In a rickshaw, on her way home, Maya finally checks her phone. 

With a tap, Instagram blinks awake. A gradient corona encircles Arjun's photo at the top. Another tap, and a radiant face shines—a glee that quickly passes onto her own.

A tap on the heart.

A tap on the status, and it directs her to the post.

In the first, he stands casually in a studio, one leg crossed over the other, both hands in his pockets.

The second is a short clip of him strumming a chord on his guitar.

In the third, he looks dashingly out of frame in front of a vanity van that boasts his name: Arjun Khanna.

The fourth is a mirror selfie in the same studio.

And in the fifth, a portrait shot—he stares straight into the camera holding the edges of his open jacket, drawing them together, striking a pose.

Maya taps on the heart.

She looks up from her phone and speaks quickly, 'Arey bhayya, left jana tha! Left-left!'

The rickshaw makes a sharp U-turn and takes the correct turn.

Her phone buzzes in her hand.

Thanks, it arrived today
Even though I'm away from the city
I can already sense a quiet surge of confidence
Like someone lingers just within reach
As if, if I were to stretch my fingers far enough
I'd touch them.

Pleasure is all mine...

And then for good measure,

😀 😀 😀

Bas? That's it?

What do you mean?
😀 😀 😀

😀 😀 😀

😀 😀 😀

Enough?

The rickshaw gives a sudden jerk as it hits a pothole. Maya feels the contents of her stomach shift as she holds the tote close and clenches her phone against her heart.

When she opens the chat box again, there is a text.

No, not that 🤣
Are you not going to talk?

What's there to talk?

I just borrowed my friend's guitar

Maya tries to type but deletes it all. The jerks and jolts make it impossible to type anything without relying on spell-check, which recently corrected her intended How is this related to How is this roller-skated?

And we have a cat named Tabitha
She's a tabby, you know
Tabby se Tabitha

With great difficulty, she sends:

What about it?

You know, she just gave birth to six kittens
Five are Tabby and one is Moggy

No,
I mean,
Why are you telling me that?

Oh, I thought,
you lacked topics to talk about
You asked, "What's there to talk?"
There is just so much

You're un-believabubble.

The rickshaw halts just outside the apartment complex, but Maya asks the driver to take it inside because of the vegetables she bought on her way to Saket.

Hauling the bags—completely unassuming—she unlocks the apartment door, slips off her shoes at the entrance, steps into her slippers, and walks inside, only to hear a girl's voice coming from Dhruv's room.

The door is ajar. Maya pushes it open wider.

Two faces turn to look at her, aghast and suddenly getting away from each other. Caught unawares, Maya shuts the door and rushes back out the way she came.

Feeling for the walls to make sure her feet lands on the floor one after the other, Maya somehow makes it to the landing of the stairs and then, clutching the railing, she lowers herself onto the step.

Seconds bleed into minutes, minutes stretch into an endless cycle of thoughts, until the phone pings in her hand.

🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣 🤣
You are cute!

4 Jan, 15:04

Vanish mode
Seen messages will disappear when you close the chat
Learn more

Hey, Maya

Hi

Do you like Arjun?

Arjun?
Arjun, who?

The actor
Arjun Khanna

What kinda small talk is that?
And why did you turn the vanish mode on?

You answer, na

He is cute

Just cute?

Not JUST cute
There must be more adjectives
But spare me right now
I'm pretty messed up

Why?

Maya types something but deletes it, and this time it is because of how the phone is shaking in her hands—or maybe, it's her hands that's shaking.

Did someone bother you?
Like, are you annoyed because of someone?
Did they cross their limit?
Or, like, did they do something you didn't like?

What are you on about?

Why are you "pretty messed up"?

Idk
Have you ever thought like someone
you love is using you,
manipulating you,
and knowing it very well,
you still believe them each time
because you want to?
Only for them to prove you right and then...
you feel like oh, I was right
But, there is nothing right about it
Idk what the apt word for that is
I think it's pretty messed up...
I'm sorry,
I shouldn't be talking to you about it

Please, don't be.
I don't have a PhD in emotions,
But I can understand the place this is coming from
It is messed up.
Take your time with it.
And because this person matters,
Don't do anything that eventually hurts them,
and therefore, you
All I know is, talking helps.
Confronting, not so much.

Now you're sounding your age...

Oh, am I?

Yes.
I thought you'd retort with
something like:
Now you're sounding human
or something

Oh
Yes 🤣 🤣

It's hard to skip punctuation
and add ellipses

I am sorry for making our chat box
a brain workout session 🤣 🤣
You can be however you want
No pressure from now on!

*****

A/N

Thank you for giving this story a chance!
If you're enjoying the ride, don't forget to vote, comment, and share.

XOXO
Shailey