Strapping in, I made a mental note to contact my friend from Australia as soon as we reach the destination. It was not easy to convince our head nor Maanya who for some reason behaved like  a possessive woman infront of everyone. All our colleagues got a whiff that something changed between us.

Please fasten your seat belts, we will be reaching Melbourne by tomorrow and we got stop at Malaysia. Feel free to contact us if you have any discomfort.

I looked back to find Maanya strapped in, reading a book. Hiten accompanied us, who was busy checking out the flight. I looked away. Past one month we have been working on our prototype and seeked help from my friend at Melbourne with design production. Our head was ok with it as we do not own any contract with specific manufacturer. What he did not like is, Maria requesting us to attend her competition at Melbourne. She put forth a condition that we have to be on site for her to pay us. Maanya was pissed, one for a fact that she feels Maria loves me and second my supposed girlfriend will loose her shit if Maria hit on me at any point. Suddenly someone held my shirt from behind and I smiled. Maanya still has her book in hand but now the other one holding my shirt.

"Maanya, are you going to hold my shirt for 11hrs straight?" I asked her. She looked at me but did not say a word. Turning around, I smiled at my co-passenger who refused to change her seat with my girlfriend. Whereas Maanya's co- passengers are with a toddler and they can't be separated.

" I will change with your girl man! Here you can move to his seat and you both can sit comfortably!." The aisle side passenger said smiling at me. We waited till take off and Maanya sat between me and our co-passenger who had scowl on her face. With death grip she held my hand and squeezed it. 

I guess she still can't believe I am with her!

After hours of sleep, bickering between us about how I should behave infront of Maria, we finally settled in our seats interwining our hands.

" What if you meet your ex there?" She questioned.

"You dont need to be so insecure and show so less of your trust towards me" I replied.

"You are rude!" She commented.

"Well,I need to be. No matter how cute you are now. I have to let you taste your own medicine sometimes" I replied.

"Taste what?" She whispered bringing her face close to me with confused expression. I pecked her lips and she widened her eyes looking around.

"We have crossed national borders, so I think It is ok to kiss you whenever I want" I said.

"I dont know much about you or your life at Australia. You rarely talk about it" she said and I sighed. If I have to talk about it, I need to prepare my mind to react in a normal way. Hiten tapped on my shoulder asking me to help him with something. I left Maanya unanswered. If I am going back to the place I left everything behind, its only for the sake of the company I work at. A place which adopted me after what I went through to live my life again.

We descended at Melbourne and Maanya kept her distance from me the moment we landed. I felt hurt, left out suddenly but then I behaved same way with her when she asked an innocent yet painful question to me. All three travelled silently to my friends place who decided to give us stay for 15 days in his apartment/ mansion/ multi-storey building. I am not knew so I walked to my room when we reached but the other two just looked at the place with stars falling from their eyes.

"So, you are manufacturer of surf boards?" Maanya questioned him which I heard from my room.

"Yes" he replied and I chuckled at her curiosity.

"And you are single?" She questioned him a bit loud. I dropped whatever I have in my hands and walked out. All of them were startled and I looked down at my bare chest and shorts. Before anyone can question my state, I smiled at my friend and dragged her with me. Hiten at this point had his eyes out of the socket.

"Why did you pull me like this??" She whispered as I closed door behind her back clearly making a scene out of this situation.

"What is his name? I-" she was about to ask something but I silenced her with my kiss. She did not fight nor pushed me away. I kinda of felt good doing this with her but then I realized the consequences of kissing Maanya without her permission.

"I missed you" I whispered while she was still in daze. Looking at me, she pushed me back with anger replacing the cute expression she just had.

"What?!" She shouted.

"I dont like you checking out other men" I said crossing my arms.

"I was just asking the owner of this house about his life and he is our client! No we are his clients! How can you assume that I will-" She was blabbering at this point.

"Why were you asking him about his relationship status?" I questioned her. She became silent.

"As far as I know, you never ask people who are working for us for relationship status." I stated.

"Dont tell me, it was casual question as you find this home huge." I added.

"Are you angry with me?" I asked her.

"I am not!" She yelled turning her face away. Walking backwards she hit her back to the door as I stood too close to her. I know I am trying to seduce her but its the only thing I can do.

"My life here is not so rosy as your cheeks are right now. I had tough time, mentally. What can I possibly tell you? I guess you have to give me a bit more time to open up? Hmm?" I spoke touching her cheeks. Maanya looked at my face, then my chest and my hands. She slowly interwined our fingers not saying a word. Kissing her cheeks, I earned a small chuckle and huge blush on her face. Letting her go, I dressed myself and met my friend Jose who smiled at me knowingly. Hiten cramped himself up in his room doing some work. Whereas Maanya was busy cooking "Indian meals" which she is craving.

"So girlfriend huh?" He asked winking at me. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I am happy for you.  After her, you really found someone. When will you visit the company?" He asked. I was about to answer but I heard a noise. Turning around we both saw Maanya looking at me with hurt while the plate in her hand slipped away.

Not now!

" I will go for a stroll. Ocean wind seems to be good today." She announced masking her emotions. Jose silently gave her tube of sunscreen and she thanked him leaving us alone.

"I assume she knows nothing about your life here?" He questioned me. I nodded my head as yes. Checking if Hiten is around, he spoke carefully.

"We all go through so many things in our lives, a person, an incident and a feeling towards someone mostly changes our path and the trajectory suddenly shifts. You have experienced all these here. Its normal to be careful but it is also important to acknowledge what's being presented to overcome this. Right?" He said. I nodded my head as yes. No matter what others say, I think my time to oversee what I have gone through has not come.

"Be truthful to yourself before expecting others to adjust to your truths. Right mate?" He patted my shoulder.

His words hit me hard.

Will I ever be accepting what happened? Be truthful to whatever I have gone through?

Am I the problem here not the other way around?

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Unedited.

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