Invisible Strings

3. Ahaan

It had been a long time since I came here. I remember coming here so much as a kid that they had no hesitation in asking me to do something or scolding me about something. Maybe it is true, as we grow up we forget the value of everything that was once important to us.

I ring the bell and am immediately greeted by a familiar warm face. She had changed a lot in these years.

"Namaste, Aunty", I bend down and touch her feet.

"Arrey, Ahaan, beta come inside. You have grown so much since the last time I saw you", she led me inside the house. The wedding preparations were in full swing and I could see some of Shivank's relatives talking to each other, "We were all waiting for you. Atharva, Isha, Aditi and Vashuki are already here. Only you and Shivaya were left and now you came too. It has been so long since I last saw you. It's like you forgot about us."

"Oh, it's nothing like that, Aunty. I was just little busy at the hospital."

"Oh, yeah. I am so happy that you became a doctor."

"Thank you", I looked around as she was leading me inside, "Where is Uncle?"

"I don't know where he is. But you could ask his favourite sister.", she threw a dirty look at her sister-in-law who was probably criticising everything. I never liked that woman either.

"Everyone is upstairs. Last door on the left.", then she left to do some work.

I walked towards his room. There were voices coming out of the room. I opened the door and saw the familiar faces of my childhood friends. Aditi and Vashuki were sitting on the bed, while Isha was sprawled across on the armchair. Atharva and Shivank were on the floor. They were all laughing about something.

"Are you guys too early or am I just late?", I said loudly catching their attention.

They stopped talking and looked at me. "Ahaan", all of them said in a unison and got up to greet me.

"Well, it's good to see you are still alive.", Atharva quipped as I kept my bag on the side and joined him and Shivank on the floor.

"Please, I have said it before and I will say it again. I am going to outlive all of you bastards because I take care of my health much better than any of you do."

"This is coming from the guy who used to eat samosa any chance he got", Aditi quipped.

"Hey, don't say anything about my samosa. It is the one and only love of my life. Plus, I balance it by eating healthy."

"I don't think that's how it works, dumbass.", Isha says, her eyes glued to her phone.

"Well, I am the doctor here. I know better than all of you on how to take care of my body."

"Is that why you look like an elephant.", I smack Shivank on his head.

"You’re lucky it's your wedding otherwise I would've killed you for that comment. I am the definition of perfect and I don't need you assholes to tell me otherwise."

"Perfect, yeah sure. Because I am looking at you right now and I don't think I see anything other than a narcissist bastard.", Vashuki scoffs

"You know what, you're just jealous you are not as tall as me. Don't worry we can't all be perfect like me."

"Ah, it's no point on arguing with him, guys. He is not going to yield.", we all laughed at Atharva's comment. It felt good being in a room with all of them again.

I looked at the door while I was laughing, waiting for someone to show up. But after a moment I turned my gaze off from the gate and saw that Isha was still looking at her phone.

"Hey, Isha, did someone glued your phone to your hand or are you just an addict."

She rolled her eyes at me,"None of those things, dumbo. I was just checking Shivi's location."

For some unknown reason my heart rate chose that moment to speed up and I was unable to reply, which I didn't have to because Shivank had already asked, "When is she coming?"

"She is ten minutes away from your home."

We all hummed in agreement and then went back to the conversation. But this time I could not focus as I kept stealing discreet glances towards the door. It is not like I was waiting for Shivaya, no, definitely not the case. I was just waiting to ask her about the article she had published recently on Dr. Mehra. Yeah, that was exactly why I was eager to meet her and not because I missed her.

We talked for sometbefore there was a knock on the door. Isha went to open it and we were greeted by the aight of her. She was wearing a jeans and a white t-shirt on which Nerd Life, Thug Life was printed in black. Her black hair were tied in a pony with some strands escaping it. She had a pink handbag. Everyone got up to hug her.

"What took you so long, Shivi? Even Dr. Alway Running Late came before you?", Aditi asked hugging her.

"I am so sorry. I got stuck in traffic and then took a wrong turn. If it weren't for Isha's text I would have never reached here today."

"Well, I am just glad you could make it.", Shivank hugged her. I sometimes envied him for sharing a beautiful bond with her, no matter how platonic it was.

"I had to or who would've warned the poor girl to run for her life during the jaymala.", we all laughed.

She greeted everybody by hugging them and then looked at me. I don't know why but I felt funny under her gaze. She didn't say anything to me, just smiled and nodded. I smiled back and took her bag. I kept it beside mine.

She settled on the armchair with Isha somehow. Our conversations continued well into night until Shivank's mother forced us to sleep.

We were all given the same room. It was  big enough for all of us but there was only one bed. The girls bullied us into sleeping on the floor. It didn't take long before we were all asleep.

It was 1:56 at the night when I woke up with start. I looked around to find water but all I saw was the empty bottle. I took my phone and went downstairs to the kitchen.

When I entered someone was already there drinking water ansmd scrolling on her phone. I switched on the lights and turned to her, "What are you doing up?"

"I was thirsty. You?", she asked putting the bottle down and the phone in her pocket.

"Same", I grabbed the bottle she was drinking from earlier and gulped some water down my throat,"So, how've you been?", I asked, leaning on the kitchen counter.

"Amazing. I am a freelance journalist now. It's a little frustrating sometimes but I enjoy what I do. What about you, Dr. Sharma?", she asked with a small smile.

"Perfect as ever. I mean it gets tiring being a doctor but I love it and wouldn't have it any other way.", we both walk towards the room together.

"Good for you.", we talk a bit more. I ask her about the article she wrote about Dr. Mehra. She told me about it in a great detail. I found that it was very soothing, listening to her talk. She has a beautiful voice.

As she was reaching for the door, she turned to me with a mischievous smirk, "And Ahaan, a little advice for future.
Don't unfollow someone after you have followed them. It makes it really obvious that you are stalking and don't want anyone to know. That's just amateurish."

She went in leaving me with a flustured expression.