To The Moon And Back

The Encounter

Everything went back to normal. My sister calls me once in a while and when she does, we talk for many hours. I can tell how happy she is just by hearing her voice.

I am very happy for her. I can tell by the way my brother-in-law talked to me few times when I am on the call with my sister that he is very considerate and very good towards my sister.

I busied myself with work and my friends or specifically my one and only friend Sanvi. I was mad at her for not being able to attend my sister's wedding. But she, being a good friend, did all my work for a month to make up to me. And me being a good person forgave her.

It's been 3 months and I didn't think of Arya frequently and I am almost over him until that day.

The day I don't want to regret going out...

The day that may change my life...

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It is Friday night. As usual, Sanvi and I came out to the mall to hang out. We took pictures and posted it on Instagram. We enjoyed a lot. We did window shopping and are very hungry by the time our little pursuing was over. As we are about to buy food, we realized we both are having issues with the payment and to add for it, we both don't even have cash with us. We are very hungry, and we are already making the queue behind us very impatient.

"May be try calling someone you know and ask them to pay" Sanvi suggested.

"Excuse me, can you chat over there and let us order our food" the man behind me shouted.

I just glared at him and tried calling one of my colleagues.

"Excuse me!!"

"Can you just gimme sometime to pay for my food? As you can see. I am not playing here. Just-"

My words got dissolved as I just stared at the person blankly.

At Arya.

Oh my god! This can't be real, right?

"Hi Aadhya! I am wondering if it is you or not! What happened?"

I just stood in silence when I heard my friend speak "Hi Arya!"

He looked shocked as she is not familiar to him.

"I am Sanvi, Aadhya's best friend. You don't know me but I know you." She told the last line very playfully dragging the sound 'u'.

I came to my senses as that implies that I talk about him to her and she can identify him without even introducing him to her.

I mouthed Shut up to her and looked at Arya to find him amusingly looking at me.

"Hi Arya! Nothing. I am about to pay for our food, but I am having an issue with the payment."

"Oh! Here! Let me pay."

I usually am very shy and won't be able to accept help. But this time is an exception.

"Thank you Arya!" I said slowly.

"Don't worry about it. Take your food and sit. I will pay and then join you."

Sanvi and I carried our food in trays and sat at one of the tables.

After few seconds, Arya joined us. I am not sure of how to start the conversation.

Feeling very awkward of the silence, I just started eating. But my peace and my bestie doesn't co-exist.

"So Arya, you live in the city or are you here for something or someone?"

I immediately interjected.

"She meant to ask do you work in this city or are you on a vacation. Right Sanvi?!" I spoke the last sentence through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, I recently got transferred here." I nodded and he looked at me like he wanted to tell something but he just glanced at both of us and resumed eating.

After a long 5 second silence, my bestie spoke again.

"Oh Aadhya, I totally forgot. I have an appointment. Very important one. I have to go. Since Arya is here, he can keep you company. Is it fine for you Arya?" she directed the last sentence to him.

He might be surprised by the sudden action. He just nodded and then cleared his throat and replied "Yeah, I will. Don't worry. You can attend to your emergency."

"Thank you Arya. Take care Aadhya, have fun" she winked and left.

Just.Like.That

Still going insane at Sanvi's sudden drama, I am unsure of how this day ends.

"Don't mind her. If you have any prior work, you can leave. I will leave too, after finishing my food. By the way, I will send you the amount tomorrow after the payment issue is solved."

"Don't think too much about the money Aadhya. It's okay." He took a brief pause and continued "If you want, you can pay me back in other ways."

I almost choked on my food when I heard that. Being the person whose mind lives in the gutter, I can't help but almost picturing.

He is looking directly at me. I badly wanted to avoid his eyes. At the same time, I wanted to stare into his eyes.

"How?" I managed to ask.

"We can spend time together."

"Why?"

I seriously need to come up with more words and proper sentences.

He went silent for like 10 seconds and answered.

"We have been relatives for almost 22 years, yet we didn't spend much time together. We can do that now. Just think of it as spending quality time together. As cousins"

I hoped that he would have a different reason other than this, but I shouldn't let myself being carried away and be delusional.

"Yup, you are right. We can do that."

We ate our food having small conversations but my mind is running with many thoughts.

We stood up to leave. He offered to drop me but I refused. Because if I spend some more time in his presence today, I might say something that I might regret or hopefully not.