"We may forget the person but memories stay there forever"

~Unknown~

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Shaurya stared at the title of the book, The Joy of x - A guided tour of Maths from One to Infinity, definitely not what he would typically read and he was not sure why he even had the book in his shelf, stashed away in that hidden compartment as though someone did not want it to be found. Still wondering, he opened the book to read the inscription, which startled him. It read,

The inscription was in her writing and the signature was hers, he knew that from the official correspondence, but his name and the date on top of the page were in his writing and there was no dispute about it. He stared at the signature, tracing her name and running his fingers over his. He could recall nothing but he knew that he must have already been in love with her when he added his name to hers; it was an indelible proof of what he must have wished for, to have her love, have her as his wife. He looked at the date again; it was a date around sixteen months prior to his surgery, which meant he knew Aabha from much earlier, almost coinciding with the time he had broken up with Nisha. Had he broken up with Nisha because he had met Aabha; if that was the case, did Aabha also love him, which was why she gifted this book? And then there was no reason why it had to be this specific book unless she wanted him to remember her and something special about them. He buried his head in his hands as he tried to make sense of it.

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The day after the party was the day the families had left the city to go to the beach house. Aparna Rathore, Reyansh's mother, had been of the opinion that considering the long drawn delays in the wedding, the wedding should be performed only after a visit to the Kali Temple by both the families The temple was close to their ancestral village and as the wedding was to be a quiet affair, with only family and a handful of close relatives, it could be conducted at their own beach house, which, with the extension to the private beach, could afford the privacy they needed and provide the respite they wanted. And in keeping with the necessity of having an extravagant affair, they could have a grand wedding reception back at the city. As everyone only wanted the wedding to be done with there were no objections.

However, Shaurya had refused to drive down to their beach farmhouse where the wedding was to be held. The morning after the party he had woken up to a splitting headache and the tormenting memories of his confession to Aabha. He did not regret a word of what he had said, he did love her though he was aghast at the way he had gone about it, if anything, it would only make matters worse between them. He had expected his father to admonish him but was surprised at the understanding he displayed and also by the fact that nothing of what had transpired at the party had been told to the other members of the family. His father had also spoken to his mother and Badi Maa who were initially upset at his decision not to come to the wedding along with them.

Still reeling under the effect of the hangover, Shaurya only caught the mention of Aabha and was thankful that there would be no more scenes, the one he had enacted should be enough to last a lifetime, he thought. His Badi Maa gently patted him on the head and asked him to come at least on the day of the wedding. He was quite relieved and decided to work from home for the next few days, he did not care what the staff and his colleagues thought of him but he knew that the office would also be a constant bitter reminder of her absence.

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For the next three days, Shaurya spent more of his time in solitary contemplation rather than office work. He was ostensibly on leave for Reyansh's wedding, so there really was not much work for him to do and if there was any urgent or critical work, Tanu and his team could manage. He was unable to fathom why he seemed to lose his senses around Aabha, why he was so disconsolate when she was not around, he had known her for less than three months, half of which she had spent either avoiding him or being cold to him. On the fourth day, he felt that it would be preferable if he did a few mundane jobs to clear his head and looking around, decided to clean his study. Cleaning, dusting his books, going over the papers to cull them was a time consuming and mind-numbing job, one he always indulged in when he wanted to clear his mind. It was very well known foible of his, it did not make a difference whether it was needed or not, the very act of rearranging the books and papers was calming.

It was when he came to the section of the book-shelves, which housed the secret compartment that he smiled as he recalled how both he and Reyansh had laid claim to it and after a few days of intense argument, decided to share it. Reyansh, as usual forgot all about it later, though Shaurya did use it often. The last he recalled, it had been to stash a few photographs of him and Nisha. He shrugged, there would be no use retaining them and releasing the hidden catch, reached inside the compartment.

To his surprise, he did not find the photos, instead, there was a mobile phone, which appeared to be familiar and a packet which had been unwrapped and re-wrapped. The phone seemed to have its battery drained out so while he put it to charge, he turned his attention to the packet. He kept flipping the packet over, hoping to identify what it could be; 'might be a book,' he thought, though why it should be stashed in that hidden compartment was puzzling. He stared at the wrapping paper, its lustre dulled and dusty, and finally, simply ripped it off. As he had guessed it was a book, gifted to him, by Aabha.

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Holding his head in his hands, his mind played all the details of their conversations, from the initial polite hellos, to his deal of being friendly to each other, their occasional exchanges, the wordless conversation when he had kissed her, the moment when he had thought she confessed to loving him to the final one where she had said she hated him and the word 'love'. Those moments and her words played in a loop, a never-ending stream of images and sounds, and it was at one such moment that Shaurya realised what she had last said, 'I rue the day I allowed you to share my table and agreed to your first deal.'

She said 'first deal', which meant that there was something more than what met the eye, something that could explain most of the things.

When he looked at the charged mobile, he got another shock of his life, the screen saver was a selfie of him and Aabha; she was standing in front of him, his arm tight around her waist and she had placed both her arms over his and was leaning back into him, her eyes shining with love and adoration, for him? He spent a restless day, tossing and turning, his mind churning in a mad rush of thoughts and visions. Finally, late in the evening, he made up his mind and called Reyansh.

Reyansh had been anticipating the call and he firmly said, "Bhai, I will not tell you anything over the phone, you will have to come down and please, it would be nice if you do not waste any time getting here, you will get your answers quicker and you would be able to attend my wedding too."

And before Shaurya could get in a word, Reyansh had disconnected the call, leaving him with no option but to drive down to their beach house.

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The wedding day dawned bright and clear, and though the sun painted the sky with a single golden hue, it reflected a kaleidoscopic view of the moods of the wedding party. Supriya was thoroughly distracted with everything and was mostly ignored by all, Aparna and Mohua maintained a calm demeanour, Dadi swung between joy and tears, while Shivani and Maahi busied themselves in the final selections of their clothes. Most of the menfolk spent the day in relative calm, as much as their wives would allow. The notable exception was Reyansh, who paced the terrace and kept looking into the distance, willing Shaurya to come soon and at the same time apprehensive of the meeting.

It is a short chapter, but then I stop here, for now the stage is set for the final meet , how can they avoid each other, especially now that is is clear the Shaurya would be told about his forgotten past? But then, we still have to see Aabha confront her own insecurities before she takes the leap of faith and Shaurya has to grapple with what he had forgotten before he takes the plunge.

But while you wait, maybe you could let me know how you found this update?

love,
Nyna

PS - I received my Christmas gift last week, from one lovely elf who so loved this story that she gifted me a cover, two of them. Thank you so much, dear Isha ( _velliety_