Episode 2
Holding hands, they stand. Riya's thumb slowly caresses the back of Ranbir's hand. He smiles softly, silently comforting him and herself. As a door they never planned for, opens in front of them. A new chapter, written because of a complicated past.
"Ranbir! Yeh kya kar rahe ho tum? Mujhe neeche utaro." Riya squeaked as Ranbir picked her up in his arms, her arms going around his neck.
"Griha pravesh- par western style mein." Ranbir smiled charmingly, but just as he was about to enter the house with Riya in his arms as a groom does with his wife, he paused. Raised a brow, looking at Riya, confused. "Main kab se Ranbir ban gaya?"
Now Riya is confused. "Kya matlab ban gaye? Tumhara naam hai yeh. Kya tum phir se toh-."
"Haan mera naam hai, par tumhare liye nahi. Bhai ne mujhe warn kiya tha ke shaadi ke baad cheezen badal jaate hai par itni toh nahi." Ranbir joked as he pouted, yet was somewhat serious.
Reaching up, Riya kissed his cheek, and Ranbir's eyes went comically large, his trick on him. Giggling, she wiped her lipstick from his cheek. "Bhalu tum ab bhi bahut bade Bhalu hi ho."
"Haan hoon aur hamesha rahoonga, tumhara. Aur tum bhi hamesha meri Chidiya rehna, rahoongi na?" It's a rhetorical question, but she heard the genuine uncertainty in Ranbir's voice, as he rested his forehead on hers, and crossed the threshold.
Riya smiled soothingly, caressing the baby hair on his nape. "Hamesha mere Bhalu-"
"Riya dhyaan se! Tu thik hai?" Abhishek's voice, as Riya stumbles out of the house, breaking out of her day dream, what was once reality.
Riya can only nod, as Abhishek loads bags into a car. Silent. Standing outside, her hand empty. Standing outside, looking in, she still sees them walking in. Their laughter echoing off the walls, as he twirls her around in his arms. Every inch of this house has them in it. To cuddling each other on that love seat over there, to chasing each other up the stairs creating a mess everywhere. Coming out of the kitchen both giggling, covered in the remnants of what was supposed to be dinner, to the midnight slow dances, without music, when one of them couldn't sleep. Memories they made, but he who gave her memories, has now himself become a memory.
A hand holds her hand, for a second she lets herself believe it's his. But it's not as someone lays keys on the palm of her hand and kisses it. Riya turns to a smiling but teary eyed woman.
"Yeh chabiya tumhe rakho, main kisi aur ko- sab kuch yahi hoga, jab tum- aaogi wapas." Said Meera, holding Riya's face in her hands, trying to keep her tears at bay. Riya only looks back at the house. It wasn't theirs.
Temporary, a humble 2 storey house in the upper east side of Ontario, Canada. This house, it wasn't theirs, rented, it belonged to Meera. It wasn't theirs, so why did it become theirs? They didn't realize, it sneaked up on them when a house became a home, and Meera became a lot more than just a landlady, but a parental figure.
Meera hugs Riya tightly, hiding her tears. Riya doesn't reciprocate the hug, she never does now, not with anyone. Arms limp, hand gripping the keys. She won't come back, there's nothing to come back to, and nothing to go back to, stuck, existing but nowhere.
***
"Mohit tum itne careless kaise ho sakte ho?! Kaise tune alag alag classes humari seats book kar de?!" Abhishek yelled on the phone, standing by Riya who was already seated in a window seat of the plane, staring at the seat belt sign that kept flashing.
"Sorry sir, galti ho gayi, actually meri nayi intern ne aapke flights book ki thi, usse pata nahi tha ke business class aur first class different hain. Numbers bhi B1 or B2 the toh..." Mohit, Abhishek's private assistant explained through the phone.
"Tujhe yeh khud karna chahiye tha. Intern se kyun-." As Abhishek spoke, Riya turned her head, a slight movement, because of a word he said. Then went back to staring intently at the seat belt sign again.
"Jaane do, Dad. Intern- hi toh hai." Said Riya, quietly, Abhishek looked at her surprised, this is the most she's spoken today. On some days she speaks monotonously, lacking any emotion, some days only a few words, and some days nothing, lost in her head. Today is one of those days, a bad day, Abhishek wasn't expecting her to speak at all.
Abhishek hung up, cupping Riya's cheek. "Kya tu yahan apne aap thik rahegi? Nahi toh hum phir kabhi-."
"Aap jao." Only two words, Riya's fading again, back to staring intently at the seat belt sign. If only-
"Thik hai, Princess. Par agar kuch bhi ho call me, phone tere paas hi hai. Agar baat nahi karne toh text me, main aa jaunga. Hum 13 hours mein Delhi paunch jayenge. Mein airplane ke exit ke paas tera wait karunga, aur wahan se hum saath terminal A jayenge. Aryan aur Mishti aa rahe hain humein receive karne. Jab tak aapna khayal rakhna, thik hai?" Said Abhishek, giving Riya a whole list of instructions, before he would get a whine about how he should stop treating her like a child, now all he gets is a minuscule nod of acknowledgement.
But that's enough, tiny but enough- progress. Abhishek holds Riya's face in his hands and kisses her forehead, hugging her for a good minute, before going to his own seat, in counting only 15 rows away, far but not too far, but far enough to let fate play its wicked game.
The seat beside Riya, empty still, he's running late, but who will occupy this seat, their paths will always be criss-crossed in the most unexpected of ways.
***
Riya opened a vial, popped a pill into her mouth, and swallowed it with a couple of sips of her wine.
In hindsight, she should've taken it sooner, so she wouldn't have to be here gripping the armrest of her seat as the plane took off.
Closing her eyes.
She hated this feeling, always has. The way the plane ascends, and her heart drops. Riya hates this feeling, feelings she still has them?
"Dar lag raha hai?" Asked someone, and with her eyes closed every voice sounds like Ranbir's, because he is all she ever thinks about.
"Nahi toh Bhalu." Said Riya, but then remembered that could never be, and let go of the armrest as she opened her eyes. Of course, another guy, not him, never him, no matter how much she hopes.
Another guy, not him, was smiling at her. Oh what she would give to see him smile at her, one more time.
But that can never be. So she looked away, all feeling gone, numb again. Maybe it isn't that she can't feel, it's that she doesn't want to-.
"Mujhe bhi dar lagta hai- actually nahi- par aaj lag raha hai- jab yeh plane land hoga, main jo karne wala hoon na-." Vihaan runs his hand through his hair, laughing awkwardly, blabbering away to a complete stranger because he's nervous.
But Riya has turned away. If she even heard him or not is unclear.
She's looking through the window, her eyes a hallow stare, watching the city fade into clouds, fading herself.
They had come to this city with nothing but each other, she never thought she would leave with everything but Ranbir. This city, was a unwanted chapter in their story. If only they knew then that it would be their last.
"Main hi bulta rahoonga, yah aap bhi kuch kahegi? Main, Vihaan Kohli, aur aap?" Vihaan waited for Riya to respond, but she didn't.
Tuning him out without meaning to, but their destination was the same, either way.
All of them headed to those they had once loved.
***
Please like and comment if you enjoyed reading and want me to upload Episode 3.
Sincerely,
Mahi
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
