Chapter-5

Flashback-: One month ago

A month after the car accident, to relieve from the hurt, Navya choose to continue her studies in Delhi. If she stays in Jabalpur, she will always remember her past with Ronit. It's not even possible to meet her ex boyfriend.

Her dad was powerless to refuse Navya's request this time. It seems that her father also can't bear to see his favourite daughter cry everyday, like she doesn't have a zest for life again. Infact, Navya, whom her dad knows is a cheerful, full of spirit and likes to joke around type person. In order to see that Navya could recover like before, her dad finally let Navya to go to Delhi.

Navya stepped out of the white luxurious Audi, which drove her from the Delhi airport to an old house with ancient Indian architecture. Although the house is ancient, it looks clean and well maintained. The yard is wide, planted with various types of trees and flower plants. The house building extends to the side and rear, equipped with ventilation and large windows.

A middle aged woman somehow rushed out of the old house to greet Navya. She wears a salwar kameez like a traditional Indian woman. Her hair was in a neat bun.

"Miss Navya, welcome." The woman greeted Navya in a friendly manner.

"Miss Padma, how are you?" Navya embraced Padma, a housekeeper who has been working since the beginning of the house being occupied.

"I'm good. How are you doing? You must be hungry. It's already lunch time. Come in mam." The housekeeper said to Navya. She gently embraced Navya's waist, leading her into the house. Her driver, who had picked up Navya as well as Padma's husband from the airport, pulled Navya's two suitcases and went inside.

The house is one of the reason why Navya choose to live and study in Delhi. The antique house used to belong to her grandfather and grandmother. They lived in Delhi since their retirement until they both died.

When her mom died, her dad left her with her grandmother in Delhi, because her dad always wanted Navya continue to be raised with the love and tenderness of a woman. At that time, Navya was only 10 years old.

Her grandmother is ofcourse happy to once again welcome her grandchildren as she also miss grandfather after his death. The days of living in Delhi were the best memories of Navya. The calm atmosphere of Delhi, gentle love of her beloved grandmother made Navya feels like Delhi was her hometown even though she was born and raised in Jabalpur.

But her grandmother died when she was 13 years old, so she couldn't help but return Jabalpur and had to live with her dad and Rishabh again.

Even though grandmother and grandfather were gone, her dad still make sure that the house is well maintained by their loyal housekeeper. This house was the place of their vacation, when they miss Delhi. Now she is back in the house full of beautiful memories.

"Wow, it seems that nothing has changed, Padma. Everything is still the same as before," Navya commented when she stepped into the living room of the house.

A set of chairs and a table made of teak wood filled the living room. Navya continued to walk into the living room, which was connected to the dining room. In the living room there is also a set of chairs and a table made of teak wood. The difference is, the chair in the living room has a seat and backrest covered with soft pillows, for a place to relax.

What made the room feel more modern was a large TV, which was placed on a wooden shelf. In this room, there is a door that opens into the backyard which is no less spacious than the front yard. The breeze blew in, so cool.

"Indeed, nothing has changed, Ma'am. We still take care of everything as before. This is Mr. Malhotra's wish. I'm happy that you want to stay here again. So it's not lonely, it's not just the two of us," Miss Padma responded with a smile.

Navya smiled too. She followed miss Padma and the driver who brought her things inside a large bedroom in the left wing of the house. As Navya recalled, there were five rooms in this house, and all of them had a veranda overlooking the backyard.

This room is the same bedroom that used to be occupied by Navya when she lived in Delhi. In this room, there is a connecting door, connecting to Grandpa and Grandma's master bedroom.

Navya used to be afraid to sleep alone in this big room. Usually Grandma will accompany her until she falls asleep, then grandmother returns to the next room.

Navya stood in front of the large window, looking out over the backyard. Everything still looks the same, except for one thing. No more Grandma pampering and accompanying her before going to bed. Navya will start her new life in Delhi, in this house.

(In college)

"Navya, come with me! I want to hang out here," Sonia called Navya who was sitting reading a book in the campus library.

Navya tilted her head. Sonia, cute girl with long golden yellow hair was looking at her. Sonia was twenty-four years old, two years her senior. But Sonia was arguably the friendliest of all friends and often asked her to go out with her.

After a week in college, continuing her master's degree when Navya

was only twenty two turned out to be a problem in itself. Almost all of her friends age are still in S1 college. Meanwhile, all of her fellow students in the Biology Master's Degree program are over twenty-three years old. Not a few are married, have children, and some are even older than 25 years. For the first time, Navya thought that entering the acceleration class was not always profitable.

In the past, her younger age was never a problem, when she was in high school or during her undergraduate studies in Bangalore. Maybe because all of her friends are still teenagers. But now, her classmates tend to be more serious, and rarely want to be friends with her. Except for Sonia, who is cheerful and never takes her studies seriously.

"Where are you going? To that yesterday cafe again?" asked Navya to Sonia. She put the book, she was reading in her bag.

"No, this is something new, even more exciting, just go with my friend's car. I'll introduce you." Sonia said excitedly.

"But later, my driver will picks me up--" Navya continued but Sonia interrupted.

"Ah, just say you're with friends. Don't worry, we'll take you home, let's hurry!" Sonia said to Navya.

Sonia pulled Navya's hand, who couldn't help but come too. They walked up to the front gate of the Faculty of Biology. A metallic yellow BMW parked outside the gate honked its horn. Sonia waved her hand towards the car.

"Come on, that's the car." Sonia pointed towards the car.

They both half ran towards the car. Sonia sat in the front passenger seat, while Navya was in the back seat.

"Navya, you know, this is Rahul." Sonia pointed to the white guy sitting behind the wheel.

"Hello," Rahul said briefly without a smile.

"Hello, I'm Navya." Navya said to him.

Frankly, the boy's cold attitude made Navya a little goosebumps. Rahul's shoulder-length hair the tawny one was left untidy, a number of tattoos were visible on his stout arms. Navya's mind grew suspicious when she saw Rahul's left hand holding Sonia's thigh without further ado. "Are they just friends?" Navya thought in her mind.

"Come on, let's get straight to it," said Sonia, smiling meaningfully at Rahul. The car drove away from campus.