Will You Write With Me

13

“Who is that boy who dropped you last night?”, Navya dad asked her while he was having his breakfast.
“Arun”, she said hesitantly.
“Boyfriend?”, he inquired.
“Yes papa”, she said in distress. He just threw a gentle smile on her and continued with his breakfast.
“Are you mad at me?”, she asked with her imploring eyes.
“Why should I be mad at you dear?”, he asked her.
“Because I am dating a guy and…”, she said, and her father’s voice interrupted hers.
“Listen dear, I know about you my girl. You know what you are doing, and you are 21, you have all the rights and maturity to take your own decisions. I am not mad at you, I am proud of you”, he said. She hugged her Dad in joy and felt lucky that she had one like him.
“So, tell me about him. Indian?”, he asked. 
“Yes, Dad. South Indian”, she said smiling.
“Oh… Even your Mom was a south Indian. But she raised up in Mumbai and became a hybrid of both south and north”, he said laughing, remembering his old beautiful days.
“You loved her so much, didn’t you?”, Navya asked him.
“Yes, I did. I loved her so much, and she loved me more than I loved myself”, he said, and his eyes started to dim.
“Then why did you married another woman here?”, she asked.
He chuckled and said, “When love hurts you, only love can heal you dear. There is no other way”.
                                              ~
“Come with me”, Arun hurried Navya after their class. They took a cab from their college.
“Lighthouse point park, new haven”, Arun said to the driver and the car started to move.
“Where are we going?”, she kept asking for every five minutes. It was two and a half hours travel and Arun kept replying, “Wait. It’s a surprise”. Finally, after a long run the cab stopped and they both got down.
“Come”, he said and walked with her to the shore by holding her hands. The view was mesmerizing. The shore was alluring, and the tides frequently kissed the shore, and the cold breeze around the shore made every second romantic. Everything was romantic about that place including, the tall, motionless, single lighthouse. The place was not fully deserted but not busy either. It appeared to be decorated here and there with some beautiful couples. And that added life to that place. “Why are we here?”, she asked after enjoying all the beautiful sights at the mother nature.
“To find stories”, he said. She didn’t understand what Arun was trying to convey. Before she could ask him about everything in clear, he held her hand and walked with her till the shore. The tides of the homely sea waved at them and kissed their feet. Navya blushed.
“You see that couple; they have a story. They prefer conversations than other fancy overrated funs, like you”, he said pointing at a couple, who were seated on the shore and exchanging their words of love. Navya had a quick gaze at them. “Like me?”, she asked.
“Do you remember that day, when we played ‘Truth or dare’, and you had choose truth over dare…”, he said and triggered out Navya’s memory.
“Yes, you the one who asked me ‘What kind of person I would prefer to date’ Am I right?”, she said.
“Yes, and you told me that you would prefer someone who could take you out somewhere, where you could have a meaningful conversation over other fancy overrated things”, he said.
“Yes, I did”, she said chuckling.
“And there is another kind of couple there, who would prefer to do all the fancy things rather than old conversation idea”, he said point at a couple, who were snogging passionately at a distance. Navya gave a naughty grin after glaring at that couple.
“There are beautiful stories around us. And there are some bad stories too”, he said and sat down at the shore. She sat down with him and asked, “Like what?”.
“Like some couples we witnessed in the club the other night. The men who grope their partners, who force them to do something that they don’t like”, he said.
“Why don’t they just quit that kind of relationships? Why do they prefer to be with that person after being physically forced?”, she asked him curiously. 
“May be that girl love him truly and was blind enough that she could not see things clearly”, he stated his point.
“Even if you are in love with Sharukh Khan or Hrithik Roshan, what is the point if they treat you like an object for pleasure?”, she complained. Arun chuckled after her comment.
“What?”, she asked him cutely with her sweet little rage look.
“Feminism”, he teased her.
“Arey Feminism nahi, Humanism hai”, she said in Hindi with her flourishing smile, and rested her head on his chest.
“Why do you love me?”, she asked him by hearing the rhythmic hum of his heartbeat.
“Because I found my story in you. And I believe that only you can write it with me, till the end of my life”, he said and kissed her forehead tenderly.
“Will you write about us?”, she asked him.
“I am writing about us”, he said.
“What?”, she asked.
“Yes, I am writing a story about two writers who meet in a book launch event, and eventually one was falling for the other person. Will their love be successful? Is in the rest of the plot”, he said smiling.
“Wow, it sounds good”, she said.
“Yeah, I know”, he said.
“Will their love be successful?”, she asked him.
“Yes, they will be happy just like us”, he said and hugged her tight in his arms.