"Yes!"
"Are you happy now?"
"Yes, Prakash! Finally, I'm going home…. Nanana… I'm going home… home… home… home!", my little heart, felt so light singing in happiness. Suddenly one evening Prakash announced that we were going home. I had nothing to pack, but he did have some stuff to pack. I volunteered to help him. He had some old books to take home. He said that they were for his mother, she was an avid reader and he always bought books from that old bookstore near his university. The books were foxing with that aroma of old papers. I could tell at the very first glance that I was loving it.
"Can I borrow a book?", I knew he wouldn't deny it.
"Keep it.", but this was unexpected.
"Really?", it had brought a wide smile to my face. He then put aside the packed bag and took out his laptop and asked me to play a song. It was such a pity, I was leaving, maybe his thoughts were the same as mine. That's why I decided to have fun without any regrets that night.
Prakash was gradually opening up to me, it was like in those old days. He told me many stories. How he was in a gang war in school days, it was surprising to hear that he had been in fights. I wondered how he looked when he got angry. He showed his once hurt ankle and told how he had to hide it from his mother. I remembered that incident, he used to play a lot of sports and got injured many times. We talked until we were getting late that night with slow jazz music playing behind.
Swara was out that night, so we bid goodbyes with Tommy and Angad and left a note for Swara with Angad. I somewhat felt sad leaving the place. They were good people and I was glad they were there for Prakash. "Visit us soon, Sita. We will miss you!", Tommy was such a cutie boy. He had become a little brother to me in a few days. I adored him so much, especially when he enjoyed eating food cooked by me.
"Sure! You're welcome to Madurai anytime. I will take you to tasty restaurants there."
Angad didn't talk much, he thanked me for the note and said he would pass it to Swara. I missed Swara at that moment, she helped me a lot to make me feel at home. While passing by the street I got curious if Ashmit would be in the cafe. But the cafe was closed. I didn't go visit him when he asked me to, that made me feel sorry for him.
By the time we arrived at the bus stand, it was packed even though it was pretty late. I hadn't had a mobile phone on me. So Prakash gave a heads up not to lose him. I held his bag in my hand and followed him. When we checked the bus time, we still had about forty-five minutes for our bus. I noticed a familiar face, "Gimme a second!"
I approached Ashmit who was walking among the mob, I introduced myself and noticed him looking shabby. I wasn't sure if it was wise of me to invite him for tea. Nevertheless, he agreed to come along with us. But Prakash was uneasy, I knew exactly what made him uneasy. I understood why he dragged me out of the cafe that day too. He felt bad because of Reema, after all, she was someone we both could not leave out if we were to talk about our childhood.
While having tea, Prakash whispered, "Are you crazy?"
"Why? I acted in the spur of the moment but it is okay! Calm down, will you?"
He was like 'whatever!'. Ashmit didn't talk a lot. I apologized to him earlier for leaving soon the other day and not meeting him when he asked me to. He did not seem to be bothered by it. He looked absent-minded and left in a few minutes of silence. I respected him as a poet, so I was hyped up after getting his social media id.
"I wish he finds his happiness soon.", I said after he left. Prakash nodded in agreement too.
The sky showed no mercy on us that day. It poured down cats and dogs, decreasing the temperature to freeze us to death. We couldn't get good sleep due to the weather. The bus was in pin-drop silence, there was an occasional horn sound waking us up. I was in the window seat, the rainwater started to seep inside when it was past midnight. I moved a bit not to get soaked in it. But woke Prakash up who was about to fall asleep. He moved over to the right to give me someplace. It didn't work, I was leaning against him in the process of avoiding rainwater.
I went stiff and awkward in that position, he readily put my head on his shoulder and said, "Just sleep, it won't kill you."
'Oh damn! What the heck is this guy!', it was indeed so comfortable in an uncomfortable way. I wanted that guy to stop being kind in a vain.