Love at First Swipe ✓

A Sky Full of Stars

We sit on top of the tank, on my terrace and lay back next to each other, looking at the stars. I look at his beautiful face in the moonlight and smile. He turns to face me and catches me staring at him. I quickly turn my gaze away back to the sky and he shyly laughs. He puts his hand on my cheek and moves his face closer to mine, placing a soft peck on my lips and pulls back. He looks at me briefly and holds my hand in his.

"I've always been scared of being too close to anyone, you know?", he says in a low voice. I look at him, waiting for him to continue.

"My parents... they were never with me much. They were always busy running around, making lots of money.. I always used to spend all my time at home, with my granny. She used to read stories for me everyday. When I was thirteen, she died. I was left alone. So, I learnt to live with myself. I used to have very few friends, but I never let them too close. They're my bestfriends and I love them, I really do.
But I've also accepted that they're not permanent and I've made the relationship easily detachable", he lets out a heavy sigh, "but four years ago, I met someone- Tara. She changed everything. She made me feel like heartbreaks are sometimes worth it and I fell in love with her. She taught me so many beautiful things, but she also reminded me that at the end, I'll be left alone".

"Why? What happened?"

"I think I didn't respect her personal space. She felt that I was a distraction to her career because I was always so needy of her love. I don't blame her, maybe she was right. So she left me, told me that I'll never find love. She got married".

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that".

"Sorry for what? I'm glad she left me. Now, she's the very famous Tara Shetty- politician/ animal activist / budding entrepreneur".

If there's anything I didn't see coming, it was this. Tara Shetty is someone who could make or break things the way she wanted. Her presence is intimidating for Indian men to handle, her career is an inspiration.

"You're talking about the opposition party member, Tara Shetty, ex-wife of industrialist Raj Singh?"

"Yes", he says sighing, "sounds unbelievable, right?"

The first thing this made me realise is that Arjun is probably vegan because of her. She was an animal rights activist years ago, actively promoting veganism in India. She finally came into spotlight, her campaigns were av huge success and later, she got married to a famous industrialist Raj Singh. She got into politics, grew popular and influential in no time.

"So, is that why you're vegan?"

"Yeah, she made me and I love it. I feel like I'm doing my bit against animal abuse".

"So, are you two still in touch?"

"I spoke to her once after she got divorced. Never again".

Yeah, she got divorced one year after she got married. She faced a lot of controversy but she didn't let that stop her.

"Oh", I say and turn back to look at the sky. We lay there in silence, looking at the star, thinking about nothing and just holding hands.

"What about you?", he asks , breaking the silence and sitting up.

"What about me?"

"You never told me about your family, friends, relationships. You're always very secretive about all that".

"Secretive for a reason", I dismiss and move from a sleeping position to a sitting position.

"Hey, you know you can trust me, right?", he asks and I nod, sighing, "no secrets, then. I really want to get to know you", he insists.