Bound by Law

Bound by Law || 29- A New Leaf

We were at a fair.

My eyes met with a giant Ferris wheel with bright, rainbow-coloured lights shining in the night sky. There were other activities and people of all ages walked around, laughter in the air.

I gave out an enthusiastic laugh and turned around in my seat to look at Jai, who had been observing me quietly.

"Jai...a fair?!"

He nodded. "Yeah. Heard about it at work and I thought you'd like it."

I had forgotten about the incident that had happened back home at this point and smiling giddily, I opened the car door and stepped out. Jai came round and we walked towards the entrance.

I couldn't contain my awe as we walked in. There was a fairy floss stand nearby and a big booth where there was a 'Duck Pond' activity.

It all looked so exciting because I had never been to a fair before.

"You want some fairy floss?" Jai's voice cut into my thoughts and I had never nodded so quickly in my life.

He led me over to the stand and the man behind it got us to make it ourselves. The smile on my face only stretched wider as the machine spun the sugar around the stick that I was holding.

Jai bought pink and I bought blue since it was my favourite colour. I pinched a piece and shoved it in my mouth, savouring the sweetness. I laughed to myself happily at how quickly it evaporated in my mouth.

"Give it here."

At Jai's demand, I turned to look at him. I don't know if it was because of the excitement, but I felt an intense surge of confidence burst through me. I playfully stuck my tongue out at him.

One corner of his lips curved up into a small, amused smirk at my attempt at being angry.

Without waiting for my response, he reached out and took the blue fairy floss off of me and I gasped, horrified.

"No, th–" I went to whine like a child when I stopped myself. Jai raised an eyebrow and I bit my lip, embarrassed.

He pushed his pink fairy floss in my face. Hesitantly, I reached out and took a little bit of his fairy floss. From the corner of my eye, I spotted him staring down at me.

I placed the soft and sticky piece of pink cotton in my mouth and my eyes lit up instantly. "This one tastes different!"

Jai raised an eyebrow and took a small piece of mine and tried it, his face blank. I looked at him, eagerly waiting for his response. He hummed in low agreement and turned to look at me.

"You're right. The blue tastes like raspberry or something else."

I beamed. "Yeah, and the pink doesn't taste like anything but sugar."

He snorted. "Well, yeah, that's what it's made of."

"N-no, I meant—"

Jai looked down at me, his eyes surprisingly soft.

"Yeah. I get you."

The silence that followed caused me to fumble with my shawl in embarrassment. I managed to tear my eyes away from his eyes, suddenly feeling shy.

I allowed my eyes to wander around the place and I itched to play everything and do everything the fair had to offer. The sweet, sticky sensation of the fairy floss still hung back on my lips so I licked it subtly.

"I like the pink fairy floss better," I whispered to no one in particular.

Back in India, everytime we went to festivals or amusement parks, we would buy pink fairy floss and share it all around.