(Manish)

"That's a nice watch, beta," my mom says, and I absolutely agree with her.

I'm grasping the black box and it seems like the watch is like a wizard that has me on a spell that diverts all my attention to it. Ever since Jaya gave it to me, I can't help but to marvel at it constantly. I know that with my sherwani, it's going to be a perfect match in heaven. "Thanks, mumma. Jaya gave it to me."

My mom nods, as she continues to sip on her evening cup of chai. "Yes, I know. You've said that at least five times in the past few days."

My dad starts snickering like a madman, as he is scrolling through his phone and checking out what's hot on the news.

"You know, beta, I've noticed that you've been changing quite a bit ever since you and Ashwini started talking again."

I raise an eyebrow a little bit. Me? Changing? Since when? I lean in to kind of get a better idea of what my mom's talking about. "Wait, what?" I ask, and she holds her hand up in defense.

Her eyes are loaded with all the explanations needed to pacify my curiosity. "Calm down. I didn't say the changes were bad. In fact, you've gotten a lot better ever since you and Ashwini started talking again. You're smiling more, you're happier when you talk, and you have this little twinkle in your eye that I haven't seen in the past 10 years."

My eyebrow raises a little bit higher at the last one. How would she even be able to notice that? "Wait, where did the twinkle thing come from? How did you even notice?"

My mom's lips stretch into a fat smirk, and her eyelids fall exactly the right amount to convey the slyness sharpening her pupils. "Manish, beta, I'm your mother. You've been on this planet for over 30 years. I wasn't born yesterday. I know exactly what changes in my children, when it happens, and what exactly triggers it."

I let out a slightly tired sigh, partially because I know my mom is right. She almost always is. Not to mention, her senses are razor sharp. She notices any kind of change in Isha and I faster than I do, sometimes.

To really push the point even further, my mom raises her cup and spits out, "You weren't like this when you were with Karishma."

This time, my eyebrow cocks immediately. I don't know why she would bring up Karishma, my ex whom I met and broke up with while I was in Seattle, at this point. We haven't talked about her since our breakup. "What does Karishma have to do with any of this, mumma?"

My mom raises her hand again in defense, and I sit back to listen to her explanation once more. "Look, I know that you fell in love with Ashwini 10 years ago. But, did you truly ever fall out of love with her? Do you still have feelings for her?"

This time, I can't help but scoff. I fell in love with Ashwini 10 years ago. So much has happened in those 10 years that has not allowed me to dwell on that. "Pssh. Mumma, there has been so much that has happened in the last few years. I haven't had the time to focus on our former. I don't have any feelings for her anymore."

It's not visible to the naked eye, but as her son, I can see the red lights of my mom's inbuilt lie detector go off and flash in her eyes. My mom sets her cup down on the table with a noticeable CLINK!, and she continues on. "I'm not asking if you put the feelings to the side. I'm asking if they're still there. Come on, there isn't one thing that you like about Ashwini?"

It thankfully doesn't take me long to start coming up with things that I like about Ashwini. But just having her in my mind causes a little smile to curl at my lips and my heart to start feeling full and warm. My hands flare out to start explaining, because the answers to the last question are numerous. Of course there are things that I like about Ashwini. How can you not like ANYTHING about her? "Well, yeah, of course. I like her compassion. And her sarcasm."

My mom crosses her arms, and I'm pretty sure my dad has put down his tea cup and phone to start listening in on my explanation. "Uh huh," my mom says, excitedly and expectantly.

"I like her laugh. And I love how our mutual love of coffee brings us together. I feel like with every coffee chat we have, there's never a dull moment. She just lights it up and I kind of miss that when she goes. Oh, and she always gives the warmest hugs whenever we say goodbye."

My mom's eyes widen with excitement, and I see her rub her hands together in anticipation. "I'm listening," my mom says, but I feel like I haven't even crossed the halfway mark on the list of things I like about her.

When I think of the next thing I like about her, the smile on my face completely explodes into a grin and I feel my heart start racing a bit just thinking about it. "Oh, and every time, without fail, when she looks into my eyes, she gives me the purest smiles. And I swear, the feeling is absolutely amazing. It always makes me feel so excited and secure. Nothing else has ever made me feel that way. Nobody, not even Karishma or any girl I knew was able to make me feel like that..." I ramble, but my sentence trails off at the end.

At that moment, the realization punches me in the face. Satisfaction curls at my mom's lips, and then she whispers under her breath, "I knew it." I sit back in my chair, as the truth swarms my mind like a giant wasp. I love her, I'm in love with Jaya, I continuously whisper to myself, as my mom is just sitting there, looking satisfied that she got the answer she wants.

Eventually, I finally gather the thoughts that allow me to spit out at full volume, "I'm still in love with Jaya."

I can hear my dad's head whip up with surprise when he hears that. "You ARE?" he cries in disbelief, as he jumps up and bolts towards me. The only thing I'm able to do is press my lips together and nod in affirmation.

My mom starts chuckling in pure joy, as she claps her hands together a little bit. "This is amazing, beta. I've always loved Jaya, and I hoped you guys would be together one day. Are you going to tell her?"

That's where things immediately become complicated. How do I know if she even loves me back? What do I do if she doesn't love me back? How do I even confess it to her?

My mom, because she's a complete mind reader, leans in and says, "You have time. There's no pressure. Whenever you're ready." I only give my mom a nod, and my dad clamps his hand down on my shoulder to give me a sense of reassurement.

Meanwhile, I'm just trying to assort my thoughts into one cohesive pile. It feels like sirens are wailing around my mind, and I can't think properly because of them. But one feeling is washing over me.

Relief.

I have Jaya back, and I have a lot more time to confess my feelings to her. I have time to think about it and let our relationship come to the right place before springing it upon her. The thought of surprising her and then losing her as a result causes a gray and gloomy feeling to shroud my mind.

I guess for now, time will only tell.

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Looks like Manish has finally realized that he's still in love with Jaya! How do you think he plans to reveal this to Jaya? And when do you think he should reveal it?

I have been waiting to share the song I put in this chapter (Hasi Ban Gaye) for so long! It's such a beautiful song and I think it's super fitting for this chapter! What do you guys think of the song? I'm curious!

Also, I promised this chapter would be a treat. I hope it didn't disappoint! A lot of people said they liked Manish's POV a lot from Blooming Flower so I thought I'd sneak a few chapters of his POV in here!

Anyways, that's it. I hope you guys liked the chapter! As always, please vote/comment/share/message/follow (both on here and my Instagram (svts.writes)) if you like my work! See you in the next chapter!

Love you guys,

Shree