Musafir

--postlude--

"aksar tumse milkar mujhko
ghar se lagta hai"
___________

word count - 3870

__________

The 4 PM reservation made in the cafe seemed to be going in vain. The team was too tempted to cancel the original booking and give the table to one of the customer parties out of the numerous ones who were waiting for their turns. The Sugar Therapy was a bakery cum small eating joint that was popular for its jar cakes. Seeing the growing demand for their food and ambiance, they decided to temporarily shut down to renovate and turn into a bakery and cafe place and re-opened 2 days ago. All their old patrons had been swarming the place and new ones were coming after the word-of-mouth praises.

Table number 5 however remained empty. Another 10 minutes into the slot and if the occupants did not arrive, it would be given to another party. While people knew the place and visited it for the good food and the vibe, for a certain someone, the place had a huge significance. Each corner of the previously built smaller bakery had seen the various moments shared by two people - from the jolly and cheerful moods to the worst breakdowns, days of dullness to sharing news of success, sweet cravings to trying new additions to the menu, and finally, from being good friends to entering into a commitment with each other, The Sugar Therapy had been a witness to the entire journey Maahir and Ojasvi had had over the years.

5 more minutes passed and the irked head waiter had almost canceled the booking, only to be stopped and reprimanded by the manager who knew the importance of that table to the people under whose name the reservation was made. More than 3 years and he too had been well acquainted with the two people who had been one of the sweetest and regular customers of his bakery when it had just opened.

Ojasvi was in the cafe, sitting there since 3:55 PM, unable to gather the courage to go and sit at that table all alone. Now, as the clock was ticking and their time slot was coming to an end, she had given up all hopes of seeing Maahir Awasthi there. He perhaps was too angry with her or maybe she had hurt him all the more. In the latter case, she thought it was better if he remained away. She had after all always given him reasons to be hurt, directly or indirectly. Two minutes before 5 PM, she walked up to the table to pick up the small note she had kept there and to collect the tiffin which had the suji halwa in it, a dessert made by her that Maahir could eat any time, any day.

"Your special nacho-chip chaat and the usual choco chip fruity jar cake"

Ojasvi got startled on hearing the order in a voice that she had craved in the last year. She had goosebumps, her hands and legs shivering and her throat suddenly feeling too dry.

She slowly turned on her heels, only to find Maahir sitting down on the chair in front of which the note and box were kept.

"I thought you never like your man to be over chivalrous!" Maahir spoke with an amused tone.

Ojasvi was just too surprised to even react to his presence, let alone speak anything but one thing that managed to hit her mind was "your man".

Two simple words yet they meant the world to Ojasvi Pandey. A few minutes ago she was wondering if Maahir wanted everything between them to end and moments later, here he was, calling himself her man!

"Here's your order guys. The moment Ojasvi Ma'am had booked a table, I had a hunch that you would still prefer to have at least a bite of your usual order. In addition to that, here's a little gift from my side, a Mexican platter, a new addition to our menu and a fresh mocktail for the two of you", the manager, Nakul was too delighted to see his favorite customers back at that place.