chapter 47
Chapter 47 - The Chair Across From Him
The restaurant was busy.
Conversations blended together.
Plates clinked softly.
Waiters moved between tables carrying trays and polite smiles.
Aarav sat alone near the window.
A late dinner after another exhausting day.
Nothing unusual.
At least that was what he thought.
The waiter approached with a menu.
"Just one, sir?"
Aarav nodded.
The waiter handed him a single menu and left.
Simple.
Ordinary.
Yet something about the question lingered unexpectedly.
Just one.
His gaze drifted toward the empty chair across from him.
And suddenly a memory surfaced.
A year ago.
Same restaurant.
Same table.
Kavya sitting opposite him.
Smiling softly while reading the menu.
Not because she couldn't decide.
Because she always liked hearing his recommendation first.
"What are you getting?" she had asked.
Without looking up from his phone, he replied,
"Anything. It doesn't matter."
She had gone quiet.
Then ordered for herself.
At the time, he hadn't noticed the disappointment.
Now he remembered it clearly.
Not because she wanted him to choose her meal.
Because she had been trying to have a conversation.
Trying to share something as simple as dinner.
And he had shut the door without even realizing it.
Aarav looked away.
His throat felt strangely tight.
The waiter returned a few minutes later.
"Ready to order, sir?"
Aarav opened the menu.
Then paused.
For a second, he remembered another habit.
Kavya always ordered dessert.
Always.
No matter how small the meal.
Chocolate cake.
Tiramisu.
Ice cream.
Anything sweet.
He used to tease her for it.
"You're not a child."
She would laugh quietly.
"Dessert makes dinner feel complete."
At the time, he rolled his eyes.
Now the memory only made his chest ache.
The waiter waited patiently.
Aarav glanced at the dessert section.
Then closed the menu.
"I'll have the chocolate cake too."
The waiter nodded and left.
Silence returned.
Aarav stared at the chair across from him again.
Months ago, he would have enjoyed the quiet.
Now it felt unbearable.
Because he was beginning to understand something he had ignored for years.
Kavya had never wanted expensive gifts.
Never demanded grand gestures.
Never asked him to rearrange his entire life.
She had only wanted him to be there.
At dinner.
During conversations.
Inside the ordinary moments most people barely remembered.
And he had spent years acting as though those moments didn't matter.
The food arrived.
He ate mechanically.
Hardly tasting any of it.
When dessert came, he looked at it for several seconds before taking a bite.
Sweet.
Simple.
Exactly the kind she liked.
For some reason, that made it harder to swallow.
His gaze drifted once more toward the empty chair.
Still empty.
Still untouched.
And for the first time-
Aarav realized that regret wasn't made from one terrible mistake.
It was built from hundreds of ordinary moments he had wasted without noticing.
One unanswered question.
One ignored conversation.
One empty chair at a time.......
[Author's note _ sorry guys i really have been stuck with work this days but now i am free and i already posted 3 chapters today. go and have a fun read...bye ??]