Chapter 25

A few days later, I met Vihaan in the canteen during break time. He got coffee for both of us. He informed me that his mom had invited me for dinner tonight.

"It's a pleasure to meet her again. She's sweet and nice." I replied happily. We decided to meet after college hours to go together to his home.

We met as we decided and took a cab to his home. His mom welcomed me with a warm hug, asking me to be comfortable. I nodded to her with a smile and we settled in the living room comfortably. She sat next to me and asked me about my family. I answered her politely as she wanted to know more about my life.

Later, she asked Vihaan to give me a tour of his home while she prepares dinner. I insisted on helping her in the kitchen but she disagreed and insisted that we spend some alone time.

Vihaan took me on a tour of his house and later to his room. He showed me his photo album which had a lot of pictures of him with his parents. He shared the stories behind the photos as I looked at their captured moments. He looked pleasured by recalling those moments. Suddenly, the joyful expression on his face turned into disappointment. I worried for him as I asked him what happened.

"I yearn for those days when we used to live as a family." He said.

I understand him. Family is a support system for every child and they are a priority. I know how he feels about staying away from his father, who loves and supports him. I took his hand in mine and gave a gentle squeeze to comfort him.

Meanwhile, Vihaan's mother came to inform us that dinner will be served. I think she heard him since I saw the sad expression on her face when she informed us with a fake smile.

We settled for dinner. Vihaan served us first and helped himself later. We talked about light topics while we enjoyed our dinner together. I liked her cooking a lot.

After dinner, while she was taking the dishes to wash, I insisted to help her by taking the plates from her hand. She was reluctant but I pleaded since I didn't want her to be more strained and she gave a little nod in acceptance of my help.

We were cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen when Vihaan's phone rang. He looked at his phone and informed us that it was his father. His mom nodded and he excused himself to attend the call.

We worked in silence for a while until she dropped the plate while handing it to me. I got startled and looked at her. I noticed that she looked unwell.

"Are you fine, aunty?" I asked her concernedly.

"I'm fine." She said but was unable to walk as she was swaying. I helped her to sit and got some water for her. She took a sip and thanked me. She took a few moments to calm down and asked me to help her get into her room.

I took her into her room and helped her onto the bed. She asked me to get medicine from the study table drawer. I checked the study table drawer and found a lot of medicines in her drawer. I was shocked by her medication. I took them and showed her the bottles as I was confused about what they were for. She picked one from them and I poured a glass of water for her. After she had her medicine, she looked relaxed.

"Thank you, Siya." She said and asked me not to tell Vihaan about it as he gets worried unnecessarily.

I thought that he must know about her condition so I suggested, "I think we need to tell him. He can take you to the hospital if needed."

"I am fine. It's just a normal headache. I'll be fine after getting some rest, so don't bother." She said, trying to convince me.

I was anxious about her health condition because it did not look like a normal headache so, I decided to tell Vihaan about it. I pretended to agree with her, hoping that she would be relieved.

She asked me to sit for a while with her and I agreed. "I can sense his happiness and it's because of you. He always seemed to be depressed since we moved here. He often misses his father and those old days but he never tells me about his feelings and pain. I'm always concerned about him since he has never made friends from school until he got close to Aarav. Now, I can see a warm smile on his face. I want him to lead a successful career and a happy life. I am grateful that you are in his life. I wish you guys a fruitful relationship and want you to cherish every moment in life together."

Her words made me realize that she was feeling hopeless about her future and that something must be wrong with her health. I don't know why she isn't telling Vihaan about it.

I asked her to rest well without worrying and walked out of her room to find Vihaan standing in front of me. He held my hand and asked me to follow him. He took me to his room's balcony and asked me to sit with him on the wooden sofa. His balcony was filled with green plants and I could smell the fresh mud in the pots.

"Have you decorated your balcony recently?" I asked.

"Yeah. I know you like greenery. I got some new plants to surprise you when you visit." He said. I smiled at him as he continued, "I have some more. Can we plant them together?" I nodded with excitement. He got the plant seeds from his room and we planted them together.

We stayed there for a long time, enjoying the night view with the stars shining in the dark. Suddenly, a shooting star appeared in the sky. I just closed my eyes and wished.

He stared at me and asked, "What did you wish for?"

"I shouldn't be telling this but I wished that our love gets deeper day by day and never fades away." I completed, looking at the sky. He kissed my cheek and I shied away, leaning on his shoulder.

After I bid goodbye to his mom, he dropped me at home, "Good night."

I walked inside the home and found Mom. "How did it go with his mom?" she asked me.

"Good. She's a kind, simple person and a great cook." Mom was pleased to hear that she was very nice to me.

I got to my room and changed. I tried to sleep but remembered his mom's condition. I took my phone and texted him. 'I think aunt is not feeling well. Maybe she is sick. I think she needs a check-up.'

I was waiting for his reply but he didn't reply. Perhaps, he was asleep, I thought as I kept my phone aside and fell asleep because of tiredness from the long day.