Aashiqui - A Love Story.

.XVI.

Present

Pembroke Castle, UK.

Abir presses his forehead, a pounding headache disturbing his usual morning routine. He knew Jiya was pissed because he hadn't answered any of her calls. But the news had shocked him. Mishti's mother's visit wasn't a surprise but the information she carried definitely was. She had left, for the sake of God, and had warned about the consequences if he didn't report to her.

Kuhu had met her. She was alive. But her location wasn't revealed by Mishti's mother since she resented him from the bottom of her heart. Radhika thought Abir was the reason for her daughter's running away. Who could correct her!

But wasn't she right?

2019

Pembroke Castle, UK.

Akshara was wiping her hands with the sanitiser when she got the call. Her husband's close friend had expired and they had to leave to Carmarthen immediately. But she couldn't abandon her patient, all of a sudden. Therefore Abir was summoned so that he could understand all the instructions carefully. She was not to be left outside without monitoring. The tablets had to be given on time, and most importantly she should not be exposed to cold water.

It was mid afternoon when Abir was researching about a topic that he wanted to know more about. He had considered her condition fairly, and had begun to write a draft for his book. Though he was happy about the progress, he was worried that his muse would not approve of the genre he chose. Tragedy. No matter how much he explored, he was drawn towards this one theme. And he got busy with his thoughts.

That's when the intercom started buzzing with Mishti's heavy breaths. She was sound asleep, not having any strength to get up and think about how she'd spend another day avoiding his excitement regarding her recovery towards life. But as she drifted more and more into the slumber, she was short of breath and started wheezing. Unable to do anything, she kept heaving until Abir barged inside her room.

He panicked first and then realised that she was pointing towards the inhaler kept in the shelf. Aiding her immediately, he held her frame gently, not to hurt her in any manner. Mishti then calmed down, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. But Abir noticed she was burning up. He didn't know what to do if she had a fever, and what tablets to give. So he dialled Akshara but the line went unanswered.

"Don't worry. I won't die so soon." Her weak response caught him off guard.
"Mishti! Oh my god! What should I do? Guide me please." He urged as she coughed.
"Warm. Make the room warm. Bring hot water." Upon her command, he did exactly what he was told. Dipping the cloth in water, he placed it on her forehead and increased the room's temperature. Soon she was sweating profusely, but her face was still pale.
"Mishti? Are you alright? Do you need anything?" No response. And that's when his hands began shivering.

He didn't even realise it was almost night and when he called Akshara again for the nth time, she picked up and cursed at everything she found legit. Within 2 hours she was there and rushed towards her friend.
"Decrease the temperature. She doesn't sweat normally like us, Abir. You should have reduced it once the fever had died. Help me now." She insisted and Abir carefully lifted her body so that Akshara could remove the sheets and the pillow which were soaked. And after another hour of torment, Mishti was awake, looking better.

"Juice for Ms.Troublemaker." Abir announced himself and stepped inside.
"Ah! Here's the bane of my existence." Mishti rolled her eyes.
"You really like to torture yourself, don't you?" His comment made her chuckle. Akshara excused herself and assured that she was okay and there was nothing to worry. Then and then only, Abir let her go.
"How are you feeling?" He held her hand and caressed it.
"Better." She nodded, noticing the bags under his eyes.

"Does this happen often?" Abir questioned, still looking down.
"Quite a few times. Just like the panic attacks that happens to y'all, I experience it in a major scale." Her explanation made him shudder.
"Talk to me, Abir. Tell me something about you." She smiled, holding his hand tightly. He knew what she was doing. Distracting from the near death scenario. And he gladly accepted it.
"When I was 10 years old, I used to visit the Marble Arch with Baba. And our favourite spot was the Speaker's Corner. We used to just sit and watch the sunset, and that's when I saw someone carrying a CD." He sheepishly smiled.

"Don't tell me you stole it." He chuckled at her remark.
"I wish I could but Baba caught me as soon as I laid my eyes on it. It was the album '13' by the band Blur. It was quite all over London back then." She smiled.
"You mean in 1870s?" Now Abir rolled his eyes.
"I might look old but hey, it was just 1999." He continued.
"And I pestered him so much, so Baba finally gave up. I listened to it all summer and then I don't know where I kept the CD, I couldn't find it. And Baba wouldn't buy another copy of it, my friends didn't know much about them so nobody helped in retrieving it." Abir reminisced.

"I was heartbroken. And then, I found another band to obsess upon. But that album remained close to my heart." He grinned and looked at her, who was keenly observing his face.
"Well, don't look at me like that. I had a normal childhood too. I just grew up to become like this." She scoffed.
"What about your favourite memory?" Mishti paused and then smiled, relaxing.
"I loved going to Paris. Whenever I felt suffocated due to the schedule, or anything for that matter, I used to escape to that city." Abir looked at her.

"Just before my accident, we had decided to take a vacation to Paris before announcing about the new movie. And I was glad, relieved, etc etc. But it never happened." She sighed.
"Well, what's stopping us? We can make it happen." He interjected.
"I thought I was the crazy one here. You're giving tough competition." Mishti chuckled when he realised she was joking.
"Remove the can't, won't and don't from your head. We are going to Paris." And she yawned.
"We'll discuss this in morning." He said and tucked her into the bed.

"We'll see if Akshara lets you live a second after you lay out the trip plan."

Present

"Jiya, yes. You can come over. Yes yes, I'm not busy. Just a bad headache. I'm fine now. Sure, text me before you leave, alright." He cuts the call and leans back on the sofa.
"I'm sorry bhai. I didn't know Kuhu would meet her without informing any of us-"
"Then why are you apologising Nanko? It's not needed. She did what she thought was correct. And she has a right to know. After all, she's a part of this family too." Kunal nods, though he's not satisfied with the answer his brother had offered.

"But bhai, what about Mishti's mother? Will you tell her if Kuhu comes back and informs about what happened?" Abir stills.
"I don't know, Kunal. She suffered a lot because of her parents. And I don't think so she'll be ready to visit Pembrokeshire. Not after what happened." His retort sounds unfamiliar to himself. Abir ponders over the past, like it had happened yesterday. The vacation was their last best memory.

Everything that transpired later, destroyed their lives.

Completely and utterly.

To be continued

So sorry for the late update🥲

I will surely update Fitoor by tomorrow!

Have a nice reading!

Love love ❤