Aratrika

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"Aaj Se Yeh Kaise..
Ansuni Se Jaise..
Choome Andheron Ko..
Koi Noor.."
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Making her way down the stairs, Aarna's eye wander. In search for the poet she didn't know is staying here.

Her gaze lands on the man responsible for the flutters in her tummy.
He sits opposite his mother as the two discuss their plans for the day.

Aarna notices that he's dressed in formal attire, his cream tailored pants contrasting the navy blazer. A sudden urge to brush her lips over his white shirt fills her as she thinks about the possibility that he'd be surrounded by women today.

But that shouldn't matter.

It shouldn't affect her that he'd be around other women.

But it does. And she hates how the flutters in her tummy now burn in an unknown sense of agony. Tearing her eyes away, she bows past her guests. She murmurs her greetings but doesn't meet anyone's gaze. She can't. "Very well then. Thank you for breakfast. We'll see you guys for dinner."

Aarna watches as her parents walk the Oberoi family to the door to see them off. Vihaan gazes longingly at the great girl, hoping she'll grant him a chance to see her eyes before he has to go.

It's a big day for him. He's going to be closing a deal that'll get them into the indian market and he needs that to happen. Needs.

Vihaan's eyes are set on Aarna as his mother sits in the car. Still on her as her father slides in after.
And still on her when his brother brushes past him in the front seat beside the drier leaving him the option of sitting at the back.

When the veil of wet black hair doesn't lift to reveal the most beautiful eyes he's ever seen, a sigh slips past his lips.

Aarna's eyes stay focused on the teapot in her hands, a blush coating her cheeks as heat blazes through her. A final thud of the car door lands on Aarna's ears. She turns away in agony. Unsure of why she feels this way, she just wants to escape the foreign feeling, yet hold it close till it burns every inch of her being.

So strange. 

When the car drives off, Aarna turns to find just a storm of dirt left behind from the car that was there a split second ago. A sudden urge to be near him and never leave fills her. And she's conflicted. Again.

Deciding to get the man off her mind, she works around the house. An hour goes by. And then another. And then another.

But, the vision of the man. The voice of the man. The words of the man. Oh, the magnificent words of the man.

Everything about him follow her around like a plauge. A plauge that smells like roses and sandlewood. Maybe, it's not a plauge then.
Huffing, Aarna throws herself on her bed. Shutting the door and windows, blocking everyone and everything out.

She takes her phone out, wanting to just mindlessly scroll on Instagram. Some videos of puppies and babies will make her frget the stupid man consuming her thoughts. But as soon as she does, his profile picture is the first thing she sees. He's posted a story.

Without a second thought, she finds herself clicking on it. Seeing his previous highlights are work related, she's expecting to find something along the same line. But instead, she finds a video of the mountains and a river from a car window. A familiar setting, she sees almost everyday.

Light music playing in the background with a few lines of poetry typed out in the centre. The flutter in her tummy errupts in excitement. It's the lines of poetry that sits written on a small piece of paper in her wardrobe. Without a second thought, she presses the small heart at the bottom of the story.

Her smile turns into a gasp as soon as she realise what she's done.
"No!"

Not knowing what to do, she throws her phone to the side. She turns to her side, she shoves her face into the pillow. A dark coat of red running up her neck, past her ears and to her cheeks.

Meanwhile, Vihaan pulls his phone out hearing the notification go off. Thinking it might be from work, but he's surprised to see it's from Instagram. From a specific person on Instagram.

He smiles at the little heart that appears next to Aarna's name on his story. The little heart telling him all that needs to know. It's almost like  she's here with him, providing him a strange kind of comfort he didn't ever have before.

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Hey! Guess who's back?
Did you miss us? Because, we missed you!
Big things have happened, just finished my first full year as a teacher. Made lots of changes in my personal and online life. And here I am!
First of all! HAPPY NEW YEAR DARLINGS!
I hope 2025 brings lots of joy and success to you all and all your dreams come true.

Next, I owe you guys an explanation. The reason why I've been so absent is....
Well, there are a few.
1. I've been very busy in my personal life.
2. Online. The 抖阴社区 community online is toxic AF! And I think it just got to me more than it should have. I NEEDED to get away.
3. I just lost my spark for a bit. I've been dealing with my mental health over the last few months. A lot of it being triggered by my IG and the community over there.

But I'm glad that I took the break. And I'm glad I'm back.
I just found it really hard to enjoy writing with a lot of stuff happening in the background, but we'repressing reset this year and we'll just start fresh.
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