Chapter 5.

"Everything's all right?" My brother inquired as he observed me through the large mirror he bought, even after I denied it. He said it cost cheaper than he presumed.

"Yeah." I stuttered, tying my braided hair.

"Is something on your mind lately?" He added, eyeing me mysteriously as I turned around to assist him. He had been keeping an eye on me like that for the last few days.

The conflict between us passed long ago, right on the day when I started waiting for Naksh. But we still faced distance.

"No. I was just thinking of buying some jasmines on our way home." I responded, starting to wipe the table next to him.

"For your hair?" He sounded stiff yet gentle.

"Yeah. Papa used to buy them for Ma. It made her hair look more beautiful." I snubbed his poking eyes as he retained them on me.

"Okay. They will look wonderful in your hair as well." He added as he wiped the last table and flipped the chairs on it. "By the way. You started smoking again?" It was like he was interrogating me.

"Yeah. I umm, I don't know why?" I had to cancel my eyes from his poking glance when he boomed. "You have to stop thinking too much. You were fine and suddenly you started smoking again."

His demanding tone advanced to an anxious one. It hurled my stomach. "Did something happen a few days back?"

"No! Everything is fine. I was just thinking about turning our café into a small restaurant as we were planning. Turns out it is a lot tougher than we assumed."

"Tashi?" He paced towards me, raising his arm to my face when I strode back, avoiding his grasp, and snapping at him. "I told you everything is fine! You don't have to worry about anything!"

The distance between me and my brother seemed to be widening, which I thought would never occur.

It was my fault. It was not necessary for me to react distraught on any occasion.

Again, we quietly bought vegetables and jasmine and dined in silence, but when it was time for him to sleep, he said something; it triggered me. "You're not alone, and it's definitely not your fault."

It was the identical night again. The dazzling moon glimmered above me, quietly under the composition of the sea waves.

It hadn't rained for more than a few days, which meant it will soon.

I lighted the cigarette, bringing it close to my lips, sitting alone on the warm sand, again. "It calms me down." My father used to say.

He'd smoke whenever he was troubled. And my mother hated the smell of tobacco and scolded him every day for it.

But she also knew his husband needed something to soothe him. Thus, I think he shared that habit with me. The only difference was, I didn't have my mother to scold me. Or anyone else like her.

I didn't know why I assumed I could have some warmth, but when a few days back, he vanished. I realized that I had to live with my current situation for the rest of my life.

That having hope was useless.

But I did not come to that conclusion that effortlessly. I had to, in the end, accept it.

That day when we were so close to crossing the boundary, he stopped and rushed back home.

I was left perplexed. I thought he might be shy. I thought of many reasons, many excuses, but with every passing day, they diminished and left me blaming myself.

I thought I might have done something which I didn't realize and might never know why he chose to cut our link.

"I didn't realize you smoke?" A familiar voice disrupted my thoughts.

I turned around and saw him standing with a lenient grin on his face.

My heart dropped a beat. My breaths started to tremble, and I froze in my spot. It was Naksh.

"You should not smoke." His composure was astoundingly tranquil as he added. "It's not good for your health."

Gingerly, he sat beside me, fixing his glance at the moon as he continued, "How are you?"

"How am I?" I jolted, adding, "Where have you been?" Writhing to remain poise against my dwindling self, I regarded his reply. "I was busy."

I sought to ask him many questions, but I decided not to.

I nodded my head, fretted in emptiness, gazing at the sea once again. It had become my habit. "I told you not to look at the sea. Look at the moon instead."

"As if anything is going to change." I scoffed, coyly, calling for his eyes at me. "It will. Only if you wish to."

Strained, I replied, "Wishes are never enough. It should be written in your fate. Mine seems not to have such a wonderful page."

"Your hair. They look good." He stuttered, raising his palm to my hair when I yanked away, denying him to reach me or to look at him.

"Jasmine. Your hair looks more beautiful with them." I watched his hand resting on the sand, playing with it as I responded. "Hmm."

"But why Jasmine?" He raised a question again as I muttered, gazing again at the sea. "My mother used to like jasmine."

"She used to braid her hair?" He asked further, while his tone remained similar to mine. "She must have been as beautiful as you then."

"What were you busy with?" He swiftly slumped his words at my question and paused for a while, making me raise my eyes at him.

I anticipated seeing a bizarre expression form on his face. He was thrashing with something inside his head.

"It's okay if you don't wish to tell me." I crooked back to the sea, clenching my jaw.

"No! I umm, I was busy thinking." He gasped, making me invested in his next words. "About you."

I flinched back at him and asked. "About me?"

Waiting for his words, I stared at his dry lips. He was struggling to form words; I could see his lips assemble back as I asked again. "What about me?"

I didn't understand what was he trying to say or do. So, I asked. "Why did you leave that day? Like that?" I was not angry, but muddled but I didn't let it show on my face.

I just wished to be clear, of what was to take place between us.

"I feel like I did something," I added, peering through his shunning eyes as he stuttered. "You didn't. It was me." He retorted with the same sentiments as mine. Calm yet tense.

His eyes were coy and aloof, fluttering as he bit his lips. The serenity in his posture has diminished.

"If you don't want to answer any of my questions. It's okay. But at least tell me that you don't wish to." I responded calmly to his distant behavior. It was making me jittery.

"It's – it's not like that. It's just –" He fumbled and as I added, "What?"

He gasped, clenching his eyes, before he asked, "Have you heard about the rumors of sea people?"

His question jumbled to me, yet I responded. "Yes. Why?" My composure remained still and worried while his composure started to deteriorate more and more. "Do you believe in them?"

"No." I watched him clench his jaw, unable to read his emotions anymore.

"What if they are real? What if as they all say they are real? Everyone thinks they are immoral. Would you run off if you see one?"

"Yes! Listen, I don't understand what are we talking about here." He concerned me, but he remained cemented on his question. "Just answer my question. Fixed, he added, frustrated.

"Yes, I would run. Because I have never seen one. But I would not assume that they all are bad. Just like humans. There is good and evil. I cannot just claim that every creature who exists beside us is bad. Even if they do exist."

His emotions altered once again.

His eyes softened; his features soothed but his tone still trembled. He looked defeated. His pitch sounded wavy, affectionate, and helpless as he snickered. "That's why."

"Naksh, what are we talking about?" I asked, puzzled by his peculiar reaction.

Then he abruptly grasped my palm, softly leading me to his chest. To his heart. "That is precisely the reason why I needed time to think."

"You are breaking my beliefs. You – you are different, just as I thought."

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I hope you liked it.

---- Love, author! ❤