Chapter 1 - The Moon That Followed
It was around nine in the evening. Chitra was travelling home on a crowded DTC bus, wrapped in the familiar chaos of a Delhi winter. The bus was packed, leaving barely any room to move. The cold breeze slipped through the windows, slowly numbing her senses.
With nowhere else to look, she turned towards the window.
Outside, the moon followed her.
At least, that was how it felt to Chitra. No matter how far the bus travelled, the moon seemed to stay with her, quietly accompanying her through the winter night. She drifted into her own little dreamland, away from the noise and exhaustion of the day.
Then her mobile phone lit up — 'Where are you?' — from an international number.
A smile crept across her face. He is waiting for me!
Parth. She had met him through some online friends after joining a new job. Back then, blogging was all the rage, and Parth was one of those people whose blog had caught her attention.
When the day of their meeting arrived, their other friends ditched them, leaving Chitra alone with an overexcited NRI named Parth.
Parth had only sixty rupees in his pocket, borrowed from his mother. And somehow, that was enough.
They roamed around Connaught Place for the entire day, talking about almost everything under the sun. From India Gate to CP inner circle, Delhi was their witness.
When Parth left India, the conversations did not end. If anything, they became longer.
But Chitra hadn't given their friendship a name. To her, he was still that overexcited NRI friend.
She had no idea how much space he would eventually occupy in her heart.
