A Flight of Love

Chapter 3 - The Kiss

"Sorry." Abhimanyu repeated, matter of factly.

Akshara couldn't explain why but hearing him apologize hurt. Why was he saying sorry? Was he sorry for kissing her? Was she that bad of a kisser? Her first kiss, her best kiss, the exact kiss she dreamt of, the ones she read about, fantasized about, except in her dreams, the faceless charmer, the hero of her fantasizes was never apologetic after kissing her.

"For what, kissing me?" Akshara asked, trying to be as snarky and unruly as possible to hide her hurt.

"No." Never going to be sorry for kissing you, Abhimanyu added silently. "For not asking for permission first."

Akshara stared at the strange yet breathtaking man in front of her in shock. The faceless man in her dreams was always a mystery, someone she tried hard to think of but never been able to picture. But now, she knew that all her future dreams were going to consist of this sharp-edged jawline with unforgettable features.

"How dare you? You are the one who kissed me without permission and yet you have the audacity to act high and mighty about it?"

"Uh....yes. You're welcome by the way."

"Welcome?! Welcome for what?!! Kissing me? I don't know what you think mister but I don't enjoy kissing strangers." And that too as my first kiss. Even though she did not why but she had enjoyed kissing him. She had enjoyed it a lot.

"For that." Abhimanyu nodded his head toward the window of the plane and motioned for Akshara to look outside.

Akshara followed Abhimanyu's point of vision and witnessed herself being surrounded by nothing but clear, blue, sunny morning skies. In a split second all her anger and embarrassment disappeared and transformed into amazement and wonder.

It wasn't the first time she had been traveling on the plane, and definitely wouldn't be the last but every single time, being up in the clouds, surrounded by nothing but serenity and peace made her heart skip a beat. Being high up in the skies made all the problems down below seem so small, insignificant even if it was for a short period of time.

Abhimanyu watched Akshara stare at the vast, empty skies with child-like wonder and smiled to himself. There was just something about her innocence, the way her eyes sparkled, the way her lips quivered in thought that made him want to pause this moment forever. He wanted to imprint this moment in his memory forever.

Abhimanyu didn't know what was happening to him, and why he was having all these feelings but something was changing. Whether it was him, the time, or the situation but something was happening. He was not one to act irrationally. Kissing a complete stranger was a very rash decision, taken in a moment of distress, where he knew he has no other choice. It had been his first kiss. And it has been breathtaking.

Normally not being the one to care for "firsts" very much, his first kiss was going to stay very much memorable to him. A story for the decades. A memory that he was going to keep very close to his heart.

"You were having a panic attack. I tried to get you to calm down but you wouldn't listen to me. So in the end, I couldn't think of another way to distract you..."

"So you kissed me." Akshara turned around to face the stranger who was giving an explanation for his actions.

"Frankly, yes. And look it worked out perfectly. You were so distracted by the kiss that you didn't even realize when the plane took off and when we were stable in the air."

She didn't know why but her insides were boiling with red, hot, anger. She has no idea why this stranger could be so casual about the fact that he had stolen her first kiss from her —a kiss she had dreamt would belong to the ideal man of her dreams. And as cheesy as it sounded, to her Prince Charming. She has grown up in a land of fairytales, reading about them. Learning about them. Knowing first hand they existed, because believe it or not, her parents had a fairytale love. They had been each others one and only.

She also wanted to be someone's first, last, and only.

This kiss meant something to her, even if it may not have meant anything to him. When she had dreamt about her first kiss, this type of hot, searing, heart pumping kiss which left you breathless was exactly what she had imagined. That is exactly what she has wanted. Except in her dreams, her partner, the love f her life, her forever after...also reciprocated the feelings.

"But that still does not give you the right to kiss me!"

"And I said I'm sorry that I had to do what I did. But I'm not sorry that I kissed you." Because kissing you was the best thing I did, Abhimanyu added, silently.

Akshara's heart fluttered at his confession. He wasn't sorry that he kissed her? She couldn't pin point why but that made her smile. The butterflies that had carved a home in her stomach during the kiss were making a comeback.

"What?" She asked, a part of her wanting to hear him say the exact words again.

"I'm not going to repeat this again and again; you needed something to distract you from your panic attack and I gave you that. It may not have been the smartest thing I ever did but hey, at-least it distracted you and you stopped panicking."

Abhimanyu felt like an asshole for his words but it was better than unknowingly blurting out "hey, I enjoyed kissing you, and I want to kiss you again. Deeply, madly, no holds barred kiss-you-again."

Akshara got super quiet and turned her face away and towards the window. A small tear started to roll down her right eye.

"You stole my first kiss." Akshara said, softly, accusingly to no one in particular as she wiped the one lone tear from her cheek.

Abhimanyu felt a sense of calm and unexplained happiness wash over him. Her first kiss. He wasn't one to feel possessive over things, people especially but he certainly felt possessive over her first kiss.

Mine. His heart screamed.

"You stole mine too." Four words. Shouldn't have meant much, but they did. "And I don't regret it. At all," he confessed.

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Hey guys,

Please give me your input. I'm still at two stages about this story. I may not write more or I might. Please do leave a comment about what you guys think; like/hate about it and where I can make some improvements.

Thanks!