invisible string ✓

nineteen

• ADVIKA •

The first thing I saw was the black ceiling fan that wasn't rotating as I heard Aarvi’s “Goodbye!” outside the room, which sounded feeble to my ears. I looked to my left and saw the man I expected to see, motionless and still taking time to bring all of his senses to my universe.

I broke his grip and got off my bed in slow motion, so that the movement of the bed doesn't disturb him. I tip-toed to the door, turned the knob and pulled the door at 0.25x speed, tip-toed outside, and locked the door without making noise.

Just as I anticipated, I saw Aarvi leaning on the entrance door of our house, exhaling through her mouth with her face showing extreme relief, and stood straight like a Scout on a march past as she broke into a smile of relief when she noticed me.

She nodded her head as if to ask whether Ishaan was there and I replied a yes with a similar nod. She pointed her chin at me with her eyebrows meeting each other, asking where he was. I pointed to my back, gesturing that he was inside.

I gestured at her to come to me and placed my index finger on my lips, asking her to keep quiet. She nodded an obedient yes as she tip-toed inside along with me.

As we reached inside the room, she jogged towards Ishaan, leaving the task of closing the door to me. As I turned to her direction, I was taken aback, seeing her suppress her squeal with her hands pressing against her lips. Her eyes shone like those of a fangirl as she jogged back towards me and asked, “Is that Ishaan?”

Pursing my lips to not let my chuckle escape, I nodded a yes.

“Oh my God! He's so deadly, dude!” She whispered almost breathlessly and fluttered like a butterfly. “Dude, sorry to jinx it, but…” She let out an exhale through her mouth and continued, “He is a fucking deadly cocktail of cuteness and hotness,” in a whiny tone.

I smiled at her, pride filling the cavities of my soul, almost like “That's my man for you.”

I walked closer to him and looked at those features one could never get over. The dusky skin and baby beard went so well with him as I sensed his eyeballs moving from inside.

His eyelids opened and his forehead developed a crease as he groaned, “Uh, where are we?”

Letting out an airy chuckle, I beamed, “Welcome to my world, Ishaan!”

“Agh!” Ishaan tried to get up on his own and as he did, he surveyed through my room, thereby trying to grasp the reality.

As his gaze landed on Aarvi— who was approaching towards us— I looked at Aarvi, then at Ishaan, then again at Aarvi and said, “Aarvi, meet Ishaan. And, Ishaan, meet Aarvi.”

Aarvi suppressed her grin and extended her hand for a handshake while greeting a hi.

“Hi, Aarvi! Heard a lot of things about you!” Ishaan's groan turned into something better as he sat on the bed.

“Oh! Is that so?” She looked at me with her patented wide grin, only to suppress it in order not to present herself as a crackhead. “Believe only the good ones.”

Ishaan's chuckle grew into a laughter that was so good to witness for a straight twenty-four hours.

“Anyways, Advika… Is this your house?” Ishaan looked at me with a look that hoped it was just a prank.

“My house in my world, which is many kilometres away from yours,” I stated while he got up from the bed.

“So… What you said was…”

“True. Trust me, Ishaan.”

***

“Ewww! Was this all Harsh did?” I asked as Aarvi narrated about how Harsh created a ruckus upon my disappearance and how Aarvi managed it. “No wonder he's a douchebag.”

“Oh, yeah! After all, he's your douchebag, isn't he?” Aarvi commented while rolling her eyes along with me, though the context behind the eye rolling was different. Clearing her throat, she sat upright and asked, “By the way, do you remember that you have a college to attend?”

“Well… I remember, but…” I rubbed the back of my neck, considering the prospect of staying back with my book boyfriend at my house. “Just inform them that I'm ill. Fever, dizziness, you name it.”

“Okay!” She sighed and got off the couch, adding, “I'll tell them that you're pregnant.”

“Ewww, shucks! Aarvi, get a filter system for those fucking mouth of yours!” I scowled and pretended to gag, leaving the spectator Ishaan in laughter.

“Fine! Enjoy your day with your fictional man, bitch!” Aarvi yelled as though I was miles away from her, leaving us to look at each other at the mention of “boyfriend”.

***

TWO HOURS LATER…

“Ishaan, I would like to have a word with you.”

This sentence from me stopped him midway through his journey to the kitchen as he turned to me and raised his palm, gesturing at me to wait.

After coming back from the kitchen, he landed on the couch with a thump and asked, “What was it, Mia Anima?”

“Well… It's about two things,” I started off before letting out a deep exhale. “One: It's about us. Though I said that I love you, I need time to think deeply about it and tell you a final decision. Yes, I fell in love with you without thinking, but… To have a proper relationship, I feel like I need to trust you. I needed to trust myself. You know what's going on between myself and Harsh, and I don't want history to repeat itself with you. Falling in love with a character felt easier falling in love with a human. I still like you, but I need to believe that we have a forever. So—”

“I understand it, Advika,” he interjected midway through my speech, taking his time to reply. “I know, it takes time to trust people. And, I'm not ready to force you. Let's take this one at a time. Baby steps. Okay?”

I nodded a yes with a smile on my face and added, “Also, I need to add something else.” As he tilted his head to his left, I continued, “I am going to end things with Harsh, which was something I was supposed to do long ago. I don't want to cheat on him. I don't want to roam around with the guilt of having two men at a time. And, I feel like it's better for us to split ways. What do you say?”

“It's your relationship, Advika.” He moved a little closer to me, the dangerous proximity of me getting lost in his rainforest eyes lurking round the corner. “Your call is the final one. You know what to do, so do it.”

Just then, we heard the doorbell ring.

“Must be Deepti,” I muttered as a wild idea struck my mind. “Ishaan, could you please open the door for me?”

“Ummm… Sure.” Ishaan got up from his place and opened the door, only to stay glued to the ground.

“Ishaan, who's there—?” I got up to see who was there, only to see an unwelcome yet wanted creature in my house.

“Advika?” Harsh tilted his head to his right with his eyes— pregnant with suspicion— squinted at the sight of his girlfriend with another man.

***

I'm done for today, peeps! I think I will be updating after a week or two since my exams are round the corner (again!). So... See you all soon, peeps!