An-EXIT

CHAPTER 16 (MOTHER'S DAY POEM)

AHAANA

"Mr. Jaiswal, please!" Sir said to Paa while standing with the passenger seat's door open. Without forcing the conversation further, paa settled in the front seat and me and maa in the backseats. The sound of closing the door echoed and next I heard the ignition of the engine. Sir rolled down the steering, and we were finally out of our house's premises.

I was listening to maa, as she told me every little thing which took place in my absence. A nod and window, a quick nod and my eyes back to looking outside the window. I tried my level best to not make it look obvious, but even after several tries, I failed every second in keeping eye contact with maa. This exchange went for like 10 minutes, until my ears caught, "You didn't show us your project Ahaana!" Paa was sitting adjacent to me, so it was pretty easy to see him turn to look at me. And about the project, now if I give it a thought, I should have shown them before...

"You're right.... The previous night she ended up sleeping before we could ask about it." Maa agreed with paa.

"I'll get it tomorrow sometime. It must be with the event manager or so." Sir made a clear turn following the circle and then straight towards the main road.

"But won't it become difficult for you? I think you should show us after coming back to Delhi." Maa adjusted her handbag and gave a quick look to paa.

"You're leaving for somewhere?" I leaned in front, partially because I was confused and maybe.... So that I could get a better hearing of his answer.

"He's actually going with you, Ahaana. Dad asked him to drop you back to the college safely." Maa kept her palm on my shoulder and nodded vaguely. Paa asked WHAT?

"I can go on my own, we don't need to disturb sir. H-he is already so busy. Tomorrow...... TOMORROW HE NEEDS TO SUBMIT THE PROJECT'S REPORT, yeahh, yeah right!" I started shaking my head, merely giving attention to others' reactions.

I was already filled with this weird feeling and after thoughts of the whole scene happened at the end of the exhibition, now this? No, I can't afford this pack of awkwardness! I strictly need some time to digest all this, like, a year will work... or maybe more.

"We know you can go on your own, but the duration of the journey is too long. He'll be a good company." Paa tried to explain.

That. Does. Not. Make. Any. Fucking. Sense. ALSO, these aren't my father's words. He doesn't talk like this.

"If you're panicking about the train journey, then drop the tension. I got it covered with the flight tickets. And I believe, it's better you stick with flights rather than going for 16 or more hours' train journey." Before I could reply to sir, or keep my most valuable opinions out there, our car was already standing in the parking zone. A sweet little Chinese café was looking beautiful in the night light. My favorite place.

The café was small, it was spread only till ground level. The lanterns which were decorated outside of the café were glowing, giving it a little authentic chinese vibe. The shadows forming on the wall by the lanterns were the complete contrast of the interior vibe which made the café look even more beautiful.

"Ma'am." Sir tilted his head and gave me a small smile, his left hand raised, showing me the way outside. Umm.... What was that?

Just as we entered the café, the manager came rushing towards us as if he was waiting for our arrival. This was pretty strange for me, as I never received this type of welcome in my six years of frequent visits. Maybe..... Yeah, now looking at the manager shaking hands with sir, it's definitely sure that he recognised him. I looked around the cafe for a perfect table and my eyes fell on the television's screen which was attached on the top of the wall, around eight feet from the floor. 'Teen-Tech', 'Kabir Mehra', 'AJ-T' the keywords of the news broadcasting. Yeah, I knew it.