A BRIDGE ACROSS FOREVER

8.TANGLED IN TIME

Sorry for being so late, in fact for being so horribly late...but here is the next part :)

2012,DEHRADOON

The huge garden of the Rathod Residence was decorated with lights and flowers for the party. Chairs and tables had been laid out, an orchestra had been arranged, and in the middle, a stage had been created as a dance floor. A huge canvas covered the whole setting and a carpet adorned the grasses. Abhay's mouth fell open as he and Piya entered the party. Piya gently held his hand as she led him in, silently comforting him.She was dressed in a white gown, one of her favorite dresses.
"Piya" Abhay whispered nervously as they stepped in, their eyes taking in the crowd. "I do not know whether I will be able to handle all this."
Piya gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Abhay." She whispered as they saw Kabir make his way towards them.
"Hey Piya!"he said grinning as he pulled Piya into a hug. "U're quite late. Mish arrived ages ago."
"I know"said Piya, smiling as she gently pulled back. "I told her to come as I 'd be late. Had extra classes today."
"Yeah, yeah, creative writing and all that, I know." Said Kabir smiling. "She was real grumpy when she told me. Said that she doesn't see the point when u don'tpublish stories even though u want to. Said u even had a story complete."
"Come on yaar, lets enjoy the party." Said Piya, changing the subject. "Here's Abhay."
Abhay held out his hand for Kabir to shake and Kabir took it, looking rather surprised.
"A pleasure to be at ur party." Abhay said formally. Kabir stared at him. "Dude, this is a party, not a business meeting. ' he said. "Don't act so formal .Come meet Di." He added, to both of them.
He led them over to where his sister was and Piya congratulated her and wished her luck on her new career and then introduced Abhay. "Boyfriend, huh? My poor brother will be heartbroken." She said with a smile.
Piya's cheeks turned a flaming red. "He's just a friend" she spoke a little quickly, avoiding Abhay's eye. For a second she wondered how it would be as that was really the case, and Abhay was not from a different time. Kabir's sister and Kabir had moved away to greet new guests and soon Misha found there way to them, grinning. "So u're Piya's friend eh" she said in a mock serious tone. "The one for whom she's been ignoring me?"
"Shut up, Mish" said Piya grinning as Abhay held out his hand for Misha to shake like she he had done for Kabir. Misha gaped at his hand and then at him. "Arre, Abhay, u r Piya's friend and that means u're mine too. Come on, friends give each other a hug" she said with a grin, pulling a surprised Abhay into a tight hug.
Piya smiled at him as he looked at her over Misha's shoulder.She could tell that he was nervous and scared of all these, but was trying his best to hide it.
"Come on, lets go and dance" said Misha pulling Piya's hand.
"Ya, we're coming, u go ahead" Piya told her and watched as she happily bounced off towards the dance floor.
Abhay clutched at her hand. "Piya" he said, momentarily not looking scared. "U write? U never told me. Wow..u wrote a book? Why don't u publish-"
"U sound like Mish and Kabir" said Piya, cutting across him. "It's not a big thing. I bet loads of people write. Way better than me."
"Aw, come on Piya-"
"Come on let's go to the dance floor, or Mish will be here to cut our throats"said Piya, pulling at his hand. She noticed Abhay tensing up again and smiled at him. "Don't worry u'll be fine. Come on"
The dance floor was crowded with people when they reached it. People were grooving and moving to the music, laughing and singing and shouting all at the same time. One of them accidentally stumbled into Piya and she lost her balance and almost fell, but strong arms had shot out to hold her steady.
Piya's heart hammered as she realized Abhay's arms were around her waist. He held her gently yet firmly, preventing her from falling. The music and the people faded and all Piya could understand or sense was Abhay, especially those hypnotic ice-blue eyes which seemed so deep now that they were so close to her. Piya's hands automatically clutched him by the elbows, and her heart beat so fast that she was sure he could hear it. This close, it was hard to keep her feelings from coming to the fore. One of her hands automatically reached out, gently touching his cheeks with her palms.
Abhay held her so close, he could hear her unsteady breath, see his reflection in those baby brown eyes. She looked even more like an angel in his arms, softly and snugly fitting in his arms. His heart was beating erratically, at a new found rhythm. Had he ever felt like this with Maithili, as if it was just the two of them, invisible to the rest of the world. He blinked. Why was his heart beating so strangely. Was it the sight of Piya? Or the memories of Maithili? It was suddenly so hard to distinguish who was who. No, no, his mind spoke. It was Maithili he loved. Didn't he always remember Maithili when he saw Piya. A memory came to him, short and fleeting.