"Get me some good fabric, here's the money" Jessica pressed some hundred rupee bills into Rhea's palms and closed them tightly.
"Wait, I?" Rhea said, "We're not gonna, you know, accompany you?"
"I'll see you in the evening at this place, be here at five. You have five hours,"

"But can I roam around the market alone?" Rhea asked.
"Ember will be with you, what do you mean "alone"?" Raj said.
Rhea turned and looked at Ember. He was looking around, fascinated by all the colour and the crowd. Everyone was staring at him, his golden mane and blue eyes.

"He's attracting a lot of attention. I don't want to go with him," Rhea turned back only to find that Jessica and Raj were gone, mingled in the crowd. 
"SERIOSULY?! YOU'RE AN ADULT! BE A BIT RESPONSIBLE!" Rhea shouted. Ember looked at her.
"Where's Jessica?" He asked.
"She ditched us,"

"So, are we gonna spend the rest of the day together?" Ember smiled.
"We need to buy her some fabric" Rhea informed him. He seemed excited.
"Then, let's get right into it! I saw something awesome in that shop!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her into the crowd. And from there, the magic begun.

Vibrant colours covered every corner of the street, the sun shone overhead and people passed through them. The fabric around ranged from five hundred rupees per meter to fifty thousand rupees. The Banaras Silk Beige Silk Brocade, Patola weave on pure cotton, fabric beautified with Ajrakh block printing, Batiks dominating the floral fabrics.

Certain craftsmen took portions of fabric tied around a pebble and then dipped it into a dye. Unwinding which when dry revealed its beautiful patterns, making the Bandhani fabric. Some other craftsmen were drawing Kalamakari on fabrics, the motifs depicted stories and characters from Indian mythology and culture, as well as floral and animal prints. The colour, the energy, the people, everything was so overwhelming. 

They ran from shop to shop, feeling the fabrics, the hues in the air like all the colours of Holi were solidified into a free spirit which took the form of a fabric, waving like American flags in the warm breeze of May. Ember recorded the bedlam of shouts around with his phone and finally turned the camera towards Rhea who was eating a strawberry and chocolate flavored ice treat. He put the phone away and looked at her.

"What? I was hungry," She said.
He smiled while looking at her.
"I want to eat that too,"
"Follow me then!"

She took him to a street vendor and he decided to take a mango and blue raspberry flavored ice treat. She looked at his yellow and blue coloured ice treat, "Looks like you," She laughed.
"How?" He looked at it.
"Yellow, white, blue," She said, "Oh wait, have you ever eaten a Mango mess?"
"I'm afraid I haven't even heard of that,"

"Come with me," She walked into a sweet shop while feeding on the cold treat. Ember mimicked her eating style. She got him a Mango mess with was quite literally a Mango pudding. He took a spoonful of it and pressed it into his mouth. He closed his eyes, "Heaven," He said, with the plastic spoon sticking on his tongue.
She laughed, "It's too sweet for me. I prefer spicy stuff. You can enjoy that, I'll get some buttermilk,"

"Oh, I definitely will," He took another spoonful of it. The shopping bags lay in a corner as they both sat on a bench near a park, under the shade of Goldmohur trees, blooming into a beautiful orange hue. The flower gently fell on the grey street as they sat on a reddish orange bench, Ember ate his treat and Rhea took sips of her buttermilk. 

"Ember," She mumbled once she finished her drink.
"Yeah?" He turned towards her.
"I painted something," She smiled.
Ember laughed "Really?"
She noticed how he laughed when he was too happy. It was cute, she liked it. It seemed like it was difficult for him to conceal his pleasure after witnessing trivial details of life.

"What did you make?" He asked.
"The sun" She said.
"Why the Sun?"
"Because-"

She paused. 
Because it reminds me of you.

She didn't want to tell that to him. He looked so otherworldly and vaguely threating under those Goldmohur flowers. With the face of an angel, but the presence of a devil that shattered her confidence every time she looked into that gorgeous mess shining into two round sapphires, stars sprinkled on his hair, moon dust on his skin and the yellow hue outlining his lips until he slowly wiped it off with the tips of his tongue. 

"Because the sun was out," She blurted out.
"Oh! Just like it is when I see you smile," He grinned.
She looked at him, "Why do you say all this when you like someone else?" She asked, agitated.

"Like someone else? Who do I like?" He asked.
"You never told me, how would I know. Jessica told me you do,"
"Well, isn't that strange. I like someone and I don't even know it,"
"I see. Somewhere, I knew she was lying,"

"Well, why? Can I not have feelings for someone?" He smiled.
"You can, but if you would, you wouldn't spend this much time with me. And you won't fake all these smiles if you really were in love," She said and he stopped smiling.
"You're very observant, aren't you?" Ember held the empty paper cup in his hand and a Goldmohur petal fell into it.

"That's not particularly true," Rhea said as she looked ahead, "People are easy to read. You are so easy to read. We bleed emotions even as we drink this buttermilk. No one seems to notice though. They are all busy drinking their own buttermilk,"

Ember looked down at the paper cup in his arm, "Do I occur to you as a sad individual?"
"You occur to me as a picked flower, Ember" She said.
"Pardon?"
"When I was young, I picked up a flower and put it in a vase. After a few days, it died. I asked mom why it died. She told me, "You can't force a flower to thrive somewhere it doesn't belong,". You make me realize that people can be like that too."

"Do I not belong here?" He asked, his gentle voice seemed a bit timid.
"No, not you" She shook her head and turned towards him, "It is me."  She spoke in Hindi, "I, as much as I want to, do not belong in your vintage world. You look pretty as a picture of tulip valleys, Ember, dripping in luxurious amber, with memories woven in fine silk over a purplish sky. Whilst I, I am just a middle class Indian girl, no golden locks, no ocean blue eyes, just a smile to carry me into an unknown future, which my father isn't ready to accept. He keeps reminding me that I'm still not good enough. 

I want to paint, but I'm too afraid of my dad. He's never gonna accept it, Ember. I don't want to upset him or he'd hit me, like last time when I failed my Math exam. I'm not good at it and he's like, "Well, then, study more," I can't. I don't like Math and he doesn't understand it. Or maybe he does but he isn't ready to accept it. He keeps comparing me to that one girl in our class who is good at every subject and she took science, and well, I didn't. "She's someone's daughter too," He says. Well, good for her. I'm not her. I can't do what she can, and what I can do, she can never. That's why I am Rhea, not she. And forget that, he even has a problem with me being shy when I meet new people. 

"You'll fail your job interviews if you're so shy" He says. My parents isolate me and then get angry at my lack of social skills! I can't talk to boys, I can't wear what I want to, I can't behave in a certain way. And every time I mess up any of these rules, they are like "Your future husband is gonna hate that attitude, ,"They never say that to my brother, "Your future wife is going to hate it" He's never heard that, why only me?" A tear drop left her eyes and she covered her face immediately, taking a deep breath and snorting, "Gosh, I'm such a sensitive piece of shit," She switched back to English.

"You're not sensitive, Rhea. If it hurts, it hurts. Come 'ere," He hugged her gently, with the paper cup clasped behind her back, as he wrapped his arms around her and the Goldmohur petals fell slowly as the wind gently plucked them.

"They don't like what I'm becoming," She pressed her face into his shoulders, covering it with the scent of sweet autumn Clematis and a strange medicinal smell. It was calming, like watching white water Lotuses bloom on a cold winter night, in a dark lake under a full moon.

"First of all, you weren't born to please them.
Secondly, everyone isn't meant to be in your life, blood or not. But it's okay, Rhea," Ember squeezed her, "When you get through tough times alone, you really don't care who stays in your life anymore,"

But I want you to stay in my life.
Because look at me,
Without even realizing it,

I told you things I never thought I'll ever tell anyone.

-To be continued

Can't I Touch Your Heart?
Teach Me The Art of Living

[Author's note:
Oh shit, I almost cried;-;]