Lessons in Love (IshRa FF)- CH 15 updated Pg 19 - Page 11

Two days later Raman finds himself outside Ruhi's school once more. He's a bit early and the crowd of parents are yet to arrive. His eyes search for Ishita's familiar red car but it is clear to see that she isn't there yet. The disappointment hits him hard enough to momentarily throw him off course. He does not remember the last time he had felt such want for someone. It almost makes him turn around and leave, possibly return to Mumbai with its less disruptive offerings.

As the minutes trickle by, the crowd thickens. When the bell announcing the end of the school day is heard, the murmuring of the crowd has reached a cacophonous peak. Raman feels something within his chest settle. There is still no sign of Ishita.

And then the gate opens and the kids emerge, one or two or a dozen at a time. When Ruhi comes out, she doesn't see him at first. Her eyes are busy searching for the familiar face of her Ishita aunty. But when her eyes land on him, she yelps and makes her way straight for him. Raman feels his heart soar. Why doesn't he come here everyday?

Ruhi thinks that they are planning a big surprise for her and keeps asking him where Ishita is. She looks around him and at the car as if expecting the woman to pop out of the bonnet.

A few parents try to come up and make conversation with Raman Bhalla but the terse replies they get for their efforts does not make the exchanges too promising. When the boys, eternal stragglers that they are, emerge, Ishita is still not here. Raman is worried now but hides it well. They hang around him with an air of uncertainty. He reaches for his phone and makes the call.

It rings and goes into voicemail. He tries again.

"Should we head home?" he asks the kids. Ishita isn't answering her phone. He types out a message to her telling her that he is taking the kids.

The boys agree, halfheartedly. Shravan looks somewhat worried. But Ruhi is adamant.

"We can't leave without Ishita aunty! She promised she'll come to pick us up! She doesn't break her promises."

Ruhi's tiny face is red with her earnestness that mixes with anger. Raman looks at her and suddenly he feels like there is a bit too much of him in the child.

"Well, Ishita aunty hasn't come," Raman says, but there is no calming Ruhi down.

Shravan says they could go to the clinic. Raman looks at the boy. The boy meets his eye boldly. Quite the young man then.

They pile into the car and Raman ruefully watches the kids make themselves comfortable with their dusty feet sprawled across the swanky clean seats of his new BMW. He feels a new founded respect for Ishita.

They don't reach the clinic. Half way to the place, they find her car. She has the bonnet open and is yanking at something within. When they pull up, she turns and there is a look of utter shock on her face.

"What time is it?!" is the first thing Ishita says before Raman has taken three steps towards her.
Raman watches her face dissolve into panic followed by relief as the children surround her and peer at the engine parts like a bunch of mini sized mechanics.

"Can you figure out what the problem is?" Ishita asks anxiously as Raman studies the engine.

"Do you have a box of tissues?" He asks her in turn.

She nods and begins to move towards the car but he holds out his hand and stops her. Then Raman brings out the box and takes out some tissues. He hands them over to her.

"Wipe your hands!" he instructs.
As she is busy doing that, he calls Mihir and tells him to arrange for a service truck for Ishita's car. She looks at him bemused. He shrugs his shoulder.

"That's the best I can do for you right now."
"I though for a moment..." she begins.

"What?" He cuts her short, laughter dancing in his eyes. "That I'd fix your khatara car for you!"

Her eyes widen at his choice of words and she opens her lips to protest. But he has noticed a smudge of grease on her cheek and chooses that very moment to raise a finger to wipe it off. Whatever she was about to say dies in her throat as she feels his every ministration like fire on her skin. Raman is too busy wiping at the grease when he suddenly notices the red flush spreading under his finger. He removes his hand as if he had only then recollected himself. He pulls back and enjoys the crimson faced picture of confusion standing before him.

Ruhi tugs at his hand. The children with the certainty of a compass needle have spotted an ice cream parlor. With an unsaid agreement they all head towards the parlor. After all it will be a while till the service truck arrives.
Ishita is busy making phone calls explaining the present predicament to the worried families back in Mayur Vihar as Raman ushers the kids towards the counter. She returns when they have settled down at a table near the window with a good view of the street.

"I ordered for you," Raman tells her. He is already looking forward to her expression when what he has ordered finally arrives. She smiles and sits between Ruhi and Shravan.

She is seated so close to him and every fiber of Raman's body wants to simply reach out for her. His fingers still carry the silkiness of her skin on them and he wants to feel it once more.

The waiter arrives with their orders. The children have all shown great ambition in their choices. Ishita eyes the towers of scoops in shock. But then they place the bowl of kulfi before her. It is comical how her face falls and Raman bursts out laughing.

"That day I tasted your favourite flavour so today am returning the favor," he says between fits of laughter. She doesn't give away anything as she eats a spoonful. He watches her every move. The kids chatter away excitedly but Raman barely listens. It is only a few minutes later it seems to him that Ishita jumps up at the sight of the service truck. Sometimes, Raman curses, Mihir can be too efficient.

Once the car is towed away, Raman has to shepherd Ishita towards his car along with the kids. She looks almost distraught at the loss of her trusty steed. Ruhi settles down on her lap in the front seat while the boys lounge like little maharajahs on the backseat. Sensing Ishita's worry, with the uncanny ability of a child, Ruhi keeps up a continuous chatter of comforting words about the car's swift recovery. Raman listens in on this conversation with little surprise. His champ had done the same many a times when she had caught him in one of his moods. But this is the first he sees her do this to someone who is not her Papa.

Ishita slowly makes an effort to come down from her cloud of worry and by the time they reach Mayur Vihar, she is listening keenly to the accounts of the woes and joys of life in junior school. As they drive through the gates of their complex, Ruhi asks again, "You are not sad any more, Ishita aunty?"

Ishita smiles and hugging the girl close to her replies, "If Ruhi gives me a kiss now, I won't be sad anymore!"
Ruhi does so. The kids don't wait once the car is parked and the doors are opened for them. They race each other to see who reaches the row of buildings first. Ishita is about to leave as well when Raman calls her back.
"I never knew a kiss could work such magic," he says, heady from the proximity they had shared all afternoon.
She looks at him in wide eyed wonder for a second before the flush overtakes her cheeks again. Raman looks on mesmerized. She stutters a little when she replies, "You just have to believe in it a bit more then."

And with that she is gone leaving Raman with a vivid memory of her parting blush. He knows for certain now she isn't unmoved by him and he feels the euphoria of the hunter who knows the prey is his for the taking.

NEXT

A/N: Thanks once again for those encouraging remarks. ❤️