Journey of a Lifetime

In Your Eyes

"Raq, come quickly, baby. The airlines called. We need to be on time," Shamita knocked at the bathroom door.

"Yes, baby. Don't worry. We'll be on time," the confidence in the voice from behind the door made her smile.

"Main kya karu tumhara, Raqu?" she mumbled as she turned to do a quick check of their packed bags.

The next moment she was in a gorilla-like embrace. "Kuch nahi. Bas pyaar. Only love!" She turned back to smile at him. It was a half-smile but her heart overflowing with love. She hugged him tight and kissed his bare torso.

"Happpyyyyy? We are finally off on vacation. Our first together," he pecked on her cheek.

She smiled but kept her hands on his chest, pushing him gently, egging him on to get dressed. "Yes, very. But hope you realise you can't go in a towel," she giggled.

"Shamita Shetty, I hope you realise you are the biggest killjoy and killlove," he caught her hand. He pulled her by the waist, drawing her in an embrace just to irritate her. And, kissed her yet again.

She chuckled, "Raqesh Bapat, hope you realise you are the most irritating boyfriend." She said wriggling out of his clasp and muttered under her breath, "But the best."
"I heard that!" Raq said, delighted. "Greece, here we come."

---

Shamita woke up with a start. She looked around; she was in their stunning, seaside villa, in Mykonos. They had reached their villa late last night after a whole day of travel. A quick dinner in their bedroom, and they had crashed into the bed early. The idea was to wake up early and explore the beautiful locale the following day. But here she was, awake at 5 am, her sleep broken up by the incessant tone of incoming messages.

She was hearing her phone beeping in intervals in sleep. But she was just too comfortable—her limbs entangled with Raq's—that she had been putting off stirring out of bed. But, the frequency of the SMS tone had increased. 'Now what?' she thought, squirming to get out. She looked down at Raq and lowered her head to press a light kiss on his forehead, carefully brushing away a stray curl from his face.

Out of bed, she caught the stunning expanse of clear blue waters of Mykonos with a matching Mediterranean sky through the window. But the next moment, she stared at her phone in disbelief. Her Watsapp had 365 unread messages. She had no patience to go through them all on her vacation, but Shilpa's message sat right on top, "Baby, don't worry. Don't react. We are with you."

Akku's followed, "Are you guys okay? Ignore, baby!"

Mamma sent her a string of heart emojis and blessings.

Tai's SMS read, "Please take care of each other and don't let anything spoil your time together. Don't worry; we will handle it here." Her heart sank.

'No not again,' Shamita groaned in frustration. She rushed through story after story, reading bizarre theories about her and Raq, about both the families, her friendships and whatnot. She pushed back the hair from her forehead and pressed her hands over her weary eyes. She dropped her head between her hands and sank into a high back chair placed next to a wall-sized bay window.

Unshed tears pooled at the backs of her eyes, stinging her real hard as she tried controlling herself.

Meanwhile, Raq stirred in his sleep and found his arms empty. He patted his hands on Shamz's side of the bed with his eyes still shut. She wasn't there. Without her, the bed felt cold. He squinted his eyes, only to find her slumped in the chair by the window. He rubbed his eyes, 'Is she crying?'

He jumped out of bed and was with Shamz in less than a millisecond. "What happened, baby?" he hugged her and kissed her forehead.

Kneeling next to her, he held her arms. She handed over the phone to him, showing him their PR manager's mail with links to all the stories.