Love Bites

When Life Happens (6)

Two weeks had passed and Avni & Neil had made quite a lot of progress in their relationship. Avni felt like she had never talked so much in her entire life as she had done with Neil in the last week. He was everything that her younger-self had ever dreamt of but had buried it deep down as she grew up. However, Neil was a slow & persistent invader, he had managed to break down her walls bit by bit & Avni couldn't understand when was the exact moment when he was the only person taking up the whole space in her heart.

Speaking about Neil, he was sailing high through the storm Avni was. And he loved every bit of it. She had become the first person with whom he wanted to share something good that happened around & also, the first person with whom he wanted to share any problem that he came across. She was his human diary - the first thought of his day & the last muse of his night!

At the moment, Avni was sitting patiently in a cafe that she had invited Neil to. He was supposed to join her after work but was apparently running late. She had been waiting for about an hour now & could feel her patience being slowly replaced by fear.

Would he even come?

She hurriedly checked her phone to see if he had texted her something to inform about being late or being stuck in traffic, anything! Opening his chatbox, she read their texts.

Meet me at Coffee Yard at 7? -A

Are you asking me out on a date, Tweety? -N

May be, may be not! Be on time, I'll wait for you! - A

Will be there! See ya ;) - N

That was it. He had not texted her anything else. Was he alright? Did something happen? Should I call him? - and all other sorts of thoughts invaded her mind, but keeping her calm, she inhaled a few deep breathes & tried to call him.

His phone was out of network.

Okay, now was the correct time to be restless! - Avni figured. She somehow managed to not lash at the waiter & answer him as politely as she could when he again & again pestered her to order some food. Another hour had passed & there was no sign of him. Fear gripped Avni's heart as she again dialed his number & tried to call, but it was still unreachable.

Apparently, the hotel staff had had enough of her & had to politely ask her to leave as more customers were pouring in. With a crestfallen face & scared heart, she stepped out of the cafe. However, she decided to wait for Neil for some more time in case he decided to show up. But, the attempt was futile. He did not come, & just like that Avni could feel her heart shattering all over again. 

She had wanted to talk to him about their marriage. She had planned to tell him that she was ready to give this a chance & she had wanted to ask him if he felt the same. It took everything in her to keep aside all her fears & insecurities from her childhood, and to take this step towards him, towards life, towards love. But at the end, all she got was dejection. 

Wiping away the angry tears from her eyes, she hailed a cab & went back home.

Coming home, she locked herself up in the bathroom as she cried her eyes out in the shower. Thankfully, Shweta & Prakash weren't at home as they had gone to a relative's place for the night & would only return in the morning. And, Neela had started her chemotherapy as suggested by the doctors Neil had spoken to, so she wasn't at home either. Coming out of the shower, she heated some of the leftover palak paneer & jeera pulao from lunch & ate it while she drowned herself in self pity. 

"Avni?" - there it was! The voice she was embarrassingly aching to hear. Neil locked the door behind him & hanged the key on the keyholder as he moved towards her.