• ADVIKA •

“Advika?” He tilted his head to his left and shot a surprised glance. “Sorry, I know you don't know me. I'm Ishaan.”

I felt my eyes watering as I realised that my theory existed in real life.

Ishaan exists. Maybe not near me, but he does.

“Advika?” I heard him calling me once again and I looked at him consciously, noticing what he was saying. “Are you okay now?”

“How… How did I get here?” No matter what, I want to know that.

“Ummm… You were at my terrace, unconscious,” he pursed his lips and looked down, only to look back. “My housemaid spotted you first and informed me of it. I recognised you from the mail's old profile picture. So, I made you sleep here.”

Then, the question was how will I escape back to my real world whenever I want? He gave me the answer to everything but that.

“So… Was this how you found me?” I lowered my shoulders and stiffened them, trying to bring up the strength despite my shaky legs. “Did I bring anything else?”

“Well, yeah, your bags.” He shrugged his shoulders as if to say that it was obvious, but for me, it wasn't. “So, are you feeling good?”

Instead of saying things like, “No, Ishaan. I'm exhausted mentally,” I replied with nothing but a simple nod, tugging a strand of my imaginary hair behind my hair.

“Good.” He raised his hand close to my cheek, but flinched from it, which evoked a tremor of colours like a rainbow pop. “You… Have a bath and… Uh, why not… Ummm… Join me for breakfast?”

I raised my eyebrows at the prospect, asked, “But, it looks like you're already heading out somewhere,” and pointed my chin at his crisp outfit.

“Uh, yeah, I'm heading to the office since it's a Monday.” He scratched the back of his neck and added as if he had almost forgotten it, “But still, I can wait for you. I have a lot of time for work.” I felt his delicate yet heavy gaze on me, my eyes, my features, and the way I sweat like a decathlon runner.

“Uh, Ishaan, I… I should take a bath now. So…”

Before I could bring words to get him out of my room, he spoke up. “It's okay. I… Uh… I'll wait outside.”

“Yeah, uh, sure.” I led him to the doorway and held the door handle, waiting for him to leave. But before he could actually leave, a thing struck my mind, raising my voice at him to wait.

He looked at me as if to ask what happened while I asked, “I need to call someone. If you don't mind—”

Pointing his mobile at me, he said, “Here you go.”

The first thing I noticed in the home screen was his wallpaper: his picture with a girl behind. She was taller than me but shorter than him, had brown eyes, and was wearing a royal blue dress, matching with Ishaan's shirt. They looked so cheesy and lovely together, which made me realise that…

It was Maahi.

“Advika?” His voice brought me back from my researching mode. “Is everything alright?” He noticed my immobility.

“Uh, yeah, I thought of whom to call first.” Receiving an, “Oh!” from him, I tapped on the call app and dialled Aarvi's number, praying to every God in my Universe that the call must reach her. Before tapping on the call button, I looked up at him and asked, “Can I make international calls?”

Must I have mentioned inter-universal calls instead of international calls?

“Yeah, sure. You can,” he granted permission to call my best friend who is technically universes away from this one while I tapped on the green button.

After five seconds of silence, the automated voice broke my heart by saying, “The number you are calling does not exist.”

Maybe, I should have prayed to all the Gods existing in this universe instead of mine.

I extended my mobile to him and said, “She isn't picking up the call. Perhaps, she had gone to the Uni. I'll talk to her later.”

Accepting the mobile from me, he greeted, “Fine. I… I'll see you later.”

He walked out of the room and I closed the door behind him as fast as I could, which soon played in my mind at 0.5x speed.

Shit!

I leaned on my door and banged my head on it, making me busy with taunting myself. “Advika, what a stupid you are! Why did you close the door as if you wanted to kick him out of the room? And, why were you looking at Maahi like hell? Are you possessive of her or what? And, what was with the stammering? Are you dumb or what? And—”

I paused midway, only to hear the sound of whispers and stick my ear to the door. I heard Ishaan's voice outside after a mild bang. “Such a dorkhead you are, Ishaan! Why did you have to stammer like hell? Ugh, Ishaan! Fuck off. Can't you be sane at least once in your lifetime? You shouldn't be embarrassing yourself in front of a girl like Advika.”

A girl like Advika?

What does that mean? Was he trying to say, “A girl so amazing like Advika” or “A girl so stupid like Advika”?

Telling myself that it must be the second one, I went to the restroom with the velvet blue bathrobe and white bath towel.

***

“Did you like breakfast?” He shot the question the moment I had my first bite of chocolate croissant, complimented with a sip of creamy cappuccino.

“Yeah.” I nodded my head and added, “It's great. The cappuccino… It's creamy like the way I wanted. Your housemaid is a great cook, to be honest.”

“Uh, I didn't prepare them,” Fiorella interjected, refusing the compliment. “He made it.”

I looked at him like I do when Harsh flaunts his “green flag” side while reminiscing about the mail where Ishaan had mentioned that he is “too lazy even to boil water”.

“You know what, Signora, he never cooked food.” Fiorella and Ishaan glared at each other while the former rolled her eyes and looked back at me. “Even to boil some water, he will ask me from his bed to make one. Now, who knows what bug bought him?” She shot a bombastic side eye at him while he muttered cryptic things at her as if to show that he was annoyed. She turned away from him like a drama queen and apologized, “Sorry to disturb, Signora. You have your breakfast.”

“Ah, that's fine, Fiorella. I love the buzz,” I chuckled and munched down another bite of croissant that's made with affection.

“Wow! Did you just say that you love the buzz? You'll regret it soon,” Ishaan added while glaring at Fiorella and rolling his eyes.

But then, I truly loved the buzz. Though Fiorella was only his housemaid, the banter between them made it look like they're siblings, instead of employer-employee. And, I kind of liked that. Within two hours of landing into the universe Aadya Chatterjee had created, it was as warm as home.

“Uh, Advika, you… Are you free this evening?” He looked at me with his doe eyes which made me think that what Aadya Chatterjee had written was right: he looks fucking cute indeed. I, unable to speak up, nodded a yes while he clapped his hand with a victorious smile. “Then, why not pack your things for the Amalfi Coast? Fior, you too pack your things. We're leaving this evening. Uh, are you okay with this, Advika?”

“I'm not okay with this,” Fiorella objected while banging her hands on the table.

“I didn't ask you.” Ishaan shot a comeback and looked back at me, asking, “Are you okay with this, Advika?” He emphasised the word “you”. I nodded a yes while he continued, “Good. Then…” He paused to get off his seat and added, “Get ready this evening, girls!”

As he walked to the wash basin, washed them, and strolled past the dining table with his laptop bag, Fiorella added, “Ishaan, your notice board?”

While the mention of the notice board sounded peculiar to me, I shifted my gaze to Ishaan.

“I no longer need them.” He looked at me and shot a nostalgic smile, then walked out of his house, leaving me with a plethora of confusion in my head, which increased tenfold with the smile Fiorella had shot at me.

Looking at the direction she had taken to the kitchen, my gaze fell on the “notice board”, adorned with Post-its of various colours. I went closer to it to see it, assuming that it would be a set of to-dos and reminders.

And yeah, they were nothing but the reminders of the sad ending of You Belong With Me.

Day 18

I was a bed of bonfires
She was a blanket of cold air
We engulfed together
Until it dawned.

I

****

Day 184

Her world is in flame yellow while mine is in charcoal black, waiting to burn in the red fire of love.

I

****

Day 1

How did my day dawn without my sunshine?

I

****

Day 100

I was the fire killing the world for her
She was the ice killing the fire.

I

****

Day 205

I waited for her to draw the stars again.
She came, but it wasn't her anymore.

I

****

“She came, but it wasn't her anymore?”

What does that mean? I could sense that Maahi was involved in this, but why wasn't she “her” anymore? Did she contact him? Did she ask him to help her stop the wedding? Were I living in the interlude of You Belong With Me and its sequel?

What if Aadya Chatterjee is planning to introduce another girl?
What if she was the lite version of Maahi?
What if it was a love triangle between Ishaan, Maahi, and that “Maahi Lite”?

No. Fucking. Way.

I can't allow her inside his life. For God's sake, Ishaan is a baby! Why break his heart over and over? He's one entire green universe living in a universe, for fuck's sake.

Fine. If my Universe had sent me here, it has a reason. I need to protect Ishaan from this universe, no matter what. I don't hate Aadya Chatterjee, but I was ready to go against her for Ishaan.

***

Finally, Advika had entered Ishaan's universe. And, it looks like Fiorella knows a lot more, right?

And... What do you think about Advika's mission to save Ishaan from his universe? Will she do it? Or, will the motive lose its meaning soon? Share your views in the comments, peeps! (I enjoy organic discussions)

Stay tuned for more, peeps!

P.S.: So glad to announce that I Did Something Bad had got through ONC's Longlist. Hoping that I will get through Shortlist and Finals as well. Wish me luck, peeps!