Everything but her

Couldn't miss meeting you

Two months later-
The tour was over and everyone was excited to land at the Mumbai airport. It had been a tough fought series with the test series getting drawn and New Zealand winning the odi series by a small margin of 3-2. The team had been disappointed but like a true leader, Dhoni had tried to make peace. He had motivated everybody by saying that the results clearly showed that they had given it their all.
It was around 9 in the night when the team finally landed. Everyone started picking their luggage, the local players like Rohit and Ajinkya also started looking for their family members and that is when Virat saw that face that had had him the very first time he had seen it. Aarushi stood there looking a little tensed as the flight was a little late. She was continuously checking her mobile phone looking at the time. Instinctively, Virat's feet moved towards the exit, his eyes fixed upon her. He was, however, held back by a voice from behind.
'Hey, why don't you stay the night at my house. Your flight is not until tomorrow morning', Virat turned around and saw Rohit speaking this to him.
'What? I mean...no...I'll stay at the hotel. It has already been booked', Virat looked a little frustrated as he had to move his gaze away from Aarushi.
Ajinkya had meanwhile made his way to the exit. Virat saw Aarushi giving Ajinkya a big hug and slowly they moved towards their car and Virat was left all alone occupied by his thoughts.

As Virat reached the room of the hotel, he just got into the bed as he could not think of anything else. He had informed his mother that he had reached India and thus he switched off his phone as well putting an alarm of 10 a.m. as he had a flight to catch next day at 1.

Aarushi, on the other hand, had been hoping to catch a glimpse of Virat at the airport. She was disappointed on not getting to see him. She gathered enough courage and after asking his brother all about the tour and telling him that mum had been missing him, she finally asked,
'So, Virat was all fine?'
'Not all fine but he was holding up quite well', Ajinkya answered.
'Oh', Aarushi did not know how much she could ask him.
'You talked with him?', Ajinkya asked looking at her.
'Yes', she replied timidly.
'It is okay', he let out a smile. 'You've made me seem a monstrous brother.'
And both let out a huge laugh.
Aarushi was so tempted to call him up but she knew it was not fair on him. Not fair on herself too. The amount of pain that they had taken all these years had been too much to handle already. She did not want to add another chapter to it. She wanted to sleep on it. But, stupid sleep never came for her escape. Virat had come to Mumbai several times and she had known it too but she had not felt like this anytime before. This was different. Virat had called her first. He had wanted to know if she was fine. But that did not mean anything for him. It could well be just a gesture. Maybe she as overthinking. Maybe he was just being nice to her as a friend. Or maybe? No, she concluded. It was just a case of a one sided affair in her head. But she could not sleep. She wanted to hear it from him. All these years. She wanted closure to move on. Although, that was a big lie. She could never move on. It was far from impossible to erase him from her memories. But she was determined to know it for her own good.

Virat woke up at around 6 in the morning and he was surprised that he was awake so early. The bed, he concluded, had been uncomfortable. Although, he knew it was not the bed but his mind which was getting all uncomfortable. He switched on his phone and turned off the alarm. He turned on his cellular data to see if he had any what's app messages and there were innumerable not to his surprise. He was added to many groups some of which he had never even had a conversation in. He longed to lay down in the bed but he also wanted to take a good bath to relieve himself of all the stress. Out of the two options he zeroed in on taking the bath. Somehow, he just kicked his sore body into the washroom and got into the bathtub.
Virat enjoyed a long bath of around half an hour and he had had no chance to dress when he was disturbed by a message popping up on his phone. This one was not from one of the annoying groups. He read it-
Aaru- Can you please tell this receptionist that I am your friend and let me in? Call me please if you are awake.
It was funny how Virat had still saved her name as a nick name. A nick name she absolutely hated and Virat loved. He called up at the reception and requested them to let Aarushi enter the premises.
A thousand questions were running through his mind. Why had she come here? How did she even know that I am here? What will she say? Does Jinx know she is here? What if he comes to know afterwards? But then he assured himself-
But she is here. I will get to meet her even if it is for one last time. I wanted to meet her yesterday. My wish is fulfilled.
In all this hush hush he had forgotten to get dressed. He was still standing in his vest and shorts. He quickly put on a t-shirt and changed into a casual jeans. He also started a little cleaning and putting his things at one place as he knew Aarushi hated dirty rooms. While he was still doing so, he heard a knock on his door. His heartbeat got faster and excitement was level high. He had stalked her a few times on Facebook after they had separated but she was not a very social person. He had not come across many photographs. The day before, he had just seen a glimpse of her at the airport but that was not enough. He still wondered if she had changed from the nineteen year old that he had last met. 

He opened the door and saw her standing there. She was dressed in a simple jeans and t-shirt but she looked every bit the beauty that he had known. She had tied her hair in a pony and her face glowed with that ever mesmerizing smile. She had not changed after all, he concluded.

'Hi', she started.

'Hello, get in please', Virat answered all taken aback.

'Wow, big improvement. The room is a clear winner from the one I saw years back', she gave him a tap on his back.

'Thank you. I did it all for you otherwise do you really think I have improved?'

'Not a chance', and they both let out a laugh.

'So, early in the morning? Anything urgent?', Virat asked her.

'No, nothing. Just thought I should meet you. Bro told me that you are leaving this very afternoon and I couldn't miss meeting you this time.'

Virat could not believe his ears. He had heard it right. She could not miss meeting him. Well, those words had him once again.