chapter 52
Chapter 56 - The Coffee Shop
Three days passed.
Then five.
Then seven.
Aarav kept his promise.
No calls.
No unexpected visits.
No messages asking for answers she wasn't ready to give.
Every morning he reached for his phone.
Every morning he stopped himself.
It was harder than he expected.
Much harder.
Because now that he finally understood what she meant to him, every instinct screamed at him to do something.
Anything.
But he remembered the look in her eyes that night.
The exhaustion.
The uncertainty.
So he waited.
---
On the eighth day, Aarav left work early.
Not intentionally.
A meeting had been canceled.
Another postponed.
For once, there was nowhere he needed to be.
The realization felt strange.
He found himself driving without much thought.
Only noticing where he was when he stopped at a red light.
A familiar street.
A familiar neighborhood.
His grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel.
Kavya's neighborhood.
Aarav almost turned around.
Almost.
Then he saw the small coffee shop on the corner.
The one she used to mention.
The one he never visited because he was always "too busy."
The memory made him wince.
After a moment, he parked.
He don't know why he did it.
Maybe being impulsive
His heart shrank when he move out his car.
When you start listening to your heart, the other senses become dull, and you end up doing that doesn't even make any sense.
---
The bell above the door chimed softly.
Warm air greeted him.
The smell of coffee and pastries filled the room.
The place was cozy.
Quiet.
Nothing like the expensive restaurants he usually frequented.
Aarav glanced around.
And froze.
Kavya was there.
His heart stopped.
Actually stopped.
She sat near the window.
A book open in front of her.
A cup of coffee beside her.
Sunlight touched her hair softly.
She looked...
Peaceful.
For a moment, Aarav simply stared.
Not because she was beautiful.
Though she was.
Because she looked different.
Lighter.
The constant sadness he had grown used to seeing wasn't there.
Something in his chest tightened painfully.
Because he realized she hadn't become happier after leaving him.
She had become calmer.
There was a difference.
And that difference hurt.
---
Kavya looked up.
Their eyes met.
Surprise flashed across her face.
Then caution.
Aarav immediately stepped back.
Instinctively.
As though afraid she would think he had followed her.
"Kavya."
His voice was quiet.
She closed her book slowly.
"Aarav."
An awkward silence followed.
The kind that had never existed between them before.
Not because they had been close.
Because they had once been familiar.
Now they were learning each other all over again.
Aarav gestured toward the empty space beside the entrance.
"I am sorry, I...I just didn't knew you were here."
He knew.
He don't know but his heart told him.
"Sorry"
His face showing his guilt clearly and the vulnerable look that he showed to no one.
Actually he was so happy to see her and guilty at the same time.
Again the apology.
It startled her.
In the past, he never apologise. Not even in her dream.
He never care about her feelings.
Now he is apologizing again .
Kavya studied him for a moment.
Then shook her head.
"It's okay."
How could he knew that she is here. And why is he apologizing?
It feel like the table has turned.
She used to apologize again and again whether it was her mistake or not.
She remembered almost a year after there wedding.
She was stuck in a terrible traffic for two hours.
She was out to take some groceries.
but thank to her bad luck that day.
on the middle of road her car stop working.
It was raining hard on top of that
She call the agency for repair but it will take at least an hour.
She call Aarav few times.
No answer.
No cabs available.
No signs of rain stopping.
She walk in that that heavy rain alone for about half an hour with groceries in her hand.
When she reach home, she was completely drenched.
She was shivering with cold.
She press the doorbell.
Few minutes later he arrived.
He look at her up and down with impatience.
"Why are so late?" he ask coldly.
He didn't ask why she is drench in water.
Why she is shivering.
Why she is looking so unwell.
She slowly open her mouth to explain.
" I...I was stuck in traffic and.."
He didn't let her finish, turn back to his study and continue with the same cold voice and impatience.
" I am starving, hurry up and Make something"
He pause and and glance at her again.
"wash up first, its really disgusting. Don't show up late in front of me like this again."
Kavya felt like her heart being peirce with needles with each word come out of his mouth.
She bite the tip of her tongue until she could smell the faint smell of blood in her mouth.
"I am sorry, it would not happen again."
Her head was bowed down all this time, when he left she couldn't hold herself anymore.
A tear drop from her eyes.
___
She washed up with warm water and made the dinner to his taste.
Before sleep she gulp down some fever and cold pills.
The thermometer showing the high temperature she was having.
____ in the cafe___
A few minutes later, Aarav sat across from her.
Not too close.
Not too comfortable.
Careful.
Everything about him seemed careful lately.
The waitress approached.
"What would you like?"
Aarav opened the menu.
Then paused.
The waitress smiled.
"Our caramel latte is the most popular."
Kavya look at Aarav, and smile.
The smile that disappear instantly.
Because she knew exactly what was coming.
Aarav hated sweet coffee.
Always had.
He preferred bitter black coffee.
Without hesitation, he ordered.
"Black coffee."
With this the tense atmosphere relax a bit.
The black coffee arrived, he took a sip of it.
He was about to say something to make the atmosphere even calmer, when he heard kavya.
"Aarav"
"Um" he nodded.
"You should move on."