Am always with you.....

Chapter 41

BEN

Venu had come with her friends; and every one of them gave me weird vibes. Till now, I was regretting coming to Chennai, now I had started doubting my fate.

Is it a bad day? Or has my fate given up on me?

The moment we arrived, one of her friends swung his hand and hit me, right at my temple. Apparently, he was imitating an action scene from a movie. She introduced them to me; and before she could tell who I was-

"Venu, is he your boyfriend?"

I almost did a facepalm. Why is this the first conclusion people arrive at?

"No, he is my colleague I came with. He has joined us for the trek."

One of her girl-friends jumped and clung to me, "Are you single then, young man?"

I pushed her away lightly, "No, I am taken. Venu, I am hungry. Can you guide me to a place for some snacks?"

She accompanied me, apologising, "Sorry, Ben. They are bit out-of-hand types."

I sighed, "It's not your fault. You don't feel sorry. I am having a rough day, that's all." And I managed to give her a smile.

She smiled back, and clung to my arm, "In that case, my friend, I am very much obliged to make you smile." She started making weird faces, I hopes to make me smile, which I did. It was both cute and stupid. In some time, we reached a small shop; where we ordered Dosa and Idli. I literally gulped it down in minutes.

"I'll order some more. You still look hungry."

"No. I am done."

"Sure?"

I nodded. I paid at the counter, and we left the place.

"We came from this way, Venu. You are going the wrong way."

She shouted from ahead, "I know. Just follow me."

Puzzled, I kept following her. We arrived at flat land. Rain drizzled, making it cold and hard to walk. But, I didn't mind getting wet. The ache of what had happened was being washed away along with the rain. We stood at the stone barricade built at the edge of the flatland. I closed my eyes, feeling the wetness of rain, the cold left behind by the flowing wind, the fresh air purifying my mind.

I am being too emotional today.

During all this, I forgot to check my phone. After I did, I noticed I had 5 missed calls of Zach and 4 of Yash. Ignoring the essence and intensity of those calls, I scoffed and turned back to the place. Feeling my sanity come back in place, I asked Venu about departure. Unfortunately, they were heading somewhere, planned a stay as well. I bid them a bye and climbed down the hill. The moment I entered the house, Zach hugged me, "Idiot!! Where were you? I was worried about you."

I pulled him aside, replying, "I roamed around area for some fresh air. I think you were well informed."

Ignoring Zach and his worries, I turned towards Yash, "Yash, is the trip planned? When are we leaving?"

"Yes! It's ready." He eagerly narrated the entire plan, and I kept on observing the tension build on Zach's face.

We packed the bags for our 2-day trip. Yash and Venu were to come here; and then we would depart together. We placed our bags in Yash's car- obviously we were going in his car! Somehow, the atmosphere was good throughout our drive. We talked about our works, gossiped about our horrible bosses, our hometown, friends, and stuff. Once we were on the topic of childhood, I got quiet- because it would bring up my past I didn't want to expose. And now that we were having a fight, I didn't even want to brag about our relationship.