Loving You

Chapter 6

Sahil.

Was this real? Was he real?

Before my fuddled mind could understand what was going on, he set me down gently.

I looked up at him. But he wasn't looking at me.

"Should we leave?" he asked Khadoos Sharma. "You wanted to show me something."

Sahil didn't wait for him to respond. He had already started to walk away—without a second glance towards me. It was as if he hadn't seen me at all. Or as if I was a stranger.

I wasn't sure which one was worse. But I was sure of one thing: It hurt like hell.

"Roo!" I heard Tarun call out from a distance.

I took a shuddering breath letting out some of the hurt. I quickly turned around and wiped the moisture around my eye before it turned into a tear—clear enough for everyone to see.

"What?" I asked him turning around, putting a small smile on my face.

"Di, come on. Let's have something at the café. We are hungry," Bunty said quickly before Tarun had a chance to say anything. "We were there to fix jiju's pant. We tried calling you but couldn't get through."

I nodded quietly, taking a few steps towards them. Sanju and Sweety joined me as I walked away.

As they bypassed me and walked ahead, I glanced one last time in the direction I had seen Sahil go.

I could see him at the distance walking slowly with Sharma. He seemed lost in the conversation. His attention completely on what Sharma was telling him.

I turned around and walked away. He hadn't looked my way even once—not once.

***

"And then he caught her." Sweety could barely contain her excitement.

"Your Khadoos Sharma caught you?" Tarun asked looking might amused

"He is not my Sharma," I said. I was probably a bit cold, but he didn't notice or at least he didn't complain.

"What did he do to you?" Tarun asked enthusiastically

"He won't do anything," Sanju said calmly

"That is right. Sahil Bhai owns the entire pla—Owww!" Bunty yelped, looking wide-eyed at Sweety.

I looked at Sweety. She was looking in every direction but at me.

Sahil owned the orchard? This orchard? Why? It didn't add up.

If someone told me that Sahil owned a custom bike or car design company, I would have believed it. If someone had said that he had a successful trading franchise, I would have accepted that. But an orchard?

I felt someone shove me a bit. "What?"

"You don't want to eat that?" Sweety asked, nodding her head at the cup of ice-cream that had mysteriously appeared on the table in front of me.

I looked at it and I knew what it was. I looked at Sweety, but she was focusing on her own cup as though that had some hidden treasure inside it.

"What is this?" Tarun asked after licking some in his cup. "Is that...apple? Apple?" He looked confused.

"It is Ruhi Di's favorite," Sanju said from right next to me.

"Ohhhh! Roo, you never told me this." Tarun swiped some of my ice-cream on his finger. "You know what they say, right?"

"What?" I asked.

"Love increases by sharing."

He was about to lick it when out of nowhere, Sweety jumped across the table and shoved his finger into Bunty's mouth.