Love Maze

Chapter 12

Hey all! Above, is a video of Walk Off The Earth's cover of Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of You'. It's absolutely fantastic! You'll get why I chose this song once you're around halfway through the chapter :) Read on!

The first thing that Anya thought the second she stepped out of the airport was, Wow, it's blisteringly hot here.

Of course, she knew that Mumbai was much warmer than New York, but the last time she had been here it was in the middle of winter, so the temperature was still tolerable.

This time, though, the cold hadn't set in yet and the sun beat down on her mercilessly as she followed her parents to a car that was waiting for them.

She opened the car door and slid in, sighing in relief as the cool air from the air conditioner fanned her face.

"Hello, hello!"

Anya jumped. The cheery voice had come out of nowhere. She scanned the interior of the car, and found the man whom the voice ostensibly belonged to.

He was sitting in the driver's seat, wearing a white shirt and black trousers. A mop of curly black hair sat atop his head, and a cheerful grin adorned his face.

"Anya, this is Mr. Gupta. He is your Aunt Priya's chauffeur," her father informed her.

She gave him a polite smile and looked away, busying herself with her seatbelt.

But it seemed that Mr. Gupta didn't give up so easily. As he started the engine and pulled out of the parking space, he attempted to make conversation once again.

"Is this your first time in India?"

"No, we've been here once before." Anya fought the urge to roll her eyes at the man's enthusiasm.

Probably sensing her impatience, he soon turned his attention towards her parents, keeping up a constant chatter as he asked them whether they'd had a good flight and whatnot.

Anya pulled out her earphones, planning to ignore the ongoing conversation and lose herself in the music.

She looked down at the screen of her iPod. It was practically ancient- a hand-me-down from her mother. Mrs. Brooks had been reluctant to buy her daughter a brand new device because Anya had the tendency to use a new gadget for a month at most before she would get bored of it. The poor thing would then lie for an eternity in the bottom of her drawer, alone and abandoned, before Anya's mother would eventually fish it out one day.

But she had taken a surprising liking to this particular hand-me-down, and still used it even after a year of receiving it from her mother. Maybe it was because the bright red colour of it that had once looked ugly and garish had now faded to a soft orange, giving it a unique, retro look. Maybe it was because of her sheer fascination with old and (sort of) vintage items. Whatever it was, it worked for her.

Of course, she had revamped it to suit her taste; her name was scrawled on the back in cursive handwriting with black permanent marker with little doodles surrounding it, and it was now loaded with songs by her favourite artists.

Her fingered hovered over the screen as she tried to decide which song to play. She finally resorted to putting the playlist titled 'Feel Good' on shuffle as she plugged in to the music.

'Shape of You' by Ed Sheeran began playing, and she distractedly nodded her head to the beat, gazing through the window.