Darmiyaan

Aahista - Abhir

Abhir wandered the valleys alone. He heard their calls imploring him to return to the cottage before nightfall.

Nothing could stop him - not the rain sweeping the hills, nor the lightning threatening to strike down the chinar trees that lined his path.

Instead, it beckoned him further. He couldn't place it - this burning drive that brought him to Kashmir, like something was waiting for him here.

His destiny, his mother, Akshara, voiced when he told his abrupt leave.

His father, Abhimanyu, smiled along, a mischievous glint in his eyes. I felt the same calling ushering me to Iccha Kund where I saw your mother for the first time.

Abhir shrugged off his father's claims of an enchantress awaiting him. Love is not what I'm searching for, his voice turned gruff and grim.

Abhir's heart, a gated vault, carried some deep turmoil that would disrupt the world more than Pandora's box if opened. He didn't even know what was caged inside. He just knew that the answer lay beyond him, and he was restless in its pursuit.

Banjaara, they called him as he bolted out with a duffle bag slung over his shoulder and a ticket to Jammu.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" A high-pitched scream broke Abhir out of his world. He followed the voice deep into the valley, where a tight road met the towering trees, and she stomped grumpily. Mud seeped into the spaces between her toes, and her white kurta pyjamas were smeared with dirt.

Toofan, she was, vehemently cursing without a pause that the thunder couldn't compete.

She flailed her phone around, hoping the "your iPhone is findable" black screen would reveal her lock screen. Instead, her grip on the umbrella faltered, and it flew down to the streets below, crushed by a car. "Allah Miyah, kyunnn?" She beseeched.

His feet moved closer on their own accord, and his hand reached for hers. He swore he could hear Kumar Sanu's voice going, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa laga.

Whoosh! She turned around and slapped him. 

Stay tuned for the rest