FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN

I love you too!

Manjari was noticeably quiet and Neel knew that she was missing Amaira. There was not much he could except hold her hand throughout the way back home. On reaching Foster Street, Manjari went inside what used to be Amaira's room and lay down on her bed. The bed still smelt of Amaira and it took away some of the pain Manjari was feeling. Two and a half months before she would be able to hold Amaira...

Neel knocked on the door and entered when there was no sound. He was surprised to see Manjari fast asleep. She was clutching Amaira's blanket tightly. It would get cold at night, Neel mused. He went to Manjari's bedroom and got her blanket and covered her with it. He kissed the top of her forehead and made his way to his house.

"How is she?" Imran asked him the moment he saw him."Fine. Asleep. She is missing Amaira".
"Understandably so", he said. "She is a mother."
"Hmm, Neel said making his way to the bedroom. He checked the time on his mobile. It would be 8 am in India. His mother would be up. He dialled her number and waited for her to pick up. He was missing her so much today. Seeing Manjari so upset made him realize again the sacrifices his parents had made for him."Hello ma", he said, the moment his mother picked up the phone. "I love you. I miss you".
"How are you, beta?", asked his mother." Is everything fine? You sound a bit worried."
Neel gave himself a wry grin. Trust his mother to pick up the tiniest inflections in his voice. "Yes, I am fine. How is papa?"
"He is fine too. He has gone out with his friends. How is Manjari?"
Neel sat down n his bed and drawing his legs under him said, "Sad. Amaira went home today. He loved this thing about his mother. She never judged, never pried. He had confided in his mother that he loved Manjari. He had also told her that she was divorced and had a daughter. All his mother had asked was whether she made him happy or not. She did not ask him to get married, she did not ask to speak to Manjari, she did not begin to plan her wedding. She let him be. Neel spoke to his mother for a few more minutes before keeping the phone down. He would be going home at the end of May and Manjari's fellowship was ending in June. She would be at Yale for an extra month. Without him. What if she met someone else or she realized that she did not love him? She was still to say those three words to him. He changed into his nightclothes and crawled into his bed. He would have liked to be with Manjari. To talk to her to ease his worries. But he knew that she would want to be alone tonight. Tomorrow. He would speak to her tomorrow...
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Manjari had been up for a while but had no desire to leave her bed. What was the point? She was all by herself. She was lying on her side, staring out of the window when she heard someone knock. She checked the time. It could be Neel, but it could also be Arjumand and Rashid or even her supervisor. Everyone knew that Amaira had left yesterday so there were particularly good chance that they were here to check on her.She got out of the bed and hastily brushed her breath. The knocking had become incessant now. She ran to her bedroom and hurriedly ran a brush through her hair and went to open the door. It was Arjumand, Rashid and Neel who was grinning cheekily. She let everyone in. "We got food", announced Arjumand. "And we are going out", Rashid declared."I do not feel like it", Manjari began to say when Neel cut her off by saying, "I second that!", exchanging meaningful glances with Arjumand and Rashid."Traitor!" Manjari fumed as she caught the wink Neel had given Arjumand and Rashid. All three were in cahoots with each other. Manjari tried refusing again. "I have a headache and I do not feel like it. I want to be at home...""No excuses ", said Arjumand. "We are your friends. You should spend some time with us too."

Before she knew what was happening, Manjari was being force-fed breakfast and was then told to get ready. Arjumand went to the extent of taking out her clothes for her. After Manjari got ready, the trio dragged her to the train station and took her to New York City. They spent the day doing touristy things. Neel had been surprisingly quiet today. He had insisted on holding her hands, but his usual sarcasm was missing. The day had been packed with events and even Manjari did not have the time to ask him if he was fine.