Echoes of Past

Chapter 1

3 years ago

"Kabhi waapis aane ki zarurat nahi hai, man kare to vahi ghar bana liyo. Bas waapis mat aaiyo" Tanmay, my little brother says as I make sure all my essentials are in my purse.

I look for my passport in my drawer.

"Did you even hear what i just said?" He asks.

I tsked.

"Sun liya baba, I'll bring new clothes for you and a lot of chocolates and I'll not forget to bring other souvenirs, now go play with your toys" I said as I combed my hair.

He groaned "I'm not a kid, why would I play with toys?"

"Fine the, go annoy your friends, I don't have time for you right now"

"The French are mean, I hope they're meaner to you"

"Thanks a lot, idiot"

He left my room but not before turning off the light and locking the door.

"TANMAY!"

_________________________________

My mom's the CFO of this bank and she's always wearing corporate outfits.

Every parents teacher meaning lead to my friends asking for my moms number.

My dad's a doctor, a cardiologist to be specific. I always thought doctors went for doctors but not in the case of my parents, they had an arrange marriage but they're so in love even after 26 years.

Both of them accompanied me to the airport and kept telling me to be safe, that there are a lot of pickpocketers in France and that I should not go out at night.

They helped me check in.

"Sun, zyaada idhar udhar jane ki zarurat nahi hai, you don't wanna get lost" My dad said.

"And Anika, don't you dare hang up on me when I call you, you always do that" My mom added.

I kept listening to them whilst they went on and on about everything.

"And remember to have lots of fun" Dad said

"I will, papa. You know me, never the one to back away from fun" I said

"Mujhe to lekin abhi tak ye samajh nahi aa raha ki tum Yuvika ko saath kyu nahi lejaa rhi" Mom said AGAIN.

"Ma, we've gone through this many times, she's with her boyfriend, they wanted to go to Australia, and you know i've wanted to go on a solo trip to Paris as soon as I completed college!"

"Achha chalo fine, Stay safe okay? I have just one daughter"

After a few more minutes, I sat in the waiting area. I still had one hour to spare.

I took out my laptop and re read the email again that I got for my first ever job.

Everything was so exciting.

New job, freshly out of college, going to Paris ALONE.

After about an hour of listening to music and browsing pinterest, I took out my boarding pass and went towards a line where everyone stood to board the plane.

Everyone got into the bus and it moved towards the plane.

The air hostess greeted everyone and got seated.

I wanted the window seat but someone had already booked it, I planned on talking to the person and exchanging the seats for half time.

They'll have to agree but no one was there yet.

"Attention passengers, we will be delayed by 15 minutes as it has come to our notice a passenger has just arrived and was stuck in traffic. We apologise for the inconvenience.

Half an hour passed and the passenger was still not here.

Just then, a guy came running in and avoided everyone's look.

"Hi, sorry, hey, bright day" It was 3 in the morning. "So sorry"

The guy tried to squeeze his way to the window seat beside me all while saying hey, hi, sorry, my bad.

He sat on his seat with a thump and sighed a breath of relief.

"Man, I really thought I was gonna miss the flight" He said while glancing at me for a second and then looked away just to look at me again with a flattered look on his face.

"Can I help you?" I asked when he didn't look away for some time.

He seemed to have come back to his sense and just shook his head, "No, nothing"

The flight took off and I wanted to be able to look outside from the window when we arrive but I have no idea how I'm gonna talk to this guy. He's weird.

"Yeah the security's stupid, they thought my lighter was a-" He mimicked an explosion with his hands.

He was talking to an old lady who was sitting behind us. She seemed so interested in the conversation they had going.

"Um, excuse me" I said while tapping him on his shoulder.

"Yes, beautiful?"

I ignored his remark.

"I was wondering-"

"You look so attractive while doing that" He said with his dreamy look again before I could finish my sentence.

I took a deep breath and prepared myself to deal with this annoying guy for the rest of my flight.

"Would you be kind to exchange seats with me when we arrive, I really want to be able to view the city from above" I said before he could interrupt me.

He smiled mischievously.

"Well, do you want to sit here before we arrive or when we've landed?"

What kind of question even is that?

"Um, before we arrive obviously. The city won't be visible once we land"

"Right, you weren't clear with the request. Let's see, what's in it for me?"

Jerk.

"I don't know what you want, but I'd be really grateful if you switch seats"

His eyes softened.

"Alright, sure"

I smiled back and sat straight again. I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep.

"She's really pretty, isn't she?"

I don't know if this was my dream or if the guy beside me said that.