Doomed

Chapter 20

A/N: The one in italics is the past and the one in normal is the present.

***

     "Do you remember the first time we met?"

      The rain was pounding the windows of the car, there was only the sound of car swipers and soft hum of air conditioner. They were currently stuck in traffic. Dhruv tapped the wheel impatiently when Kushi asked him that.

     Leaning back on his seat, he looked at her, she looked at him amused, a smile worked a way in his lips. "Why are you asking? And to answer your question, our date?"

       "No. We met at the cafe, you were talking to Aghanya and I thought you were Viren Jiju and threw water on you." She laughed after she told him that.

     No. That wasn't the first time we met. He wanted to say.

     On August 19 2013, Viren had proposed to Janvi in a nice quaint park. She had said yes. He took her to his home. His dad has screamed, yelled, slapped him numerous times until Janvi left sobbing. That night after a huge fight, his father said he would disown him if he married her. In  bout of youthful courage, he left his house in the night. That night he was at her door. After telling her that he had left home, she brought him in and told him to wait inside the dark kitchen.

    
He remembered this, she was 18 or 19 at that time and he 21. She had walked straight to him and he stiffened. Inside the dark kitchen, as she took a step forward, he took a step back until his back hit the kitchen counter and she kept walking until he felt his breath on her. That's when I first felt your breath on me, he wanted to say.

      If she had turned on the lights, if they had met then, they wouldn't be here inside the car, 3 days before the wedding.

     A horn blared and Dhruv  jumped out of his daydream. The traffic was moving. He sighed and drove the car too.

        ***

      Opening the car door, he let Kushi out and was getting ready to say farewell when a car drove past them and a pothole and splashed them.

      "Hey!" Dhruv yelled but the car drove away. He looked at his shirt and it had a muddy and wet patch.

     "Come to my house, let's get you cleaned up." She took his hand and dragged him to her apartment despite his refusals.

        When Kushi opened her lock and checked up on her mum, Dhruv waited patiently in the living room.

       "Hey!" She came back. "Come in." She motioned in and walked inside the same bedroom he had walked in ten years ago.

     "Kushi! What are you doing here?" Janvi dragged her away right when she would've collided with him.

       "Dee...water."

       "There's some in mom's room. Go."

         After they finally heard her latch the door, Janvi took his hands and tiptoed into the bedroom and latching it from the inside.

         "God! Your clothes are dirty. Remove them."

          "What?" Dhruv snapped out of his flashback.

           "Remove your shirt. I'll run it once in the washing machine." Kushi said.

          "Oh yeah." He unbuttoned his shirt and gave it to Kushi. After Kushi disappeared he looked around the room. Things were pretty much the same. The bookshelf in the right corner beside the table and chair with the same old table lamp.