invisible string ✓

nineteen

• ADVIKA •

The first thing I saw was the familiar black ceiling fan that wasn't rotating as I heard Aarvi's loud “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 boyfriend 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 open and he shot a smile at me as he groaned, “What a fucking beautiful sight!”

It was my time to smile at him as I sensed Aarvi 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… Take me round your house.” Ishaan had his legs hanging, preparing to get off the bed.

“Sure!” I beamed while he got up from the bed at that. As we walked towards the entrance, “It wouldn't be as large as yours since I live in an apartment.”

“Maybe, yes. But, then, you live here, right? It doesn't matter.” We stopped midway through our path as he broke into a reassuring smile.

***

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