Unreachable Destiny- The Curse Of Your Love

Chapter-25: The Right Partner.

Ranav looks at Maya through the front mirror of the car as she drives with a frown on her forehead. The urge to smoothen the lines of tension in her rises in Ranav. Yet he held himself back and the desire to break free of the chains he kept tying around him only increased. The more he resisted the further he seemed from the truth. Maya gazes at him through the mirror and slowly the frown leaves her forehead and she looks back to the road. They reach the camp by noon and as soon as they get into the camp, Maya is swamped with her friends with a million questions. Ranav finds a place to sit and wait for her as she fills her friends in on the incident. Maya conveniently leaves out the details of her plan and keeps it brief only to the fire and the impact of it on the house. Ranav somehow felt relieved with the fact that she was vague with her friends whom she knew before him when she told him every possible secret after only knowing him for a few weeks.

Maya checks on her patients before she leaves the camp with Ranav. This time, Ranav takes the passenger seat in the front, and they drive much slower as they do not have to hurry as they did when going to the camp.

"Are you hungry?" Ranav looked at Maya expecting her to say 'NO'. 

"Hmmm. Let's get something to eat." Maya stops at an old Dhaba. Maya would usually not prefer dining here but there is no other hotel or restaurant for another few miles and clearly, Ranav is hungry so she could only make do.

"What do you want to eat?" Maya asks Ranav. From what Maya knows, Ranav is not a picky eater but still, she can't just order for him like she does with Akshay. Akshay is so indifferent to food that he always lets her order for him.

"Everything seems delicious. How about Chole Kulche and Dal Tadka?" Maya wonders if they can be eaten together. "Oh, they also have Kichidi." That gets Maya's attention.

"Let's get it then."

"Ok" Ranav places the order with some curd and white rice. As soon as the food is served, they dig in. Maya tastes the Kichidi and just as expected, Kichidi can never go wrong.

"Hmm, the food is so delicious," Ranav says with his eyes closed in delight.

"Or maybe, you're just hungry," Maya says with a faint smile. Ranav smiles widely like a little kid, which only amuses Maya. Maya couldn't help but find Ranav entertaining with how expressive he is sometimes and he eats so well that he makes the food look extra delicious.

"My Mama makes delicious Aloo Kachori. She is even good at making jam but as a kid, she used to feed me bread and jam every day and I got fed up with eating it all the time. But the Aloor Kachori she makes is divine if only they had it here. The ones she makes are so crunchy and the aloo inside has such a smooth texture. It's like the Aloo is melting in our mouth." Hearing Ranav talk about his mom, warms Maya. He must love his mother a lot, she thinks. Maya always felt envious towards the kids who had mothers, but Ranav's happiness was so infectious that she couldn't be jealous of it.

"You are making it sound so heavenly now I am craving for it." Maya chuckles at how needy for food she sounds right now. Ranav's accurate description is to be blamed for it.

"If I get a chance I will take you to eat those Kachoris one day." It doesn't escape Maya that it can only happen 'if' there is a chance. In her life, there has never been someone she can indefinitely be friends with other than Akshay. But what she has with Akshay, is it really just friendship? Still, Maya can't deny that she wants to be friends with Ranav. For the first time in her life, she felt like taking the initiative to be someone's friend. Maybe it's because she was comfortable enough to tell him about her life and how easy he finds it is to just be there for her and support her. There was nothing more to hide from Ranav anyway.

"One day, I would like to have those Kachoris and meet the woman who makes them so well." Ranav's smile only widens at the hint of promise in her tone. An underlying promise that one day, she will meet his mother. Ranav can sense that Maya is not so indifferent towards him anymore. He can't help the next words that leave him.