Infelicitous Desires

6

Though the conversation had gotten slightly heavy before the entrees had arrived, it remained light as Arnav and Khushi ate. After a wonderful, scrumptious dinner, the pair decided to take a walk, so they headed out of the restaurant and walked over by the river, heading to the pier. It had been quite a while since Khushi had been by the water, since most of her time used to be occupied by either Aarush or work. In fact because she gave so much of her time to those two, she had hardly given any time for herself.

"Would you care for some frozen yogurt?"

Khushi looked away from the water to see Arnav looking at a frozen yogurt truck. "Sure."

The desert menu hadn't really struck out to Khushi at the restaurant, which is why they had opted to skip it. So it was quite fortunate for them that a frozen truck yogurt was so close by. The two headed on over to it and each got themselves vanilla. However, while Arnav was healthy with his, opting for fruit toppings, Khushi loaded hers with brownie bites and gummy bears.

"You're quite the health freak," Khushi teased.

"And you're quite the opposite," Arnav teased back.

"I haven't treated myself like this in quite a while, to be honest," Khushi shrugged as she dug right in.

"I see... then it's totally justified," Arnav grinned.

The two headed down to the pier and walked along it. There were a few other people there, mostly couples who were cooped up in their own love bubbles. Others were with their friends, laughing away at their shenanigans. 

Arnav and Khushi settled down in a bench and looked out at the water.

Khushi let out a sigh as she felt the breeze rush through her hair. "I've missed this so much," she said softly.

"What? Gummy bears," Arnav teased.

"No," she replied, Khushi grinning away. "I meant the water and the soft breeze. I rarely got to give myself any time to just do things for myself."

"How come," Arnav frowned.

"Well," Khushi sighed, "between a relationship and a job, well... those two things took over my life. At work it was mainly focusing on shoots and what not, and then at home it was dealing with my ex." 

Arnav hummed in understanding. "Do you regret your relationship?"

Khushi paused for a moment as she thought, then shook her head. "No," and she continued eating her fro-yo. "Not at all; because then I wouldn't have learned and grown from the experience, you know what I mean?"

Arnav nodded, eating his fro-yo as well. "I do."

Khushi glanced over at him. Things are getting deep again, better keep it light and of details. 

"Besides," she continued on, "if I hadn't had that experience, I probably wouldn't have even met nor been interested in someone like you."

"Someone like me," Arnav smiled lightly in confusion. "Do you mean older?"

Khushi nodded, unable to help the crook of her lips. "No offense and all."

"None taken," he smiled.

Khushi smiled in return before turning her gaze back to the water. "Experience is a part of growth, so I'm grateful for them.... even if they're not always great."

Finishing up her frozen yogurt, Khushi went to get up to toss her cup out, but Arnav stopped her and took it instead. He discarded both of their empty cups before returning to Khushi's side. 

"How do you feel about this experience," he asked.

Khushi looked at him, finding his eyes already on her. She couldn't help but to look him up and down, the man looking absolutely handsome under the moonlight as his brown hair swayed slightly in the wind. She was momentarily reminded of their night together, remembering how the city lights crawled into his bedroom and illuminated over them... illuminated their sweaty, entangled bodies.