You Complete Me! [COMPLETED]

8. Looking Forward

Denial is a laborious task, one that requires constant effort and attention. The mornings were particularly taxing for Yashaswini, as she found herself wide awake before the break of dawn almost every day since returning home. By the time her parents rose from their slumber and began their daily routine, she had already spent hours ruminating and worrying about the very things she was desperately trying to avoid. Being around her father only exacerbated her internal turmoil.

As a means of escape, Yashaswini made up an excuse about needing to purchase fresh fruit juices and non-fat milk, and pleaded with her mother to allow her to go alone. "Mom, I'll be fine, truly. It's only a five-minute drive, I can handle it on my own," Yashaswini reassured her.

"But I can drive you there, it's no trouble at all," her mother protested.

"No, Mom, you need to take care of Dad's breakfast before he leaves for work. Please, go back inside, he must be getting late," Yashaswini urged.

Mrs. Thakur looked at her daughter with concern before reluctantly heading back into the house. "Okay, be safe. You know how reckless some of the drivers can be around here," she called out as she rushed back inside.

"I do," Yashaswini replied, knowing all too well the dangerous driving habits of the locals.

As it turned out, Yashaswini's memories of driving in India were vastly outdated. As a teenager, she had not yet obtained her driver's license and had only occasionally "borrowed" her parents' cars for late-night escapades. The driving experience in the United States could not have prepared her for the chaos and lawlessness on the roads of India. To begin with, she had to adjust to driving on the left side of the road, and the sheer volume of vehicles on the roads was overwhelming.

No one seemed to adhere to lane markings, vehicles constantly overtook her from both sides, and pedestrians were treated as invisible. Unless she was on a main road with traffic signals, it seemed as though there were no laws or regulations in place.

As a motorcycle rider suddenly cut into her lane and braked abruptly, Yashaswini barely managed to stop in time to avoid a collision. In frustration, she rolled down her window and stuck her head out, shouting, "Hey!" But the rider paid her no attention, too preoccupied with retrieving his cellphone from his tight pants and fixing it onto his helmet, before riding away.

As Yashaswini navigated the chaotic roads, she couldn't help but sigh in frustration. It took her nearly half an hour to cover the short five-minute distance to the grocery store. She struggled to keep her eyes peeled for reckless drivers and pedestrians, all while trying to adjust to the fact that she was now driving on the opposite side of the road. The thought of giving up and walking back home to fetch her mother briefly crossed her mind, but she knew she would never hear the end of it.

When she finally arrived at the grocery store, she couldn't help but feel that all her effort had been for naught. But she was there, so she decided to make the most of it. As she perused the cereal aisle, her attention was caught by a box of corn flakes with the promise of essential vitamins and iron power. But then, her eyes wandered to another box with chunks of chocolate in it, and she found herself reading the back of the package with great interest.

"Yashaswini Thakur?" She whipped around at the sound of her name, her eyes locking onto the figure in front of her. The first thing she noticed was the hair- thick, black strands that cascaded down to his shoulders in waves, framing a thin, angular face. It was everywhere- on his forehead, covering his ears, and even partially obscuring his eyes. But in contrast to his wild mane, his beard was light and sparse, more of a stubble really.

Yashaswini couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at the man in front of her. Despite the wild mane of hair and the light stubble on his face, he was still the same Vihaan Bakshi she had known all those years ago. The same deep-set dark brown eyes under mismatched eyebrows, the same straight nose with a slight nick from a childhood injury, the same square jaw and lips that formed deep creases around his face when he smiled, like he was doing now.