Alvin was waiting for Anusha in his car. He was wearing a light green button up shirt with jeans, his hair still wet from shower.

He kept looking to her gate as he was bit worried that she might cancel on him. He remembered her worried look before, the way she tried to hide her pain while singing that song. But he wasn't going to probe about her problems, unless she told him about it. For that, he could wait...for a short time, he sighed.

Why was he trying to tangle up himself with her life.. when he won't stay..he had no idea.

Then she opened the gate with a creaking sound, breaking his train of thoughts.

She was wearing a beige and maroon coloured salwar with maroon dupatta, her hair was open which made her look like a child and her dark brown eyes held a tinge of sadness as always.

She smiled at him with one of her fake smile, and came around to the other side of the car. As she got in the car, he turned on the ignition. They drove in silence for sometime.
Anusha kept looking outside through the window. Rain was long gone, but the sky was still grey and sun was nowhere to be seen and the dull light made everything look grey and dull.

Her mood was no exception, she was zoned out and didn't try to make a conversation with him. Alvin turned on the music system, he had connected Riya's pen drive to the system and a loud rock music blurred out from the system making Anusha jump in her seat.

'I had no idea that Riya was into this kind of music now...sorry' he reduced the volume quickly and send her an apologetic glance.

He was using his rental car, an old Honda city. His mom used to drive a similar car before they moved back to Kerala. It has been four years since they left to Kerala and last year his twin sisters got married and moved to Canada.
Mom is there with them now and soon he will join them. The thought of his family warmed his heart and spread a smile on his face. When they came to a halt on the signal, he looked at Anusha who was busy looking outside. So close still miles apart..

'Do you like it here? He asked her as they turned to the salwa road.

'Eh.. I guess so..?' she said in an unsure tone. Her long black hair fell on her cheek, so he couldn't see her expression clearly.

She didn't hear him, it was evident. He was trying to break the ice between them, but it wasn't happening.

' I think I am annoying you.. I will keep quiet..' He tried to act cool but his voice betrayed him.

She turned to him,' no it is not like that. I was miles away.. I actually didn't hear what you said.. sorry.'

She genuinely felt sorry. She was afraid that he will ask something that she didn't want to answer but instead he was quiet and he was trying to make a conversation.

'Ok..if you say so..' he said with a smile.
'I was asking whether you like life in Qatar?' Anusha thought for a second before answering.
' Technically it is good to be here, away from home, away from everything..but sometimes I miss home..' she paused and returned the same question to him.

'What about you? I think you love Qatar.' The way she emphasized love Qatar made him chuckle.

He was happy that finally she was 'talking..

' Yes.. I like it here... I have lots of good memories here, and I will miss being here.'he said and changed the topic.

Rest of the journey, they chatted easily. They talked about the music session too. They both laughed about Riya's enthusiasm. Both of them were sure about not Riya's crush on Ahaan. Anusha wasn't sure about Ahaan's feelings though.

But it was fun to watch them, they both agreed.
'You sing really well...it was kind of surprise for me' he told her without looking her.
She was anticipating this, she thought he won't ask her now, but here they are.
She tried to look calm and muttered a thank you.

'let me guess, you were popular in college... weren't you?' she was expecting another question but he avoided that and she felt more than relived.
'I was in the college
band.' She chuckled softly.

'See.. I knew it...you are a good singer...what they say...umm.. soulful singing..the way you expressed the emotions in the song was great..' he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

'Come on Alvin... don't try to flatter me.. I wasn't the lead singer. I was the second best in the band. We used to participate in inter college competition. It was real fun..'

she smiled remembering all the good times with the band. He took the next exit from the main road and entered the parking lot. He pulled the car into an empty spot and killed the ignition. They walked to the church entrance together. She was more at ease today. They sat next to each other in the church as the prayer began.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Alvin dropped her Infront of her gate as they came back from the church. It was around 6.30. They were at ease and were enjoying each othoer's company. He just didn't want to end the day so quickly. So he suggested to go for a walk and she agreed without much hesitation.

They met outside again after 30 minutes after changing into more comfortable clothes. She was wearing a grey sweatshirt along with a pair of jeans. She pulled her hair in a ponytail and tucked the few strands of hair behind her ear. He was waiting outside wearing a dark blue t shirt with jeans.

'Where is Akki and Rashi? They are not taking my call.' He asked her raising his phone towards her.

' I think they went for shopping. With Ninnu they must have got busy. I messaged them that we are going for a walk. Let us try calling after sometime. By the way, where are we going?'

He raked his hands through his floppy hair as he was thinking about that.

' Let us go to the park. It is close that we can actually walk to there. Come on.. let's go.' He started walking and she joined him.

It has been long time since she walked around. She was kind of homebody, and she liked to stay home. She barely went outside even though Rashi kept telling her to accompany them for shopping. But Anusha preferred to stay home and watch a movie or read something. It won't be an exaggeration to say that she hadn't seen most part of Qatar.

They walked towards the Dahal Al hamam family park. It was a beautiful park which was spread around nine hector area.
The authorities maintained it so well that one couldn't say that the park was located in one of the hottest country in the world.
It had children play area,an exercise area, football court and wide green lawn. Flowers covered the sidewalks like wild bush. It was a beautiful green sanctuary in the middle of the bustling city.

They walked through the sidewalks watching the kids play and refreshing themselves. The air was a bit windy and winter was on their door step. Alvin bought popcorn from the shop inside the park which had all the goodies to lure kids.

They sat on a bench near the football court watching some kids playing. The park was comparatively empty today since it rained earlier. The sand play area was still wet so was the lawn, that kept the family outings to minimal, even though it was a Friday evening.

'Do you like football?' she asked while trying to tuck her unruly hair behind her ear.

It was getting dark and, the lights from sidewalk lamps made shadows of the big trees and it gave a beautiful glow to her features. He was watching her intently, actually he didn't hear her.

Anusha turned to him' hello..Mr. zoning out..where are you?'. He gasped and looked away and Anusha laughed at him, and he joined her.

'says someone who is a total oblivious person' he countered and they laughed some more.

Then she asked again, I was asking do you like football?'

'yeah.. was in school team..but I think you are more interested in football than me' he said looking at her who was watching the match with full concentration.
'And why is that?'She turned to him again with her big brown eyes questioningly.

'The way you watch the game, you are so into the game' he replied and to that Anusha started laughing again which left him puzzled.

'Tell you something.. I don't know a thing about football. I was just trying to figure out when they will smash a goal.' he too laughed at that.

They watched the game some more until it started to drizzle. They ran to the resting area along with others and got to stand in the corner. She truly felt happy.

She started the day thinking that it would be a difficult day..but it turned out as a good day.

She didn't cry in the church, may be she was concerned about Alvin's presence, but she was able to pray for mom without crying.

Most importantly she started to feel comfortable around him. May be this is going to be a real friendship she thought to herself.

It was still drizzling and Anusha called Rashi and this time she took the call. They were back in home and she assured that if the rain didn't stop soon, Akki will come to pick them. Alvin was also in phone, talking to someone with a broad smile on his face.

When he saw that she was looking at him closely, he told something on the phone and handed it to her. She raised her eyebrows questioningly

'that is my mom, she wants to talk to you, now talk'. He patted on her shoulder lightly.

She was taken aback by his sudden approach, but she quickly retreated and took the call.

They talked for a few minutes. Alvin's mom was happy to talk to her. They talked about Akki and Rashi, they all knew each other and she felt connected to his mom.
The way mom talked to her, she felt happy. They ended the call with promises to call again.

Anusha gave him the phone and muttered a thank you and tried to control her emotions.

She didn't want to cry, but her eyes was welling up. He frowned at her sudden change.

'What happened? Why are you crying?' She tried to hold her tears back, but it fell anyway.

' Nothing Alvin..really.. I am okay.' He gave her a worried look.

'There is something Anusha, you were happy a few minutes before and now this. Please tell me, did my mom say something that upset you?'
He know his mom but he was worried about Anusha.

'No Alvin, aunty was really sweet...she made me to remember my mom. I lost my mom when I was young, and today was her birthday. I miss her everyday but today it was hard...but I was okay and thanks to you, that I got to talk to your mom too... It made me happy and sad together. That's it. I am really ok'. She smiled and dabbed her cheeks on her sleeves.

He was silent for a moment, he didn't know what to say. All the crying made sense now, she was hurting all this time and he didn't know.

He felt guilty but he don't know much about her.
She blinked back her tears, and tried to smile again.
He didn't say a word instead took her ice cold hands in his hands and squeezed it lightly. They stood in silence until the rain subsided. They walked together to home.
He didn't let go her small hand until they reach home.

It was indeed a good day he told himself while she said goodnight with a smile that actually reached her eyes.

Yes, finally he was able to open her heart..may be the coming days will bring more happiness to her life...he smiled and waved a good night towards her and went to home. 

Hello, hope you like this chapter. Keep reading. Thank you.