See You Later

Chapter 16

The present: The venue

"Has anyone ever said no to you, Iyer?"

Maahi was sitting in the driver's seat of her car, in her track pants and sweatshirt, unable to understand how she had gotten here. Aarush was sitting right next to her in the passenger seat next to her, wearing an off-white sweatshirt and loose black trackpants as well. He had a cap fixed on his head. But he still looked every bit as pristine as he did five hours ago because his clothes again looked picked out for him. She wanted to shake him. Instead, she was grumbling. She picked up her travel coffee cup and took a long swig.

Aarush had sat with a stupid smirk on his face up until then. It had taken him barely ten minutes to convince her. All he had to do was explain the plan to her and that it would mean a lot to the bride. Maahi had shaken her head, looked heavenward and simply asked what time. He had showed up at her doorstep at 5 AM. He didn't even let her change. He'd said that it would suit the theme of the event to just go along.

But her question had made him pensive. He toyed with the seatbelt, thinking for a moment.

"Does a broken engagement count?"

He reached out to roll his window down when she asked absently, "Whose broken engagement?"

"Mine." He replied simply.

She nodded without realizing what she was nodding to before blinking and turning to look at him for a second.

"Wait, what?"

He checked his watch. Again, stupidly classy, she quietly noted. He noted the time and said, "Hmmm. We need to get going if we are to reach on time."

She looked back at the steering wheel and nodded before turning the key in the ignition.

A few minutes into driving, she quietly asked, "You broke up with Leela?"

He kept his eyes focused on the road ahead. It was easier to talk about it now. He also oddly felt more at ease telling Maahi about it, he realized. He was yet to understand why though.

"She broke up with me."

Maahi suddenly remembered them from college. They were truly the couple everyone spoke of. The one couple you knew who would get married. The one couple that had known each other since school and had so much history. The one couple that were simply put, meant to be.

If they were no longer together, there was definitely more than one heart in this car that had once been broken.

"I'm sorry."

He looked at her and smiled to say, "Such is life."

She replied, "Yeah, but that doesn't make it any easier. How are you doing?"

"It was a while ago. She got married sometime back. And I'm fine. Thanks for asking though."

Wow.

She wanted to know what had happened to break up the golden couple. But she also knew better. So, she just kept quiet and drove.

He then asked, "So, what about you? Is there a Mr. Mehra?"

She responded drily, "Of course there is. My father, brother, grandfather, uncle. We're a whole family of Mr. Mehras."

He looked at her and broke into laughter.

"Oh man, where were you all this while?"

She shook her head calmly and said, "Right here, Iyer."