Chapter 158

She was delighted to see him and she could see the same in his eyes. He gave her a hug and a peck on her cheek. He looked at her with warmth and admiration and added “It is really good to see you. How have you been?” and took a seat opposite to her. He looked at Mocha Chino and added, “Something never change” and gave a gentle laugh.

It was apparent to everyone else around that they were friends or maybe more and they haven’t seen each other for a while. Some eyes continued to spy on them in spite of them ignoring their surroundings. Their conversations started with what they are doing currently in life and drifted over to their past and was lingering over the good times they had had.

They were enjoying their memorable memories and he tried to ignore her reaction a couple of times during their conversation, when she almost choked with words and tried to hide her emotion with best efforts. He knew there was something more to her wanting to see him than a casual visit to the East-Coast. He had been waiting for her to unravel, but he got the sense that it was something that she couldn’t bring herself to do so.

Chapter 157

She wondered what if things were different than it was today. What if they had stayed together, they would have been married. She remembered that he had one told her that he wanted a daughter, as pretty and smart as she was and he would teach her how to ride a bike and help her with her science and history home work.

She had replied to him that she would take a break from her modeling career and stay with her child, may be start a fitness center or some business of her own so that she can spend time with him and the baby. Now all those were just memories and they had gone in different ways and after all these years they are here.

He walked towards the direction she was sitting, he looked the same for the most part, except he had gained a little weight about five pounds, changed his hair style, now he had short hair which made him look younger that he really was and he had a French beard, something she had not expected to see in him.

Chapter 156

She knew he will come, maybe he was running a little late, maybe stuck in traffic, maybe he couldn’t find the place,- no1 that’s not possible, since he was the one who suggested it, maybe he was deliberately making her wait. Every minute felt like an hour, the waiting for exhausting and she looked around and took a peek through the window to see if he was there.

She thought to herself, she deserved this, every bit of it, considering what she had put him through, this is nothing, that fact that he agreed to meet with her reminded her how wonderful he was and still is and brought back memories of all the things that had happened in her life and after all these years, today she was going to meet him.

With all these memories surrounding her heart she noticed him at the entrance looking for her and she looked at him, his eyes, eyes that follow you, protect you, and give you space. They bring you comfort in the darkest of hours. They too bring you gladness at your finest achievements without uttering a word. A mere smile from the beholder of those eyes can elate you, a tear can bring you to your knees, and their laughter will light a room with vibrant warmth. Respect, honor and always love the one with those Mickey-Blue eyes.

Chapter 155

She looked as gorgeous as she had looked on the magazines; her face bore the same enchantment, the glamour, the charm he had remembered. She was enchanting and he could see almost every single eye on the café turn towards her. It was obvious that every man out there wanted to have her in his arms and every woman wanted her body, her curves, the glamour she possessed and her gorgeous blue-green eyes.

It was a beautiful grey-blue linen rayon blend, with a straight collar and a longer neck line, with button closures which were left open to add some interest and enhance cleavage with contrast-stitched grosgrain belt at natural waist and Contrast-embroidered daisies in baby pink at bottom with Roll-tab sleeves just right hitting the knee. It was a more casual shirt dress and looked as if it was designed with her in mind!

A comfortable combination of stretchy fabric and supple leather with a 2" heel, her designer shoes helped boost her busts while she walked. Her Signature jacquard with pebble grain leather and suede trim tote with a Magnetic snap closure; double handle with Antique brass buckle detail and detachable key fob that carried away in style with a handy front pocket and contrast trim finished her look leaving the women wondering who she was.

Chapter 154

She was right there waiting for him. He though there was an angel after all and she was his. He was happy to see her. Beneath the happy brave face there was a hidden pain, there was hope, there was trepidation, desperately trying to hide his anxiety which was slowly creeping out like a shadow growing on the wall turning into a humongous monster ready to swallow.

She was there as if she was the keeper of the monster, to the one it would abide against all odds and he felt the anguish and distress starting to fade and in the process weakening him yet leaving a trace of anticipation of what was yet to come. She walked over and took his hand and could see Chari and his wife trying their very best to reassure Pryag and themselves.

In spite of the distress he was in, she could see the essence of his inner beauty radiates through dark brown eyes. It brought her closer to what one would remember in the fondest memories of childhood. The aroma that surrounded those memories seems to leak from pores of the beholder that stares upon thee.

Chapter 153

He had not expected a call from her, not today, not tomorrow and not in the future either, but when he heard her voice he recognized her immediately and tuned in his senses and was ears to hear what she was saying. It was more like a casual enquiry but he knew there was more when she wanted to have a up of coffee with him.

He was not sure why, but he agreed to her request and got lost in thoughts completely forgetting everything around him. He remembered the first time they met, and how she was. He remembered a single tear slipping from the corner of each watery eye. They glide gently over delicate skin, glistening with emotion.

Her Blue -green eyes, their depth unknown because of the pain endured by the one; To long taken by tears, and loneliness, hurt and anguish shown all too well, too often practiced. Once carefree and shown only laughter, ripped away by the ones who once loved. Those eyes, beautiful yet heartbreaking breathtaking and forgettable. Fragile yet holding on are these blue-green eyes.

Chapter 152

The interview was equally enchanting as his performance and Akshar had completely lost himself in the music and what he spoke in the interview and his favorite verse from his latest album when he explained what it meant and why he wrote it made more sense and intensified the meaning behind it.

What’s my feeling?
Why such pain?
Oh! Why this anguish?
I can’t explain?

...

Once tumbled
together lemon sours

My throat dries
When I try to gather words

…

His music, this song had touched millions all over the world. The words, for had the power, maybe as a poetry it may not have been that appealing but with his music it was powerful, it was so powerful that it touched the soul of its listeners.

When the interview was over and the song was played again and there was applause, standing ovation from the audience, and when he had lost himself, completely mesmerized it the music, he was brought back to his environment when the annoying noise from the phone, even though the ring tone was a nice song, he felt quiet annoyed by it and was completely caught by surprise when he recognized the voice on the line, even after all these years!

Chapter 151

Carl’s (Carlton Hugh) a heartthrob. Tall and handsome, he's got a Donny Osmond-like dose of the cutes, and, onstage, cute elides into hott. When he performs, he is usually the only man under the lights who is not in white tie and tails -- he walks out to a standing O, looking like Zorro, in black pants and an untucked black dress shirt, shirttail dangling. That cute Beatles-style mop top is also a strategic asset: Because his technique is full of body -- athletic and passionate -- he's almost dancing with the instrument, and his hair flies.

He's single and straight, a fact not lost on some of his fans. In Boston, as he performed Max Bruch's dour Violin Concerto in G Minor, the very few young women in the audience nearly disappeared in the deep sea of silver heads. But seemingly every single one of them -- a distillate of the young and pretty -- coalesced at the stage door after the performance, seeking an autograph. It's like that always, with Carl.

It was a wonderful performance, it was quiet breathtaking, and for this incognito performance, Carl had only one condition for participating. The event had been described to him as a test of whether, in an incongruous context, ordinary people would recognize genius. His condition: "I'm not comfortable if you call this genius." "Genius" is an overused word, he said: It can be applied to some of the composers whose work he plays, but not to him. His skills are largely interpretive, he said, and to imply otherwise would be unseemly and inaccurate.

Chapter 150

He stepped down from the car and waited for his father to settle the payment for the cab and turned around and looked at entrance to the building, it proudly announced itself in bold letters “Stony Brook University Hospital”. It was a huge building, and he felt as if it were a huge dragon, waiting for its prey, with an enormous appetite, ready to digest anyone who passes by.

He felt as if the door of the building dwarfed anyone who approached it. Even the tallest visitors had to reach up high to grasp the ornate door knocker. The door swung open into a grand hallway, with floors of spotless white marble. The walls were covered in gigantic mirrors, so that the foyer appeared to be at least three times larger than its already impressive size.

At the end of the hallway, a grand white staircase spiraled up and up—so far that you might have expected an angel to greet you when you reached the top. But that was not so. The stairs actually led to a large, but surprisingly ordinary looking hallway with slightly worn, green carpeting and a long row of nearly identical doors. It almost resembled a hotel.

Chapter 149

Chari couldn’t help himself but ask about the scar behind his ear, all he could think of was if Pryag would live long to see that age. He smiled at Chari and without hesitation, in a proud voice said that he was a cancer survivor and went on explaining to him how he had suffered and how he had fought back and he has been cancer free for the past ten years.

A small droplet peeked through Chari’s eyes with hope and he could hear his wife let out tears of hope and to his surprise; Pryag looked undisturbed, as if the conversation and the reaction that was happening around him had nothing to do with him.

He kept his gaze out through the window, as if there were more beautiful things to look at than engage in a conversation. He hardly paid attention to the conversations that followed after with the cab driver and his father, and not even a smile of wonder, how come a total stranger had become a good friend to his parents!

Chapter 148

After twenty minutes they were on the road. Pryag was sitting with his mother and his sister in the back and Chari took the passenger seat. Chari’s wife, kept uttering some prayers, which started as a murmur and as time passed by was getting louder until the driver could no longer handle it anymore, turned on the radio, yet kept the volume low.

Pryag seemed relaxed, as if he had found his inner peace, as if he knew exactly what was going to happen and what the outcome would be. Except him and the driver everyone in there either looked worried or serious and pale. Chari turned around to see the driver, in order to make a conversion, make the situation lighter, maybe even to make him feel much better.

He noticed that he had a scar behind his right ear, which looked relatively old from the look of it and the wrinkles covering his face made him guess as if he were fifty years older, but his strong hands that were hidden beneath his pull-over hooded jacket indicated his strength.

Chapter 147

It was a cold and cheerless evening. The fog seemed to hover over the street, clutching the buildings, the streetlamps - the entire city, in a damp, icy grip. If one were to stand still, passers-by would emerge briefly from the gloom, only to disappear from view after taking just a few steps. These ghostly apparitions tormented Chari as he impatiently waited for the cab to arrive.

As if sensing his tension, the vehicle soared into the corner of the street and pulled into his driveway and the silence that had spread across like a mist dissipated in the smoke from the cab. He stepped out from the car and his gait was slow, and his face, barely visible beneath untold layers of grime, betrayed an anguished, exhausted expression.

What he saw seemed like a reflection of him, how he felt, the dreadful day, and the journey had just started and there was no angel to guide him to the light and relieve him from the soreness of what was yet to come.