Gehraiyaan.

Chapter 40

Someone once said that moments - and people - that make you the happiest can still make you the saddest and to this day, I find it to be one of the most contradictory, yet accurate thing ever said.

Some people don't show you light, nor do the take you to darkness; they bring you to the spot where the darkness in the tunnel meets the light on the other side, and it's up to you to figure out where you stand. Not black nor white, some people are gray; they teach you how to cherish moments with all your heart, even though you know that someday, it'll tear your heart apart. To me, that's Darshan and it's kind of crazy to think of it - that I'm uncertain of where he's taking me to, but there's absolutely no hesitation from trailing behind him. I don't know if you call it trust, or stupidity; maybe, time will expose that to me. But right now, it's about living in the moment... something I haven't put into practice in a while.

Darshan and I stroll around the open-space, jumping in-and-out of food stalls. "You want to grab a chocolate?", I offer and Darshan wrinkles his nose at the idea. "A milkshake?", I serve another option. "Too many calories", he sighs. "It's just milkshake", I say. "With ice cream and chocolate. Do you know how many calories I'll have to burn at the gym?", he argues, silencing me.

"How about a burger?", I look around. "You might as well feed me poison", Darshan snaps. "Shall we go eat the grass outside, then?", I snap back in annoyance.

"You buy whatever you want. My dietician has strictly prohibited me from consuming anything unnecessary", he informs. "I think your dietician should be fired from her job", I pause and he looks at me, perplexed. "She's not doing her job that well, you know. Ideally, you should've lost weight but...whatever", I tease him and he darts a death stare in my direction.

"Don't look at me like that. Someone has to say it, right?", I do everything I can to conceal my smile. "Say what?", he echoes. "...that you're fat", I utter casually, and watch disbelief takeover his face.

"You know, all my haters together aren't as jealous as you!", he fights back and it's actually really cute. "And---and what's wrong with my body?", he questions, defensively. "What's with that little baby bump?", I point at... basically, nothing; he doesn't have a tummy, but it's more than fun to pull the trigger with him.

"Haan toh---I'm almost 34, you cannot expect me to have six-packs at this age", he justifies. "Anyways, you have no idea how women are dying to touch my body", he throws in his usual dialogue with a smirk. "Oh my God, really?", I gasp, dramatically. "Yes, it hurts you in the heart, doesn't it?", he smirks. "Imagine having dreams of touching your tummy, and it turns out to be a football. My heart goes out to these women", I go on with the joke.

"Navya Shekhawat, you know what?", he inches towards me. "No, I don't, Darshan Raval", I say back. "I read somewhere that - when octopuses have sex, the male octopus remove his penis and throws it to the woman, so that she could do whatever the fuck she wants with it. Do you know what that means in human language?", he blabbers some bullshit in the middle of nowhere. "Noo...", I say, thoughtfully. "Go fuck yourself", he flashes a sarcastic smile at me. "That wasn't for you. I was simply educating you about animal sex and underlying message", he shrugs his shoulders. I'm not going to say it out aloud but that was a good one; he deserves a point for that comeback, but I'm definitely not giving it to him.

"Ab chale? Or do you want to argue all night with me?", I take off and he trails behind me. We wander around for a little longer, before I halt in front of The Mighty Rollercoaster ride; it does justice to its name with all the peaks and loops.

"I want to go on the rollercoaster!", I jump in excitement and receive absolutely zero energy from Darshan's end. "You go, I'll stay back", he backs off. "Come on, Darsh!", I frown.