Rekindled | ✓

Chapter 13. Chocolates

🎶 Sajdaa - My Name Is Khan

Published on 29.10.2022

❝ ab jaan lutt jaaye,
ye jahaan chhut jaaye
sang pyaar rahe,
main rahun na rahun. ❞

🥀

There's an old folklore originating from Chinese mythology which talks about soulmates and how they're connected with the red thread of fate. Two people who are destined to be together no matter what happens, no matter what the odds are; the thread can weaken, get tangled, be stretched enough that you fear it cannot sustain the tension only to find it absorbing it all and making sure it never breaks.

It has to be the red thread that keeps them connected even if not together. It has to be this crooked fate that manages to push them closer after cruelly pulling them apart. And it has to be this sick connection that makes him aware of her presence even without her coming in his line of sight.

Like a spell being cast, like a moth drawn to flame, his head turns, ears abandoning the ongoing discussion, eyes looking at the entrance with an indistinct earnestness and then, his breath hitches, heart rate catching pace when his reverent gaze meets her kohl lined eyes veiling beguiling mysteries which he could spend a lifetime unravelling.

Cladded in an inweave white long single strap kurti attenuated to her frame, a thin floral pink coloured dupatta tucked over her left shoulder, a silver bracelet adorning her wrist, oxidised jhumkas hanging from her ears and hair flowing free as the wind teased them, she looked seraphic and he was devoted.

Her lips, a pearly sheen layering them, parted as nervousness cloaked her features, making her seem so fragile that he was compelled to tear his unblinking gaze from her.

"So pretty, right?"

A voice, almost a whisper, filled with admiration came from beside him, making Ayansh turn his head.

His eyes followed Sameer's line of sight who watched as Inaaya signed herself at the reception.

A protective, or maybe it was possessive, instinct kicked in which made Ayansh lean forward and block his line of view. He narrowed his eyes and looked at him sternly making Sameer frown. "Don't we've work to do?"

Puzzled by the sudden change in mood, Sameer thought it would be better to apologize and get back to work. "Sorry, Sir." He mumbled.

"Better."

Ayansh had called the team which was in his office the other day. Last night at his place, he had spent more than an hour trying to adjust his grip around the pen so that he can do a comprehensible signature and finally to his relief, he had even succeeded.

Emma was the happiest one to not see her boss struggling and dejected. Felix was amused in a good way while Alex was bored. Inaaya had a small, warm smile etched on her face but she avoided to look directly at him, to let her eyes connect with his, afraid that he could see the whirlwind of emotions that she was scuffling with. But he saw it nonetheless. He kept speaking to the team but his eyes constantly seeked an excuse to glance at her, wondering if she was okay.

Inaaya seemed unsettled, almost disturbed. For Ayansh, she was the light in his life, the brightest one but who was the light in her life? She looked troubled and conscious, pale and pensive and that bothered him. Seeing her in an ethnic wear evoked elusive feelings within him, almost forlorn, almost aching and all he wanted was her to wear a smile that reached her eyes.

After everyone left his office, Ayansh kept pacing to the window and back, running the gears of his brain to come up with something that might provide Inaaya some respite. Under the excuse to examine the work going on and ask if anyone is facing any issues, he had also been to the third floor a couple of times. He didn't approach Inaaya for the fear he might just end up upsetting her as always but she did have his most attention. He noticed the way her lips twitched as she worked on her MacBook, the scowl that appeared, the way she pinched the bridge of her nose, the clench of her jaw and how disinterested she was when Felix kept talking to her about something enthusiastically.