The Moon to my night

29

∞Decoction∞

Aradhaya Singh Rajvansh

The sky had turned dark, the clock striking 6:30 in the evening. Dense black clouds covered the sky, and the rain continued to pour, with occasional lightning illuminating the darkness. It was the first rain of the season, bringing relief from the oppressive summer heat. "We are here," I said, guiding him through the roads with the help of maps. I shut down the application as we turned into the main gate of Rajvansh mansion.

As I closed the app on his phone, my eyes fell on his wallpaper, a picture of us from seven years ago. My phone was switched off, with no battery and no power backup. I remembered the day when I had clicked this picture and made it his wallpaper. Despite changing his phone, he had kept the wallpaper the same. I locked the phone, placing it near the shifting boot.

He parked the car before the porch, and I started collecting my things while he hopped out, opening the door for me. I stepped out with just one heel on my foot. I tumbled back, but he held my hand, chuckling at my clumsiness. I couldn't help but laugh too. I tried to balance on one foot, leaning back into the car seat. He knelt down, removing the buckle of my remaining heel. "My love, you behave dumb sometimes," he breathed out.

A human can be clumsy sometimes; that doesn't mean you call the person you love dumb. He looked at me, raising his eyebrows for me to step out, but the wet porch would dirty my feet. What was I supposed to do now? I took the single heel from him, wearing it. I balanced on one foot, the bare one folded back. I stretched my hand for him to help me. His face was etched with amusement. He had just called me dumb, and I needed to prove him wrong.

I ditched his hand that he was trying to hold mine with and instead encircled my arm around his shoulder. Damn, his shoulders were wide. I felt like a hypocrite for someone who told him not to touch her just a few hours ago in the morning and now taking his help to keep her foot safe from the wet, dirty floor. But yet again, I overestimated myself as I forgot that this man was taller than me. So when he stood up, my arm wrapped around his shoulder made me look like I was hanging off his side. He gave me a look for a few seconds and then broke out into a loud laugh.

"You want me to carry you into your house—sneeze—" Great, this man seriously got a cold. His nose was turning red and fluffy, his eyes watery, while he decided to crack jokes and call me dumb.

"Let's get going to the stairs," I said, looking straight ahead with determination to climb the five stairs while hanging on to him. He chuckled, but in a second, his hand wrapped around my waist as he tilted his side to lift me up. Now, not hypothetically, but I was actually hanging on his side. He took wide, long steps, climbing up the stairs. I didn't even touch the floor. What am I, a bloody doll? This is embarrassing.

He straightened himself, letting my foot touch the floor, while I kept the other foot in the air. I gestured for him to ring the doorbell as one hand was busy with my stuff and the other was holding his, so I couldn't unlock it with my fingerprint. He rang the doorbell, and we waited.