Charade

Manya woke up when the car stopped with a jerk, and she opened her eyes with the realisation that they had reached their destination. 

*This was the destination she had wanted to achieve and arrive at as quickly as possible, but now that she was here, she wanted the journey to continue a little longer, so that she could stay this way for a little longer. She didn't want to lose out on everything, just because she had managed to get to the place she had wanted to arrive some hours earlier. The realisation hit her hard- she had always had an eye for the outcome, and had always been ignoring the journey and the process, as she had never bothered about anything. She had never stopped to appreciate the little moments of happiness in her life, she had always thought that if she would make her way to the top, she would have everything anyway, and the people who were by her side now, were going to stay by her side forever. But she had forgotten that the major role player or the game changer was not the achievements, but it was time- it was time that we always find ticking away steadily in the background, and eventually become so used to its flow that we fail to consider the massive power it holds. We take it for granted- that good times were going to stay that way and that we would always have plenty of it, that we only become aware of it when there is too little of it left. She had never thought about the fact that whatever be the result, whether she won or lost, it wouldn't have affected the people in her life- they were going to stay by her side through any situation. Now when she had everything- success, fame, love, family, happiness- she was in desperate need of time. Time was the only thing she found herself wishing for!*

She was thinking and analysing her life in a singular string of thoughts, while continuing to rest her head against Arjun. She didn't want to open her eyes, as if the comfort she was feeling while being in his protection would dissipate into the air as soon as she opened her eyes. She just pretended to be asleep, assuming that he would wait for her to wake for five to ten minutes, and she would get some extra time to stay in this bubble, just the two of them, without anyone else in the world. 

He waited patiently for her to wake for even less than five minutes, and without even trying to wake her up even once, he gathered her slackened body up in his hands like she weighed no more than a feather and stepped out of the car.

*Now what was she supposed to do, wouldn't it be awkward if she opened her eyes now without any warning? Or would it be alright if she kept up the charade of being asleep initially, and then pretended to wake up because of his carelessness? But it would be very cruel to blame him for waking her up after the degree of carefulness he was maintaining while carrying her! So she decided to close her eyes even more tightly and remain in the same way, pretending to be asleep.*

She noticed how gently he was carrying her, how elegantly he was stepping forward, how careful he was to not disturb her sleep. It was a really sweet gesture for someone who had not been showered by his love already, or was not familiar with this of his, but for her? For her, it was just further confirmation of the fact that she knew he was a person born and raised with care and love. There were fragments that she could spot in his mannerisms- everything which could define different aspects of someone's behaviour and personality and all those fragments had made him into the totally perfect person that he was.

*She was so overwhelmed by her thoughts earlier and the stir of emotions they had caused that she wanted to hug him tightly, right that instant. But she couldn't due to the act she had pulled; she had to go along with it. She thought of diverting her attention to somewhere else, to help her from acting impulsively and getting caught, when she suddenly remembered the accident. The fateful day that had arrived after twelve years, the day they had met again. She remembered the boy who had just appeared in front of her out of nowhere, making her heart thump out of her chest in panic, stress and fear. But now when she looked back to that day, she found that it was not only those emotions associated with the near-crash, but he was the first boy to catch her attention since her prosopagnosia diagnosis. She had been able to place his face even after meeting him twice that day, not knowing that he was the cause for the feeling of longing she had felt for the entire duration of her adult life. She would definitely have made a house, somewhere in the woods, where no one could find them, because there were moments with him where she had felt her earth stop revolving and that she was about to fall, when he had held her, and when nothing had been making sense for her, he had simplified them into making sense, as if he was the one who made sure her world kept spinning round. And despite it all, the main thing was he had never let her fall in the real world, yet he was the one to trip her down in his own world where everything was rainbow-coloured. In spite of having preferred muted shades all her life, she was still mesmerised by the rainbow colours, and loved to be there, all because it was related to him.*

Her trail of thoughts broke when he laid her down on the bed. She got scared, what if he noticed that she hadn't been sleeping all this time? Thinking this, she squinted her eyes shut with all her might, imagining that if her charade was exposed now, he would tease her mercilessly.

Meanwhile, Arjun laid her on the bed and sat beside her, patiently waiting for her to wake up. He was aware of the fact that it was easy to wake up a person from their sleep, but it was nearly impossible to wake up a person who was already awake. Suddenly, an idea crawled into his mind and he brought his face closer to hers, stopping at a distance where she could feel his breath fan across her cheek. He was hoping that she would definitely wake up due to panic, but his efforts were in vain when she didn't even respond. He couldn't back down, so his mind came up with another idea. He planted a kiss on her forehead, hoping this would definitely cause her to open her eyes, but he only noticed her squeezing her eyes shut even more tightly.

Now he knew that she was acting for a reason, but couldn't figure out what. And if she won't open her eyes willingly, then he would end up doing something mischievous and unethical, which might get him punched by her. He couldn't make her open her eyes by doing anything, as the girl was even able to resist tickles when she was being stubborn about something.

He lowered his face again and pecked her nose lightly, and felt it scrunch slightly at the point of contact, but she had resumed her poker face by the time he lifted himself up. Now slightly annoyed and amused at how far the girl was willing to keep up her pretense, he nuzzled against her cheek, placing a kiss there. He hovered over her lips, deciding whether or not to go ahead. He felt her breath hitch as it mirrored his own, and her eyelids fluttered against his. He had just brushed his lips against hers when her eyes flew open, and two bewildered irises looked back into his. Every survival instinct he had, was screaming at him to back away if he didn't want to be mauled by a bear, but it was as if her gaze had frozen him into place. Arjun might have felt paralysed at the moment, but Manya was more than agitated by her annoyance. The very first thing she did after looking him in the eyes, was to push him aside and sit up. She started out in a strict note, "Don't you have manners? You can't just kiss anybody in their sleep!"

"Umm! I think I do have manners but the person I was kissing was not really sleeping.Was she?" He replied, smirking.

"You-you...but still it is not acceptable!" She didn't know how to reply without confirming or denying his allegations.

He pulled her closer by the waist, forgetting about the wounds they both had at the time. With a smug smile, he spoke "Tell me, now that we both are awake, can I continue what I was doing?" 

Manya hit him, forgetting about his injuries momentarily. Arjun winced in pain, reminding her that she had hit him when he was already wounded.

She quickly withdrew her hand and rolled his shirt over his elbow, to find that his arm was swollen.

She freaked out, "No! Juno, let's go, we need to rush to the doctor right now! Hurry, it must be so painful, why didn't you say that you are severely hurt!"

She spoke in a single breath, as she stood up from the bed.

Arjun pulled her down and made her sit down again. Smiling at her concern, he replied, "Minnie, it's almost 9 now, and I don't really need a doctor. I am okay, but you surely do need first aid."

Saying this, he stood up and waited for her to indicate where the first box was kept. She pointed her finger towards a cabinet and he headed towards it.

Within a minute, he was cleaning her wounds, repeating her words in his mind as he examined her head- "Time is the only thing we are lacking." 

After he was done with the procedure, he stood and was about to leave, asking, "Tell me what you want to eat?" 

Manya also stood up and pushed him down by the shoulders till he was seated. Standing over him, she reached out for his arm and gently examined the swollen area of his hand. She finally spoke ,"Tell me, what is that?" 

"What?" 

"The thing that you wanted to ask!" 

"Me? No-nothing!" He stuttered.

"Arjun, we have known each other since our childhood, and we both know very well that both of us are horrible at keeping secrets from each other! So just spill, I won't be giving you the chance again!"

"Minnie, the fact - the fact of you - do you - do you really-"

"Do I really have a tumor?"

"How-can! Minnie, relax, you will be alright, I will be taking you to best doctor of the world, just-"

"You need to relax Juno! I am not sure if I have a tumor or not! And even if I have one, I don't know if I am ready for my treatment or not- I just want to spend my days peacefully, so can we leave this discussion and eat something?"

Arjun knew that she was scared because of the multiple possibilities she had already created in her head and calculated the respective probabilities for. So, it would be better to let her take enough time to straighten out her thoughts by herself, or nothing anyone could say would have any effect on her until she had gained clarity on her own.

He smiled and spoke, "Let's go then, what would you like to eat, Your Honour? I am here at your service-your personal chef will be obliged to serve you!" He said, bending slightly to add a dramatic flair, and then straightened up with a grimace as he had twisted his back when it had already been hurting due to impact. 

She smiled at his antics and got up from the bed. She held his arm and led him out of the room, announcing in a sing-song voice,"No one is cooking, let's go to the roof and I will be ordering dinner."

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