Chapter 11 B
He looked around the caf, which was in no shape to be called that in the first place. It was crowded that indicated it to be one of the famous cafes in that area. However, it was not a place where he would prefer when he was with a girl. It was too uncomfortable for him to have her in such a place where men had been eyeing her since the time they settled on one of the tables.
"I had high expectations when you particularly wanted to have your morning coffee here." He commented sarcastically, looking around the place and thinking a way to leave as soon as they could. "How in the hell did you reach a place as such in the first place? I mean, no girl would prefer this and I am sure, a sane girl would be better with roadside stall, than to visit this crowded area."
She chuckled, signaling a waiter. "A sane girl without a taste prefers roadside stall over this." She commented back, amused to watch him making different faces. "However, a coffee lover can never prefer eve a five star hotel over Minerva caf, Arnav. No Hyderabadi's in particular."
"Still..." he paused when a small boy appeared by the table out of nowhere. He glanced at the kid, who was wearing a white stained innerwear vest with holes with a pair of shorts. A towel around his neck. The kid was thin... to thin for his age, Arnav noticed.
"Idly with Ghee, Butter Masala Dosa and Grilled Cheese Sandwich each along with a filter coffee." Khushi ordered away without looking at the menu, shocking Arnav a little. She faced him with a confused look and asked, "what are you waiting, Arnav. Place your order so that the kid can attend other tables."
"Those are for you alone?" He asked, not caring about his voice as he stared at her with stunned expression. "I can't believe I met a girl who actually ordered three items with things that people generally considered as fatty foods." He muttered under his breath with a shake. "One Masala Paper Dosa with whatever coffee she ordered." He said finally and waited for the kid to leave them alone.
"No wonder you are too lean." Khushi said with a boring look. "You have to eat a lot, Suriya."
It took all his strength not to utter any word that might hurt her. She was different, he agreed with his inner voice. She was more insane and crazy than he had given credit for. "We had an hour drive from Tank Bund to this caf in old city just to have our breakfast. Khushi, is there no other local caf in the city other than this one?"
She smiled sheepishly as she nodded. "This is where you can actually find the real city, Arnav. A place where you can smell the aroma of the city blended in coffee. A place where you can taste the real essence."
"I gave up." He said, annoyed that she made him accept his defeat as he had no comeback. "While we wait for our order, why don't you explain how you find this place and your experiences here?"He asked, partly to kill time, and partly to understand the girl.
"Stop me if I bored you." Khushi warned him seriously. "I can be a lost case when I started speaking about the place or my experiences."
"You have my word." He replied sincerely while leaning back on the chair in a more relaxed way.
They looked at each other - one trying to understand what was going on in the crazy girl's mind, while the other trying to understand more about the man she loved."The first time was when I was six." She said with a smile. "Mamma used to have a two hour musical seminar every weekend back then and Papa used to drop her, along with us. While she was in it, we three used to roam around the city. Di was not so interested though, Papa used to carry her while she slept but I... I loved enjoying an early Sunday morning in outdoors. The first place was Tank Bund, of course. I had no idea when I fell in love with it, but I just did. Then, after picking Mamma up, we used to visit this place to have our breakfast and the coffee aroma... ah, can I say I loved it ever since? All the way, Mamma would sing with us trying to copy her rhythm."
"What is it with Hyderabadi girls and these kind of things!" Arnav wondered aloud with a slight shake.
Khushi looked at him with raised brow. "What do you mean by that?" She demanded.
"Tank Bund, Minerva and Music." He stated simply, licking coconut chutney off his finger. "Not complaining though... but still. Is there really a kind of invisible connection between you all?"
"Who is the other one you are talking about?" She asked while glaring at him, while he focused his attention on his almost empty plate, sipping his coffee.
"No one in particular," he said but looked at her. "Actually, there is a girl I know from here, who loves to spend all her free time and who loves her coffee. Tuning to classical music on a long drive is her favorite activity. Even a colleague here speaks about all these things, more or less, and loves her filter coffee. Hearing similar interests, is it not natural for me to conclude every girl has these things in their list?"
Khushi chuckled and nodded. "I guess so..."
They finished their breakfast in silence, lost in their own world. It was not hard to talk with her, Arnav thought with a smile. Yet, it was difficult to read her. Though she was the same pampered kid he had seen, there was something in Khushi that was sanely matured. Her knowledge regarding her cultural heritage and her memories in a most scenery way said it all - she was a normal girl with her shares of dreams and fairy tales. However, they were hidden deep within the innocent kid that she displayed herself to the world. Arnav watched her savoring the aroma as she held the coffee cup near her lips with her eyes closed. A part of him enjoyed watching her, while the other part had a strong urge to irritate her.
"On the other hand," Arnav heard himself opening up near her, "the girl I know... has no such leisure time to visit Tank Bund. I am waiting for her to have that time... to visit the place... so that she could know that I am here."
Khushi stared at him, startled the way he started speaking all of the sudden. "The girl you said you like," she asked him, managing to keep her voice as normal as she could, "the one you said you haven't seen yet." When he nodded, she let out a happy smile before wiping it off and asked, "how can you say that she would know you are here if she visited the place?"
He was surprised by himself that he had spoken about it with someone. He had been having a hard time and was really no one to share it with. Moreover, he did not want that person to be his parents or sister, who was worried about him waiting for a stranger without knowing how he felt for her. With Khushi, on the other hand, was comfortable and easy. "I think it is easy because we don't know each other well, and that we might not meet again once I left this place." He replied softly, "or it is easy because you showed a part of yourself this morning... longing for that one person. However the truth is, I feel like sharing a part of me with you today, Khushi. Not as Arnav Raizada but Suriya as she, the girl I am longing for, knew me."
Khushi reached for his hand and held in hers. "I would love to hear how you feel for her, Arnav." She confessed the truth, curious to know his feelings for her, and smiled when he nodded."How will she know about you staying here? Moreover, how do you know she has no free time and that she hadn't visited the place since your arrival?"
"I have been spending hours over there waiting for her," Arnav said, freeing his hand from hers gently, as he felt that act to be intimate in a way, though he knew Khushi hadn't hold his hand in that way. It was an innocent act from her part and it was him who felt it that way. He shook that thought, pushing it aside as soon as it occurred. "I left a message for her and I am sure she will reply back once she read it. What really bothers me is that what if she hasn't had a chance to reach there? What if she isn't in this city? What if I am too late to come here?"
"What took you so long to come here then, Arnav?" She demanded absently, as she stared at him, overwhelmed by the love she saw in him for her. She shivered as soon as she realized what she said. She noticed him looking at her with the same surprise but she recovered from it in a second. "You said that you met her six months ago. What took you so long to try and meet her, if you truly wanted to meet her?"
"Just because we happened to exchange few cards, is it really okay for me to run after her?"It was his turn to demand her. "What do you think about me, Khushi? That I am a fool to follow a girl all over the world? That it is some kind of fairy tale where I can succeed in finding a Cinderella with the help of few cards? I took this long to come here because I wanted to make sure what I felt for her before I take any decision. It was because I was not that person to believe in miracles and conclude that I love a girl I haven't even met. But once I accepted that I did feel for her and that I need to find her, I moved here without much of delaying, Khushi."
She just stared at him, blinking back her tears. She hadn't expected him to speak about his love near her. as much she wanted to tell him that it was her, she was unable to. It was hard for her to see him and his confessions were making things complicated for her. She was being selfish, she knew it. She should have stayed far away from him but when she saw him in her house, it had been too hard to resist the urge to speak with him. And she had decided, after having much thought, that she would be selfish and that she would spend the days with him, as long as he lived in her house. However, the turn of events was something unexpected. She lowered her head in order to avoid looking at him, as she tried to calm her nerves. She had less time in her hands and she need to make as much memorable moments with him as possible, without making it obvious to him. She would want to make things easier for him along it. She had to make him forget her and move on in his life. It was useless for him to hold onto his card girl, when his card girl could never have a life with him.
"Sometimes," she said at last, "you might be on time, Suriya. But the other person might not have that time to wait for you. Sometimes, it is too hard to tell the truth, and too hard to hide it too. Sometimes, you can't hold onto the person you love and you have to force to let them go for their own happiness." She looked at him as she smiled. "You asked me to confess my love for him. but there is something that is forcing me to stop myself from confessing to him. Life is unfair, Suriya and the only thing that held the truth is... life goes on. It doesn't wait for us. It doesn't stop for us just because we lost our loved ones."
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