love until eternity

chapter 8

ishita stepped out in the suit, oddly feeling unlike herself  in her own clothing, pulling her kurta down awkwardly, only for  her glance to fall on dushyant, who had the dinner table ready for her. He turned to look at her, lost in how her beauty crept through the dreadful messy locks of her hair left open after her intricate wedding bun was loosened from all the pins holding it. Her eyes captivated him with an undeniable magnetism he couldn't resist. 

she walked over to him, only for her glance to fall on the dinning table, as her glance fell on the food on the table. 

"yeh, tumne banaya?" asked ishita, surprised, as he pulled the chair out for her to sit down, nodding in response. 

"pasand thi na tumhe hamesha se curry..." replied dushyant in response, taking out the rice and curry in the plate for her, as she only looked closely at him, examining him carefully, before he went ahead to sit next to her himself, taking the food out for himself. 

"abhi bhi hai...hairaani ki baat hai tumhe abhi bhi yaad hai.." stated ishita, still contemplating the fix her complex emotions were putting her in. 

"arre, ismein hairaani ki kya baat hai, tum koi  bhulne waali cheez ho bhala?" remarked dushyant cheekily, lightening the mood and making her chuckle. 

"mujhe kabhi-kabhi sach mein vishvaas nahi hota, kya-kya baatein bol deti thi main..." confessed ishita, facepalming herself, laughing from embarrassment. 

"yahi toh achi baat thi tumhari, joh mann mein aata tha bol deti thi, dil saaf tha tumhara..."  stated dushyant, earnestly, a bittersweet smile crept up on her face, before leaning forward with her chin resting on her palm, that was placed perpendicular to the table. 

"acha, aur kya acha lagta tha tumhe mere baarein mein?" asked ishita inquisitively, genuinely wanting to hear, while he had a sheepish grin on his face, which he tried to hide, by rubbing the back of his neck. 

"tumhe yaad hai, roz subha college pahaunchte hi, tum chupke se mujhe peeche se hug karti thi, bahaut zor se...aur phir jab main mudta peeche toh tum itne excitedly hi bolti thi....main roz pahaunchte hi, bas time dekhta rehta tha, ki tum kab aaogi...bas isliye..." recounted dushyant, although he couldn't help but be compelled to pause with how much the visceral memory of her touch made him blush like it was happening all over again. 

"aur tum aaj bhi, ladke hokar mujhse zyada sharmaate ho..." retorted ishita, chuckling at him, while this only made him feel more shy. 

"waise tum mujhe isliye ache lagte the...shareef the tum...." stated ishita, making him look up, as she had a rejoiced smile on her face, which was reciprocated by him, while they were glances exchanged in a way that they remained fixed on each others. 

ishita was very cruelly woken up from the beautiful dream, as her sister was shaking her in order to wake her up. 

"di, get up! we have to leave for the cruise! kya hogaya hai aapko aaj kal, you are always late.." grumbled purvi, as ishita was only left disheartened at the realisation of being brought back to reality. 

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Ishita rested her head on dushyant's bare chest, as they both were curled up in the sheets, with him locking her in a strong grip with his right arm,  while the pizza box with leftover crusts was placed faraway on the nightstand beside the bed. 

"so you are telling me, you draw illustrations for all those fairytales and animal stories for children?" asked dushyant, slightly bemused at receiving this piece of information. 

"yeah well, that's basically all children's books, so yeah..." responded ishita, realising just how absurd her job could sound, as they both shared a light chuckle. 

"you know if parents found out you are the reason that their daughters are so stubborn on buying that magical princess gown, they'd murder you...you should be careful revealing that information you know..." joked dushyant as they both ended up laughing even more. 

"i don't mind...i love when i get to do illustrations for fairytales...it's nice having a dream you know, where you find someone, who sees you as special, wants to make you happy, and you are genuinely happy with them...that's what makes him prince charming...how he can just do that..." revealed ishita what seemed to be some desires that had been buried deep in her heart, which were popping out seamlessly.

"i don't think you should just wish for a prince charming..." blurted out dushyant, making her lift her chin up to face him. 

"you should have someone who, just wakes up every morning and thinks to himself 'wow! i get to be with her!' and actually gets how great you are...i mean, you have the most captivating eyes...i..i can't look away from them, and you just, know how to make someone feel understood and....god, i don't think someone has made me ever laugh so much in my life...i can honestly, just go all night, if i talked about how great you are...you should have someone who knows that." dushyant had unknowingly poured his heart out to her with an earnestness that had seemingly touched her heart, because if she was being honest with herself, that's something better than even the prince charming in the fairytale had to say. 

 dushyant woke up immediately in the blink of an eye, the visceral memory of the night that seemed inescapable to him, making him ponder over what he might have earlier just thought of the relationship. It seemed like he had some unexplainably new way of looking at it. 

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Everyone stood by the port with their suitcases, ready to hop on the ship that was to take them on the cruise, it was then when ishita, who had just been sitting on top of her suitcase looking around aimlessly, locked eyes with dushyant, who was putting down his bag after just arriving. The gaze lingered, with the previous discomforts between them somehow becoming foreign for that one second, and it was just like they were back in those dreams, or even the good old days, when they were just falling in love.