She did not sleep I watched shift and turn all night, and sure she knew I was wide awake despite how much sleep and rest I required. It was dawn already before I knew and my growling belly was sirening in the whole room. She seemed to be asleep after a long night at the dawn. I freshened up and left the room without waking her up. I also felt a bit awkward for stopping her last night. I found the last banana in the kitchen after finishing it up, I decided to go out for a morning walk, which I needed to relax a little.
A guy with a familiar back was walking ahead, I knew at once that it was Ashmit. I was not intended to but ended up catching up with him.
"Hello!"
He was surprised to bump into me at the very first thing in the morning. His black circles were, I wouldn't call it better but something was different. He lost some weight and had shaved clean, looked clean and perfect. The clarity in his eyes spoke so much. I could say that he was in the process of moving on. I hoped that he wouldn't try to jump again. Now that I have had an experience, at the brink of death, I must say, life is precious.
"Prakash!", he exclaimed.
"Morning walk?"
"Hunting down some inspirations.", as expected from a poet.
"How's Sita? Haven't seen in a while.", he tried to make some conversation.
"Doing well.", we walked slowly together. It was such an unusual thing for me to walk with a guy in serenity. It made me laugh inside a little. I bet he was laughing at this situation in his mind too. When the cafe arrived, he said, "I wish I could perform more in front of Sita, she was interested in this thing, right?"
"I know she writes like...crazy…", it made me smile remembering her sticking to her desk like a leech. "I should come with her sometime."
"Sure… Is she here?"
"Ah, she settled down here a few days ago.", a sense of relief passed through his face.
"Then I will invite you sometime soon.", he smiled. His eyes were still and calm, with slow-paced steps and a very mature look, he was just a normal man who wanted to have a normal life. He was so much more than a person who was hurt by Reema. It made me wonder if Reema regretted what she did to this person. He came all the way to the tea stall and had a cup with me.
"I am sorry to bring this up now…", Ashmit turned to look at me when I initiated this talk, "I knew you even before Sita."
He laughed and asked, "Is that so?", he was not surprised but was pleasured.
"But the connection might hurt you.", I took a step ahead and turned to have a face to face conversation. "We are Reema's acquaintances...to be more exact, we grew together...I, Sita and...Reema…"
His smile drooped, he tried not to show his defeated face, "Haha!", at first he laughed, "Is that so?", he repeated it like three times. "I…", he rubbed his left eye, "Okay…", he settled his emotions and continued, "It's all in the past now...I think…"
"I am sorry for not bringing this up when we were introduced, I did not mean to hide…I was hesitant…"
"Don't be...I will not say that she didn't affect me...my peace...but it has nothing to do with you...nor Sita... ", he held my shoulder and his thumb rubbed me in assurance. I could say that he still shattered at the sound of her name. The more he denied, the weaker he became. I wanted to ask him for a beer and get wasted alongside hearing him bitching about Reema all night. Words wouldn't flow in my head and my tongue went numb looking at him deceiving himself but he had to face it to completely snap out of the whole crap.
"Bro!", I did not want him to feel pathetic, "Did you find your inspiration?", he thought for about a minute and said, "Yes…"
"I am glad…"
We walked and parted ways before the cafe he usually performed. When I got back home, I could feel two pairs of eyes shooting flames on me. I put the veggies I got after parting with Ashmit in the fridge and got myself locked in my room escaping from Tom and Swara's glares. And I realised I spewed some nonsense in the end too.
'I knew the place where your warmth wrapped
was gonna sting and feel the heartless cold
when you let go of my hands…
I let you take them anyways…'
-read Sita's post on her account.