The Way We Were

Chapter 10

(Summertime Sadness)

The first few days post the farewell party, Khushi was always busy in sending off one acquaintance or another. A full week past it, she received the schedule for her classes. It was sixteen lectures each, spread across six weeks, at the end of which she had the option to either register for a complete semester, or to only take up the exams. One way or another, Khushi Kumari Gupta was targeting to close out the year with a successful graduation degree.

The good thing about summer school was that she had a lot of time to take up a summer job, so as to put less stress on Payal, who had taken a business loan to start a dance school. While that was the official statement she had made to the bank officials, that money was being sent to Khushi for her extra six weeks of stay. And Khushi was just about done not earning for herself.

Khushi knew, that had Anjali Malik not sent for that one scholarship application, the others wouldn't have followed. This prestigious school, with its ivory walls, castle like interiors would have not accepted Khushi Kumari Gupta from a hindi medium school from the City of Nawabs.

She was living on charity for the past five years. First, Anjali's emotional charity. Then, Mr Kashyap's emotional charity. She could live with that, she had earned it with her intelligence. But somewhere she had faltered.

As Khushi walked out the gates of her college and down a familiar pavement, she could smell the homely feeling from a block away.

Khushi knew that her heart had won out, in the end. She knew where she begun, where she ended. Or more to the point, who her life, her every action revolved around. She wasn't naive to the feelings of jealousy.

Every breath of his mattered to her. Every inch of her skin crawled when his breath mingled with anyone else's. She knew what had undone her a year ago. She knew what had undone her one week ago. Thankfully, the person in question was flying home, and would be thousands of miles away within an hour.

She had no physical reminders of her weakness. The good thing about summer school was that she wouldn't have to work around the schedule of Arnav Singh Raizada. He was a stranger. Her would be brother-in-law's cousin who attended the same university as her. That was all he would be.

Windchimes tinkled as Khushi pushed open a glass door and found herself surrounded in salivating vapors coming off a back door marked KITCHEN (Staff Only).

Khushi looked over the cafe which was a favorite spot of hers and Lavanya's for their stay through the years. At the table in the back, where they used to sit with Aman for hours discussing and dissecting Akash and Payal's love story, hoping they would gather the courage to confess. At the spot by the barstool, where she would spread her novels and pretend to read alone, whenever Arnav joined them. At the table marked RESERVED, where Lavanya swore was the first time Aman confessed he wanted to marry her someday. Khushi sighed and picked up a pamphlet lying by the see-through window.

"Khushi beta? Tum yaha kaise?" (Khushi, my child. What brings you here?)

Khushi turned to see the owner. Mrs Yadav was a sweet woman in her 50s, her belly quiet large. She reminded Khushi of Buaji a lot, sans the extended braid. Alas, this wasn't Payal's mother. "Namaste, Aunty. Kaise ho?" (Hello, Aunty. How are you?)

"Mai toh thik hun. Par tum yaha akeli kya kar rahi ho?" She asked. "Lavanya ke liye kuch pack karwana hai kya?" (I am well. What are you doing here alone? Do you need something packed for Lavanya?)

"Nahi Aunty. Lavanya ki flight thi kal raat. Usne bye bola hai. Aur dher saare hugs dene bhi bola hai." (No Aunty. Lavanya caught her return flight last night. She sent her goodbyes and a massive amount of bear hugs.)