See You Later

Chapter 20

The present: Maahi's cabin

It was a long, long day bleeding well into the night.

She marched up to her cabin, gingerly kept her camera bag on the table and ambled over to the backyard with a blanket.

The next thing she knew, she was lying on top of the blanket, in the grass looking at the sky. It was quiet. Ah, how she craved for this kind of peace.

Her brain was slowly unwinding. A cool breeze swept by, adding to the solitude. She smiled and closed her eyes. This was it.

"Mehra..."

Of course. This was too good to be true.

She blinked her eyes open and saw the one face that had haunted her daydreams in the past more than she would like to admit.

"Go away."

He laughed and said, "You know we share the same backyard, right?"

"Unfortunately, I'm well aware."

She looked up at him and saw that he was trying to sit next to her. He was still dressed in his pristine suit, just without the jacket. She winced as he bent down to sit on the grass.

"What?"

"Tsk. The grass is damp. You'll ruin your clothes."

He shrugged nonchalantly and started to lean back. She sighed, threw a hand out and stopped him from fully reclining onto the grass.

He clearly thought this was really entertaining but he became upright again and put his hands around his knees, waiting pleasantly for her next move.

She shook her head and got up muttering to herself while picking up the blanket and unfolding it to spread the full thing out.

"No regard for clean white shirts. Ghaas ke daag ke saath kya karega? Sochna toh hai nahi...Bas apni manmaani karni hai. Iss ladke ko mere hi palle padhna tha..."

She then gestured at the other half of the blanket exasperatedly for him to lie down on as she sat down to her original place on this side.

She looked up and saw him pull off his shoes and sit down next to her. She should have just looked up at the sky because next, he unleashed another smile. Good lord. She shook her head and stubbornly looked back up at the sky.

He slowly leaned back and laid down next to her. He looked at the sky and then turned around to look at her. Without looking back at him, she said, "Eyes up there, Iyer."

He laughed but turned to look at the sky.

After a brief silence, he said softly, "I'm sorry..."

She blinked. What was he apologizing for now?

"Sorry?"

He kept looking at the sky and said, "I should have kept in touch."

She thought about how she wanted to respond to that. She then said, "There's no need to apologize for that. Time and distance aren't always kind to friendships."

He asked, "Do you think we can be friends again this time?"

A snort escaped her. Such an innocent question.

He turned around to look at her because of her reaction.

She said, "We're not in school, Iyer. It doesn't work that way."

"How does it work then?"

How does one even answer this question? She paused for a bit.

Then...

"I don't know...I guess it's also a matter of time. You...show up for the person. Consistently. You be there for them. And most importantly...you feed them when they're hungry."

He laughed at the last one and raised himself on his elbows to say, "Now that I can do."

With that, he got up and jogged back to his cabin, barefoot. She went back to looking at the sky. Why... Why was she here again? How did this guy make his way into her life again? More importantly, what should she do about it all?

Before she could think more, Aarush walked back towards her and sat down on the blanket, a box in his hand. He opened the box and handed her something. She got up and peered at what he was holding.

Cupcakes.

Of course.

She asked, "Weren't these served at the wedding? How do you have more of them in your room?"

He said, "I actually picked up the order. It's this bakery opposite my house. They make really good coffee too. I'll get you some the next time I'm there."

Ah well. The questions could wait. Who could say no to cupcakes?