Seasons of Love by Jaismita Alexander

Seasons of Love Part 22

Part Twenty-two:

Param left his cabin for me to sleep in. He could manage only two mattresses from somewhere and I suggested him to use one for himself. The other was for Rudra. Both of the gentlemen refused to let me sleep on the easy chair but I managed to convince them at last. My phone battery was running out of charge. So were the others. We had only one charger which we used in turns. The rain outside made pitter-patter sound. Rudra messaged me from the other side of the restaurant.

"Won't we message tonight?"

We did that every night. It was an addiction for both of us.

I replied, "Our phones are almost dead."

"Come here. We'll talk. You aren't sleepy, right?" he asked.

I wasn't sleepy because I was addicted to chat with him every night. The endless late night conversation took over our sleep.

I got up from the easy chair and went in to the restaurant area. Param was busy on the phone talking to 'someone'; he said when I asked Rudra. I sat on the mattress and leaned to the wall behind. Rudra was sitting on the other mattress. His phone was lying beside him with YouTube on, playing old songs. Rudra's face lit up on seeing me. By now, I could see everything in his eyes. They expressed unknown happy feelings.

My eyes met his and they gleamed like his.

"Did you call home? Will Arjun be okay without you around?" I asked.

Rudra smiled and said, "He is sleeping with VK tonight."

"Hmm...VK is an extremely good story teller. His choice of words is great. I remember the day he was explaining to me the seasons of love, I was dumbfound. The way he explained, I was lost in my thoughts." I said.

"Seasons of love. I wonder which season my life is experiencing..." he said.

"My life is experiencing the spring season of love. New emotions, new feelings and a new beginning. I found that love still exists in me.", I replied.

He lowered his head and said, "And what about new love?" He looked up and our eyes met.

I didn't know what to say. I looked at the end of the room where Param sat talking over the phone. I said to myself in my mind, hadn't he been here, I would have told him everything I was feeling. But then I didn't want anyone else to be there.

"I don't know." I replied letting out a sigh.

"What?" he asked and laughed.

"I don't know about a new love story but there's love inside me.", I said, partially lying.

"Okay.", he said.

I wanted to ask him many things but then my eyes always turned towards Param. His presence was pretty irritating to me. I was staring at him with an irritated expression on my face. Rudra understood my irritation. He stood up and walked to Param. He tapped his shoulders and said, "We can't hear each other speak. Nor can we hear the music. "

Param looked up and nodded. He got up and left the room.

"That's better. Isn't it?" Rudra said and came and sat beside me leaning to the wall. He maintained a distance. I turned towards him and said, "Actually, I was hearing to what he was saying. He was quite loud."

"And irritating." he said and laughed. I giggled with him.

We both were laughing now. Together, and the extension of the laughter was absolutely for no reason. He suddenly stopped laughing and said, "We'll laugh, smile and cry together like this for a lifetime."

"For a lifetime?" I asked bringing my eyebrows together.

"Yes. Why not? Are you planning to cut all contacts again?" he said.

"What? And then see you crying under the shower?" I said mockingly.

"No one cares for me like you do.", Rudra said. I turned to him and looked into his eyes. What was all this? What was it? Why was this happening? What did he mean?

"And no one makes me feel so special like you." I said. My voice was breaking. He rested his head against the wall and sighed. His hand accidentally brushed to mine. A chill ran down my spine. I lowered my head and removed my hand quickly without him noticing.

"You know when I used to stay alone in Dubai; I used to remain awake like this thinking about how life has been. I used to wonder how life will be in future." he started telling me about his past.

He had several girlfriends before Ananya. All ditched him. Some quarreled everyday or some suddenly turned stoic. He told me about a girl who was violent. I was listening to him calmly. And meanwhile his hand kept on brushing to mine. Each time I felt his touch, I lost track of what he was telling me. His words entered my ears and didn't reach my brain. We weren't fighting sleep. The night was a gift to both of us and we didn't want to waste it sleeping.

Param did not come back. It was 3:00 am. Rudra went to fetch a bottle of water from the kitchen. He returned and said that Param was asleep in his cabin. Therefore, I couldn't go back even if I had to sleep.

"Let it be. I don't want to sleep tonight. Let's talk." I said and we continued speaking.

Soon the dawn broke. The babyish light touched our face from the window. The rain had stopped but the sky wasn't clear.

Rudra said, "I think we can lie down. You take that mattress under the fan. I'll sleep here."

I nodded and got up. I walked three steps forward and sat on the other mattress. He lied down facing the ceiling. I lied down too.

"You know Shehnaya..." he suddenly said.

"What?" I asked.

"No matter what happens, we are not going to lose each other." he said.

"Hmm. And even if people speak about us, we don't have to explain it to them.", I said.

"All closeness doesn't need a name. We can be like this..." he said.

"Hmm", I had nothing else to say.

We both kept quiet. The silence filled the room. I didn't know how my eyes shut and when they opened it was 11:30 am.

We had been sleeping till now. Param knocked at the door. I woke up hurriedly.

"Good morning Shehnaya." he wished.

"Good morning." I smiled and replied.

"It's raining heavily again with stormy winds." he said.

"Oh shit! Not again!" I exclaimed.

"Bad luck. I'll prepare breakfast. Wake Rudra up.", he said and left.

I still maintained an irritated look on my face. I was pretending to be annoyed but then I looked at Rudra and smiled. I knew, I had more to time to spend with him now. Bad luck? Nay.

To be continued....

Jaismita Alexander