Almost Perfect
Avni
The first time Avni met Neil was when she was just ten years old. She still remembered walking nervously to her new class, worried if she could ever make any new friends. Avni was new to the city, having just moved in and terribly missed her old school and friends, especially her best friend, Kavya. She absentmindedly twisted the peach colored friendship bracelet on her left hand and furiously wiped her eyes as she started to tear up. Her vision was bleary and she noticed someone was in front of her only when she ran slamming into her. She fell to the floor and wanted nothing more than to tear all her hair out in frustration. So much for a good start, she thought grumpily. So lost was she in her misery, that she failed to notice the friendly arm outstretched to help her up. "Are you okay?" That made her look up and she saw two boys of her age. One of them was helping the poor little girl she had knocked down with her and the other had his hand outstretched for her to take.
Avni was never the one to appear weak; she stubbornly refused his hand and stood up herself, brushing away the invisible dust from her uniform. The boy who had held out his arm for her let it down, shrugging lightly. That's when she noticed his eyes, it was nothing extraordinary but those chocolate brown eyes were the most expressive ones she had ever seen. And they were filled with an amount of concern which made her embarrassed. Color filing her cheeks, she quickly shifted her gaze towards the girl she had knocked down.
"I'm so sorry." She began. "I'm new here and I wasn't watching where I was going and I'm really sorry. Are you hurt?" The girl waved her hand in an act of dismissal, smiling angelically. She looked so beautiful that Avni inhaled sharply. "It's okay. I'm not hurt at all. What about you?"
She asked in a voice that reminded Avni of wind chimes. Seeing the shake of her head in refusal, the girl continued.
"I'm Rhea by the way." She smiled. Avni smiled back tentatively, feeling the first ray of hope she felt since they had moved away.
"I'm Avni."
Rhea was about to say something else when the boy who had helped her get up, interrupted
"Come on Rhee, we need to go. We can't be late for practice." He began to tug at her arm and she rolled her eyes muttering to herself.
"Nice meeting you Avni. And stop dragging me Ali." She called over her shoulders before being dragged away by the boy. Avni sighed to herself. Well, there goes that she thought wryly. She bent down to pick up her bag from the ground when another pair of hands beat her to it. That was when she realized that the chocolate brown eyed boy has not yet left. Embarrassed at having not noticed him, she felt the color rushing to her face yet again.
"Here."
He handed her the bag. She muttered thanks feeling stupid all of a sudden for a reason she couldn't comprehend. He continued staring at her for a minute while she furiously stared at the floor before heading his way. She saw him pass near her through the corner of her eyes and sighed. So much for her hopes of being friends with them. Slowly starting to walk away, she noticed that now she felt more alone than before. She kept walking carefully avoiding the children around her, determined to get to her class with no more accidents.
"Hey Avni!"
She turned around wondering who was calling out to her when only four people knew her name in this school, and one of them was the Principal. She was stunned to see the chocolate brown eyed boy before her panting slightly. She realized that he must have run all the way after her and felt herself fill with a warm feeling. She looked at him anxiously.
"Rhea, Ali and I are singing a song for republic day and we were off to practice for a bit before class started."
He started rambling and Avni stared dumbly at him."I was wondering if" his voice started to get nervous and he cleared his throat. "I was wondering if you would like to watch us practice."
Avni felt her lips curving upwards to what probably was the biggest smile she had since they moved.
"Yeah."She eagerly nodded her head. "Yeah, it sounds fun."
The boy in front of her smiled at her, his chocolate brown eyes shining brightly.
"I'm Neil."
Neil
It was when he was fourteen that Neil realized that he liked her. He couldn't honestly figure out how that had happened. All he knew that one day he looked at her and he just knew. It was nothing out of the ordinary, she was sitting beside him chewing on the tip of her pen while working on a math's' equation and suddenly it hit him. He liked this girl, more than a friend. He almost dropped the bottle of ink in his hand in shock.
Avni was the first one to know. Maybe she knew it before he knew it himself, he mused. Though for the life of him, he didn't know how she found out.
They were sitting in the lawn in front of his house, having a picnic. Shweta aunty had called out to Ali telling him that his mom had called. As Ali strode of to take the call, Avni had turned to him smirking. He raised a brow at her silently.
"So, Juhi huh? Her voice was smug. He was sure his face must have betrayed his shock when he saw her smirk widen. "I don't know what you are talking about." This somehow made her smirk widen even further, if that was even possible.
"Why do you even try Neil?" She began in her patronizing voice."You know you suck at lying to me."
He gulped and refused to talk, looking everywhere else but her.
"It's okay you know." Avni said further. "She is nice. I like her. Better her than anyone else I suppose." She shrugged while he continued training his eyes on the grass.
"Not a word of it to anyone." He managed to blurt out. Avni laughed and lightly nudged his hand. "Whatever you say dude."
"That's not enough. You need to promise." He said, finally looking at her.
She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine. Your secret is safe with me."
"What secret? What do you mean?"
Both of them turned around to see Ali standing behind them looking confused.
"What did I miss?" He prodded further, when none of them spoke.
"Nothing Ali, we were just planning on inviting Rhea and Juhi here next weekend." Avni said smoothly without batting an eyelid. Neil was always amazed at how wonderful she was at lying. She was a pro and could get out of any situation quite easily. He, on the other hand, completely sucked at it. Ali narrowed his eyes.
"That's not it. There is something more. You guys always do this to me. I want to know too." He said, grumpily seating him down.
"It's nothing Ali. We were just talking about Rhea and Juhi" He said as nonchalantly as he could. But he blushed when he said Juhi's name and both Avni and Ali noticed. He saw Ali's raised eyebrows and immediately averted his eyes to the grass yet again. God, why he was behaving like a fool, he wondered furiously. So caught up in his own embarrassment, Neil failed to notice that for a second Avni's face fell when he blushed, before she smiled teasingly again. Ali did.
Avni
When she was sixteen Avni won a short film competition for the first time in her life. That was how she met Akash.
He was one of the finalists and a very fine contestant in her opinion, maybe even better than her. They started hanging out. Even though they went to different schools, their houses were near and he would come over to her house in the evenings and they would talk about their mutual passion.
Avni was fascinated by the way Akash saw the world. He found a purpose in everything. In the light breeze that passed by, in the noises made by her maid in the kitchen, even in the antics of her neighbor's very smelly cat. It was the first time Avni met someone who saw the world the same way as her; fascinating. Rhea had almost made it, but she lacked the crazy streak that Avni had. Hence, Avni was ecstatic with the bond she shared with Akash.
One day they were over at his home listening to dhadak dhadak from Bunty aur Babli when he suddenly reached for her hand. Startled, her heartbeats getting faster, she glanced at him questioningly.
"I really like you Avni." He said with a nervous smile.
On her way back to her house, Avni skipped through the whole way, happily humming to herself.
The next day was Juhi's birthday and she invited Akash along. Though, when they reached the surprise party that Neil had been planning for her, all she could see was Neil, Ali and Rhea sitting in the lawn and there was no sign of a party. Neil saw her approaching and lowered his eyes to the ground. One look at Neil's face and Avni let go of Akash's arm to run towards him.
She sat down on the grass beside him. Before she could open her mouth, she spotted Rhea's eyes full of warning. She looked over at her quizzically and Rhea mouthed 'they broke up' to her. Her eyes widened and she silently asked Rhea what had happened. Rhea just shrugged. She looked back at Neil and felt her heart break. He looked so vulnerable and his chocolate brown eyes looked so sad that she felt herself starting to tear up. Not wasting a second, she threw her arms around his athletic frame. He leaned onto her much tinier frame and exhaled.
"It's fine." She whispered. "She is the greatest fool on earth if she let you go." And she was going to be very sorry if she decided to attend school tomorrow, she added mentally.
Neil sighed sadly, his own arms wrapping around her form. She held on tighter and glanced above his head. Rhea and Ali were looking at them, their faces filled with an identical expression of melancholy. Rhea cleared her throat and muttered something about getting water before running towards the house while Ali averted his eyes guiltily and took off after her. Avni though puzzled at their actions was soon distracted by Neil gently starting to release her.
"What did I do wrong Avni?"
He wondered out loud and Avni couldn't handle how miserable he sounded.
"Listen to me." She grabbed his hand. Neil refused to look at her and she began to tug on his arm until he relented.
Avni smiled brightly at him. "Don't you dare feel sorry for yourself okay. If anyone, you should feel sorry for her. She let you go. You! I mean, who does that? You are Neil Khanna. You are a straight A student, pretty good at sports and you are bloody hot." She ignored the slight burning of her cheeks and continued. "But more than all of that, you are a wonderful person with the biggest heart ever. Don't you dare feel as if it's your fault. Because I assure you, that you really are the best person in this world." Neil was now smiling faintly at her.
"Do you really think so?"
"I know so." She replied back and her voice conveyed how much she believed that to be the truth. Neil reached for her hand squeezing it slightly and she smiled back.
Then he began to talk and while she sat there, listening to Neil's words and reassuring him when required, she failed to notice that Akash was no longer standing where she had left him.
Neil
It was after almost ten years since they first met that Avni ever stopped talking to him and it drove him mad.
She never stopped talking to him. Not when he said that Rhea was prettier than her when they were eleven, not when he accidentally spilled hot chocolate on her brand new shirt on her seventeenth birthday, not even when he ditched her to go on a date with Juhi when they were fifteen. The reason seemed really silly in front of all the others to him too. He had tried to set up her on a date with Ali.
The plan was simple. He asked her to meet up at the university cafe for coffee and she had found Ali there instead. He hid near the window on the left not wanting to miss her reaction. Avni oblivious to the fact that she was being set up, behaved as usual with Ali and started complaining about Neil's tardiness.
A frustrated Ali had almost yelled at her that it was a date. A stunned Avni had looked dumbly at Ali for a full two minutes before reaching for her bag and standing up. In his curiosity Neil had moved directly in front of the window and Avni after she stood up saw his face first. Eyes blazing she had stormed over to him and what followed was the biggest fight he ever had with Avni.
She accused him of playing with her feelings and he, feeling guilty, reacted in the best way he thought at the moment. He attacked back. He accused her of always taking Ali for granted and never seeing him as a person, amongst other very colorful things. In the end, Avni had stormed off in tears and Neil was stumped. Avni never cried, in fact the last time he saw her cry was when they were fourteen.
He went home feeling guiltier than he had ever felt in his life. This was Avni. His best friend. The most wonderful girl on the planet. He had to apologize for hurting her feelings, he resolved. And for the past week, he was trying to do just that. But Avni was avoiding him at a level that was almost professional.
She refused to reply to his calls and texts and refused to see him. He had been trying very hard too. The first day he waited in front of the main gates of college, only to find out that she used the side entrance from Rhea later. The second day he waited outside her class during the whole lecture, but she passed by him along with the professor she was having a discussion with. And for all the days that had followed it was more or less the same. He never saw Avni for more than a second, much less actually talking to her and apologizing and it was driving him crazy. He couldn't concentrate on his lectures, he couldn't sleep and he couldn't even eat. The need to apologize was now more for his sake than hers.
So he decided that whatever happens, that he would not leave the campus without talking to her today. But after two hours of exploring with no Avni found, he was starting to lose his spirit. He made his way down to the cafe for a quick snack when he saw them. Sitting side by side, laughing and smiling was Avni and Ali. He stared at them dumbly for how long he didn't remember.
They sure look cozy, he thought feeling bitter for no apparent reason.
Avni saw him first. She smiled brightly and waved him over. Reluctant for some reason, he slowly walked over and sat down, looking over at the two of them curiously. Then he remembered his purpose.
"Avni, I'm so sorry. I was a complete idiot and I don't mean any of the-" He began but Avni held up her hand silencing him.
"It's okay Neil." She smiled with no malice. "I overreacted. You were obviously trying to help. I should have known that."
Neil couldn't handle the relief he felt, he smiled as brightly as he could. She smiled back.
"Besides, I think maybe you did have a point." Her cheeks were red and he didn't know what to make of it.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
She didn't answer. She just glanced shyly towards Ali who looked equally red now and back to him. And it suddenly hit him. Of course.
He grinned slyly at both of them, clapping Ali on the shoulder. Both of them, at this point, could have given a tomato a run for its money.
"This is so great. When did this happen?" Neil couldn't contain his excitement.
Avni blushed even harder.
"Well, after we had that fight, I was miserable for days. Then I thought back to the argument and I- I realized some things. And I thought it was time I gave Ali a chance."
Her answer puzzled Neil. He was sure he was missing something, something obvious and very important. He pushed those feelings away with a shrug, and congratulated the happy couple. He felt proud of himself for helping them out with their feelings. But soon it was time to go and he on reflex turned towards Avni. But she was not looking at him but rather at Ali, who had her left hand held firmly in his right.
Once they reached the door, they bade him goodbye and started walking in the opposite direction as well. And as he stood in the evening sun, watching Ali and Avni walking off holding hands, he felt his smile fade. For years to come Neil Khanna would remember that evening as the first time his heart was completely shattered.
Avni
Avni had completed one month as an anchor at Worldwide News before she turned twenty-three. And she was the happiest person on earth.
She had a great job, she had her own place even though it was kind of small, she was still best friends with Neil and her relationship with Ali was still fantastic. She had it all figured out. She knew exactly how her whole life was going to turn out and she was happy with that. Ali was going to pop the question in a few years and everything would be just perfect.
It was during these happiest days of hers that one day Avni received a phone call from Kareena didi, Neil's elder cousin. Kareena excitedly informed Avni that she was getting engaged and Avni was over the moon with happiness. But then Kareena didi let something slip about Neil and Avni almost lost the grip on her phone.
Numbly Avni agreed to be present at the engagement party the next night. Only when Kareena had hung up, did Avni think of the news again. So, Neil and Rhea huh? She mused. Somehow it didn't make any sense to her. They were not suited for each other. She just didn't know why. Avni quelled down the tiny noise in her head which proceeded to tell her exactly why she felt that way.
No, not any more, she thought vehemently, she had Ali now. She is happy with him. Besides Neil was the one who set her up with Ali. She was just upset that he didn't tell her. How could he not tell her? He told her everything. She knew things about him that no one else knew, not even Ali.
She felt hurt, she felt so miserable that she had no idea what it was. How could you do this to me Neil? She mused. She had to hear it from Kareena didi no less.
Avni resolved to speak with him tomorrow. She wanted to know why he didn't tell her the fact himself. She had talked to him last night and he never mentioned anything, he behaved as if everything was the same.
For the first time in her life, Avni wondered if she and Neil were drifting apart and that thought scared her more than she cared to admit.
She reached for her phone and opened his contact and glanced at his caller image. It was a photo of the two of them, taken on her graduation day. Neil was making a funny face at the camera with one arm draped around her while she gazed at him in amusement at the face he was making. She traced her index finger along his chocolate brown eyes feeling something in her break. It was a long time ago since they had this much fun.
She shook her head and looked at herself in the picture. She gasped. She never noticed before, but it was glaringly obvious now. It was the way she looked at him; she looked at him as if she had her whole world in front of her. She felt as if she had been slapped right in the face and that's when the tears started to come. Throughout the furious sobbing and hiccups, it took a while before she realized the fact that she never looked at Ali this way even once.
Her sobs suddenly got a lot louder.
Neil
Neil didn't know when he had started to like Rhea. They were not even close, sure they used to hang out but that was only because she was close to Ali and then later Avni. But she was there for him and he appreciated that. When Avni and Ali was off doing God knows what, they grew closer. She listened to him talk and he liked listening to her simple, uncomplicated things. Things he no longer had with Avni.
Then suddenly one day he realized, she liked him. She had always liked him and she was there and he was lonely. Not the best reasons for the start of a relationship but Neil was desperately lonely. She was extremely pleasant company and he liked her too, in his own way.
But why couldn't he tell Avni. It was not that he didn't try. He literally couldn't. The words just refused to leave his mouth. Now everyone else but her knew, and he felt guilty. Thus, Neil had resolved to finally tell her face to face during Kareena didi's engagement party.
Neil was not a coward. He was logical, smart and brave. He had no fear of speaking his heart out. But when he saw Avni dressed in a deep blue, western gown, he couldn't utter a word. She looked so different from her usual self and looked too much like Rhea, who had worn a similar gown with a different color.
For some reason Neil was not happy about it at all. Avni was unique, Rhea had nothing on her and seeing the two of them in similar outfits had done something to him. Avni was casual, full of life, not this elegant, sophisticated version in front of him.
While Neil stood there, contemplating why he disliked seeing her in the gown and her eyes had already found his chocolate brown ones.
Avni looked so hurt that he didn't know what to say. So he just stared her dumbly.
"Why didn't you tell me Neil?" She asked in the smallest voice he had ever heard of her. He shrugged not knowing the answer to that question himself.
She gave him an incredulous look. "You don't even have anything to say." It was a statement, not a question.
"It sort of happened."
That felt lame even to himself. Suddenly her eyes were teary. And he just stood there miserable, not knowing what to do.
"Avni, please." He said miserably, "Please don't Avni."
How had it come to this? They were the happiest people in the world. And now all he could do was watch dumbly when his best friend was tearing up in distress. As he stared blindly, Avni shook her head, wiped her eyes and with her nose in the air walked towards Ali who was watching them warily. She whispered something to him and he nodded. They went over to speak to Kareena di and then walked off towards the house. And even though all Neil wanted to do was run over to Avni and hold onto her for dear life, he did nothing of the sort.
He listened to Rhea's wind chime voice and smiled for her sake. As the night dragged on, Neil realized that he felt more alone than he had ever felt.
Avni
It was Avni's twenty-fifth birthday. The party was amazing, Ali had really outdone himself, she thought fondly. Then why aren't you inside celebrating with everyone else? She shook her head. These days she really hated her subconscious mind. As soon as she cut the cake, Avni had muttered some excuse and wandered off to her balcony.
She gazed onto the dark night idly staring at passer-by's in the street. Neil was inside, she mused. For the last two years, the both of them had grown apart more than she thought possible. She hadn't even seen him in ages. The last time they met was on Rhea's birthday and that was months ago. Avni hadn't even yet congratulated him, not that she hadn't felt guilty. It felt strange, her life without him. Neil was doing fine though, as far as she knew. He had cleared the civil service exams and was now undergoing his training to be one of the youngest ACPs in the country. And no matter what, Avni was proud.
Avni noticed that she wasn't alone anymore and she knew who it was before she had realized that someone was beside her. Avni didn't dare move; she didn't even acknowledge him although she wanted nothing other than to look into his chocolate brown eyes right now.
"It's nice out here." He commended.
She nodded, not caring whether he had seen the gesture or not. They stood there not talking for a while and suddenly Avni felt she couldn't do this anymore. She turned towards him.
"What happened to us Neil?"
Her voice sounded so broken and pathetic even to her. He glanced at her, pain glistening through his 'oh so expressive' chocolate brown eyes.
"I don't know." His whisper was just as broken.
His hand was outstretched towards her and it lingered in the air of unspoken words between them.
"Are you crying?" He added in disbelief.
Avni made a sound between a sob and a laugh.
"Yeah I'm like this whole new person these days. I cry all the time." She was now furiously wiping her eyes.
Neil extended his hand further and then hesitated again.
"I don't know Avni. I'm just so tired right now." He whispered again in a broken voice.
"Well, I don't like it one bit."
She was now openly crying. "I miss you."
Avni stared at Neil looking every bit miserable as she must have been looking. One moment they were facing each other and the next, they had their arms around each other. Avni held onto him with all her might, refusing to ever let go him.
"What is wrong with us?"
She asked to no one in particular. She felt rather than heard Neil give a hollow laugh. Avni raised her eyes to him and let herself feel the pleasure of gazing at his eyes. As she kept looking on, something dawned to her. Everything made perfect sense. She had opened her mouth to speak when the balcony door burst open and Ali and Rhea appeared.
Ali and Rhea didn't utter a word. They took in the sight of Avni and Neil holding onto each other like magnets with an unreadable expression worn on both their faces. And though Avni knew it was morally wrong, she refused to let go of Neil and refused looking at her boyfriend. Moments passed and it was Neil who finally took a step back. He removed his arms and stepped back and she reluctantly did the same.
Avni gave him one last look before she looked back determinately at Ali and before she could change her mind she grabbed his hand and walked away.
Ali
Ali Haider was not dumb. He was not extremely intelligent like his best friend, Neil, but he was a smart bloke. And right now he knew that he should have confronted this thing years ago. All the guests had left and he stayed behind to help Avni clean. Avni asked him to, and he knew what was coming. It was a long time coming actually. Maybe that's why Ali never bothered buying a ring, because he already knew what her answer would be and not in a good way too.
Ali watched Avni stumble with the plates trying hard to be less nervous. He smiled sardonically and decided he would help her out. Ali knew he owed it to his friend of fifteen years.
So he walked over to Avni, and started rinsing the plates.
"Do you know why after being together for five years, I could never gather the courage to ask you to marry me? Even though that was all I wanted ever since I was fifteen." Ali secretly took pride in the fact that his voice sounded nonchalant.
"No." He heard Avni mumble. Ali nodded.
"Why did you decide to give me a chance Avni?" He asked. "You have grown to love me, but you didn't really like me that way then."
Avni stopped her washing and stared straight ahead.
"It was because he told you."
It was a statement.
Beside him, Avni stiffened. Ali sighed. Here was the difficult part.
"Avni." He began. "Ever since I had known you, I had always known that you and Neil connected on a higher level. Something I never understood. I had been jealous. Of how quickly you came into our lives and how quickly you became the centre of his. I'm not even sure why I am telling you all this. The point is ever since you were ten years old, your lives have been woven together. Now when I look back, I feel silly for even trying. And even though these five years with you were wonderful, we both know it's not what we want."
"Ali this isn't-" Avni began, but Ali cut her off.
"Don't feel bad Avni, and please do not doubt my intelligence. I am not as brilliant as Neil but I'm really not dumb. And I am not doing this for just you. For the most part I am doing this for me." His voice was firm. "Just as you deserve to be with the guy you truly love, I don't deserve to be with someone who is there only due to some falsely conceived notions of obligation."
Avni was now openly crying and in spite of everything, Ali felt something tighten within him. But he held himself, it was not his job to make her smile any more. "And I really hope he figures out what he is doing because Rhea is a wonderful girl who only deserves the best."
They were done with the dishes. Ali reached for his jacket which lay on the couch and started for the door. He glanced back and saw Avni standing in the kitchen like a statue.
"I am not okay Avni but I will be. I need to be alone for a while but when I figure out things, I will be back."
Ali opened the door and stepped outside.
"It's never too late Avni."
He uttered his parting words. Hearing no response, Ali closed the door, buried his hands in his pockets and walked off.
Rhea
It had been ten minutes since they reached the front of her apartment and both of them were sitting silently, not making a move. Rhea didn't know what she must do. 'Why did we ever grow up?' She mused. She missed those four kids who just hung out together and had fun.
"We should stop seeing each other." Neil said out of the blue. Rhea was startled from her thoughts and took a deep breath.
"Alright." She nodded.
Rhea reached for the door handle wanting to get out, when she felt Neil's hand hold her back. She turned to him quizzically while he had an incredulous expression.
"You don't have anything to say?"
Rhea couldn't help herself, she scoffed. "What do you want me to say?" She retorted. "How heartbroken I am? And how I wish you would reconsider? No. I certainly do not feel that way. In fact the only way I feel now is pissed."
Neil openly stared seeing the ever polite, meek Rhea speak this way. This encouraged her. "When you finally made a move, I thought that after all these waiting you truly felt the way I felt. That you finally gave up pining after Avni and realized that there are other girls around. I was happy too you know. You were a damn good boyfriend. And now after two years I'm supposed to accept that this was all a lie. That you never got over Avni in the first place, that I was just a backup plan you strung along just until Avni took you back. No, this is not done. And we are not okay now."
Rhea was panting now, her eyes filled with unshed tears. She cast one last look at the dumbfounded Neil before getting off the car. Looking back, she whispered in a much calmer voice.
"You are not a bad person Neil, you just made some bad choices. I really hope you could find some happiness. Because just as I don't deserve to be with someone who in love with someone else, you don't deserve to be with someone whom you don't love."
Rhea didn't look back as she walked away.
Neil
It was almost two months after Avni's twenty-fifth birthday and Neil was still feeling a lot of things.
He still felt a slight pang of guilt every time he met Rhea, he still felt a bit self conscious every time Ali looked over at him and he felt totally miserable over the lack of contact with Avni. The last one was intentional though. The day after Rhea broke up with him, he had received a call from Kareena didi informing him that Avni and Ali broke up the same night. He didn't feel very surprised and guiltily admitted to himself that he was a bit pleased, scratch that, Neil was really pleased. The lack of contact between them was just for the reason that he didn't know how to approach her, also training was hectic, leaving very little leisure time for him.
He wanted to really talk with Avni and he did not have the time for that right now. But Neil often saw Rhea and Ali.
For a month there had been no updates on any of them and one day they both entered his flat as if nothing had changed. He had stared at them dumbfounded while Rhea searched for a good movie for them to watch and Ali made his favorite bindi. Neil stared at them with unshed tears and Ali told him that he had looked like a buffoon and Rhea laughed. Things went on normally after that. Neil didn't even try to feel embarrassed about how much he felt indebted to them for their gesture. He had hurt them, wronged them and they still forgave him. For that he would be eternally grateful. Ali and Rhea looked a lot better too. Ali's eyes now reflected peace and Rhea's laughter had more ring to it. Neil had realized then that none of them were happy. Not Ali, not Rhea, not him, not Avni.
Avni! His little spitfire, the hurricane of his life, his own mystery. He wanted to see her. He wanted to see her and hold her and feel her and never let go. And he could, he could see her any moment now but he was afraid. Why he didn't know.
Neil realized he couldn't put off meeting her forever. He needed to confront this sooner or later. Ali had been in contact with Avni and informed Neil that she was doing well, but he wanted to see her, he wanted to know all about her life from her, not from Ali.
Determined Neil pulled out his mobile the same time Avni's angelic face flashed in it.
Frowning, he pressed the receive button. There was some sort of ruckus around Avni was the first things that Neil noticed. He could hear people screaming in the background amongst other things.
"Are you alright Avni?" He asked right away, not bothering with any greetings. Neil heard Avni sigh heavily from the other side. Due to the loud noises he couldn't really hear what she was talking about. All Neil heard was the words bomb, studio and injured before he ran out towards his car.
Neil looked at the outdoor studio of Worldwide News or what was left of it. There had been some terrorist attack and according to a lady he just met, Avni was on air at the time of the blast. Neil felt like his body had been frozen into ice, he couldn't move and for the longest time he couldn't blink.
Snap out of it Neil. He snarled to itself. He somehow made his limbs to move and frantically ran trying to find Avni. All these time he could see her, talk to her and he didn't just because he was afraid. Neil felt stupid now, he felt absolutely stupid. He realized how superficial all this was, how every breath we took was so fickle. He promised to himself that once he found her, he refused to think if, he would hold onto her forever, that he would never let her go again.
So frantic was Neil in his search that he almost didn't see the young lady leaning against a very big fallen tree looking wearily at the people around her. He almost fainted in relief once he saw her, a few tears escaping his chocolate brown eyes.
Avni smiled at him and motioned him over. Neil walked to her with trembling legs and sat down beside her against the tree. He grabbed her hands and then looked all over her for injuries. She was covered in soot and dust but he noted that there were no injuries. Still, not satisfied, he checked her temperature asking her if she was alright. Avni nodded, smiling faintly.
"If you are alright, then why are you still sitting here?" Neil asked.
"I'm tired Neil." Avni shrugged."Aren't you?"
Neil looked at her for a full minute before he nodded.
"Yeah. I am tired too."
He whispered stumping back and relaxing against the wood. Together they sat there for a long time.
Eventually Avni rested her head on his shoulders and he wrapped an arm around her.
"I love you." Avni said casually, as if it was something that she had forgotten to mention and then suddenly remembered.
Neil slightly squeezed the arm around her.
"I love you too."
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