Destiny Tales

Chapter 5 : Morning

Kabir wakes up with a jolt and finds himself in an alien place. He is not on his bed, neither in his house. He looks around and suddenly sits back as his head spins. He had too much to drink, he recollects. A sharp glance at his watch reveals that it is 9 in the morning. 2 hours behind schedule, he regrets.

Right as he is about to get up, he hears a cheery "Good Morning". He turns around to see Khushi with a bottle of water in her hand. She hands him over the bottle, suggesting he drinks the entire bottle. Kabir is parched, so he has no qualms over doing as told. After giving the empty bottle to Khushi, he looks at her with questions in his eyes.

"Let me make some strong black coffee for you and then you can leave," Khushi smiles and goes to the kitchen. Kabir is terribly confused. What happened the previous night. How did he end up here. All this while, he thought he was dreaming about this entire incident. But did he really end up coming to her and spending the night at her place?

Lost in his thoughts, Kabir is brought back to reality when Khushi nudges him and gives him the cup of freshly brewed coffee. She sits in the armchair across the sofa and bluntly asks, "How much do you drink normally? Was yesterday normal or do you drink more than that?" When Kabir looks at her confused, she continues, "No, I am just asking, in case I need to be prepared for more such instances in the future!"

As Kabir bows down his face in shame, Khushi bursts out laughing. That gives him some strength and he looks up as Khushi smiles mischievously. "Why do you drink so much Kabir? I mean, it's not good! I drink too, occasionally but this is too much! You couldn't even stand! What if it was someone else? Just that I am too nice and I let you in! Also, why did you come and meet me so late at night? We barely know each other."

Khushi's never ending tirade is brought to a stop by Kabir's "I am sorry Khushi, I will never disturb you again." Khushi is a little taken aback. She didn't mind being disturbed. She wanted to know why. That's all. She decides to stop the discussion right now, as Kabir looked sick. He needed proper rest, and they can discuss this later too!

As Kabir is about to get up, Khushi asks one last question. "Who was that girl you were telling me about Kabir? You never told me her name!" Kabir gives it a lot of thought before saying, "Rheesa".

Khushi is about to ask if she is the same woman she saw in the balcony the previous night, cajoling Kabir. But, she is stopped as Kabir's phone rings. Khushi manages to catch a glimpse of the name that flashes on the screen. It's Rheesa. Kabir just looks at Khushi and his eyes have gratitude and guilt both. Gratitude for how Khushi took care of him, and guilt for how he troubled her.

As he leaves her house, his faint hello tells Khushi that he didn't mean any of the words he said yesterday night, and that Rheesa is very much his present. That means the kiss was a mistake indeed. Khushi doesn't know why her eyes well up. Was she expecting it to mean something? Kabir didn't even remember half the things he said or did. Perhaps this was one of the things he is used to. Kissing unknown girls, for he was a charmer and it was easy for girls to fall for him. Not Khushi, she decides.

As Khushi wipes that tiny tear from the corner of her eye, Kabir shuts his eyes while talking to Rheesa. All he can think of is that kiss. Was that real? Or was it his imagination. This has never happened to him before. As the call goes on, Kabir's mind wavers. It never left that quaint room of Khushi's. His heart and mind are both still there. It cannot happen, he decides. But little does he know, that destiny is at play, and it has already made its move.