Hello Everyone.
Chapter 25
If I had only known.
Karthik’s POV.
I find us packing our stuff as soon as we get to the hotel. The adrenaline is getting to us. We are finally getting somewhere. Though the thought of Virat’s crippled sister saddens us. But at least we have a name.
Virat Kohli.
That’s a start. I am sure we will be at Anushka’s doorstep soon.
“Are we leaving already ?!!” I ask.
“It’s a nice city. Can we rest a while ?!! Have a few walks along the city lanes ?!! Nice dinner ?!!” I ask.
“Karthik.” Naira says and throws my bag to me.
“What ?!!” I ask.
“Alia. It must have been weeks since her brother hasn’t met her. What if Virat’s parents didn’t let Alia know ?!! What if they never tell her that Virat is never coming back ?!!” she says with concern.
“I was just kidding. I wanted to see how kicked you were.” I state honestly.
From what I inferred from the diary Virat’s parents had never bothered to contact Alia after they sent her away.
It’s a little strange to take his name over and over again. Virat. Earlier, it was just the dead guy. But now, he has a name and a personality to go with it. It makes me feel even closer to him. It’s like I know him now, like he’s a friend, a friend I am responsible for, a friend who died an unfortunate death, leaving behind his story in a diary.
Fifteen minutes later, we are already in the car.
We both buy ‘I Love Madhya Pradesh’ T-shirts, for a hundred bucks each, as we leave the city and throw our old ones (We Love Haridwar) in the dustbin. She ties the T-shirt a little above her navel and we continue our journey on the open, dusty roads again.
It’s a fifteen-hour journey and I check our supplies — mineral water, packed food, chips, knives,etc… Life seems crazy now. Come to think of it, only a week back we were a boring couple who used to sit at home, watch television and order pizzas. And this morning, we didn’t even think of taking a shower together. I don’t know how that’s a good sign in a relationship, but that’s what’s happening.
And I have come to love it.
While I drive, Naira fiddles with the diary and reads parts of it again and again.
“He was a sweet guy.” she says and looks into the distance.
“Hmmm.” I reply.
“It’s so nice, right, Karthik ?!! He doesn’t even think twice before agreeing to go to Bangalore for Anushka.” Naira says.
“Yes.” I reply shortly.
“Neither did he react when Anushka told him everything. She had an abortion at sixteen, and Virat could only say how brave she had been ?!! This is true love.” she says.
“Yes, I’m sure it is.” I say.
“You don’t find guys like that any more.” she says.
“What ?!! I would have done the same for you.” I protest.
“You wouldn’t have.” She challenges me
“I would have.” I say.
“You told me that you had kissed many guys before me. I never reacted to that.” I say.
“Because you knew I was never in my senses when I used to do it. You can’t call them kisses.” she says while referring to the times she used to kiss random guys at parties under the influence of drugs.
“Whatever.” I say and shrug off the topic.
Naira removes her I – Pod from the bag and plays a song on the loudspeaker mode. Its one of our all time favorite song.
If I’d only known,
That this is the last time we’ve met,
I would have stopped the break of dawn,
And stopped the sun to set.
If I’d only known,
That I wouldn’t ever see you again,
I would have framed a picture of you within,
To end my suffering, to end my pain.
If I’d only known,
That this is the last time I sit by your side,
I would have told you how much I loved you,
Keeping other things aside.
If I’d only known,
That we would never hold hands again,
I would have held them strong,
And never let anything go wrong.
If I’d only known,
That you would always stand by my side,
I would have fought the world for you,
Breaking all the walls through.
If I’d only known,
That your love was true,
If I’d only known that you would come back soon,
I would have waited for you to come by.
If I’d only known any of this,
That you were what I was breathing for,
I would have breathed my last for you,
Seen you enough and bid you adieu.
While all I can do now,
Is sit here and wait.
As the song ends, I look at Naira and have nothing to say.
Virat was a better person than I will ever be. He had accepted Anushka just the way she was.
Well, I have my flaws. No one’s perfect, after all. Except Naira, of course. She is flawlessly divine.
“I love you.” I say.
“I know you do.” she says and smiles at me.
Ever since that blast, I have never missed a chance to say that to Naira. Who knows what will happen the next moment ?!! And I love you needs to be one of the last words that I say to Naira.
So I have made it a point to tell her that whenever I get a chance, just to be sure. The drive is long and tiring. The first nine hours are still okay. We take shifts and drive, but after that, we are exhausted.
It’s a tough job driving Naksh’s car. But we are lucky it hasn’t broken down yet. We park it and move into a hotel, at two in the night. I see the bed and all I can think of is sleep. I
crash, arms and legs wide open.
Suddenly, it seems like we’ve been doing this forever-driving through empty, unchartered roads, falling in love with each other all over again, staying in dirty hotels and meeting new people — it’s like a new lease of life for us. I am beginning to love this. It’s addictive and it’s fun. It will be tough to get back to our routine lives after this ends.
But today, I am just f**king tired. While I look like a roadside laborer, Naira still manages to look smashing. I don’t have the energy to change, so I go to sleep like that.
A little later, I sniff something fabulous — Naira. She snuggles up next to me inside the blanket. She has taken a shower and smells fantastically fruity.
She turns towards me, kisses me on my nose and whispers, “I love you.”
“I love you more.” I reply.
She smiles, snuggles closer and I put my hands around her.
“I love you so much.” She says.
“I love you so much more.” I reply.
“I love you so freaking much.” She says again.
“I love you so freaking much more.” I reply again.
Yes, we are silly and we like saying these things to each other. We are in love and we are allowed to be like that. People who are not in love can just be jealous and say things like, ‘They are so creepy !!’ or ‘So cheesy’.
But I don’t give a shit. It’s not my fault that you don’t have a super pretty girl as your girlfriend.
But I do, and I will dance naked in a dress made out of leaves and shout that I love her, if it makes her happy.
Slowly, we drift off to sleep.
Precap : Police !! Guess who’s back ?!!
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Ohkay, so first of all sorry. I know I was supposed to update this last night but there was a power cut off in my colony and even our inverter had died off. Neither my phone nor my laptop were sufficiently charged. So I couldn’t update it yesterday.
Also it’s the 25th chapter. Wasn’t it like 2 days ago that I was celebrating the 20th chapter ?!!! Hahaha, seems like my writing and updating speed has increased.
Ps : As I wrote the last sentence I did imagine Karthik dancing naked in a dress made out of leaves and shouting ‘I love you Naira’. I hope you do too, cause that’s one funny image in your head.
Do comment. Keep smiling. Keep watching Yrkkh !!