If I Had A Love Story - Chapter 22

 

Chapter 22 

The cold breeze woke me up. I looked at my watch to find that it was 2 in the morning. Diya was sleeping on my shoulder with her hands tightly around my left arm. I realized that her jacket was draped over me. I carefully removed the jacket and draped her with it. She moved, holding my arm even tighter.

Her serene face was lit by the rays of moonlight plummeting through the window. The wind blew through the window as strands of her silky hair kissed her face. She looked like a sleeping beauty who would be awakened from a charmed sleep by the kiss of a charming prince. The moon soon hid behind the clouds in shame. I smiled inadvertently. I spent the rest of the night watching her sleep.

Diya woke me up saying that we had arrived at the Mysuru Palace. I had fallen asleep on her shoulders. She had her hair tied neatly into a pony tail. I was half asleep till the time she pulled my cheeks. We got off the bus and I yawned. By then, the sun had shown up but the chillness in the air refused to go. I grabbed my earphones and shared one with Diya. Pradeep Kumar's euphonious voice, the chill breeze brushing gently past our faces and her comforting hand - it felt like a dream, the one that I never wanted to end.

"Diya, I want to ask you something". She could sense hesitation in my voice.

"Sure. You can ask me anything".

"Your... "

"Diyaa! Diyaa!" It was one of Diya's friends. Diya gave back the earphones and both whispered to each other for a while. I looked away pretending to be not interested in their conversation.

"The girls want me to spend some time with them. Just making sure that you're ok with it"

"Err sure. Have fun!"

"You sure?" She was making a baby face.

"Yup. I'm sure".

"This girl won't let me be happy with her for even a while". I was smiling outside but frowning inside. She waved me bye and walked ahead. I was also a little disappointed that she couldn't read that "Can't you stay a little longer" phrase written all over my face but I let that sink in.

I turned back to catch sight of Ajith observing me. I walked up to him. He looked at me for a moment (Va Arunachalam nee varuva nu teriyum) and burst into laughter. I put my arm around his shoulder and dragged him inside the monumental palace.

The palace was well-lit and was filled with tourists. I kept looking for Diya but surprisingly she was nowhere to be seen. Ajith persuaded me to give up looking for her and spend some time with him. Agreeing with him, I started taking pictures (Finally my gallery was starting to have pictures that did not have either me or Diya in it after a long time).


At noon, after getting exhausted from taking pictures continuously we started walking towards our bus. Out of nowhere, Diya jumped in front of me from behind in an attempt to scare me. Unshaken, I glanced at her with my hands on my hips. She giggled.

"Did you miss me?"

"Nah, see these amazing pictures that I took while you were away"

 Not the answer that she was expecting, she hit me on the stomach.

"Ouch! That hurts!"

She started walking ahead. I ran to catch up with her. She scorned looking away from me.

"I missed you a lot, you have no idea". I took her hand and pulled her towards me looking right into her dazzling eyes. She looked into my eyes for a while and smiled.

"Music?" I extended my earphones to her. She nodded with a smile.

Once we confirmed that everyone has boarded the bus, we took off. The bus halted near a tea shop for a break.

The warmth of the tea comforted me against the cold weather. The sun was nowhere to be seen. I took Diya away from the rest of the crowd. We stood across the road sipping the tea looking down at the green landscape. She put her hand out trying to reach the clouds. I clicked a picture where she appeared to have caught the clouds within her hands.


"I need to ask you something," I said breaking the silence between us. She nodded.

"Your ring, you aren't wearing it?" I could sense her uneasiness when I asked her. I could not tell her that I found her ring wrapped in a note inside the yellow box yesterday. That ring was an heirloom that was passed on to her by her father and I have never seen her without it.

"I know how important that ring is for you, just wanted to check if everything is ok between you and your father". I paused.

“Whenever you are ready". She held my hand tight and nodded.

The clouds made way as the last rays of sunlight of the day shone upon us.

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