Do We Change?

● Exception

King's Garden , at 5:00 pm. Please.

The text had been delivered to Aarohi Goenka , earlier, this morning and that very same message had kept her mind preoccupied the entire day. A meeting scheduled , without any prior notice and Aarohi would have been more than happy to decline it , not caring about the 'please' that has been added to the text. But the name of the sender that had flashed upon her screen , had left her contemplating upon her decisions .

Neil .

Well, It is not unknown that Neil Birla had always been an exception in the life of Aarohi Goenka. From the time he had galloped into her life , he had made her break all her rules that she had made herself , burn that introverting cocoon that she had built around her.

Thereafter , contrary to the ignoring that most of the texts send to Aarohi received , this particular one was witnessing a long deadly glare from its receiver. Aarohi was truly, dreadfully , angry. She was, in fact, seething with a burning rage at the audacity of the sender to schedule a meet just a day before her engagement. There were two years for him to show up at her door. It is true that her brothers or grandfather would have seen otherwise but he could have text , called or just did a damn thing at all. No! In stead the fool of a man decided to stay quiet , grieve his own part and let her grieve hers. Space , isn't something that is required between couples when they have a misunderstanding . And now he comes back after two years , just when she is getting married , to become the hopelessly lovesick Romeo. Yes! He is not entirely at fault , Aarohi knew it. In fact the emotional , sentimental , part of her brain had already forgiven him. But the cool ,analytical , part demanded otherwise. And in these two years , she has come to rely on this part of the brain, more often.

Thus , on 4:40pm , that very day , the streets of Udaipur , witnessed a rather vexed Aarohi heading from 'Heal and Care' towards "King's Garden'. Situated in the heart of the city , 'King's Garden, was a green escapade for the city dwellers. It had been built to preserve a bit of green , that was becoming so uncommon in the city. Since , its opening , it had served to be a favorite place for all young or old.

As she parked her car, in the parking area, Aarohi was once again reminded of all those dulcet memories. King's Garden , was 'their' place. It was where they had their first date and the second and the third , in fact all most all except for the ones when they wanted to be extremely romantic or when some rather creative ideas emerged from their brains . Aarohi shook her head. She can't let old memories wash her away.

Entering through the gate , she tried to locate him. It was already ten past five and as far as she knew him, Neil had always been very punctual. She took some time to see whether he was anywhere near the gate. Well , no! he wasn't. She contemplated whether to call him but suddenly it struck. She thought she knew , where he would be. Therefore making her way , passing through several spots which held several memories , she finally found the place , she had been looking for. The green grass of the field , led to a neatly manicured flower bed and just beside it was a bench where , in a tan colored shirt and jeans , sat Neil Birla. It was proved , even after all these times, Aarohi Goenka knew more about Neil Birla than he probably did about himself.

As she approached him , she heard him say , " The flowers have bloomed."

For a moment , Aarohi stood puzzled. Not understanding what this man was trying to say. But the very next second she remembered . This was the very spot where they had met , before they left for Jaipur for their wedding. And now she remembered the conversation that they had.

" They are planting new flowers" Aarohi mentioned as she laid her head , lazily, on Neil's shoulders.

" Mmm...Hmm.." Neil who had been very busy caressing Aarohi's hair , didn't feel like using words as an answer.