Yato hastah tato drishṭih|
Yato drishṭih tato manah|
Yato manah tato bāvah|
Yato bāvah tato rasah|
"Where the hands go, the eyes follow;
Where the eyes go, the mind follows;
Where the mind is, there goes the expression;
Where the expression is, ther...
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•••
Chandni pulled out her suitcase from the trunk after Aisha, followed by Rishi taking his and Rukmini's before slamming the trunk shut.
The excitement was evident in the three youngsters but toned down and inconspicuous in the teacher who bent by the window of the passenger door from outside the car.
"Call me when you reach there, okay?" Rukmini's husband spoke.
"Yeah, you take care. Good bye. Love you."
"Bye Appa." Rishi waved and the girls said a polite 'Bye sir' and he was off.
Rishi stretched both his hands above his head with a yawn, exhaling as he brought his hands down.
"So, which terminal?" Rishi asked and Chandni's heart beat abnormally fast, as if she was forgetting and missing something.
Something humane, and she realized it was someone. Someone who had had beautiful eyes and hurtful smiles the last time she had met them.
But she was here in the airport. There was no turning back or delaying or she could kiss her Swaying Willow dreams goodbye.
"T-3." Rukmini answered and the group of four walked away from T-1, Chandni a bit slower than usual.
"You alright? First time flying?" Aisha lingered behind to join her friend.
"No, no." It definitely wasn't her first time on flight.
In fact, the last time had been at Bagdogra airport with their flight going through a very turbulent sky when they'd taken a vacation to the eastern Hiamalayas and around the base of it.
"Oh. Then, homesick?"
"Yes." He felt like home, and he wasn't here. Definitely what she was feeling, yes.
"Don't worry, we're here hmm?" Aisha threw an arm around Chandni's shoulder, tucking the shorter girl to her side.
Aakash was pretty sure they'd run several red lights, but he didn't care.
He was late. Maybe too late.
His brother had told him casually that Chandni texted that her flight was today at six thirty in the morning. Flabbergasted, and in shock, Aakash had snatched his brother's phone to see their texts. He saw a buttload of jokes—if one could even call them that.
Prithvi could've not told him. He had actually decided not to. But he just couldn't do that to his brother who'd looked as if the life was slowly being drained from him day-by-day, ever since he'd talked about how he'd met Chandni by chance at the clothing store.
So right at five in the break of dawn, he'd woken up his little brother and showed him her text about the timing of her departure.
Aakash had taken a solid twenty minutes to observe that information and understand the jokes she'd sent his brother before getting the hell out of his house, discreetly without either of their parents' knowledge and racing to the airport.
