Aradhya woke up to sunlight and the fading edges of a dream.
She lay still for a moment, eyes closed, trying to hold onto it.
The café. Shant across from her. Laughter. His hand in hers. The feeling of belonging.
It was already slipping away, details dissolving like mist.
But the feeling stayed.
Warm. Safe. Real.
Aradhya sat up and reached for the notebook on her nightstand. A plain black one she'd bought months ago and barely used.
She opened it to the first page and started writing.
September 2nd. I dreamed about him. Shant. We were at a café. The same café I saw him at yesterday. We were sitting at a corner table. Talking. Laughing. It felt so real. Like a memory. But it wasn't. I've never been there with him. Have I?
She paused, pen hovering over the page.
Why am I dreaming about someone I just met?
She stared at the words.
It wasn't just that she was dreaming about him. It was that the dream felt like a memory. Like something that had already happened. Or something that was going to happen.
She didn't know which was more unsettling.
She closed the notebook and set it aside.
Her phone was on the other side of the bed, screen dark.
She picked it up.
Stared at his contact.
Shant.
Should she text him?
Would that be weird?
They'd just met yesterday.
But it hadn't felt like they'd just met.
Aradhya opened the message window.
Typed: Hey it's Aradhya.. how are u?
Simple. Casual.
She read it twice, then hit send before she could overthink it.
Then immediately set the phone down.
Face up.
Then picked it up again.
Then set it down.
It buzzed thirty seconds later.
Aradhya's heart jumped.
[SHANT]
Shant woke up slowly.
No jolt. No gasp. No lingering sense of dread.
Just... waking up.
He lay there for a moment, staring at the ceiling, waiting for the usual weight to settle in his chest.
It didn't come.
He'd slept.
Really slept.
No dreams. No nightmares. No breakups or fortune tellers or fading faces.
Just silence.
For the first time in months, his mind had been quiet.
Shant sat up, running a hand through his hair.
He felt... lighter.
Like something had shifted.
Meeting her. Talking to her. It had felt like exhaling after holding his breath for months. Like the universe had been holding him in suspension, and now, finally, he could move forward.
He got out of bed and went to the kitchen.
His mother was there, making tea. She looked tired. Eyes red, shoulders slumped.
She saw him and paused.
"Good morning," she said quietly.
"Morning."
Silence.
His mother poured tea into two cups, then hesitated.
"I'm sorry you had to hear that last night," she said.
Shant leaned against the counter. "It's not your fault."
"It's not yours either." She looked at him, her eyes soft and sad. "I know... I know this has been hard on you."
Shant didn't know what to say.
"Where's Papa?" he asked.
"He left early. For work." She said it flatly, without conviction. Like she didn't believe it either.
Silence stretched between them.
His mother set the teacup in front of him.
"You were right, you know," she said quietly. "What you said last night. We should... we should figure this out. One way or another."
Shant stared at the tea.
Figure it out. What did that mean? Divorce? Separation? Honesty?
He didn't know. And part of him didn't want to know. Not today.
"I don't know what that looks like yet," she continued. "But we can't keep doing this. It's not fair to you. It's not fair to any of us."
Shant nodded.
His mother touched his shoulder briefly, then turned back to the stove.
"Go. Have breakfast. You have class?"
"Later," Shant said.
She nodded.
Shant took his tea and went back to his room.
He sat at his desk, phone in hand.
No messages.
He wanted to text Aradhya.
But what would he say?
He set the phone down.
It buzzed a minute later.
Shant grabbed it.
Aradhya.
His chest tightened.
Hey it's Aradhya.. how are u?
Shant stared at the message.
She'd texted him.
Aradhya had texted him first.
He typed quickly.
Hey. I'm good. How are you?
Sent.
Her response came almost immediately.
I'm good. Just woke up not too long ago.
Shant smiled.
Same. Slept better than I have in a while actually.
That's good. You seemed kind of tense yesterday.
Shant paused. Did she notice that?
Yeah. Family stuff. Nothing serious. Just... you know how it is.
I get it. Families are complicated.
That's an understatement.
She sent a laughing emoji.
Then: So, random question. Do you know what your name means?
Shant typed: Shant? It means peace. Calm. Ironic, considering my life.
Why ironic?
Let's just say peace is not my family's strong suit.
A pause.
Then: Want to talk about it?
Shant's fingers hovered over the keyboard.
Maybe sometime. Not today. Today I just want to talk to you.
Her response took a few seconds.
Okay. Then let's talk.
About what?
Everything. Nothing. Whatever.
Deal.
[ARADHYA]
They texted for the next two hours.
About everything and nothing.
Books. Music. Favorite foods. Childhood memories. Stupid things that made them laugh.
Aradhya was curled up on her bed, phone in hand, smiling at the screen.
At one point, Shant sent: Okay, serious question. What does Aradhya mean?
Aradhya typed: I actually don't know. Never looked it up.
Want me to tell you?
You know?
I looked it up after we met.
Aradhya's heart skipped.
She stared at the message.
He'd looked up her name. After meeting her.
That's... okay that's kind of sweet. What does it mean?
Aradhya means worship. Devotion, in a sense. It's Sanskrit.
Aradhya stared at the screen.
That's... quite deep. I actually love that. I love my name now.
Well then I feel ecstatic knowing I made you love your name.
Aradhya smiled so wide her cheeks hurt.
She sent: 🥹
His response: Also, fun fact. There's a philosophy around the name. It's about being devoted to something greater. Like flowers to the sun.
Okay now you're just showing off.
Maybe a little.
She laughed out loud.
An hour later, the conversation had shifted.
You must be finding me interesting, or you're just bored, Aradhya typed.
Definitely not.
She raised an eyebrow at her phone.
Definitely not which part? Interesting or bored?
Bored. Definitely not bored. You're... I don't know. I'm invested. Completely.
Aradhya's heart was pounding now.
Invested, huh?
Heavenly invested.
Heavenly? She typed, then added a fire emoji.
Too much?
No. Just... unexpected.
Good unexpected or bad unexpected?
Good. Definitely good.
There was a pause.
Then Shant typed: Can I ask you something?
Sure.
Do you want to meet up? I mean, if you're free. The café near campus?
Aradhya stared at the message.
Her fingers hovered over the keyboard.
When?
Today? Like... this afternoon?
She typed: Yeah. What time?
3 PM?
See you there.
Aradhya set her phone down.
And immediately panicked.
Aradhya stood in front of her closet, staring at her clothes like they were a complex math problem.
What do you wear to meet someone for coffee?
Was this a date?
It wasn't a date.
Right?
She pulled out a simple kurti. Light fabric, small flower print, not too much. Minimal. Paired it with jeans.
Then she changed her mind and put it back.
Tried another one.
Changed again.
Finally settled on the first one.
She checked the mirror.
Too plain?
She added a matching watch. Small jhumkas that caught the light when she moved her head.
Then paused, staring at the small box of bindis on her dresser.
She never wore them. Not usually.
But today...
She picked a small one. Just a dot. Simple.
Pressed it between her eyebrows.
Checked the mirror again.
Better.
"Aradhya!" her mother called from the kitchen. "Come here for a second!"
Aradhya walked out, still adjusting her jhumka.
Her mother looked up from chopping vegetables and stopped.
Her eyes swept over Aradhya, head to toe.
Then she smiled.
"Going somewhere special?"
"Just... coffee. With a friend."
Her mother's smile widened. "A friend?"
"Yes. A friend."
"Is this friend the reason you've been smiling at your phone all morning?"
Aradhya's face heated. "Ma."
Her mother laughed. "You look beautiful, beta. Is it a date?"
"It's not a date."
But even as she said it, she wondered.
Is it?
And part of her hoped it was.
"Mm-hmm."
Aradhya groaned. "It's not."
Her mother set down the knife and walked over, adjusting Aradhya's dupatta.
"You look lovely. Go. Have fun."
Aradhya smiled. "Thanks, Ma."
As she grabbed her bag and headed for the door, her mother called after her.
"And Aradhya?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't overthink it."
Aradhya laughed. "I'll try."
[SHANT: THE FLOWER SHOP]
Shant stood in front of the flower shop, hands in his pockets, staring at the buckets of flowers.
This was stupid, right?
Bringing flowers to a second meeting?
Too much?
But Aradhya had talked about flowers. About her grandmother. About yellow flowers meaning friendship and joy.
And this felt like more than just coffee.
At least to him.
He stepped inside.
The old man behind the counter looked up.
"Back again?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
Shant nodded. "Yellow marigolds."
The man smiled knowingly. "For the same girl?"
Shant blinked. "How did you..."
"You have that look." The man wrapped a small bouquet in brown paper. "The look of someone who's trying very hard not to mess something up."
Shant laughed despite himself. "Is it that obvious?"
"Completely." The man handed him the flowers. "Good luck."
"Thanks."
Shant paid and left, holding the bouquet carefully.
Don't mess this up, he told himself.
Just... don't mess this up.
[ARADHYA: THE CAFÉ]
Aradhya got to the café ten minutes early.
She ordered coffee, then sat at the corner table. The one by the window.
The one from her dream.
She set her bag down and checked her phone.
2:57 PM.
Three minutes.
Her heart was racing.
Calm down. It's just coffee.
But it didn't feel like just coffee.
At exactly 3 PM, the door opened.
And Shant walked in.
Aradhya's breath caught.
He was holding flowers.
Yellow marigolds.
He saw her and smiled.
Walked over.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi." She stared at the flowers. "Are those...?"
"For you." He held them out. "You said yellow flowers mean friendship. I thought... I don't know. It felt right."
Aradhya took them, her chest tight.
"You remembered."
"Of course I remembered."
She looked down at the flowers, then back at him.
"Thank you. They're beautiful."
Shant sat down across from her.
Aradhya set the flowers carefully on the table between them. The yellow petals caught the afternoon light.
She looked at them, then at him, and smiled.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Aradhya laughed.
"This is weird, right? We were just texting an hour ago."
"So weird," Shant agreed. "But good weird."
"Good weird," she echoed.
And just like that, the nervousness melted.
They talked for over an hour.
About everything and nothing.
Aradhya told him about her classes starting next week. About how nervous she was. About her favorite plants and why botany felt like the only thing that made sense.
Shant talked about psychology. About studying human behavior and patterns. About how sometimes he felt like he understood people less the more he learned about them.
At one point, Aradhya leaned forward, teasing.
"Okay, confession time. People always tell me I look mean. Like a mean girl."
Shant raised an eyebrow. "A mean girl?"
"Yes. Like I'd take advantage of you or something."
Shant laughed. "Take advantage? You couldn't."
"Oh really?" She leaned back, smirking. "You sound very confident."
"I am."
"Why?"
"Because you're not mean. You're just... selective. There's a difference."
Aradhya blinked. "That's... actually really accurate."
"I told you. Psychology student."
She laughed.