[a desi bus romance] Vijay and Nila have only one thing in common - they take the same bus at the same time everyday. What if this mere commonality steers their life into a whirlpool of uninvited feelings, wholesome conversations and unexpected conn...
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Nila woke up, squinting her eyes because of the phone lighting up next to her face. After breakfast, her parents had gone to a temple feast for lunch so she had quit her act and lazed around in her bed. She didn't realise she had fallen asleep. Nila ran a palm over her eyes and picked up her phone.
Any sleep that had been sticking to her suddenly vanished when she looked at the caller ID.
It was Kayal.
Nila sat up and stared at her phone. She had promised herself she'd come clean to Kayal the next time she called and her phone was vibrating in her hand with her picture on the screen. She took a deep breath and swiped the call green.
"What took you so long to pick the call? Were you asleep? Did I wake you?" Kayal fired as soon as she held the phone to her ear.
"Yeah. But it's fine. I'm up now. What's up?"
"I'm not beating around the bush. Appa and amma called. They're worried about you. What's happening with you? Something's up right? Your blog on Instagram is dying. There are no posts, not even stories. You literally have your garden in the house so you should be making lots of content but you aren't. What's wrong, Nila?"
"Where are you right now?" Nila asked.
"Home. I just put Ajay to sleep. Ajju has gone to work. Why?"
Nila chewed her lip. Was she really going to do this? But it was the perfect timing. Her parents were not home and Arjun was also not with Kayal. Maybe this was a sign.
"I have to talk to you about something."
"Nila, you're scaring me. Are you okay? You're not sick, are you?"
"I'm fine. I just—I have been hiding something from you, Kay. I shouldn't have. But I was scared. I didn't know how to tell you. This is a really sensitive---"
"Cut the disclaimers, Nila. Just tell it to me. You know I can't handle tough shit," Kayal said. Yes, but could she handle this?
Nila went silent. What if Nila disrupted her sister's life by saying this to her? She had gone through so much and gotten to a place where she is finally happy. Did she need to hear this? Aren't some things better off not knowing?
"Nila? Stop overthinking it. Just tell me."
"Kayal, you remember Vijay?"
"Yes, of course. Your boyfriend whom you haven't introduced to me till now. Every day I tell Arjun how rude it is of you. You don't even send a picture of him to me. I don't understand why you keep him hidden like he's your dirty secret," she rambled.
If only Nila had sent his picture to her in the beginning, maybe things would have been different. Maybe she wouldn't have gotten too deep with Vijay.
