Chapter 1
It was early May, summer at its peak. The Patiala railway station platform number 5 as always busy. The platform speaker announces that the train coming from Delhi is delayed to reach it's station by 15 minutes.
"I just have to pick her up, I've been past this long ago" thought Arohan Mehta..
'What a lie'
The train from Delhi comes to a halt at the platform. Passengers streaming out of the doors as the concept of queues isn't popular yet in the busy city of Patiala. Amongst the aged uncles with turbans and long beards and aunties with braid length reaching to their hips and below, comes out Arohi.
Arohi Sinha
She has grown into a tall confident woman with relaxed shoulders as if she belonged here even after all those years. The casual blazer along shades on the top of her head made her visible as if she already wasn't standing out.
Arohan doesn't budge from his place, waited for Arohi to notice him, and she did. Arohan saw her eyes light up and crinkling in the corner as he saw her smile as she approached him.
"Thankyou for picking me up, the train was delayed, you must have waited too long here right?" She says putting her suitcases down
"Maa wanted me to drop you, she heard you were coming alone a week before your parents, so she insisted to help"
Arohan said his words coming more aloof than he probably intended ... his glance shifting back to his phone checking the time then back at the station's entrance.
He picks up her suitcase and puts it down efficiently on the back of his father's black Sedan and gets behind the steering, not bothering to start a conversation, as if he was just picking up another guest from the station.
Arohi took her seat beside him. As they drove through the lanes and streets of Patiala, she looked out of the window, 7 years changed a lot and changed nothing at the same time it felt. She takes a glance back again at Arohan and finally took a deep breath of the town she once called home.
Arohan Mehta looked every bit of his linkedin profile. He was now a grown up man graduated from IIT Roorkee, owning a penthouse in Delhi working on his own startup which she stalked last night on her second AC railway bed, which she swore was a diplomat's habit.
His hold on the steering was firm, not a single silhouette in his black shirt, his eyes was fixed firm on the road, not sparing her a single look.
Who would've guessed this man was once her lover boy
8 years back~
Arohi after finishing her 10th boards was moving with her parents to Patiala, in a similar car ride which drove through the similar lanes of the city. Shifting from one city to another leaving all her friends behind wasn't new for her as both her parents were civil servants and it was a part of their job and her life.
Patiala wasn't going to be any different she felt
The car stops near a house which was yet to become a home. She moves out of the vehicle and starts helping her parents with moving the boxes of their belongings into their new house.
Shifting will atleast take a couple of days she heard her parents talking from another room as she entered the room which was supposed to be hers for the upcoming next year, the deep pink walls.. wide open wooden window.. which was letting the last bit of the sunrays enter her room before it finally set down for the day.
She gets outside to pick up more boxes, that's when she felt someone was staring at her. She looked up to notice a young boy about her age who had absolutely freezed staring at her, holding a cricket bat in one hand smitten written all over his face. She frowned yet smiled back her way inside the house
Later at evening she hears her mother calling out to her. "Arohi get ready, the Mehtas.. our neighbours called us for dinner tonight"
Moreover, she could hear her mother praising the Mehtas as they were being so helpful during their shifting offering to have meals together till they've completely shifted.
She and her parents were welcomed warmly by Kiran and Rajinder Mehta. Kiran warmly pulls Arohi in a hug smiling at her like Arohi was the daughter she never had.. which confused the younger girl. She introduced the Sinhas to her family. Kiran was herself a economic professor, Rajinder Mehta a defense doctor.
It already screamed loud enough that discipline runs coarse in the blood stream of this household. She turns sharply to introduce her sons.
Apparently the Mehtas were well respected people. But their popularity was because of the town's golden trio of the Mehta Brothers.
She looked at the three young guys standing at the corner side of the staircase.
While Arohi took in the warm greetings and butter rotis in her plate, she noticed that the mysterious creep who introduced himself as Arohan Mehta couldn't keep his eyes to himself.
Later on, when she joined the same school as her neighbours she got to realise that the Mehta brothers were more than the bunch of goofy teenagers she thought they were.
Aksh Mehta, the head boy currently in 12th grade.. the eldest Mehta, was known for taking charge, responsibilities and making the teacher's life easier a bit. The youngest Arav.. 8th grade, he simply didn't believe in rules and they probably didn't apply to him, one could've sworn he'd have been the teacher's target if he wasn't exceptionally good at studies.
Then comes the mysterious creep or so she thought.. Arohan Mehta. He acted like he was the best and he was.. being it academics or sports. He was the school cricket team's captain.. the star athlete. Except he knew how good it was.. which also made him insufferable at times.
It was a bit hard for her to believe this atleast for the first week, specially after noticing how he acted or behaved the first day she saw him.
.
.
.
The car comes to a rest when her trail of thoughts break and she realised that they've already reached
"We're here take your luggage so I can leave" Arohan said in a clipped tone already turning back to leave
"Aru.. thanks for picking me up" she smiled taking a chance as if she was testing the waters on him
"I already said my mother wanted me to pick you up from the station and secondly.. don't call me that" the frown on his face turning sharper as he said it over his shoulder and walked back to his house
