Someone To Love

10. mother.

"Beautiful right?" Divya stared at the night sky through the window, the view of the ocean, the building and the chawl blessing her eyes. The view gave her strength the first night she was here, and even today it did not fail to amaze her.

"Indeed it is." His husky voice hit her ears, and she turned to face him, only to find him facing her.

"So cliche, Daksh." she smiled, a shade of red rising on her cheek. She did not expect this from him which made the moment more special.

"Come on Divya, you read so many books, I have to match the standards you have created, or you may dump me for those fictional men." he scoffed and faced ahead, their hands still intertwined from the moment they walked here. She found it very bizarre how he thought that a man like him could be dumped when all she wanted to do was worship him.

"How do you know I read?" she was not surprised he knew. He had observed her more than she knew and she could bet this was one of his observations again.

"You have more books than clothes. I know you don't even have a place to keep them yet you buy them, of course, you are a reader."

"Were you sneaking into my room behind my back?" she tried to accuse him, an attempt to pick a fight with him this week. Her logic of picking fights with the three men in her life would be hard to forget, as old habits die hard. She did not want the universe to think they weren't fighting so that Destiny would not pull any other stunt like this accident again.

"A man has the freedom to walk around in his own house." he declared.

"And a woman should have the right to privacy, what did you see in my room and why were-"

"No mi reina, I just went once to get a few of my files I had forgotten to move when I saw the books, then I see you walking in with books all the time. Even a blind man would know."

Five days since the first time he called her that. Every time the Spanish words left his mouth, they hit her bones and made her feel things she did not know existed.

Comfort? Yes. Happiness? Yes. Nervousness? Yes. A feeling of belonging? Yes.

And desire?

Let us not open that door.

"You can give me the same dialogue now, my face is a better view than the city ahead, considering you are staring at it."

She turned away and sucked a deep breath. Looking at him, she faked a smile as the words left her mouth. "Self-obsessed?"

"Self-aware." he smiled back.

The physiotherapy sessions went well and he could now walk and move his hand correctly. His coordination had improved considerably and even though he would need to exercise for another month to get perfectly back in shape, the results of his baby steps were amazing. He had made all effort to get himself better and did not throw a single tantrum regarding eating medicine or doing physiotherapy exercises.

If anything, he found ways to hold her hand and lean on her under the pretext of physiotherapy.

They stood in silence absorbing the calmness hidden in the chaos of Mumbai. They had made it a routine from the past three days to walk here at night till it was time to sleep. He always held her hand and intertwined their fingers together, and she found herself automatically leaning close to him, placing her head on his shoulders, getting close to him without knowing. Daksh wanted to go home as soon as possible, and he even tried to threaten the doctors under his influence, but Divya told him to stay for a week more, as the doctor said, to get better.