CHAND 〡 ABHIRA

mehendi

Abhimanyu traced the mehendi patterns on her skin, following the multitude of patterns painted onto her flushed skin. His fingers finally landed on the back of her palms, shaking them lightly in hopes of her meeting his eyes. He couldn't help but adore her dark locks that bounced at the end of her shoulders as she tried calming her breathing, perfectly contrasting yellow palazzo suit she was draped in. 

He was growing desperate by the second as he watched the girl in front of him, struggling to steady her breathing. "Aanken kholo"

She surprised him by opening his eyes, and suddenly he wished she hadn't as now he only seemed to be able to focus on the brown and black hues in front of him. Her breathing seemed to slowly steady and he breathed out a sigh of relief. As soon as she calmed down, she created distance between them as an air of awkwardness seemed to be enveloping them. 

"I'm sorry" She said, as she grasped her netted dupatta in her hands. He noticed how she didn't meet his eyes and missed their presence already. "And thank you, I was having an---

"Panic attack" He filled in for her, "I'm a doctor. Doctor Abhimanyu Birla" He stretched out his hand as a greeting and he was relieved as she shook it lightly.

"I have to be going" She says meeting his eyes, and a smile compasses its way onto his face. "Train pakadene"

He waited till she was ten steps ahead of him, before giving in and trailing behind her. Unfortunately for him, her train had seemed to have arrived as she stepped onto one. The train announcement filled his ears and he slipped his hand into his pocket and retrieved his own ticket. 

"Mahadev please meri help karo" He looked into the sky closing his eyes, before glancing at his ticket. A let out a sound of  childlike joy as he realised that the train she was on was the train he was supposed to be on.  "Thank you Mahadev"

He didn't waste another second before swinging himself onto the train compartment to be face to face with the girl from before, except this time she was carrying a bewildered expression on her face. "Tumara naam nahi baataya" 

She looked at him incredulously and soon the train compartment was filled with a tinkling laugh. "Acha ji. Lekin mein meri naam nahi dooanga"

"Kyu?" He asked, following behind her as she started walking in the aisle of the train. "Meri naam toh maine baataya na"

"Toh?" She turned around, with a sharp expression on her face. The fear he was supposed to have was replaced with exhilaration due to the miniscule distance between them. "Aap ek stranger hu and I strongly believe in stranger danger Mr.Birla"

"So how about we stop being strangers" He offered  and she shook her head as she continued walking, "Friends?"

At this she abruptly stopped, causing him to bump into her. "Mera seat a gaya hai, ab ja sakte" His face gave away his disappointment as she sat near the window and buried herself in a book, restricting access towards her face. 

He sulkily made his way towards his seat, which was only two rows away but nonetheless he couldn't help but feel the vacant presence of the girl from earlier. He had first saw her struggling to breathe and though his occupation had caused him to attend to her, there was an unexplainable pull he felt towards her.

His phone ringed and the caller brought a smile to his face, "Haan Ma bolo"

"Abhi tum teek hai na?" Her worried voice carried over and he smiled at her concern. "Tumara papa bahut pareshaan hai kyunki tum train mein mein ja raha ha aur first class bhi nahi"

"I don't mind Ma, you know this" He said, leaning against the window. "I haven't travelled in a sleeping train since i was younger, mein bahut kush hu"

"Aur tumara kushiya mera kushiya haan" Her mother said, and he soothed her worries before ending the call. 

As if on cue, the girl from before hastily made her way towards him and sat next to him. He sent her a worried glance at her out of breath state, not paying attention to the people that followed behind her. 

"Yah meri pati hai" She squeaked out and he looked at her mystified, until he realized her gaze wasn't on him. He followed her line of vision to see the guy that was seated next to her before. "prove hogaaye na, ab jao"

A look of anger flickered in the guys face before he left looking defeated. Abhimanyu cleared his throat as a sign to draw her attention towards him, and this caused a pink tinge to paste itself onto her cheeks. 

"Woh toh woh bahut irritate kar raha ha" She explained, moving away from him to sit on the vacant seat opposite him. "He was crossing a lot of lines and I happened to tell him I was married so he would stop and then he asked me to prove it and he was getting a bit too close so I desperately needed to prove my point"

"So you decided that I was your husband" He said, smiling too widely in her opinion. "I'm flattered"

"Don't be" She deadpanned, "In my state, I would have chosen anyone. Literally anyone"

He slumped into his seat as she said this, and she studied him before giving in, "Akshara"

"Kya?" He asked, figuring it out that it must have been her name but wanting to hear her say it again. "mujhe samjhe nahin aaya"

"Mera naam" She sighed, "Akshara Goenka"

"Akshara" He repeated and decided he liked it better coming out of his mouth, which was something that Akshara begrudgingly agreed on to.  "You can sit here by the way" He added after a beat of silence. 

"Nahi, it's okay. I bet someone must be sitting here already" She made a move to stand up, but he held her hand to stop her. She turned to him and her eyes shifted to his hand grasping hers and at this he reluctantly let go of her hand. 

"All these seats are free" He explained quickly, "My father was worried about the company I would be surrounded with and booked all the seats around me"

She looked at him with her mouth slightly hung open, before jutting out her bottom lip and nodding as if it was the most sane thing ever, "I understand. My brother Kairav would have probably done the same, If he knew I was travelling via train"

He laughed lightly at this and she sat back down, "I should probably get my luggage from my previous seat" she said, and he felt a sense of unaccounted joy at the fact that she would be sitting with him. 

Get a grip Abhimanyu

"Mein bhi aata hoon" He stood up with her and she showed a silver of a smile. "After all mein teri pati hoon na"

She groaned before playfully shoving him, this caused her to lose her balance but his tight grip embraced her before she had the chance to make contact against the seat. She closed her eyes as his scent enveloped her but quickly reprimanded herself before stepping away from him. She turned around quickly to avoid any further humiliating situations and walked down the aisle.

Fortunately, they ended up retrieving Akshara's belongings with no unnecessary commotion and returned swiftly to their own seats.  Once they were seated, she buried herself back into her book and he decided to look through some medical reports he was supposed to look at. 

But before he did, he sneaked a glance towards her and came to the sudden realization that he was starting to question everything about feelings he had never felt before.

****

i have a few ideas for how i'm going to take this book. it's definitely going to be lighthearted but ofc with a side of drama and angst. 

updates will be frequent cause i have a few chapters already written in my drafts!

all my love, 

sita