See You Later

Chapter 1

The present

Maahi hadn't heard that voice in a long time.

"Let me tell you a story..."

It was still a voice she could recognize easily. A deep, calm, lilting voice that she had heard probably a decade ago for the first time.

But why could she hear it again? Hadn't she tried her utmost best to keep everything about this voice away from her? Then why could she remember it with such alarming clarity?

She then turned around and looked, to face the inevitable. To see the face attached to the voice.

But she couldn't. Why not? It felt like it was coming from a different corner of the house. She made a sound of frustration, turned around and walked the other way.

The voice just got louder.

"Yes, I was just like you all..."

Rubbish. When was he ever like her? She didn't need this. She decided against seeing him again. So, she turned around and walked in another direction. But the voice kept following her.

"Hi! Yes ma'am, I'm asking you. What's your name?"

Wow. He'd forgotten her, hadn't he? Well, what else did she expect? It was better this way. She could just ignore the whole episode and walk away.

"Utho!"

What? He wanted her to get up now?

"Maahi!"

"Beta!"

Beta? What on earth was happening?

She blinked her eyes open and saw her brother and grandfather calling her.

Maahi had fallen asleep in the garden balcony of their house. It was a bright, early Sunday morning. Dadaji was sitting and eating garama garam aloo parathas and her brother was holding a half-open aachaar bottle. Everything was exactly the way it should be.

Then why could she still hear that voice?

She rubbed her eyes blearily.

Her younger brother, Abhinay Mehra, looked at her curiously. He was always the thoughtful one in the family. Must be the writer brain. He noticed that she looked a little more tired than usual and had actually fallen asleep right after waking up. He pushed a plate loaded with parathas towards her and simply said, "Kha."

She half-smiled and pulled the plate towards her. She was grateful for her brother's cooking. She took a bite of the soft aloo paratha and closed her eyes, experiencing nostalgia and peace. Abhi had cracked the golden code of making parathas the exact way their mom made them. She hadn't yet.

So, in their parents' absence, it was Abhi who did the cooking. And they were away a lot for work. They ran a travel company, exploring new countries and then taking travelers along with them on the same journey.

Abhi asked, "Tu theek?"

She took another bite and nodded.

"What's your schedule like?"

She peered at her phone to check the time. Hmm. She could do better on time. She bit her lip and responded, "I have to leave in a few hours. Surprise booking."

Abhi shook his head and said, "Fizool mein chutti cancel kardi tune."

She smiled and remembered the girl who had walked into her office and asked for these dates. She had only met one other person in her lifetime who was this charming. Both times, she found it very difficult to say no. So, she had pushed back on her vacation by a few weeks and opened up her calendar again.

Speaking of the one other person that she hadn't thought of in a long time...She could still hear that damn voice. She frowned and looked around. That's when she spotted Dadaji watching something on his iPad.

"Kya dekh rahe ho Dadaji?"

Dadaji broke into a grin and said, "Arre beta, this comedian is very funny. Has has ke rula diya. Main toh fan ban gaya. Yeh dekh, tu bhi ban jayegi."

He pushed the screen towards her.

She peered at the screen and saw the person attached to the voice. He broke into a familiar smile, one that reached his eyes, and looked directly at the camera.

"Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience! I'll see you later!"

Abhi peered into the screen and looked immediately at Maahi with a small smile when he saw who it was.

Dadaji asked, "Funny hai na? Naam batata hoon! His name is..."

"Aarush Iyer." Maahi finally said his name.