See You Later

Chapter 42

The present: At the Mehras'

She stared at the name on the door aimlessly. It was such an absent move. She wasn't even really reading. She was just contemplating her next move. She had finally set up a date with the guy she was chatting with. She had set 'Project Get Over Aarush Iyer' in motion swiftly and refused to go down that stupid rabbit hole another time in her life. She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and unlocked the door.

Only to find Aarush sitting in her house, on her couch, nearly falling over laughing over something her grandfather had just said.

Blink.

What.

Was.

Happening.

Aargh!

Aarush looked up at her and wiped his eyes as he continued to laugh.

"Hey Mehra... How's it going?"

She pulled her bag in and kept it on the table. She looked at her grandfather who seemed like he was in the middle of a rather animated story. She shook her head in exasperation and gestured for him to continue as she made her way into the kitchen for a glass of water.

"Dadaji, ek second haan..."

While she quietly sipped her water with her eyes closed, she heard Aarush's voice next to her.

"I'm a little in love with your Dadaji!"

She wanted to laugh. She asked, "What are you doing here, Iyer?"

With wide eyes, Aarush pointed at the hall and said, "Your Dadaji is such a bawse! He found me on Twitter and we've been DMing all evening. He then called me over when he found out I was your friend. Where have you been hiding this gem, da?"

She raised the glass to her forehead and felt the cool surface.

Great. Now Dadaji and Aarush were best friends. Did she really need this? No. Was she going to have to go through it anyway? Obviously.

She grumbled wordlessly and washed the glass before setting off towards her room. Aarush, of course, followed her. He called out to her grandfather and said, "Dadaji, 5 minutes. Main bas yun gaya aur yun aaya!"

Dadaji picked up his phone and said, "Arre betu, take your time! "

Maahi felt an irrational spark of jealousy at that. So, without turning around, she called out, "Dadaji, aapka betu main hoon, yeh nahi!"

Aarush let out a laugh and said, "Geez, so territorial. Although...You know I would have been too. He's so cool! Did you know he designed fighter jets in his youth?"

She turned around to look at him because his voice had actually taken on a note of fanboy devotion. His expression was also one of awe.

She grumbled under her breath, "Kaha se aate hai yeh? Mere hi palle kyu padhte hain?"

She then opened the door to her bedroom and walked in while saying, "You can go play with Dadaji. I need to get ready."

Aarush stood at the doorstep and peered in, a look of pure curiosity lighting up his face. If she were in a better mood, she would have stood in front of him and peered at him, a look of pure curiosity lighting up her face.

Damnit. Focus, Maahi.

She opened her cupboard in a flourish and stared at the contents. She then turned around and saw him still standing there. He was now looking at her with a tentative look. She sighed and said, "You may come in."

With great glee, he crossed the threshold.

It was a nice room. She had spent time in here, trying to make it look the way she wanted to. The colours, the furniture, the little things here and there, were all a part of her story and he seemed to want to read every page. The way his eyes were taking everything in, he wanted to do more than just read. He wanted to savour.