His Favourite Book

Chapter 64 - Reminders

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[8:30 pm]

"Mumma, I'll be back soon," Abeer informed his family before leaving his home with a medium-sized canvas.

On the day of his Art exhibition, he had directed an elderly couple to his social media before they could buy out his crafts for Aashna. The couple, stubbornly attracted to his works, finally endowed him with a commission for a piece to adorn their living room.

With the canvas on his side and his phone constantly displaying the location, he went on to the route.

"Umm, Kaka, please stop here!" He called out to halt the cab way before his destination.

It was a random spot somewhere on a four-lane highway. As the cab drove off on its way, Abeer hurried to cross the road and reach the absolute opposite end.

"Abhimanyu?" He spoke as he walked further to get the other person's attention.

Abhimanyu had perched himself on the bonnet of his car and was immersed in the way both the parking lights illuminated the ground in a neon red hue at intervals. His hands were crossed over his chest, making his black turtle neck bulge up a bit.

His name brought him out of the trance as he stood straight to acknowledge Abeer. "Oh! Hey, Abeer."

"Hi."

"Didn't expect you here..."

"Yeah, I was on my way somewhere when I saw you here. Anyway, why have you parked here?"

"Oh no I didn't mean to, actually. I was driving and midway realised I had a few drinks earlier, so had to make a halt here. Can't drive."

"I see." Abeer nodded. "Where were you going? Home?"

"No, uhmm..." Abhimanyu glanced at the obvious opposite direction his car was facing but decided not to speak about it. "Yeah. Home."

Abeer thought for a while and finally asked, "So uhm... I'll drive you there? You can't sit here all night, I mean."

"But my home is in this direction." Abhimanyu pointed.

"I was going there, too."

"Oh, great, then."

After a long, awkward silence in the car, Abhimanyu decided to put off the flames his questions were fueling. "So uhm..." He was hesitant. "You might know... that... Aashna had to present in the next level of the competition so... do you know how it was?"

Abeer was not surprised by the question and kept his eyes on the road. "Yes, we met in the neighbourhood this evening when she was... I guess, returning from Muskan's hostel," Abeer went on to tell him about the presentation.

However, Abhimanyu was stuck in the first sentence. He could not bring himself to listen to anything further than that. Aashna was returning after meeting Muskan. They had talked. Muskan knew what had happened during the presentation. Yet, she didn't bother with his message. She knew how eager Abhimanyu was regarding the competition but she lied.

Was it because she wanted to avoid him? Was it because he crossed his limits that night? What was it for? Abhimanyu's thoughts spun around in a whirlwind, eventually creating a tense crease on his forehead.

"Are you okay?" Abeer noticed Abhimanyu's rapidly changing expressions.

"Huh? No... just a headache."

Abeer chuckled. "You do that too? Aashna does that 'huh' thing a lot."

Abhimanyu forced a smile. "That she does."