the matches, because ofcourse my google has tracked every flight he was on, and then ofcourse because we get on a video call everyday, my screen has visited almost every city with him.

Technically my phone should have a Arrival Stamp from Indian Immigartions.

I laugh at myself on that thought!

God! The things my brain can conjure!

On that note, I quickly open the flight tracker and track Hoodie Guys flight.He was on a plane right now from New Delhi to Bangalore for the Semi-Finals tomorrow, between his team and the Bangalore team, if they win tomorrow,they were going to fly to Chennai the very next day to meet the Chennai team in the finals on Sunday.

He was ofcourse having a brilliant tournament.

I was not watching the games ofcourse (I still couldn’t get around to that yet..), but I was more or less updated with the broad facts from listening to the commentaries in between of when people were watching around me, and then ofcourse Varun and Rahul and uncle are such buffs.

They talk about everything anyway everyday in a FSTDTCC at Chai and Coffe’s chai time break for all of us employees.

Oh and incase you are wondering what FSTDTCC is – its Fixed Standard Time Dedicated to Cricketing Conversations – that people in and around in my Life like to indulge in everyday.

Ok so his Vistara flight no UK556 was supposed to land in Bangalore in 60 minutes.

I smile as I read the texts he had left for me before I had entered the exam

Him : All the best Sunshine! I know you are going to kill the paper! Its going to be just like all your other three papers – awesome and rocking!Just pour out all that passion you have in your head for your big accounting books on those sheets and it will be a good paper anyway.

I had read this one right in time before entering into my exam hall and it had made me grin.

Ok, so I read it again anyway and then look at the next two texts waiting for me.

Him : Ok Khushi, so boarding is about to begin now! And I know you are probably one hour into your paper already and I am sure that its going very well.Imagine how great you are going to feel once this exam is over..im so proud of you for all that gruelling hardwork you have put into this and everything else too,and I say so not because im biased towards everything related to you (which I know I am), but its not just that – I really admire your dedication and hard work. Its truly inspirational Sunshine!

Ok did I mention that I literally did still get little goosebumps everytime he called me Sunshine.

I smile as rub my arms to straighten out these goosebumps.

And my eyes fall on the next message.

Him : Ok Sunshine! Taking off now, I shall message as I land, which will be in two hours and 45 minutes from now.

I smile as I read all of these messages again.

I cant believe hes calling me inspirational though, he is the one who is living a insipirational Life not me.

I quickly leave him a text : hoodie guy..guess what?? I poured out all my passion for those accounting books on those sheets and it was a good paper anyway!Andi feel so so good.Finally!Done with this group of exams!And yes I just tracked your flight – 60 minutes for you to land at the Garden City/ Silicon Valley of India.Ok so you know what I think I can be a good tourist guide in India also now, because of all the knowledge I have gained about the major cities, all thanks to you! And I think my phone screen has seen so much of India, through video calls and tracking your flights and looking up about cities you are in – it totally deserves an Arrival stamp from the Indian immigrations!Ok enough with my rant for now, I am heading back to the café now.Safe landings Arnav.

I had been on the bus ride for fifteen minutes now. As the car was in for service, and would be ready by tomorrow morning.

I had to get the service done because I had a little out of city private taxi tour on Sunday.

There was also a little get together for all of us Big Bus tourist guides at the main office – as a networking event and mixer.I was planning to go for a shortwhile and then do a good three hours uber shift, because I hadn’t been able to do much of that this week, because I had straight four exams in a row starting from earlier this week on Monday.

The bus comes to a halt at a stop, but it isn’t my stop – I still have another ten minutes to go.

I put my earphones in my ears and on my music and close my eyes, and just as Hoodie Guys favourite playlist makes its way into my ears -My Heart Warms up a little automatically.

So.

Coming to that personal equation between Me and Him.

I still have no idea what tag to give to this ‘thing’ in between of us yet.

I mean – ofcourse it meant something to me.It was special – super special to me and that was because I was kind off feeling all these things I had never felt before.

Firstly – that theme park Adventureland in the pit of my stomach was a regular feature of my Life.It started operations every day the minute I woke up and throughout the day everytime I thought of him and it went on till late in the night with that last thought of him in my head right before I slept.

What was Hoodie Guy doing to Me??

I was starting to fall for him really hard and fast especially in this last one month.

I liked him.

Ofcourse I liked him way too much for my own good!

Ok to be honest – I think I was way past that needle on that scale of emotions that crossed the feeling LIKE.

So my family’s passing, I had felt that something inside of my heart had kind off died with all that grief and pain.I had always felt that my heart would need to feel some kind of magic to even start swininging in between these emotions for the special someone in my Life.

I had always thought that it would take me a lot of time to just even get to genuinely like and fall for someone.

But apparently when Hoodie Guy had dropped into my Life in that BOOM.BASH.BOOM, hed probably also walked right into my life with a Magic Wand in his hand.

Because now it was starting to feel like he was just waving that magic wand around me left right center and I was being sprinkled with some kind of magic dust that they talk about in books and novels – to feel this kind of happiness and thrill within.

And another point to be noted here was that I was feeling all of this – when he wasn’t even around me physically.

This connection in between of us was solely thriving on the elixir of virtuality and technology.

Thank you Science.

But.Thats what!

I was feeling all of this because of this virtual strange thread that ties us both so strongly to each other.

I have no idea how I am going to feel when I see him next for real in front of me.

I open my eyes and look out the window taking in the surroundings around me.

I don’t know when am I going to see him next though.

I do know he had another tour coming up to West Indies just a week after IPL final this Sunday.

Did I want to see him?

Yes.Ofcourse!

I think now more than ever I think I needed to see him for just once in front of me for real to make my mind believe that all of this thing in between us is actually happening and that’s its not just some unsaid figment of imagination my heart is feeling and conjuring.

We’d gotten really close over the last two months,each of us making efforts to stay connected, and adjust our time schedule around anothers, making little adjustments to sleep timings as well, so that we could video call, talk and chat and be connected closely, never missing out a moment in each others lives, even though we were perpetually living across the globe from each other.

But wait.

What was this ‘thing’ in between us anyway?

What tag can I give to this bond in between us that was so raw and deep and instant and right and strong and pure and yet so so so scary and overwhelming at the same time???

This wasn’t just friendship for sure.

I was Sure Shot about that.

There was something else brewing up really strong in between of us that I simply cannot get my head around because – I have simply never felt anything like this before!

So right now if I were to describe our space so its like – You know how you add coffee beans or tea leaves to the boiling water and milk mix right when it boils and then you play with the heat to simmer it up and down, in order to create that perfect blend, and you keep doing it until you are finally ready to pour the hot pipping drink out in a cup – for the perfect cup of hot pipping tea /coffee…Ready to be served – Yes! That was what it was.I was in the middle of all that simmering probably mixing around it all in order to get that moment in time when it would be the perfect blend.

Ok.

I am not crazy on that point.Its just an example that came to my head, because guys, I work with tea and coffee everyday and also I do want to get to Italy for that three month barista course sometime in Life.

So just like in that art of coffee and tea making, all this prepration and ingedients and heat and time is crucially important, and the intention and emotion ofcourse, I feel that all this prep stage is what im simmering up and down in this Process of Experiencing Magic Dust Sparkle that this man is going on sprinkling around in my Life.

I put my head in my hands for a second and rub them over my face.

What if this connection in between us was just brewing up into a strong flavour only to spill out under that heat and get burnt and not be fit to be served for a drink??

I worry ofcourse.

Because I know, I am a misfit ingredient in his Life.

I don’t fit in that perfect blend.

My mind tells me that I don’t belong in there for sure but my emotions want me to believe otherwise.

Hes probably going to realise it soon now, once the flame on that induction stove cools down,and then where is it going to leave me??

Im just going to feel like a hot strongly prepped brewed up flavour of the worlds best coffee beans, standing filled right upto the top of the Mug, but not be fit for a complete drink because the flavour had something a miss because of some missing ingredient which was realised once a couple of sips were taken.

I take a deep breathe as I now look out the window and I see my stop nearing.

And I get ready to get off my stop!

I think my limited time ticket into this Magical theme park Adventureland was probably running on bonus happy hour time.

I might as well enjoy it until it lasted.

Because I would regret it if I let worry spoil things for me.

Mom and Dad always taught me and krish that you don’t stop walking because of fear of falling.

You can sometimes jump under or over an obstacle to save your self and then continue to stride on anyway.

Sometimes you fall and hurt your knees, but then you gotta get up and wipe that tear and move on anyway.

And I was going to do just that,even though I knew if I experienced a fall in this ‘thing’ in between of Arnav and Me – there wouldn’t just be a single tear to wipe off.

There’d be buckets of it.

………………….

20 Minutes Later

Khushi’s POV continues

I have changed into my black full sleeves tee and jeans for my afternoon shift and im making my way down the stairs when I come face to face with a grinning Uncle – “ how was the exam??”

I grinned – “ what do you think uncle??”

He pulls me into a hug and then kissed my forhead reminding me of dad and he says – “ your smile tells me that it was great..”

I nodded and I hugged him.

And he pulled back as he spoke – “ ok..so you are coming home for dinenr tonight pakka se??”

I nodded – “ yes uncle..”

He grinned – “ your aunty and diya have prepped all your favourite dishes, as a celebration for your exams getting over..im so proud of you beta,of everything you do..you are a strong girl beta..”

I hug him again on reflex as I ask softly – “ dad would be proud of me no uncle??”

He kissed my forehead again – “ ofcourse…he would be very proud beta..hes watching over you..you know he is..they all are…”

I nod as I wipe a tear outta my eye – “ I miss him..”

Uncle kept his hand on my head – “ I know…but know that hes a very happy man up there..probably telling all those people up in heaven that how he had been blessed with the best daughter in this whole wide world..”

That warmed my heart and I hugged him again and I say – “ don’t think you are getting my favourite jalebis tonight..”

Uncle groaned – “What?? Why not??”

I narrowed my eyes at him – “ because Rahul told me that your sugar is fluctuating these days..please you will take care..”

Uncle nodded as he gave me playful wink – “ just a bite..”

I nod with a smile – “ ok fine..just a bite..”

Uncle – “ ok then you will come with me when I leave by 8pm??”

Hmm..so I needed to be free between 8 to 9pm to have a talk with Arnav.He would sleep by my 9pm which was his 1230am.

I smile – “ uncle..you carry on..ill be there by 915pm surely..some big bus work to deal with..”

He grins as he asks – “ ok now will you make me my favourite cup of tea??”

I nod and I walk to the station and start brewing up Uncles tea.

And I hear Varun say – “ khushi, please make me some too..its going to be my break time for fifteen minutes now..”

I grin.

I know what that meant.

His and uncles round table discussion about IPL.

Im waiting for the tea to brew up.

Right then my phone beeps.

It’s my hoodie guy.

Wait – did I just call him – My Hoodie Guy? in my head?

Ok then.

I was officially loosing my marbles.

I read what hes written : Just landed in bangalore Khushi.Still in taxi on the runway! I am so so glad that your exam was amazing.I knew it would be!and seriously your that line about your phone receving an arrival stamp from india’s immigration – totally cracked me up,and I cant even laugh out loud because Ravi will snatch my phone out of my hand first thing to see what cracked me up.Not fair Sunshine!What you upto??

I quickly text : so im brwing uncle and varun’s tea in order to be able to serve them their favourite hot drink just in time for their regular FSTDTCC.

My phone beeps immediately.

Him : whats FSTDTCC??

I grin to myself as I write : it’s a code iv come up with for Varun and Uncle! It stands for their Fixed Standard Time Dedicated to Cricketing Conversations.

My phone beeps immediately.

Him : How did you even come up with something like that Sunshine? Again, I want to laugh out loud, but I cant.

I grin as I write : I know I know..totally stupid off me!but what can I do, they have this serious round table conference everyday dissecting the IPL so seriously as if they were in the board of the IPL.And note ok, its not even a round table they sit and discuss at  - it’s an old rectangular office desk.

Him : God khushi! You crack me up..and its not stupid of you! You are bloody brilliant like I always say!

Me : you are so biased about everything I say.

Him : True that but Ever think about why??

Me : because you are amazingly kind and warm hoodie guy!ok ok tea is ready now! Are you getting off the plane now??

Him : Yes just about too.

Me : you all will be swamped by the media as usual.Lets connect later then?i do have to go to uncles for dinner tonight.

Him : Yes, you told me about it last night.will you be able to talk a little before going??

Me : Yes..yes..i will be free to connect between 8 to 9pm my time.i will leave post that once you are asleep.And oh wait..i hope you had a good flight!

Him : thank you khushi for making time..and yes I had a good flight.

I pour out the tea into the cups now,and I quickly pick up my phone and I type : really? Did you nap or listen to music?i mean what were you doing?

Him : I was indulging in my favourite new hobby Khushi.

I was just about to walk with the tea, but I paused because I wanted to know about his new favourite hobby and I type : when did you get a new hobby hoodie guy?

Him : its been brewing up in my head for a little over three months now actually, so its not kind of new.

Me : Huh??what is this new hobby??

Him : Thinking about you Sunshine! What else can it be??

I was thunderbolted onto the edge of Space in 2 Seconds now.

So the duration of this thunderbolt ride speed was now narrowed down to 2 seconds from 2 minutes (which was the time slot of the shoot from two months ago)

I don’t know what to say to that and so I just send him a smiley emoticon and then a sticky tongue one.

I smile as I pick up the two perfectly brewed cup of teas and take them to Uncle and Varun.

Why did Arnav have to make me feel like I belonged into that perfect blend of ingedients in the perfect cup of coffee in his Life???

And I frown a little as my mind once again reminds me that – I don’t belong in there.

I shrugged.

Too Bad for you – I told my Mind.

Because I knew that this “thing” in between of Arnav and Me was going to keep Brewing Anyway!

…………………………………………..

Tada!! Let me know what you all think!

It’s a short and sweet update of 4k plus words.

Havent proofread, so please ignore editing errors.

I shall probably give another update for this one, before I shift to writing three-four updates of Chaotic Wires.

….

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