Chapter: Nine    

The Janatha Cycle Store was the perfect little cycle store one could think of. With the friendly staff, the brightly lit up store and clear weather, it was supposed to be a fun expedition for Kirti but alas, she felt like she had drowned into an ocean of worries and terror. Her eyes kept darting from one place to the other, scanning the surroundings for any suspicious occurrences. Her fingers kept twitching involuntarily in case she had to jump into action while she kept on wiping the sweat off her forehead.

If it were in her hands, she'd have stayed locked up in the girl's room the entire day after that unexpected encounter with that guy at the Kaappi Café but the way Abhi had shown his excitement towards the prospect of accompanying Kirti to the stores to go for Cycle hunting, she just couldn't refuse. Kirti promised to herself that she'd just go and buy a cycle in the very first store. She was in no mood to risk her and Abhi's lives.

Kirti wondered if she should talk to Sekhar about it. Would it be right to inform him about the guy? She was sure that Sekhar would send off Kirti to some other state and start hunting for that guy and apparently, her heart seemed to have finally found a home. Her heart had finally found friends and she didn't want to leave them just yet. Yes, she agreed that she was being selfish but she couldn't help it. Besides, the guy didn't seem to have recognised Kirti anyway and that was the only factor which brought some ease to her.

Kirti was pulled back on Earth, out of her contrasting thoughts, by a hand which dragged her by her arm. Abhi pulled Kirti aside into a desolate alley of the store, cycles standing on either side over the racks, creating a barrier and covering them out from the store staff and customers. Abhi let go of her arm and sighed, looking at her with his hazel brown eyes and a frown evident on his face. Kirti pulled on a neutral expression, looking away from Abhi and focusing her eyes over the cycles behind him.

"What's wrong, Kirti?" Abhimanyu asked, looking down at her.

Everything; Kirti wanted to answer.

"Nothing's wrong," Kirti answered instead, shrugging her shoulder, trying to act usual.

Abhi sighed. "Fine, its okay if you don't wanna tell me,"

Kirti felt a stab over her chest when he looked at her with his concerned eyes. She looked away, determined to not open her mouth. She could not let mere emotions weaken her resolve. She had risked Shruti's life already by sharing so much; she couldn't take any more chances.

"Come on," Abhimanyu broke the silence, "You'll get some cool rides over that row,"

"Abhi," Kirti mumbled as she lightly held his forearm, stopping him from walking off. He turned to look at her and hummed in response. His brows furrowed when her realized how grim and wretched she looked.

"I'm sorry but... I don't think the circumstances permit me to confide in you..." Kirti mumbled, gulping down the lump forming in her throat.

"Hey," Abhi spoke in a soft, comforting tone, "I understand. You don't have to answer every question. Besides, we barely know one another and it's only natural that you're hesitant,"

Kirti kept looking at Abhi who was looking down at her with a smile. Smiling back, she felt better than before. The guilt of lying to him had suddenly vanished after Abhi's soothing words. She was internally thankful to him for that.

***

"You're doing just fine!" Abhi encouraged as Kirti pedalled nervously.

She did know how to ride a cycle but it had been years since she rode one and she was unsure how it'd turn out. Luckily, she managed fine as they navigated through the evening streets. Kirti took a contented breath when the winds blew over her face, ruffling her hair lightly as she pedalled on. Her ears accustomed to the rhythmic sound of the chain running speedily while she steered through the crowds and vehicles.

While Kirti was a silent rider, Abhi couldn't help himself from ringing the bell every few minutes. He'd even ring the bell at the sight of a free, desolate road. Kirti realized soon enough that Abhi didn't ring the bell to announce his presence on the road; he simply did it when he was happy with the ride. Abhi too subconsciously comprehended that the past few days he had been happy for no particular reason. Was it because of Kirti? He couldn't tell.

Kirti frowned when Abhi took a sharp left turn, out of track. Their house was straight ahead which left Kirti confused. Nevertheless, she turned to the left as well; following Abhi's cycle. A few minutes into the ride, Abhi slowed down and halted the bike next to a little shack with benches laid out in rows where people sat and talked, sipping over their cups of tea. Kirti stopped her cycle next to Abhi's and looked at the little shop. It was an old little tea stall with loads of customers.

Unlike the Kaappi café, this little stall was worn out with creaky benches and dusty roofs. However, it possessed a certain cosiness and comfort to it. Abhi parked his bicycle and waited for Kirti who followed the same and stood by his side.

"Why are we here?" Kirti asked.

"Wanted to grab a quick cup of tea," Abhimanyu shrugged.

"Then why did I come here?" Kirti voiced out her thought. She could've pedalled off to the apartment anyway.

"You tell me," Abhi spoke, grinning sheepishly, "I hadn't asked you to join me; you came willingly,"

Kirti did open her mouth to argue back but closed it back silently, feeling at a loss of words to debate him out. Abhi raised an eyebrow in amusement and motioned to the benches while Kirti followed with a small smile playing on her lips. They settled down facing one another on a bench at the far corner and a little boy reached Abhi hurriedly, a smile playing on his lips.

"Abhi dada!" The kid, about ten years old, called as he faced Abhi with a toothy grin.

"How are you Om?" Abhi asked, ruffling the boy's hair.

"I'm all good!" The boy answered, "How have you been?"

Abhi grinned visibly. "You learnt how to address correctly!"

Abhi raised a hand in the air and Om high-fived him merrily.

"Go and tell the waiter to get us two cups of special masala chai," Abhi told Om who nodded and left with quick steps to the counters.

"Om is the tea stall owner's son," Abhi explained to Kirti, "I tutor a few kids around here and he's one of them. I had been trying to teach them how to greet people and seems like he's a quick learner,"

"That's sweet of you," Kirti appreciated, making Abhi smile and shrug shyly.

Kirti realized that Abhimanyu might be a nuisance, might cause havoc for some fun and might be a bit annoying to his friends, but once you got to know him better, he was a good person from the inside. He was the type who if once considered you as a friend, would never leave your side.

"So where are you from?" Kirti asked, because Abhi's personality didn't have that Kerala vibe the way Shruti and Paras did. Abhi's way of talking, his manner wasn't similar to the locals so it was more or less enough a testimony to her assumption.

"Originally from Goa," Abhi explained, "Shifted to Alleppey about four years back,"

Kirti nodded. "So you know how to surf, right?"

Abhi laughed and his shoulders shook lightly as he looked at her, shaking his head. Kirti frowned at his reaction. His laugh was a sweet one and made Kirti smile back confusedly.

"Being a guy from a coastal area doesn't mean I'm a good surfer," Abhi cleared off, "Besides, I don't even know how to swim,"

"You can't be serious," Kirti said.

"I am!" Abhi said, "Throw me into the Alleppey waters, I'll resemble a drowning stone,"

Om came up to their table and placed two cups of steaming hot masala tea with three idlis on a little plate. Abhi smiled and thanked Om while patting his back. Om replied a 'welcome' in perfect English and Abhi grinned at his little achievements. The kid then skipped over to the counters merrily.

"So how come you shifted to Alleppey?" Kirti asked Abhi as she blew over her cup of tea to try and cool it.

Abhi's smile faltered a little as he averted his eyes down to the snacks on the plate. Kirti realized that she, though unknowingly, had chosen the wrong topic to converse about. She immediately felt like the topic needed to be dodged now.

"How many kids do you teach in total?" Kirti spoke, glancing out at Om who was now playing with two empty glass cups.

"My parents passed away when I was thirteen," Abhi opened up making Kirti look at him, "It was a car accident. Dad died on the spot while Mom passed away in the ambulance which was commuting her to the hospital,"

Kirti kept quiet, out of words.

"I spent about four months all alone at our house in Goa with just the house maid who was a loyal woman. She no longer received a pay but stayed back with me only because she thought that I was too small to be left all alone," Abhi muttered, "No relative of mine came up to support my divested, afraid self and... I used to miss my parents really bad,"

Kirti frowned mutely, feeling helpless as she watched Abhi turn dejected.

"That's when Sekhar came into the picture," He explained, "Sekhar was really mad at every single person who used to show as if they 'cared' for me. When the actual time came to help me up, nobody took any initiative. He spent the next few days with me at our house in Goa and after about a week we moved out of the Goa Duplex and shifted to Alleppey,"

Kirti had never really tried to comfort people because she never got to face such situations. Now that there was a guy in front of her who looked wretched up she didn't exactly know what to say. Reaching out, she placed a hand over Abhi's as a silent support. She felt that actions would work better than words.

"Sometimes I miss my life in Goa," Abhi admitted, looking out at the streets where cars and bikes drove past them busily.

"I'm sorry," Kirti mumbled.

Abhi smiled a small smile and averted his eyes down to her palm which was resting over the back of his hand. Flipping his hand over, he entwined his fingers with hers.

"It wasn't your fault that you're apologising,"

"But I initiated this conversation," Kirti reasoned, shrugging. A weird feeling encountered her when Abhi gently traced his finger over her hand while he thought over what she said.

"You didn't know, so it doesn't really matter," Abhi waved off.

Their masala chai and idlis had turned cold. Neither of them had touched it yet. Both felt their appetite to have vanished into thin air. Abhi rubbed a stray tear and sniffled lightly once after which he let go of Kirti's hand and forced a smile on his face. Turning, he gestured for the waiter to clear the table and paid for the food despite Kirti's protests.

They silently mounted their respective bikes.

"Oh, and Kirti," Abhi called to her.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Please don't talk about this with any of our friends," Abhi requested her with genuine hazel eyes, "None of them know about my messed up past,"

Kirti felt a lump in her throat as guilt swallowed her up. She had lied to Abhi right from the very start without a second thought and here he was, confiding in her about his past. Abhi trusted her and it scared Kirti to no ends. She wasn't meant to be trusted upon, to be believed upon or to look up to in times of need. After all, she couldn't make any promises.

Nodding, she looked away, burying the thoughts deep down.    

Author's Note:-   

Hola peeps! So here was the ninth chapter of We Never Knew!!

I seriously can't believe the amount of love it's received in just eight chapters up till now!! I mean WOW!! Thanks to you that I'm here writing this book <3

See y'all at the next update! *Waves a goodbye*