Her Innocent Love

12 ~ The Absence

Reyansh's POV

"How long have you been in Canada?" she asked, serving herself a portion of Biryani, the rich aroma, swirled in the air between us.

"It's been almost a month. What about you?"

"I've been here for nearly a year." she replied, her voice carrying a hint of something unsaid.

"That's a long time. Do you like it here?" I asked, hoping to keep the conversation flowing.

She looked up at me, her eyes searching mine. "What do you think?"

"Umm, let me guess. The answer is no."

"Ek dum sahi jawab! Aur aap jeet te hain saat crore rupaye!" she quipped, her playful tone made me laugh.

(Absolutely correct answer and you have won 7 crore)

"So, why is that? Do you miss your family?"

"Of course. Who wouldn't? I've never been away from them for more than a day, and now, it's been a year since I last saw them. Besides, my experiences with people here haven't been great."

"I understand. Do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah, I have a younger brother. We're a small family—just my mama, papa, bhai, and dadi."

"Sweet."

"Yeah. What about you?"

"I....." Before I could finish, she cut me off.

"Wait, let me Google it. Let's see if it has the right info." She pulled out her phone, her fingers flying over the screen. "So, you have your parents, grandparents, and a little sister."

"Yeah, you got it right."

"Dekha, main toh hoon hi zaheen!" 

(See, I'm very intelligent)

"Zaheen? What's that?"

"Haven't you watched any Pakistani dramas?" she asked, her eyes twinkling with amusement.

"No."

"It's okay. Now that I'm your friend, I'll share them with you. 'Zaheen' means intelligent," she explained, her nut-brown eyes shining with warmth and a wide smile lighting up her face.

"Ahnn..." I mumbled, skipping over the 'friend' part. I wanted to tell her that I wanted more than just friendship, but now wasn't the right time. Yet, waiting to tell her might make things even more complicated.

"You know, Reyansh," she began, her voice suddenly quiet, "I don't even know if I loved him or not, but I cared for him a lot. After my 12-hour shifts, I'd go to him and cook for him. I used to do his assignments. I always tried to be there whenever he needed me. I tried to understand his perspective too, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't ignore my ethics and values. We had a great time as friends, but as lovers, we were terrible. Maybe it's because he never really loved me. To him, I was just a pastime."

Her words hung in the air, heavy with the weight of unspoken pain. Tears brimmed in her eyes, threatening to spill over, and I felt something inside me shatter.

"Aathiya," I said, my voice barely above a whisper, "please don't waste your precious tears on someone who isn't worth...."

"He's good, Reyansh," she interrupted, her tone insistent, as if trying to convince herself more than me. "He's a nice person. I don't know why things turned out this way. Maybe we were too young, too naive to handle a relationship. We never gave each other space. We hugged for the first time on the day we broke up. He's so tall, and I always wanted to experience a hug with him... but I never imagined that my first hug would also be my last. I cried so hard in his arms, and do you know what his response was?" She looked at me, her teary eyes breaking something inside me. I wanted to hold her, to take away her pain, but I was bound by the unspoken rules between us.