Anguish & Affection

Part 14

Stunned, she stuttered out a disbelieving response, "You can't possibly mean that...can you?" She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she contemplated his bold admission, desperately trying to comprehend the implications of his words.

"Yes, I do," he said confidently, raising an eyebrow and smirking as a gasp slipped past her lips. He hadn't expected the younger version of her to pick up on his not-so-subtle teenage affections—a result of their closeness and hormones running amok.

A rosy blush moved across her cheeks as she recalled their awkward teenage days, when a single touch felt like a million sensations and eyes were drawn to the object of their affection more than they should have been. Even so, it was the most innocent love story she had ever seen or would see.

"You weren't exactly doing a good job of hiding it. I saw you in my photo when I was fifteen. I couldn't make sense of it then, but now I can. And the time that Shravan tried to ask me out when I was sixteen, and you picked a fight with him for it; I remember those days."

Atharv, the eighteen-year-old, growled out his warning: "Keep a safe distance from her!" as he inched closer to Shravan in an intimidating manner.

Shravan firmly placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans, piercingly demanding to know why his friend was interfering. "We're family friends, buddy, so what concern is it of yours if I ask her out? If she's not into me, she can just reject me — there's no need for you to get involved!"

He spoke in a firm and unyielding voice, "I'm only going to say this once. No more playing your usual games around her. If I see you even try cornering her to 'talk', you're no longer on the cricket team." His eyes pierced into Shravan as he finished his warning.

"Come on, take it easy! When are you going to finally admit your feelings instead of sending everyone else away? Don't give me that same old line about not having any feelings for her--we both know that's not true," Shravan said sternly, before hastily turning away from Atharv in case he'd try to attack him.

Atharv snapped back, "You should follow your own advice and mind your own business!" He tried to ignore the girl's piercing stare and prayed that she was too naive to comprehend what Shravan had meant.

Atharv blinked in amazement, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "You remember that? I didn't think you'd understand much of it," he said fondly.

"Hey, I was sixteen! Not six! And don't forget, I was a total movie buff. Plus, everyone knows teenagers can't stop talking and gossiping, and always seem to know all the latest news—right or wrong," she responded with a laugh, reminiscing about simpler days.

"Cheesy romance films gave you dating advice at sixteen?!" he asked, sarcastically passing judgement on the movies she favored, although secretly enjoying them himself.

"What if I decided to take him up on his offer? He was quite attractive and that hairstyle ... it had many girls swooning," she said with a sly grin. She couldn't help but let her mischievous side take over her thoughts.

"Excuse me? Are you saying that you would have accepted the proposal? Besides, I rejected more proposals than your 'quite handsome and great hairstyle' guy," retorted Atharv, his smile contorting into a frown as his ego took a hit.

"Frankly, you were never one to try something new and you always had the same hairstyle," she said, her smirk growing. As he realized that she was trying to bridge the gap between them, a feeling of warmth spread through his chest and suddenly the physical distance didn't seem to matter as much.

"I remember you told Di that you'd marry a guy with my hairstyle because you liked it when guys looked formal, so don't let me feel jealous by using my hair as an excuse," he replied strongly, crossing his arms across his chest and staring at her in a confrontational way. He felt a spark of hope as she did not turn away from him quickly like she had since their reunion.

"Was it... before or after the wedding?" she questioned, her voice tentative while the tension filled in every crevice of the room.

"It happened before," he replied, his mind returning to when his parents had first brought up marriage. He hadn't expected it at all, and yet he couldn't have been more thrilled that he'd get to marry his beloved crush. "I didn't say no when they asked me—it was like a dream come true."

She leaned back in her seat, deep in thought. "I can remember so many things from my past, but not my marriage. Was it something done to me? Or was I the one responsible for blocking those memories?" Her frustration was palpable as she asked the questions that had been on her mind.

"I remember the day of our union with clarity. It was a strange ceremony, something out of lore, that none but our family knew of. We molded clay houses together in harmony, chanted some verses to ward off evil, and splashed each other with vermillion powder for good luck. You probably remember it as a day of joyousness and madness, but to me it was more than that. It was our marriage, and even now I revere this sacred bond we have created."