Remains of a Lost Heart - Part 8

Photography and other things have kept me busy for the last coupla weeks. Hence, the delay in the part  8 post :) Here goes read on... 


Chapter 8 - Lovestruck Vacation

Divya called back. She said in a very low tone, “So, how serious are you about what you just asked? Or has the project really gotten to you? ‘Cos I thought you were pretty serious…” Arya said, “Look Divs, I don’t know how or why I asked you today of all days. All I know is that, when I tucked you in today morning, it gave me a sense of happiness and belonging that I wanted for the rest of our lives. So, Coffee? Seriously.”

She almost in an irritable tone, “Seriously Arya I think your stupid…” and she paused. Arya was dumbfounded and he did not know what went wrong. She giggled. He was completely puzzled. “Moron, when you’re asking a gal as pretty as I, think more classy. Let’s have an amazing dinner. Just you and me.” Arya was elated. He stood with his phone in one hand and held the towel around his waist with the other. “Wait I am gonna get dressed and come right over. We’ll decide where to go”, he hung up and left. There was a small hop in his step and he kept humming some tunes as he walked by. He was radiant with the love that filled him. He had fallen head over heels for Divya. She was equally crazy about him.

As they sat down at a famous Chinese restaurant, the lights from downtown San Jose reflected against the walls of the building they were in. It was an unusually quiet start. They were both dressed for the occasion and they just picked up the menus and looked at it. Arya broke the silence and said, “So, why again are we unusually silent?” Divya chuckled. “May be we should have gone to some place cheaper. What say?” It was a pricey place and they felt out of place. It was a crowded day. So, they just told the waiter they had forgotten to lock the house and left the place. They held hands as they walked on the festively lit streets and they laughed about what happened at the first dinner. They stopped by a famous fast food chain and took their dinner to go.

They settled down on the stairs of Divya’s apartment. They held hands as they finished their dinner. They went up to her apartment. She invited him in to sit and chat for some more time. The room was dimly lit and her roommate was out at her friend’s place for some project work. They sat beside each other and chatted away into the night. She started dozing off on his shoulder as he sat there and looked down at the blissful beauty she added to his life. He moved very carefully replacing his shoulder with a pillow. She opened her pretty eyes and with a look on her face that melted Arya, she held his hand and said, “Don’t go Arya. Stay back here. I promise I won’t sleep. I wanna spend all the time we can together.” Arya said, “Sleep now sweets, I’ll be up and with you early tomorrow.”

She got up and headed to the door and stood up against it. Arya tried to sweet talk her into letting him go. She said, “Ok, if you wanna go find your way past me” and she winked. Arya pulled her close to him and reached for the door knob. She just submitted weakly to his action. She hugged him from behind. His hands all of a sudden withdrew from the door knob. He turned around and hugged her back. She looked up at him and said, “I have been in love with you from the time I saw you bite into you sub. I really love you Arya and please don’t ever let go off me ok?” Arya held her even closer and almost lifted her off the ground. He said; “Never will I remotely think of it until of course I meet a hotter gal…ok?” and he chuckled. They closed their eyes and stood there in each other’s arms for several minutes. After sudden realization they looked at each other and realized how deep in love they were. They were lost in their own world. Divya tried weakly to get out of the hold and suddenly she felt his lips close against her own gently. She gave in. She kissed him back.

Few seconds later, he looked deep into her dark eyes, pushed her hair backward and held her face between his hands and told her, “You are extremely special to me sweets. I really can’t tell you how much I love you. Promise… you will stay by my side forever and make me a better man…?” She blushed and barely managed to say, “I love you too Arya. Now go home. Try not to miss me too much ok? I’ll see you in the library in the morning.”

They met in the library and worked on studying for the finals that were coming up soon and they had to finish their project. They sat there through the day and finished all that they wanted to. After that day, they hadn’t spent even a single waking moment apart. The finals came by and they both aced the semester. Divya was to go to her cousin’s place in Chicago for the vacation while Arya stayed back in San Jose to try and find some on-campus employment. She was leaving in a couple of days.

Arya did not want to let her go and she herself did not have the heart to go. But, she had to do it for the sake of family. The night before she left, Arya sat down with his laptop and typed away to glory. She was curious and kept asking him what it was. He shoved her aside and continued typing, “Hold your breath Divs, there’s a little surprise coming your way” he said as he stared into corners deep in thought. She slept by his side as he sat up and continued to look into his laptop screen.

After a few minutes he shook her awake and asked her to check her email immediately. “You’re a total moron. We are sitting right next to each other and you wanna tell me something through email”, she almost frowned as she picked up her laptop. She read in awe.

Oh! that beautiful feeling, I hoped it was never ending...

For that little kiss, felt like heaven on earth…

I never wanted to let go,

But, I had to, for I needed to tell you how much I loved you.

It has been long since I have needed anything else to live,

All I need now is to breathe you…

How will I live if you went away…

If only there was a way to make you stay…. If only there was….

“Oh my sweet god… I had no clue you could write Arya. Seriously, are you really going to miss me that much?”, she said and flung herself into his arms. “That is such a stupid question Divs. I really have no clue what I would do without you” he said. She had an early morning flight to board. Arya stood at the door. She stood pressed up against him. “It’s 3 frikkin’ months… can’t you come back earlier”, Arya frowned. “No sweetheart.. cuz won’t let me go. You know how it is, dontcha?”, she replied back. “Don’t worry Arya, we’ll talk over phone every single day.  We can also see each other on cam every day…”, she said stroking the back of his hair with her hand in consolation. He was fiddling with a twirl of her hair and set it back behind her ear carefully. He held her up and kissed her passionately. He said, “I hope this keeps me going for the time you’re away” and smiled. He wished her a lovely vacation and left. She left the next morning.

The days of separation and restlessness began.


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