The bus passed through India Gate, heading towards Jaipur House now. The weather was unusually pleasant. This part of the city has a charm of its own, with clean, green streets and brightly coloured official buildings. Chaya's wondrous eyes began dreaming the kind of life she would live if she got to shift here. It was her dream, after all, to study at Delhi University. She was just walking out of her room in her skinny jeans and checked shirt, with, of course, her classic backpack with her, perhaps walking to college, when Ved's voicing began filling the background, bringing her back to reality.
Source: Mariana De Los Santos from Pixabay
Chaya swiftly came back to the present. "Listen, I have to go. They've urgently asked us to report to the office. Here's my number." He said, handing her a piece of paper. "Call me when you can." Chaya could only manage to nod her head. Was it too soon to hug him goodbye? What would her friends think if she did hug him goodbye? Perhaps nodding and smiling are enough. He must have felt the connection, too; why else would he share his number, right? With this endless banter going on within her head, Chaya could merely manage to nod as she slowly witnessed Ved disappear in the Delhi crowd after he disembarked. The rest of the trip remained a blur of a memory in her head for all the years that followed. The entire school excursion culminated in just one brief meeting of chance, and all she remembered and treasured from this trip was a three-letter word and a gorgeous-looking Delhi boy—Ved.
Life remained pretty much the same for Ved and Chaya even after this meeting, but something changed in both of them. While Ved found hope of regaining a love perhaps even more beautiful than the one he lost, Chaya, on the other hand, found the fairy tale love, the one that happens unexpectedly, the one that enamours and enraptures the soul while sweeping you off your feet. Life and daily responsibilities continued, but each secretly craved to reunite, perhaps to know each other better, to adapt to each other, to coexist, to nurture, and to love.