Chapter 9. Ayansh Dumb Era

🎶 Nadaaniyaan (I love this song sfm!)

Published on 11.05.2022

| AUTHOR'S POV |

While going back home, Ayansh couldn't stop thinking about Inaaya. Why was she making those faces? What did she wanted to talk about in the end? Did she want to talk about the cafe incident? What if she wanted to ask how he was present at the right time at the right spot in the morning? Was she doubtful? But most importantly he couldn't wrap his mind around her doing those weird antics. That was directed at him. But why? It made him laugh but she wanted to make him laugh? Weird. Nonetheless, it did ease out most of his anxiousness —

As the realisation finally strike him, Ayansh pulls the brake of his car making it halt abruptly. No sooner had he done that than he started hearing the sounds of horns from behind. He started his car and parked it on the side of the road a little distance ahead.

"Ayansh seriously!?" He covered his face with his palms and groaned.

Removing his hands from his face, he curled his fingers around the steering wheel. "This is heights of being a tubelight," he said to himself in disbelief, his grip around the steering wheel tightening and loosening.

"She just wanted to free you of your anxiety and what did you do? You ran away. Fucking. Ran. Away." He said slamming his palm on the steering wheel.

"Now what will you do?" He asked to himself. "Okay, let's do one thing. I'll go and apologize to her." He sat straight and pointed to himself. "I'll tell her that I wasn't avoiding her. I was just — " he paused, blank at what to say next. "I was just what?" His shoulders deflated, his voice lost its confidence. "I can't tell her that I was nervous." He whined. "Avoiding someone in supermarket? Nervous. Left the cafe? Nervous. Avoiding eye contact? Nervous. Ran out of the class? Nervous. This is so embarrassing Ayansh!" He hit his head on the steering wheel lightly thrice.

"But really? How did you not figure out that she was making those faces not because there was something wrong with her but because she wanted to help you?" He questioned himself, frowning and looking forward at nothing. "That's so dumb please!" He hit his forehead with his fist in frustration. "You know what," he addressed pointing a finger forward as if there was another Ayansh standing ahead. "Your name shouldn't have been Ayansh Mehra. It should have been Ayansh Dumb Era." He enunciated. "Because you keep getting more and more dumb with each passing day. Not only — "

Ayansh stopped speaking when somebody knocked on the window of his car. He turned his head and slowly rolled the window down, staring at the man who was looking at him with uncertainty in absolute horror.

"Are you okay?" The man who looked in his thirties, asked in concern.

Ayansh felt as if he has lost his voice suddenly. So he swallowed and forced himself to shoot a smile at the man. "Yes." He couldn't bring himself to say anything more so he gave a thumbs up awkwardly. The man stared for a few seconds deciphering if everything was alright and then walked away feeling it's better to leave the young guy on his own.

Ayansh sighed in relief and rolled up the window.

"Ayansh Embarrassing Era as well." He muttered to himself and drove away.

~

"You really made those faces!" Nikita exclaimed in amusement, laughing her heart out.

"I've seen you going out of your way for others, making sure nobody feels left out but you did this for Ayansh?" Alisha laughed. "You criticized me for appreciating him and then you do this. Woah hypocrite." She punched Inaaya's shoulder playfully.

"Stop making it a big deal." Inaaya gritted, pulling her bag on her lap and sitting grumpily on the bench. "I just felt bad for him. Wanted to give him a little push. That's it. What y'all should be concerned about is that he avoided me! Literally ran away in the end!" She huffed.

"Maybe he's suffering from," Alisha took Inaaya's hands in hers and added dramatically, "Agar mai tumhare saath do minute aur raha toh mujhe tumse pyaar ho jayega.... firse. Aur tumhe nahi hoga..... firse."

"Shut up!" Inaaya pulled her hands away and whined in frustration while Alisha and Nikita laughed and high fived each other.

After their laughter died down, Nikita said. "Confront him when he comes on Thursday. Don't start your day with a bad mood." She looked at Inaaya with hope.

"I'm not confronting anyone." She said determinedly. "I told him that we need to be civil. I'm trying my best to make him feel comfortable. I can't do more than this."

"He'll come around. He's a nice guy." Alisha beams. "Also, do you know Inu that yesterday Niki and me met his friend Kabir at Starbucks coincidentally in the evening. I swear he's really entertaining." She chuckles. "He said that his friend Ayansh is really gold. And it will be your loss if you lose him. I don't know about loss but I do agree that he's gold. He took that girl to the hospital remember!?" She said fondly.

Inaaya stared at her pointedly. Pushing Nikita who was sitting on the middle chair a little behind by her shoulder, she moved her head ahead to have a better look at Alisha. "If you meet him again then do tell him that his friend, Ayansh, isn't gold. He's the living definition of all that glitters is not gold." She stated solemnly.

Nikita couldn't help but chuckle and Alisha giggled inaudibly.

"The guy has improved your sense of humour." Nikita commented. "I'm with Alisha."

"You guys have lost it." Inaaya muttered helplessly, propping her elbow on the desk and resting her forehead on her palm.

"No but honestly," Alisha said, "I really don't get your issue with him. He did a mistake of confessing to you but he apologized too. Move on — "

"I've moved on — "

" — instead you choose to ignore all his good deeds. He helped a girl, took her to the hospital, even payed her bills but you don't appreciate it."

"One second." Inaaya intervened again. "I do appreciate him for that."

"But I don't see it." Alisha argued.

"Because I'm not fangirling over it like you. It was literally the bare minimum. This is something that every human should do. He would've been a shit person if he saw someone in pain and chose to move on like nothing happened. But he didn't and that's nice. Yet it doesn't mean that I need to praise him to the moon and back for possessing something as basic as humanity." Inaaya explained herself.

Alisha shook her head in disbelief. "Humanity which is rare in today's world."

"And it shouldn't be."

"Your standards are ridiculously high." Alisha scoffed.

"Yes, they're." She agreed. "And I'm not going to compromise with them." She stated firmly.

" Forget that. Did you even say sorry for spilling coffee?" Nikita raised a brow at her. "Or did you even thank him for the jacket incident?"

"She hasn't." Alisha answered on Inaaya's behalf while she gazed down at her bag feeling a little ashamed. "She won't be able to do that anyways." Alisha dismissed it. "Tell me if there's something about him that has actually left an impression on you."

"Yes! Him taking a stand in the cafe." Inaaya responded immediately, her eyes gleaming when she looked at them. Feeling relieved that her friends won't be disappointed in her regarding this Ayansh thing finally.

Alisha and Nikita both squinted their eyes and furrowed their brows in confusion and Inaaya realised that she never told them about the incident that took place in the cafe. Not because she forgot to share it with them but she didn't know if she should've told them or not. She couldn't decide if she should've told them how nervous he looked at that moment because what if he didn't like her telling that? Even though he'll never know if she shared the incident or not. Yes, she could've easily avoided the nervous part but then wouldn't it seem as if she was embarassed to tell them that he was nervous? And it wasn't the case at all. If anything, she felt proud of him.

Nikita snapped her fingers in front of Inaaya and she blinked. Inaaya went on to explain the whole scenario leaving the part where much to her dismay she felt enamored by Ayansh Mehra.

"And wasn't that the bare minimum?" Alisha asked curiously.

"Maybe it was." Inaaya shrugged. "But he did something that he wasn't comfortable doing just for someone else and that counts for something." She added softly.

"You're weird." Alisha chuckled.

"Talk to him on Thursday." Nikita urged.

"I won't. If he wants, he can." Inaaya said with a tilt of her head.

~

"I thought you aren't chasing her anymore." Neha said wondering.

"I'm not. I'm just going with the flow. Moreover, it seems like destiny has some other plans." Ayansh said calmly as he watched Kabir and Dhruv playing PlayStation.

"Your life, your choice." Neha rolled her eyes. "Just be careful. Don't get your heart broken in the end." She warned him.

"You need to stop being critical of her Neha. You're being really judgemental." Kabir chastised his girlfriend.

"She has given me reasons to be judgemental. Rude, arrogant, stubborn, unapologetic, stuck up. That was all she was!" She seethes.

"So even Ayansh had given her reasons to be at her worst. And just because Ayansh is like your baby brother doesn't mean you'll be so possesive about him. People are allowed to make mistakes. What Inaaya did wasn't really a great deal. Move on." Dhruv tried to explain.

"She hasn't even apologised —" She tried to argue when Ayansh interrupted her.

"Neha," he urged her softly, "I get your concern but trust me she's nice. She might not have verbally apologized but it's in her actions that she's sorry for it. And even if she isn't, it doesn't matter. We're at good terms now. I guess." He murmurs the last part to himself. He hasn't yet told them all about Inaaya making weird faces since he couldn't figure out if it was something that he should share without her permission or not.

But one thing he knows is that he definitely needs to talk to her when they meet on Thursday. He has decided that he'll make an excuse how he needed to leave and hence couldn't talk to her. He's still too ashamed to admit the real reason. But he'll talk, he'll take a step because she deserves atleast that for the efforts she has put in.

"Fine." Neha sighs. "If you say so. I hope it works for you." She still doesn't feel convinced about the idea of Ayansh and Inaaya but forces herself to give a small smile.

"That's like the Neha I know." Kabir comes beside her and kisses the side of her head.

"Thank you." Ayansh smiled.

~

Thursday evening everyone had gathered in the hall to work on their model. Inaaya had already assigned everyone their work in pairs or in a trio. When Ayansh entered, the first person his eyes searched for was Inaaya and when their gazes met, she was the one who averted them. Inaaya tried to be subtle in avoiding him throughout the time they were in the same room. If they talked then it was strictly an exchange of a line or two regarding the project and she made sure she doesn't look at him at all.

"I want to talk to you before leaving." He whispered to her when she was holding the paper and he was cutting it in a specific way with the help of scissors. Inaaya didn't look up but simply nodded.

When everyone was gone around 5 pm and only they were left, Inaaya took a deep breath and walked upto him. She stared at him with a serious look and crossed arms and Ayansh couldn't help but rethink about his decision to talk to her.

Inaaya waited for him to speak for a few moments but he didn't except for parting and closing his lips like a fish. She huffed.

"Are you bipolar?" She asked agitatedly.

"Am I?" He questioned back in confusion.

Inaaya clenched her jaw. "Are you ashamed of talking to me in front of people?"

"No," he replied immediately, giving her a look of disbelief.

"Listen Ayansh, I get that you're shy — "

"I'm not shy." He defended himself, quickly.

"And I'm Queen Elizabeth." She said sarcastically with a smile and his lips got pulled down in an adorable frown. "I don't know why you're running away from me. I'm not asking for your kidney here. Yesterday, I just wanted to clarify myself that those antics of mine weren't because I'm some mentally deranged person but because I just wanted to relieve some of your anxiety and nervousness and loosen you up."

"I wasn't nervous." He mumbled, gazing down at the floor, feeling extremely self-conscious and embarrassed. "Neither do I want your pity."

Inaaya sighed and her shoulders slumped feeling guilty for being harsh at him. "I'm not pitying you." She softened her voice. "I just wanted to help you. You don't need mine or anyone's sympathy to be honest. I did notice that you stepped out of your boundaries and spoke up for that waiter in the cafe and that was commendable. I did notice that you managed to do it even when your hands were trembling and you would've preferred to be anywhere but there. I think that was brave — "

"This is so embarrassing." He chuckled humorlessly and looked away. "I should leave."

"You aren't going anywhere." She blocked his way with her hand when he was about to take a step forward. "Goodness me Ayansh, this is not embarrassing. You're shy, nervous, aren't much self confident and that's fine."

He looked at her, eyes slightly wide in nervousness as well as in awe. But it was her voice that had most of his attention. It was firm, commanding yet empathetic. It was like she knew what she needs to say with the right amount of emotions and suddenly he felt entrapped by it.

Inaaya continued to speak. "And there's nothing wrong in admitting that. Neither you need to depreciate yourself due to that. Don't want to be preachy but honestly if you can't even own up your shortcomings then how are you expecting to overcome them? If you think that I'm someone who's judgemental and looks down upon others then let me assure you that I'm not. Yes, I didn't have a good opinion about you in the start but that doesn't mean I can't see beyond it or something. People are imperfect and they strive to overcome their imperfections. You don't have to be embarassed about it. Your self worth isn't gonna decrease if you accept that you are shy and nervous. Atleast not in front of me." She said and looked into his eyes earnestly.

He gazed down at her unblinkingly. His stare intense yet soft and suddenly the confidence with which Inaaya spoke to him seemed to evaporate. The large hall seemed to be small for the two of them. She wished he would say something, break the silence between them because the way he was just staring at her subconsciously and was making it hard for her to stand without faltering. He wasn't offended with what she said, neither annoyed. Instead there was a look of reverence mingled with wonder; so tender that she could crumble, so deep that she could melt.

"Uh- " she cleared her throat and averted her gaze and he blinked. "I- I also wanted to apologise." She fumbled with her words. "I'm sorry for spilling the coffee and thank you for what you did in the library." She finally said what she intended to say since long. She looked back at him to find him looking down at her with surprise and confusion. "I don't want to come across as a hypocrite by telling how it's okay to admit your shortcomings and then be embarassed to admit my own mistakes." She blabbered. "I mean I'm a hypocrite undoubtedly but I think I delivered a pretty good speech today and I wanted it to be an effective piece, not a defective one." And then she knew that it was a terrible decision to look into his eyes, to gaze at his face. That damn face where a ghost of a smile seemed to be creeping up and eyes be gleaming in amusement.

"Would you like to say something in return?" She snapped in annoyance for finding her emotions all over the place and he was taken aback all of a sudden. For god's sake, she was here to confront him about his nervousness, not turn into a nervous wreck herself!

Ayansh gulped in worry. How did she go from apologizing cutely to being irritated in such a short span? What should he even say? Yes, I was nervous? No, that sounds so stupid after whatever she said to him. Thank you? No, that's too lame. I'm sorry?

"Don't say anything." She broke his train of thoughts and pointed a finger at him. "I'm sorry for taking up your time. Bye." She grabbed her bag and stalked out of the class, ignoring her name called by him.

"Stupid Inaaya, stupid. Get a grip over yourself." She gritted to herself.

***

Wow, seems I'm really enjoying writing the chapters lol. Anyways hope y'all liked it. Do lemme know your views and take care :) lots of love.

Vote and comment ❤️

• Thank you for reading •