[2016] 

At around 1.30 a.m., just when I finished an episode of CID on Sony TV, an argument burst in the corridor, abruptly, which caught my entire attention. I stood still, with my eyes narrowed, as I listened to the havoc created outside.

Three people stood outside, I guessed; one was crying, and two of them sounded absolutely furious. I couldn't catch a word they uttered, through the volumes of screams. I wanted to peek out and catch a glimpse of the happenings out, but I wasn't too sure if it was the right thing to do. So, I stood to my ground – patiently – until the chaos calmed out and once the sound of a banging door echoed, I hurried towards the door to open it.

A girl stood in the middle of the lonely corridor, with her fists balled and breathed heavily. She looked fifteen, and furious.

We exchanged glances for a moment, before she started bellowing – "I'M NEVER GOING TO THAT HOUSE, AGAIN. I HATE THEM SO MUCH". "Okay, come inside. Stay with me for a while?", I offered and she looked thoughtful. "You can trust me. I live alone. Come inside; you cannot spend your entire night in the corridor", I tried to convince her, and she took one step towards me. "Come", I forced a small smile at her, holding the door wide open.

"Thank you so much", she muttered under her breath, once she stepped foot inside my apartment, and I smiled, keeping my hand on top of her head. "What's your name?", I questioned, taking her inside. "Aisha", she answered, uninterestedly. "Si—", the words just began to leave my mouth, when she collapsed down on the couch. "—down", I completed my sentence, anyways. "I need some water", she ordered, in a rather impolite manner I'd say.

Once she gulped down two whole glasses of water and exhaled her anger out, I sat down to talk to her; she still looked mad, though – as if she'd kill someone.

"Do you want to talk about what happened between you and your parents?", I asked her, slowly, and she cracked her knuckles. "I love a boy from school and we've been in a relationship for 6 months now. My parents found out and they're making such a big deal out of it. They took away my phone and said that I should never meet him again, otherwise they wouldn't send me to school", she blurted everything out in one breath, and somehow...the story felt so familiar; like, a story I'd lived through. Silently, I sat before her and studied my nails as a flood of memories gushed back to me.

"They're wrong, aren't they?", she prompted and it took me a moment to nod my head in disagreement, slowly. "No", I whispered, zoning out. "You must be a mother, too", she smirked, looking away. "I've been through the same thing and trust me, they're not wrong. They're your parents; they are protective about you and naturally, that's how they'll react to a situation as such. You don't know what's running on their mind; everything comes out of concern and worry and love", I explained.

"If they actually cared for me, they wouldn't have made a big fuss out of everything. He means the world to me, but they snatched him away from me. I don't know where to go, from here on. I feel so lost...like, everything is over", she blabbered and I listened on, with a small smile crawling up my face. "I cannot live without him and my parents don't even understand that. I need him", she whined more. "Why are you smiling? You find everything funny, don't you?", she chided, angrily, and I smiled a little wider, shaking my head to the sides. "What the fuck is so funny?!", she exclaimed. "Mind your language, number one!", I reminded her. "And...nothing's funny. You simply remind me of myself when I went through this phase", I smiled a little.

"You went through the same thing?", she questioned, curiously. "Something similar", I vaguely said, as the series of events ran through my mind. "Your parents didn't want you to be with him?", she raised her brow. "I'd rather say that they did not fascinate the idea of me getting into a relationship at the age of 16", I wrinkled my nose. "Basically, no", she concluded, flatly. "You won't understand, until you grow up a little more", I shrugged and she looked on, with questions flashing in her eyes.

I sat on the edge of the chair, and moved closer to her. "See, Aisha – when you fall in love with someone in this phase of your life, it is the most beautiful thing ever. Love is beautiful, anyways; but when it happens in this phase, it hits you on a different level. Because as a teenager, you'll go through a range of emotions, uncountable highs and lows, and what not. And midst all of that, when you meet someone who calms you down, that person symbolizes the world to you. And then, when things don't work out, your mind naturally starts thinking that it is the end of everything, the end of your world...which is not true. Some people can mean the entire world to you, but you can still live without them, if you have to. Life's not going to throw situations which you can deal with, all the time; life varies between giving and snatching people away from you...", I took a pause to take a look at her rather restless face, as though she didn't want to hear anything more. "This is between your parents and a boy, whom you have known for no more than 6 months. I know he makes you the happiest and he means the world to you, but...he's not the only one who can do it, trust me. I may sound absurd, but in a situation as such – never choose anyone over your parents. It may look like the end of the world right now, but trust me – it is not. There's so much more for you to witness from this point onwards. Just let him go, and go back to your parents – you need them more than you need him. It's going to be hard, but I can only say that – I genuinely hope from the depths of my heart that you find someone who makes you as happy as he does, or even more than that! You're a kid, Aisha. I was in your shoes, too, years ago. I know exactly how this feels. But now, as a 26 year-old when I look back, everything looks okay. You'll feel the same, too, trust me. Just give your heart a chance to let go of him, okay?", I looked at her in anticipation, hoping she'd agree.

"Did you get married to someone, after your breakup?", Aisha questioned. "Of course, I did", I admitted. "Were you happy?", she asked. "Very happy", I said, honestly. "Did you stop thinking about your ex?", I probably didn't have an answer to that one question. "I stopped", I answered in a soft tone, and stood up, walking away from her. "Spend the night at my place and go back home tomorrow", I told her, as I walked towards the kitchen.

How could I stop thinking about someone, who never truly left my life?

∞

[2006] 

It was a Friday night and while the other kids in the block hung-out and partied all night, I sat down – cross legged – on my carpeted floor, with my textbooks. The clock almost struck 01.40 a.m., and I still had three chapters to go until I met the target I set for that day. I walked downstairs, silently, as I decided to make a cup of strong coffee because nothing stayed in my head for too long, and it was annoying.

In the kitchen, I boiled the milk on the stove when the landline suddenly rang, loudly. The suddenness of the call forced me to jump, and a second later, I sprinted to the middle of the living room.

"Hello?", I talked into the telephone, at once, and panted for breath. "Helloooo?", a rough voice reached my end. "Yes, who is this?", I asked, slowly. "Navya! You forgot me? I'm Chaturvedi Uncle", the man said, and I could automatically picture an old man with white hairs, because of the ugly voice. "Who? I'm sorry, I don't know you", I said back, scratching my head, as I tried to recall somebody named 'Chaturvedi'. Maybe, he was from my dad's side; I wasn't that close to my dad's side of the family, anyways. "Ah, you broke my heart! All the kids say this in our family. Why, why, why do you do this to me? When you were small, I used to bring cotton candy for you, do you remember?", he went on talking. "I must have been too small, I don't really remember, Uncle", I admitted, awkwardly. "Once, you also pooped on my white kurta", he laughed, embarrassing me to the core. "Oh, I'm sorry", I felt so uncomfortable talking to him. "Uncle, I'll talk to you later. I'm too busy right now. Okay? Bye", I said in one breath, and just when I was about the keep the call, I heard a familiar laugh.

"Hello?", I spoke up, again. "You're so stupid, ah", Darshan Raval hysterically laughed on the other end of the call, and I felt the urge of jumping off a balcony. "You're horrible!", I accused. "I cannot believe you did this. What's wrong with you? And I've told you not to call home, Darshan. I'm going to get into big trouble because of you", I scolded him. "You said I shouldn't call you in the morning, but you never said anything about calling at night...so, I thought it was okay", he said, casually. "Thank God, I answered the call. What if it was my dad?", I asked. "Then, I would have asked him for sex-advice", he answered back. "Gross!", I spat. "I was hundred percent sure, you'd answer. Your room lights were on", he said. "You're spying on me?", I asked him. "Kind of", he said and I smiled.

"What are you doing at 2 am?", he sounded curious. "I have my final exams next month, so I'm preparing for it", I told him. "Now itself?", he couldn't believe his ears. "I started late, actually. It was supposed to start 2 weeks ago, so I'm pretty much behind the schedule. I'm so stressed, I don't know how I'll finish everything", I voiced my concerns, only to get laughed at. "My preparations would start 3 days before the exam...and I still did pretty well. So, chill and take it easy. You're smart, anyways – you can do it. Just don't strain yourself too much", he advised and I listened on. "Trust me!", he explained. "Okay", I agreed and he laughed, again. "Why are you laughing now?", I furrowed my eyebrows. "You're just---", he paused. "---weird, right?", I sighed. I was too tired of listening to the same word, over and again. "But really nice, too!", he added on. "That's a nice way to cover up", I mocked him and he chuckled. "But honestly, you're not weird...you're just out-of-the-box. You're just different, Navya...and it's...it's nice", it took him a while to finish his sentence and I simply smiled.

"What were you doing?", I asked him, moments later. "Nothing...just...nothing. My parents are not at home, so I'm all alone with my dog, but it's sleeping", he informed. "No parties this weekend?", I prompted. "I don't party every weekend! I'm usually at home, with Timmy, and I---don't do anything", he confessed, and that honestly came to me as a shock. Darshan Raval does not party? I thought his entire life revolved around parties!

"Do you have any movie suggestions?", he asked me, out of nowhere. "Yes, but I'm not updated at all. All the movies I've watched are from the 90s", I revealed. "Mom and dad don't really watch movies, so the little movies I've watched were with my cousins", I didn't know why I revealed that. "Really? My family and I go to the theatre every other weekend!", he said. "You're so lucky! I've always wanted to watch a movie in the theatre", I added on. "Maybe, I could take you someday. We'll see", he told me, and I kept silent because that was never happening.

"Um, Darshan---", I started talking, but he cut me off. "---Darshan, I need to go because if my parents catch me, I'll be in big trouble, right?", he cued and I giggled. "Yes", I bit the corner of my lower lip. "I'll let you go only on one condition---", he took a pause for a breath. "And that is?", I asked. "Can I call you every Friday night, around this time?", he asked and although I didn't want to take the risk at all, I didn't want to say 'no'. I felt good talking to someone, who actually wanted to talk to me. "Okay. But I'll call you. Give me your number", I said back.

Once we exchanged numbers, I suddenly remembered about the milk on the stove. I darted towards the kitchen to find the stove flooded with milk. And at 2 am, I was forced to clean the kitchen, before I made myself another cup of coffee; a cup of coffee so warm, just like my heart that moment. 

[Hello! Do let me know how good/bad the chapter was in the comments below!].