Aliyah felt a heavy weight in her chest as the realization of her current prediction slammed into her like a bag of rice. She remained motionless on the top step of the stairs, looking down at the man who was standing near the front door.
Rahul, her sister's fiance, gave a sigh and putted his phone back into his pocket. "Looks like it's just us here tonight." He said, as he looked up at her, seemingly unaware of the worries that was written all over her face. "There was a ton of snowfall this morning, and the roads all are unusable. No way anyone is gonna be able to make it all the way out here."
"But what about Yasmeen?" Aliyah asked, referring her sister who was surely throwing a fit over the unpredictable snow storm that had ruined their vacation plans.
"You know your sister, she is not going to come here." Rahul shuffled over to the living area and started looking around at the fireplace. "She was the one who found this place on Oyo after all."
"She was so excited about this trip to Shimla." Aliyah said, as she slowly walked down the stairs and stood at the base. She knew that she should have gone up, should have gone and hidden herself away in one of the many rooms that were now going to be free for the night. The longer she stayed down here with Rahul, the worse it would be. "She couldn't wait for all of us, our whole family to be here and spend time with you before the wedding."
"It sucks." Rahul agreed. He finally managed to get the fire going. "But what else we can do? It's just one night without her, what's one night when we'll get to spend the rest of our lives together soon."
"You really love her, don't you?" The question slipped out of Aliyah's mouth before she could stop herself. This was what she was afraid of, of not being able to stop herself from saying the words that come in her mind. "That must be nice, that you two share a love so strong. I'm happy for you. For Yasmeen too, of course. I'm happy for both of you."
"Thanks." If Rahul was at all put off by her strange word, he did a fantastic job of hiding it. He sat down on the sofa that was in front of the fireplace and patted the seat next to him. "Why don't you sit down here for a while? If it's just going to be us, we might as well make the most of it. We could talk and stuff, get to know each other a little bit more. I am going to be your brother after all."
"Brother-in-law." Aliyah corrected him as she slowly walked over and sat down next to him. This was a mistake. She shouldn't be doing this, but she couldn't pass up the opportunity to be close to him. It crushed her to know that she had these feelings, and the guilt that overwhelmed her was almost unbearable.
"Have you ever been in love, Pihu ?" Rahul asked, he stared up at the ceiling. He smiled dreamy, a smile that all but revealed who he was thinking about. "It's just so amazing, that feeling when you're finally found your person. It makes everything seem right in the world. It makes you feel like you're whole, like you've finally found the one thing that was missing from your life that you never ever realized you were missing."
"That sounds like something out a rom-com." Aliyah gave a short laugh as she tried not to think about how he had just called her by her nickname. It sounded so magical coming off of his lips. "Seriously, you could write a book or something."
"Yeah, that was bit filmy, wasn't it ?" Rahul laughed slowly although the blissful look on his face continued to shine bright. "But I'm being serious. Love is what makes life worth living." He finally broke his look away from the ceiling and turned to look at her. "You didn't answer my question, have you ever been in love?"
Aliyah felt a shiver run down her spine as she locked eyes with Rahul. She was sitting close to him, so close that she could see that his eyes had little specks of black and brown mixed in. She could count the spots that decorated the bridge of his nose and see the tiny little scar that was on his forehead that he had gotten from a cycle accident when he was 12.
She could tell him the truth. The whole truth, all of it right now. It was just the two of them, stuck together in the little cottage. Maybe it was fate, maybe the snowstorm was some unexpected push by the universe that was meant to bring them together.
She loved him. She had loved him since she saw him on the first day of her 8th grade in a school, so many years ago. She could tell him that right now, and she could kiss him and feel him in the way that she had always dreamed about feeling him. Now was the perfect moment, if she didn't say it now, then when would she ever get another chance?
But….she couldn't do this to her sister. Yasmeen loved him too, and he loved Yasmeen.
"No, I've never been in love." Was what Aliyah finally said. The words felt heavy as they slipped out of her mouth, but deep down inside she knew that it was the only thing she could say.
As she sat there on the sofa, staring at the man that she so desperately loved, but could never have.