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Aarav

Aarav - part one

This simply wasn't the girl who'd asked me for my blunt back outside when I was smoking by my car.

The girl outside was something else than this anxious woman sitting beside me now who was scratching her neck.

Her wallet that I'd retrieved was on the table, my mother was eyeing her with all the worry in the universe while my eyes were fixed on her neck where a trickle of blood was making its way down.

Taking a tissue I crumpled it and dabbed at her skin. This had her turning to look at me.

She wasn't mesmerising or out of the world beauty, just your above average girl that had you giving her a second glance. She was older than me, I could tell that.

Chocolate skin with almond shaped eyes that were a shade of brown I'd never seen before. Her eyes were mahogany brown, just a little bit darker which made them seem as if they were a little reddish in colour. Her features weren't outstanding, but what made her appearance commanding were her eyebrow piercings and her choice of clothing.

Her open back and the ties of her blouse made one notice the curve of her waist, she didn't wear no jewelry, her wrists didn't have any bangles or bracelets and I didn't take her to be a person who was into them. On her waist a hint of a tattoo was visible and it made me wonder where else she had her skin painted.

"Thank you" she said as her fingers took the tissue from me and held it to her neck.

This woman was so different from her lookalike sister I'd just seen. She had a gentle aura to her, this one was more like my friends who sat with me to share a few drinks and then disappeared with strangers.

"Hayat, I think I'll be going home. I don't really feel like being here anymore." She took a large gulp if water and placed the glass back on the table.

In the past 2 hours or so I'd seen this girl literally consume every other dessert that was being served and at this point I wouldn't be surprised if she still had it in her to take another bite or two from that ras-malai of hers.

"Aarav, you can go with her if you want, you're anyways gonna be staying in the apartment next to the one she's living in." My mother's voice made me look at her and her eyes very begging me not to argue.

"Wait.....he's staying next door to me?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. Then her eyes moved to me, they seemed captivating.

"I'm here for a few months and the apartment next to yours in ours."

She nodded her head as her eyes trailed over her sister who was talking with a guy. Her eyes narrowed just for a second before she pressed her lips together and picked her cell up.

She was calling someone before she thought better of herself and kept the cell down again.

I've seen her somewhere.

"So are you coming with me?" She asked me, her eyes still locked on her sister.

I took a moment to think, did I want to go with this woman? To be honest, staying here didn't seem like a good idea.

"Yes." I said as I handed Hayat the car keys.

"Okay, I'll go get the car outta the parking. Bye Hayat, I'll see you around." And with that the woman was up and heading out. As she turned, her back was on full display and I watched as a few guys eyed her.

Not their mistake. She was looking gorgeous.......her saree that of a seductress.

A guy stopped her on her way and shook her hand before she was on her way again.

"Can you do me a favour?" My mom's voice had me looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

" Stay with her for sometime once you get there."

"Why would I do that?" I asked as I stood up.

"Because I'm saying so. You anyways have nothing else to do."

She got up and gave me a hug before I moved towards the exit. This wedding was of my aunt from my mother's side, a marriage of a direct relative yet I didn't feel the need to be here.

I wasn't a part of this family. My father's side had accepted my mom and me with open arms, my mother's side, not so much.

This side of my relatives were, although welcoming, not so warm towards me. Their wandering eyes and thoughts had the ability to make me feel uncomfortable, the fact that my mom was not respected here made me irk.

My mom was trying so hard, too hard, to get their love and acceptance. She wanted to mend things with her parents, she didn't want anyone to feel hatred for me. That was the one reason why I was here during all my vacations, living with my grandparents who always tried not to be partial towards me. I could always see in their eyes that their love was accompanied with sadness and guilt.

It was almost hard to leave my mother in-between all these people who gave her fake smiles and talked behind her back about how she had me a few years before her marriage and at the tender age of 19. Yes, I wasn't a planned baby, more like a surprise that left her in a shock.

What had me leaving her alone in this toxic environment was the fact that she was a hard headed woman. She raised me as a single mother for a year before she could get to my father and tell him about me. My father of course, didn't really want anything to do with her, or with me. So instead he agreed to help my mom financially. He wasn't punctual with it but what he gave helped my mum raise me,and once she got her degree, she didn't really need his help.

She gave me all the love she could when she was starving for affection. She was lonely all the while and yet she never just up and leave. She didn't abandon me as most young mothers would've. She raised me through all of that, she is a strong woman.

"Aarav" Neer called out to me from her Volkswagen Ameo. I made my way to the shotgun and got in.