Once Upon a Time in London

Chapter 35

PART 3:

It had been three years since Zain and I had accidentally run into each other in the penthouse in Boston. 1 year and 4 months since we had gotten together.

Zain and I had been walking around London when I had insisted that he take me to the coffee shop tucked away in an alley. It was kind of like a ritual, I insisted he take me there every time we met whenever I would come to visit ma, Pammi aunty and him in London. I loved the little dessert cups the cafe made fresh every day. We sat on the wooden benches outside the cafe, the cold October wind biting at my face, I tucked my ears in the woollen scarf wrapped around my neck. I scooped a bit of the dessert in my mouth as I looked over at the setting sun, "Do you think we'd have remembered each other if ma and I didn't move to London?" I asked him. I wasn't really expecting an answer. It was a weird question.

Zain looked at me silently. Not saying anything, yet I didn't feel uncomfortable. Zain was warm, he was like the sunshine after a storm, like freshly baked cookies out of the oven. But more than anything, he was the pillar that I had been leaning on for some time, I couldn't really imagine my life without him now. Sure he was as annoying as the next man over but he was also reliant. Reliability, I found, was something that could be the basis of the strongest of friendships.

He grinned then, a Cheshire cat's smile and dug his own spoon into my dessert cup, "As if I'd let you forget me Anjali."

"Hey!" I tapped his hand with my spoon, showing my discontent at him eating my food but he ignored me as he continued to scoop the spoonful in his mouth, he finally looked at me then.

"I don't think we'd ever forget each other, at least I wouldn't" he said it simply, as if he couldn't even fathom entertaining that thought. Something in my chest shifted, a discomforting feeling, he'd said the words with so much sincerity, they'd unsettled me.

"Ah" I breathed out, unable to find the appropriate words.

He looked at me, "Wait, don't tell me you'd actually forget me" he leaned back in his chair, a corner of his lips curving up in surprise.

I didn't meet his eyes, scooping more of the dessert into my mouth, what was so special about these cups anyway, I wondered.

"I don't know, I have changed a lot you know" I mumbled, I had shut out people I was close to before moving to London after all. Who was to say I wouldn't have done that to Zain. 

I continued on, "Sometimes it is easy to forget people when you don't see them regularly, sometimes it's not something you have to consciously decide. Sometimes distance and time do the forgetting for you" my breath condensed in the cold evening, a puff of smoke lingering in the air before disappearing.

He cocked his head to the side before he laughed, not a taunting one, a deep hearty laugh that warmed my heart, "Come on Anjali, only those that truly part from each other forget each other, it's hard to forget someone when they're always with you", he lifted his sleeve up then, a thin red thread came into view, a bracelet, it looked worn and frail, as if he hadn't removed it since he had first tied it there, with a revelation I realised he hadn't.

I gasped, as recognition dawned on me, "You still have that?" I looked up at him, surprised. 

He smiled, turning my hand over as he tapped my wrist, his fingertip gently pressing the vein on my wrist, "And you don't."

My face flushed, I sunk deeper into my scarf, unsure of what to say.

Zain simply leaned back, smiling, "Red string theory remember? You told me that people who are fated to remember and find their way to each other are tied together by this invisible red thread of fate. You tied a thread to both our wrists promising that we'd both remember each other-"

"No matter what or where we are" I breathed out, "Yes, yes I do remember" I finished before he could complete his sentence.

He grinned, "And yet" he tapped my empty wrist once again before he leaned back.

"And yet I was on my way to forgetting" I whispered.

He smiled, a sad smile and I realised how bad I had been at holding my end of the promise. I felt so small.

I took a sip of the caramel latte I had bought with the dessert cup and looked at him.

Zain was turning the thread around his wrist, thinking something.

I stared down at my empty wrist once more, "Let me make it up to you" I leaned towards him, heart beating in my chest.

He looked taken aback, "What?"

"Let me make it up to you" I repeated, "Let the red string find its other half" I smiled.

Something in Zain's eyes changed, "You know what that means right?"

"I do" I replied, I could hear my heartbeat thrumming in my ears.

He leaned closer, "Think it through Anjali, if you say yes now, I'll never let you go again."

He was close enough that I could see his eyelashes brushing against his cheek every time he blinked, "I've thought it through," I replied, looking him in the eyes.

And perhaps it was because of the late, winter night or simply because I wanted to, I leaned up to press my lips against his cheek.

He looked at me surprised when I leaned back, and then a smile crept across his lips, "Well, don't say I didn't warn you" he flicked my scarf up over my face in a swift motion as he leaned back on his chair, covering his face with his other hand, trying to hide the blush creeping across his face but not before I saw the smile on his face.

I laughed then, feeling the happiest I had in ages.