See You Later

Chapter 49

The present...A few days later

Someone was late.

Usually when her clients were late, she received a text or a call. But since she had a soft corner for Naina, Maahi had just waited silently without complaint, hitching her bag higher on her shoulder.

A few days back, she had gotten a call from Naina asking for a special photoshoot with her boyfriend. She was incredibly excited about the whole thing as she went about the plan and details with Maahi. It was a rather sweet idea of Naina asking Nikhil to marry her at the place where she had first seen him.

College.

It coincidentally happened to be the same one Maahi had attended. She looked up at the old gate and smiled, fond memories flooding her mind. Her earbuds were plugged in and the next song had started playing. It was the beginning of Tum Se Hi again.

And then she saw a car park next to hers and a figure get out of the car hurriedly and jog over to her. As the song kept playing, she saw Aarush come into view.

She looked down at her phone that was playing songs on shuffle. She didn't remember putting the shuffle mode on.

Well-played, universe, well-played.

"Hey!" Aarush neared her and before she could respond, he collected her in his arms and planted a firm kiss on her lips.

She laughed and leaned in to give him another kiss. She could sense some disturbance in the plan already and asked playfully, "So, are you proposing to Nikhil today?"

Aarush broke into a wide, rather mischievous grin and said, "Obviously. Our bond is eternal. You're just the highly distracting photographer for the day."

With that, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the gate. For the very first time, Maahi and Aarush entered college, hand-in-hand.

As they made their way in, she asked, "Are you going to let me in on your grand plans then, Iyer?"

"Eh. More fun in complying and finding out yourself, I'd say."

They walked inside and reached the old tree that students often sat under. She pointed at it and said, "Did you know this was a common make-out spot for students? I only found out in the last year of college."

He turned around and looked at her with wide eyes and a smile that was threatening to turn into a laugh.

"I swear I had other plans, Mehra but you're making me rethink the whole thing."

She swatted his arm and said, "I have no intentions of getting into trouble here several years after graduating, Iyer. I was just sharing random trivia."

He turned around and started walking backwards, his full attention on her as he asked, "Okay but promise me that if you ever want to get into trouble, you'll call me?"

She reached out and grabbed his hand and made him walk straight. She sighed and mumbled, "Sab paagal mujhe hi milne the."

"It's really your lot in life." He replied easily.

She rolled her eyes and asked, "Now, are you going to tell me the plan?"

Aarush looked around and spotted a place. He pointed to it and asked her to follow him. When they reached it, he asked her to set up her camera. She looked at him in confusion.

"You mean with a tripod?"

He nodded.

"What are you up to?"

"Just do it, Mehra." He looked at her with another one of those smiles. She shook her head and pulled out the tripod from her bag and began setting up.

Once she was done, she looked up at him for further instruction.

"Can you set a timer?"

She frowned and asked, "You know I can click whatever picture you want, right?"

Aarush nodded and said, "Yes but I need you in the picture, you goof."

Her eyes spotted the plan before she did. She looked around the place where they were standing. How had it not occurred to her before? She turned to her camera and looked at the place through her viewfinder. Only then did it hit her fully and clearly.

It was the exact same frame as the only picture she had of them together.

But how did he know?

She looked up at him and saw him looking back at her with an expression that held almost a smug contentment. He was standing roughly in the same place too.

He then called out, "Did you set it, Mehra?"

She reached out and adjusted the settings to get the frame exactly the way she wanted it and set a timer.

She then walked over to him. He held out his hand, waiting for her to join him.

She smiled and held his hand. She looked at him just like the first time and asked, "You finally got your shot at our first photo, didn't you?"

He looked back at her this time. He smiled his beautiful smile that made its way to his eyes and said, "Correction. Our second one. You got the first shot."

Click.