Ira lived in a flat. There were ten other houses in her building and she was living on the topmost floor that was the fifth floor. The owner of the building was an old orthodox couple who preferred their flat to be filled with families rather than bachelors. Ira was the only one in the whole building who was unmarried. Most of the other occupants were elderly couples who despised the modern tradition of love and live-in relationships. Ira being the only occupant of her house, her neighbors made sure they had an eye on her activities to check if she brought home any boys. Ira never bothered about her nosy neighbors because she knew she wouldn't be doing anything they expect her to.
"Arjun, wait here I'll check if anyone is there in the parking lot." Ira said, as they arrived at the gate of the building.
Ira ran inside and came back within a minute and told Arjun that he can park his bike next to her car.
They sneaked around the building and made their way up to the elevator.
"Oi! Is it a must we sneak around like this? We sneaking makes it look as if we are guilty." Arjun said.
"I don't fancy this either, but the owner has been trying to dishouse me from the time I moved in. He wants this whole building to consist only of families and is probably regretting renting me this house."
"Why don't you move out then?"
"Because I love this house." Ira said, as she unlocked her door.
They heard the door opposite to her home unlocked as well. Ira swung her door open and pushed Arjun inside without a warning, shutting the door behind her.
"Hi Malar aunty." Ira said, with the fakest smile of the century.
"Hi dear. Are you alone here? I heard you talking to someone, that's why I came out to see if you are okay. You see you live alone here, so being your neighbor, I consider it my responsibility to make sure you are safe." the lady said, the greed to catch Ira red-handed with a boy pouring out through her cunning eyes.
"Oh, I was talking on the phone, the call was on speaker."
"Oh I see." said the lady, thoroughly unconvinced.
"I have a mild headache so I'm going to take some rest. I'll see you around. Bye aunty."
Ira opened her door carefully and went inside, and turned around to give a Go-To-Hell-Women smile to her neighbor. She locked the door so as to make sure that her neighbor wouldn't barge inside her home to check if Ira was telling her the truth.
"Your neighbor is a real pain in the ass, isn't she?" Arjun said, who was looking around her living room.
Ira's living room was square just like her bedroom. She had a L-shaped cream coloured couch, a brown coffee table with a glass top and a LED television. The walls were peach and were decorated with paintings depicting the contrast between olden and modern days. What was peculiar about her living room was the MEADE 14 LX600 telescope which laid close to the window.
"This is a high-end telescope. We can see Saturn rings, Jupiter moons and different galaxies, even Andromeda, if the sky is clear. This telescope is my most prized possession." Ira said, who saw Arjun examining the telescope closely.
"Ira, this is phenomenal." he said, astonished by the telescope.
"You take a look around the house and make yourself comfortable. I'll cook lunch as quickly as possible."
In an hour-time, Ira had prepared a delicious lunch. She managed to cook chilli chicken for appetizer, chicken fried rice for the main course and banana split sundae for dessert. She laid the plates and dishes on the dining table inside her kitchen. Ira and Arjun sat down to eat.
"I never pictured you as a great cook" Arjun said, choking himself with the sundae.
"What did you picture me as, then?" Ira asked, who swallowed the last bit of her food.
"An angel" he said, under his breath.
"Sorry, did you say something?"
"Nothing. Thanks for the food. It was mouth-watering."
Arjun decided to hit the hay and Ira asked him to use her room as there was no spare room even though he insisted that he could do with the couch.
After two hours of pleasant sleep, Arjun went back to the living room to find Ira curled up at the corner of the couch, asleep with a book over her chest. He grabbed the book off her chest and closed it. He noticed that she was reading a book called 'The Fault In Our Stars.' He turned around from her to get her a blanket when a raspy voice spoke.
"Arjun.." Ira called, rubbing her eyes.
"Ira.." he replied, smiling down at her child-like face.
"When did you wake up?"
"Just now. Want a cup of coffee? I'll make it."
"Yes, please."
Both of them grabbed their cups of coffee, and sat down facing each other on the sitting window in Ira's room, gazing at the busy roads under the darkening sky.
"Aju, can I ask you something?"
It was the first time Ira had called Arjun as Aju. Arjun felt a weird sensation, like a hundred butterflies racing inside his stomach. He didn't know why he felt so, but he knew it was the first time he felt something like that.
"Arjun, I asked you if I could ask you about something." Ira said, waving her hand in front of his face, pulling back his attention on her question.
"Yea-yeah you can ask."
"You remember the first evening of our training, when I asked you to think of the reason you wanted to play badminton. After that you played like a pro. What was that you thought of?"
"My mom. Kavi told me that mom used to play badminton in her school and college days. She even hoped to pursue it as a career but then she fell in love with dad, got married and family life pushed her into sacrificing her dreams. She dedicated her whole life for us. But a part of mom was always longing to be on the court again. Dad knew it, I don't know why instead of lending a helping hand, he refused her desire."
"So, you feel closer to your mom when you play badminton and you've got the hunger for fulfilling her lost dreams. Right, Aju?"
"You already know me too well."
"I do." she said, smirking.
When Arjun got back home, he saw his sister fiddling with her fingers at the entrance.
Hey sister. What's up? Why are you teaching gymnastics to your fingers?"
"Shut up! Now tell me everything about your match. Did you win?" Kavi said.
"How can I talk when you ask me to shu.."
His sister's death stare made him cut short his cheekiness.
"Match was great Kavi and yes I did win."
"Wow Aju. I knew it. I want every tiny detail on what happened."
On the way from the entrance to his room, Arjun narrated everything that happened to his sister.
"So is your next match on the day after tomorrow?" his sister enquired.
"Yeah. But no Kavi, don't even get started. I am not taking you to the match. If I reach the final round, I'll take you then, to watch the finals." Arjun said, interpreting his sister's expressions.
During the dinner, Aju told his dad that his part in the project he was preoccupied with those days was completed and that his schedule would return back to usual. So it meant that Arjun would leave for the office around 7:00 am and return around 6 pm.
The next day when Arjun reached 'The Badminton Academy', he found Ira already waiting for him. She greeted with a smile not so energetic. Arjun started with his regular pre-match workouts, followed it up with a match against Ira. He still was close to her in score but could not beat her. His score was always four to five points below her at his best play. They relaxed a bit and played another match. Time went on as they played matches after matches, with each match, Arjun learned a new strategy. On the other hand, Ira's energy was deteriorating at a high pace.
"Oi, what's wrong with you?" Arjun asked, walking over to Ira who sat on the floor breathing heavily.
"Just tired."
"Ira.." he said, with a questioning look
"Aju.." she said, returning the questioning look
"Why are you dull today? You don't look cheerful as usual."
"Nothing. Now let's discuss the common fouls you would do."
"You need to learn how to change the topic smoothly, coach." he sniggered.
"I assume you can help with that, trainee. Now never call me coach again, it has got too weird after how close we have become."
"How close have we become, Ira?" Arjun asked, knitting his brows, in a tone full of cheekiness.
"You're serious? Flirting?" she said, raising her head which was buried in her hand, trying hard not to smile.
Arjun had let go of his question and was indulged in the serious conversation of the mistakes he made on the previous day.
"I think it was because of your perturbation. But in the third match you were fine. So, nothing to worry about. Just try to maintain a cool head while playing."
"Okay. Hey what about the foul I did?
"Right. What you did was a common foul, the contact foul. You can avoid it by aiming the service higher."
They talked about all the possible fouls and Ira acknowledged Arjun about certain special styles she noticed from the other players.
"Ira, you know you have me, right? Always." Arjun said, his piercing gaze locked to her drained out face.
"And you have me, Aju. Always." she said, as her eyes found his eyes.
They both sat in the unnecessarily hushed silence that followed.
"Arjun, today is my dad's 6th year death anniversary."
"Is that why you are toned down?" he asked, his voice softened.
Ira nodded at the ground and said, "I've never visited my dad's grave. I try every year but I just couldn't bring myself to face his tombstone."
"It's already getting dark, come on, let's go."
"Where?" Ira questioned.
"Your dad's grave. This year, not only will you face it but also lay flowers. You trust me, don't you? You are going to be fine. I'm there with you." he said, stretching out his arm.
Ira took his hands without a word and walked along with him as he led her to his bike.
His words "I'm there with you" kept ringing in her ears. She felt a powerful surge to even do the impossible. She directed him the way to the place her father was buried.
Once they stepped foot on the burial ground, they searched for Ira's dad's grave. Arjun was the one to find it first.
"Ira." he called, standing a few meters away from her.
She ran up to him and looked down at what Arjun was looking at. She froze in the place she was, her eyes fixed at the stone bearing her dad's name and her hands crushing the flower bouquet she had bought on the way.
Arjun bent down and pushed away the dust and dry leaves on the grave with his hands. He glanced up at Ira and shook her to bring her back to senses.
"Ira, do it. It's alright."
Ira bent down and placed the flowers on her dad's grave. Arjun pulled out a candle and a lighter from his pocket and handed it over to her. She lit the candle as Arjun assisted in protecting the fire from extinguishing. Both of them straightened up and Ira leaned onto Arjun's shoulder. He rubbed her back as a tear rolled down her cheek and her lip twitched to form an aching smile.