Note: A chapter which was incredibly difficult to write and managed to tire me by the end of it. This is what would have happened in Infinity...if the relationship between A and R 😆
Chapter 4:
"You want some coffee?" Khushi asked throwing her bag on sofa. Arnav walked in step with her towards kitchen counter and hopped on.
"I need lots of coffee," he said removing his specs and rubbing his eyes.
"You should have gone home straight from theater Arnav. You look terribly exhausted." She said halting her actions midway. "And I could have come home alone," she added looking at his tired face. There was darkness under his eyes which became more defined under bright kitchen lights and without his specs.
"Don't be stupid Khushi. I wasn't going to let you come home alone," he replied not looking at her. 'Even in future?' A retort made way to her tongue but she held it. It wasn't fair to ask him that.
He swung his legs idly and rested his back on the wall and watched her prepare coffee. Her actions were fluid yet controlled but it was the aloofness in her eyes which had clutched him in its claws.
The Khushi he knew was anything but aloof. Her overtly expressive face, the way her emotions were bared for all the world to see had all been completely erased from her personality. Sometimes it scared him to see her that way but he never had the nerve to bring it up.
Because if he did ask her, she would have told him the truth then and that would have been his undoing. He wasn't prepared to face that yet. But maybe one day...
"...Arnav? Are you there?" He heard Khushi waving in front of his face.
"Yeah, I am sorry. You were asking me something?"
"I asked if you still take one sugar." She looked at him with a frown. He nodded ignoring the slightest shade of worry cross her face. Maybe she was right. He should have simply gone home and slept. At least then the ache in his bones would be forgotten.
"Yes please," he said rubbing his eyes again. The dull ache behind his eyes was steadily increasing. Silence crept and wrapped them in a cocoon which hurt his head even more.
His mind replayed an old scene from memory where the two of them were in similar setting; him sitting on kitchen counter and her preparing coffee. The only difference being both were laughing and making fun of a movie they had watched. He could practically taste the warmth of the scene, smell the coffee and pull her long braid. But the scene disappeared with force much stronger in which it had invaded.
"Can I take a rain check on the coffee Khushi?" He threw the question in air and jumped from the counter. Without waiting for an answer he walked towards sofa and picked up his bag.
"Arnav? Are you okay?" He didn't have to see in his eyes to know her concern. She was worried and he could tell it in the way her voice shook when she said his name.
A feeling not known to him had been covering his heart like molten lava - slowly covering the surface it touched, provoking the surface in its wake and causing pain in the areas it touched.
Without responding, he walked briskly to the door and froze.
A touch softer than feather, her palm, was resting on his back. He took a shattered breath and tried to control the ache that burst out of his heart and flew to his throat. He swallowed hard and pinched his eyes shut and prayed to God to let her go away from him. But she held on.
"Stay." It was a simple word but the weight it carried wore him down in a matter of seconds. It had been more than three years since the complete catharsis of their relationship but that act had left a permanent void.
"I don't think that's a wise idea," he said, his voice hoarse. He silently prayed that she wouldn't insist on it. But the very next moment she said what he didn't want to hear.
"Stay." She said again, her palm increasing the gentle pressure on his back. He let out a whoosh of air as if his lungs repelled the ache with all its might.
"Please," she said. Her voice was soft and laced with worry.
The last straw of his restrain was broken. He turned around swiftly and pulled her into a hug. He could hear her surprise gasp but he didn't care. His body immediately relaxed when she put her arms around him. He hugged her closer and buried his head in her neck. The faint smell of perfume lingered on her and he pulled her closer.
"It's going to be alright," she said in her ears, stroking his hair.
Only then he allowed himself to cry.
To be continued.
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