One Day At A Time

Chapter 5 - The Way We Are

February 1992
Pune

Arnav had no clue what was going on. It had been three days since Khushi had come back from her hike on the Sinhagad fort with her college friends and had gone awfully quiet. And he knew, quiet and Khush never went together. All he got from her in the days that followed were smiles instead of laughs, silence instead of chatter, and it seemed as though she had left the twinkle in her eyes at the fort. There had been a couple of occasions when they had run into each other, but she had averted her gaze and a conversation. On one particular occasion, she had smiled and held his gaze, and he had sworn he had seen a thin film of tears over her beautiful eyes.

Something was wrong, seriously wrong. He never had to hesitate to talk to her about anything but this time, it was almost like she had raised a wall in between them.

When he could not take her silence anymore, he decided to drop by her college one evening. It was the only place away from home where he could talk to her without interruptions, without the fear of being overheard by their parents and without her making some excuse to run away from him.

Arnav had always known when and where to find her, and he didn't have to wait for long at their regular place of rendezvous. He spotted her stepping out of the Ladies Study Room along with Payal and watched a look of surprise touch her face. But she was quick to readjust it back to the blank one she had been wearing for a while now. He saw Payal nod and walk towards him. The phone call he had made to her the previous evening was just for that, to coax Khushi to talk to him. Khushi walked up to him and smiled, almost cordially, and turned around to leave.

"Khush, come with me. I need to talk to you." His jaw clenched as he watched her turning away from him.

"I have lectures, Arnav. I can't."

"The next one is an off, Khush. Maybe you can come back by the end of it?" Payal said, cursing herself for betraying her friend.

Khushi glared at Payal, wondering why she would do that to her. But the fact was, she knew Payal was doing it for her. Payal was a loyal friend, and she would never question or doubt her motives. Besides, she was aware that Payal always looked up to Arnav as if he had the solutions to all the problems in the world. Arnav had been a vital link and mediator between her and Akash in their early days as a couple. Their relationship was a beautiful one, and it didn't take long for Khushi to realise that Arnav had probably approached Payal before he came to meet her.

"Come on, Khush, let's go. I'm waiting near my bike. I'll drop you back here before the next one if you wish." He walked off towards the parking without glancing back at her, confident that she would follow him.

Within a few minutes, Khushi was standing near his bike, seething in anger. Arnav waited impatiently for her to sit behind him. A minute of silent drama ensued, as he watched her biting her lower lip mercilessly.

Khushi kept shifting her weight restlessly, knowing well why he was there to whisk her away in between lectures. She had avoided him for too long, and she knew he wouldn't take the silence from her for too long. "I can't talk to you about this, Arnav. If I could, I would have. I am sorry."

Arnav frowned. She had unexpectedly cut him off. Something was going on in her life or her head, and she didn't find him close enough to share it. The thought hurt him, but he refused to back down so easily. He had to try once more. He could not put himself through more agony, watching her in the turmoil that she had been in the last few days. The frown deepened on his face as he got more and more anxious about what was bothering her. "How would you know unless you talk to me about it, Khush? Try me. Maybe I can help?"