Sweetheart under the moonlight

Love remains

~Maithili~

I finally met Viraj! After three whole years! I found my friend back. There was a probability that he might be upset with me, but no, he looked so normal. Maybe he missed me as much as I did. No. I was certain that he had missed me more than I could ever do.

But I know I had disappointed him. Our first meeting after all the years was strange. And most importantly, I was with Laksh. I didn't know if Viraj was dating someone, but he once said he loved me. It would have definitely hurt him a little to see me with someone else. I hated myself once again. But I couldn't just wait for him to come back in my life. As I've always said, life goes on and we have to adjust to the changing circumstances. So did I. I moved ahead in life and found the person I loved. Viraj, to me, was still my friend. Still a close friend.

I was so excited to cook dinner because Viraj was coming over. I prepared the things I could recall that he loved. He loved aloo parantha. And I prepared it for him with my own hands. I made sure the apartment looked nice and the aura remain comfortable and pleasant. After all, though the apartment wasn't my home and I was living there with Laksh only for a week, I had to make Viraj feel at home. 

It was around 9 p.m. when I heard a knock on the door. Laksh was in another room, completing some of his official work. I was in the hall so I rushed to open the door. There Viraj was. He was wearing a black shirt and grey formal pants. And truth be told, I was too stunned to even speak after looking at him. He looked just perfect. Too perfect. He had folded the sleeves of his shirt, and it felt like the cherry on top. He had shaved his beard neatly and looked like an absolute gentleman. I was so lost in looking at him that I didn't even realize that I had forgot to welcome him. 

It was at the moment when he just smiled and looked away that I came back to my senses. I still hoped that I didn't make it too obvious that I was too involved in admiring the way he looked. But the truth was that he had noticed. And that made him blush a little. Finally, I welcomed him and asked him to come and sit inside.

~Viraj~

The apartment where Maithili was living for the time being looked as cozy and comfortable as her. She had arranged everything too beautifully. It made me wonder how beautiful our house would have been if Maithili and I were together. She could have decorated it with all the little things that looks pretty. It wouldn't look as dull as it looked. Maithili would have painted my life with all the vibrant colors. But now, those colors were for someone else.

After complimenting Maithili for her efforts, I made myself comfortable on one of the sofas. Then, I saw Laksh rushing out of the room where he was working. "Where are you going Laksh? In such a hurry? At least greet Viraj na", I heard Maithili say. " Maithili, I'm so sorry, there's some urgent work and I'll have to attend to it. By the way, hi Viraj! I'm so sorry buddy I'll have to leave, but make sure that you have a good time here" Laksh replied. He was keeping some things in his pocket and was getting ready to leave. Well, I wanted him to leave anyway. I didn't want anyone between me and Maithili.

We didn't talk much after Laksh left. There was nothing much to talk about. After all, what do we even talk about with people whom we meet after years? All the stories that we desperately wanted to tell them initially seem insignificant. Talking about the things that somehow hurt the other person seems irrelevant. And all the grudges and complaints disappear. It feels like a new beginning with that person but with lots of old memories.

Maithili headed towards the dining table while I simply followed her. And the dinner amazed me too. She had made aloo parantha, my favourite. It all made me feel so overwhelmed with joy. "Thank you Maithili for all this", I said. "Viraj, you don't need to say thank you for these little things yaar", she replied. Everything between us seemed casual. We didn't bring up anything regarding our past. It felt like a new beginning altogether. But my heart wasn't content with it.

"Viraj, let's go to the terrace for sometime", Maithili said after we were done eating. I agreed and we headed towards the terrace. When we reached there, the moon was shining brightly. And once again, under the moonlight, I saw Maithili's face. God! She looked prettier that the moon itself. I looked at her and got lost in the beauty she was. Her jhumkas were dangling from her ears and somehow it got intertwined with her hair. She was struggling to carefully remove it. And then, she looked at me with those bright eyes filled with kohl. "Viraj, help me out na", she said while I was still admiring her. 

After all the three years, I was, for the first time, standing too close to Maithili. My hands reached towards her neck and I gently put her hair behind her ears. The jhumka was still stuck so I leaned a little so see properly how to get it out. At that moment, the distance between us had almost vanished. Our faces were close to each other. She looked at me at the same time when I looked into her eyes. My hands were still working on untangling the jhumka but my eyes were lost in hers. 

"Didn't you miss me, Viraj?", she finally whispered.

"Each day, each day without you felt like death. I was just breathing in a hope that maybe... maybe someday we'd run into each other... Each day in these three years passed only with a wish to die without you while still hoping to meet you", I replied. I couldn't hold it all in my heart anymore.

Her eyes were filled with tears. It took me just a few moments to finally free her jhumka from her hair and then, my hands cupped her face. I gently wiped the tears that were flowing from her eyes. "Maithili, your tears kill me". She held my hand and said, "Viraj, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything....", while breaking our eye contact. She was hesitantly looking down, as if she was really guilty of all that happened. "Maithili, look at me", I said while looking into her eyes. She looked at me and I felt that all the sadness and emptiness from my life had just vanished.

It was a perfect moment. There was the sky, the moon, and us. And it made me realize that my heart still longed for her, that I still loved her as much as a human heart can love. We were lost in each other's eyes, with our eyes telling all the stories that our mouths couldn't. And then, we closed our eyes, simply feeling the moment and living in it. I could feel her breath. I could listen to her heartbeat. And suddenly...