One Day At A Time

Chapter Twenty Eight - By Fits and Starts

One look at her at the Arrival's gate is all it had taken to send his anxious mind stirring a whirlwind of emotions inside him. Arnav waited restlessly at the entrance of the car park as memories of the day when the hell had broken loose into his life four hellishly long years ago began to flood his mind. He knew he would never be able to forget those twenty-four hours where he had been found guilty and sentenced to years of misery overnight. Khushi had dismissed his feelings towards her as a rare flight of romantic fancy which had wilted under harsh situations, leaving him in a state of helplessness and anger for a while. And after she had left for Bangalore the very next morning without a word, he had swallowed with bitterness the only thought that had hit him hard in the solar plexus as the apparent truth – she hadn't found him worth a fight. In fact, he had believed she had cut him out of her life in quite an outstanding completeness.

His thoughts were invaded by a muffled voice of a pale and scrawny looking kid standing in front of him, promising him a welcome distraction.

"Bhaiyya, kuchh de do na. Kuchh khaya nahi hain subeh se."

Arnav looked at the small boy who looked like he had skipped an entire childhood instead of a meal. The cold hardened look on his face telling of the years of poverty-stricken life he had endured and survived to take care of his family. He was about to fetch his wallet from his pocket when he heard faint voices of Payal and Akash behind him. He turned his head to watch them walk towards him without Khushi, and his forehead creased into a frown. He tilted his head a bit, and his dark brown irises glinted and burned when he spotted her behind them. His chin turned slowly along with his body, his hungry eyes flickering over the face he had thought about but not laid eyes on for four long years. He saw her stop mid-stride and watched the warm ocean breeze blow errant strands of her hair gently across her face. Seemingly annoyed with her futile attempts of tucking them behind her ears, he watched her tie her hair up swiftly into a ponytail only a few seconds after he had had a glimpse of the layers of it falling off her shoulders in mesmerising waves. She then walked towards him, and for a moment, he stood still, staring at her, not knowing what to do.

This was not the nineteen-year-old girl he had last seen in Akash's house. This was someone else. He was now looking at a willowy beautiful woman, her big brown eyes still as expressive as they always had been against her flawless face which now had a hint of make-up as understated as everything always had been about her. Her skin, however, looked slightly pale, probably because of being cooped up in an aeroplane for too long. But the eyes hadn't lost the sparkle. Perfect hair, perfect bone structure, perfect nose, perfect -- everything. Still more beautiful than any woman ought to be, his mind whispered. She was busy biting down pensively on her full bottom lip as always, revealing how utterly nervous she was feeling at that moment. When she couldn't hold his gaze anymore, she looked away, the colour slowly beginning to ease back into her cheeks. She tugged her white top over the jeans quite unnecessarily, drawing his attention to the traces of feminine curves which were suddenly more conspicuous to his eyes, promising perfection over and under the clothes she wore so elegantly. He exhaled a long shuddering breath and forced himself to tune into the conversation taking place between Akash and Payal in the background.

The sudden tension between them was diffused when Arnav felt his sleeve being tugged at by the forgotten kid standing next to him. 

"Dada, rupaiyya, dollar ya pound —kuch bhi chalega."