Afterlife Of Ember And Rhea

Chapter 74: He's My Soulmate!

The air feels new, but kind of polluted. But it was nice with the two of them together. There's chaos everywhere—from the airport to the end of the city in the east. Ember and Rhea stood outside the airport, waiting for Charles, his personal driver, who was also his buddy, to come back with a rented car. The noise in the atmosphere seemed to cease by the nightfall.

"Where are you staying for the night?"

"With you," Embed smiled.

"But I can't take you home with me," Rhea said, rather worriedly as they seated themselves in the car.

"But can you take yourself home at this time of the night?"

"What do you think of me?" Said Rhea, pretty agitated, "of course I can. I've been living here in this city my whole life."

He flicked her head, "silly, I'm speaking about you parents. Won't they question you if you go back home this late and that too, with this heavy luggage?" The car stopped at an empty ground. "You don't wanna go to your neighborhood friend's home for a vacation. You packed so much!"

"Ahhh," she nodded in agreement, "you do have a point! No doubt I raised you well," she patted his shoulder and rushed out of the car, giggling. He ran after her, trying to control his laughter.

Running on the grassy ground, Rhea skidded and fell flat on the land. Ember finally reached her and picked her up.

"Ah! Why didn't you catch me??" She nagged, rubbing her nose.

"Sorry...I wish it was some drama," he said, apologizing, helping her find the wound. He asked Charles to fetch some band-aids as he wanted to spend some quality time with her, "sit down, it feels good."

"The grass may be dirty....What! Why are you sitting already?!"

"It's nice here, sit down!" He held her hand to pull her down.

"MY JEANS!"

"Mine are also dirty!"

"Your jeans are ripped anyways! You can cut another whole!"

"As if! Where would I cut?" Ember laughed.

"The-" Rhea laughed out loud, "hahah."

"You know what....I love to see you laugh. Even though it's not so proper here in this light setting. But at least I can feel your presence and hear your laughter," he confessed, looking at the sky.

Rhea smiled, "and you know what? These little arguments are what I look for," she giggled, "I love to argue with you over silly things."

"Really?" He lied down, smiling and she didn't bother staying seated anymore either. They both lied down. "Rhea..." He looked at her, "do you remember now?"

"Rem...ember what?"

"Uh-" Ember hesitated to start this conversation, "the-"

"......." She looked at him because she knew something was up with him.

"The desk in the mall classroom, you, me, Loraine and Maple, Alicia and Neel... Noor... Jessica... Nikki... Sabrina and Miranda... Nason... Painting.... The USB I left for you... The four kids in a small village of Kerala...

And the death of one-"

"WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!" Rhea rose up, holding her head tightly with both of her hands.

"I'm talking about the bicycle we rode together till the end of the bridge, the sweet shop we met after ten years of separation. I'm talking about the fearless Arorhea who saved me at the age of four,

The Ember who couldn't speak Hindi, the crash course centre, the flirty pick up lines that faded over time, the painting of the wall of the hospital room, the songs we sang, the white empty canvas..."