| 'Time' Series: Book One |
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The workings of her brain were a mystery to her own pneuma.
That's what Hinduja Rao always thought.
But, quite similar to her thoughts about her own self, was someone else around her.
Her newly wedded husband, the...
Heaving her head away from his shoulder, she looked at him. Their eyes clashed. The motherly warmth of aureate against the youthful and lucid brown of earth.
"I don't know if you have any dreams or goals of your own as of now. But if ever you do see one later on in life and find that it's too unconventional for you to work for and achieve, just remember this: unconventional dreams demand unconventional choices along with an unconventional path. A path that will demand from you to soak in loneliness itself at times."
He nodded.
"My sweet little child." She petted the crown of his head. "Never ever back down from facing a problem. Face it and bash on regardless." She planted a kiss on his forehead. "Remember what Grandpa said?"
"No guts, no glory." He recollected, placing his head on her lap.
"Very good!" She held him on her lap, close to her stomach, warm and comforting.
She stared ahead, as if gazing at the vast emptiness before her, a world of unfulfilled dreams. "Your life might not be how you wanted it to be, Devi. But the choice lies within you-to make the right choices, to fight it head on, and to change it for the good, forever."
If not me, then at least you.
She wanted to add, but then she kept quiet.
"I guess, it's time Ma'am. We need to leave or else we will miss the flight." Karim remarked, wading his way towards them.
Darshana looked down at the teenager resting his head on her lap. The irritating itch in her eyes and nose grew. She rubbed her face. "Get up." Cooing into his ear, she held his shoulder. Her dupatta fluttered in the gentle breeze.
Mahadevan lifted his head slowly, and stood up on the porch, a sense of finality washing over him. He turned his gaze to the vast gravel driveway for one last time, with his heart racing as he searched for the elusive and unmistakable shape of his father's black Rolls Royce.
"Did they forget?" He asked, glancing at his aunt.
Darshana's frame turned helpless. She had absolutely no answer.
"There is a big merger happening today. They must have gotten busy there." Karim jumped in to handle the situation. "Sahib and Madam have been really stressed these days."
Mahadevan turned around to look at the manor.
Just then, two loud shouts echoed from some distance.
"Wait, you idiot!"
"Bhai!"
Mahadevan looked on as his siblings rushed towards him from inside the manor, and within a second, he was engulfed in a bear hug from both sides. One held onto his abdomen due to her height, while the other one tightly pressed his chest against his own.
He jumped on his feet as he felt a punch on his abdomen. "You were leaving without telling us you, moron!" Aridaman hollered out.
"Don't punch him, you hooligan! He is leaving!" Nirjhara countered.
Darshana chortled and shook her head.
Karim smiled.
The siblings stayed like that for some moments. Mahadevan smiled ever so lightly. His eyes turned watery as he engulfed them both in his arms.
Ten minutes later, Karim drove the car out of the main gate of the Dogra Manor as the siblings and Darshana looked on.
"D square, Bhai will come to meet us in holidays, right?" Nirjhara asked, glancing at her aunt.
"He will." Darshana assured, stroking her hair. "my love."
***
A week had passed since her nephew left for college. Darshana was supposed to leave for the US in the evening.
She was leisurely strolling through the maple grove behind the manor.
Her eyes wandered to the maple tree her nephew always liked to sit under. Suddenly, a striking red leaf spiraled down, settling gracefully on the ground next to her left foot.
She quickly crouched down to pick it up.
Out of nowhere, the crisp and dried leaves around her on the ground crunched loudly, breaking the silence. She spun around, her breath hitching, and found herself face to face with a pair of rugged combat boots, their owner hidden from view.
She slowly raised her gaze, her breath momentarily stolen.
"Jai?"
The name escaped her in a soft murmur.
Hands still inside the pockets, the man standing before her smiled ever so lightly. The dimples popped up in a second as the honey-hued eyes gleamed under the bright sunlight.
"Long time, no see, my love."
She leapt to her feet, her eyes fixed on him, the silence stretching out painfully.
"You won't say anything?" He asked, a hint of desperation in his tone.
"Allow me to look at you a little more, Major."
Tears trickled down the aureate pair of eyes as melancholia hit them like a truck.
He inched closer, wounding his arms around her waist and tugging her closer to his chest.
"Did you say yes to his proposal?" He probed.
"Yes." Came her soft reply.
Quietude followed like a blanket of sorrow, heavy with unspoken grief.
"Is there no other way out?"
"No." Her lips wobbled as she fought back tears.
"Tell me, how much more time do we have?" He gulped.
"Two hours and twenty minutes." She whispered. "My flight is at six. I will leave for the airport at four."
Major Jaidev Kanwar struggled to steady his racing heart and the lump in his throat. Detaching himself from her, his eyes softly took in sight of the woman he was in love with.
Smiling at her, he cradled her cheeks in his palms as teardrops slithered down the bridge of his nose.
"Come, let's celebrate the last two hours and twenty minutes of our togetherness." He paused as his hands shivered. "That's all we have after all."
***
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