Dharm

Its spring and I couldn’t ask for anything more. After our winter night me and Neel started to meet even more frequent, I even go to his shop sometimes to meet him. We meet almost everyday if you see this way. Weekdays we are busy from morning to night, and late night we will meet for a cup of coffee and then sometimes either he will come to my home or sometimes I will go to his or we call it a night.

He opened a local book club with some people who are into books and novels as he started selling novels in his store. Not only that, once in a week there’s a book club meeting which happens at my café. Sofa no. 2 is fully occupied on Saturday afternoon where the people meet, discuss their novels and have a late afternoon coffee.

If I see relationship wise, none of us asked whether are we in a relationship or not, but we do kiss when we are in private. These 2-3 months which I have passed, I started to see a whole different side of Neel. Either its new or it was a side I wasn’t aware of it. He is attention seeking/giving person. Sometimes he will try to seek my attention, but sometimes he wants me to get all his attention. He is still lazy as ever and I have to cross seven seas during weekend to have him bathe before we head out somewhere.

My parents are still busy with their work but now a days are contacting me a little more than before. He and his mom are having a good journey too but I am noticing that his mom is leaving the house for some days after every period of time. One of the night stay which I spent with him, during morning I came down for a tea, during that time his mom was away for 3 days to her sister’s house. And then I saw her sitting on the table having tea. I was taken by surprise but she greeted me with smile.

“I know sometimes you stay here at night with my son.” She said with a long sip of her tea.

“Yeah, we hangout and then I do sometimes crash here.” I said while taking a sip of my own as I took the kitchen aisle support to stand.

“Thanks…” I think she was asking my name.

“Dharm.”

“Thanks, Dharm. It’s good that he has a friend who is helping him to cope up and there for him.”

A friend? I think I am more than that. But I won’t say it to her right in an impromptu meet.

She finished her tea and got up to put her cup of tea in the basin near me. She washed it quickly and kept the cup in its place.

“Don’t tell Neel that I met you.”

And even before I could ask why or say anything. She took her bag which was beside the dining table and went to her room. By the time I was done with my tea, Neel came down and as asked to, I didn’t mention I met his mom to him.

Recently Neel and I went to our school just to see how much it has changed and boy it has. It always happens, when we leave some place, after a while it's more developed and have more accessories than when we were there at that time and all we feel is jealous.

At first the security guard was giving us the hard time to enter as we were neither students nor parents. And it took him a while to understand that we were alum and are here just to refresh our memories. At one point Neel was so frustrated by the guard that he wanted to cancel this plan. But he did calm down once we were inside. But we didn’t stay there for much time though. He didn’t like school time much and he came only when I gave the idea to which he didn’t object.

While I was at the school, I did see in the notice board that they still had that temporary PE teacher position vacant. I clicked the notice’s pic and sent it to Josh.

With Josh, after his apology and going back to his university to complete his grad, he didn’t contact Neel at all. He does talk to me sometimes but he never contacted Neel after that. For which Neel was quite relieved. But in our sometimes conversation, Josh did ask about him. And only once he asked did he saying anything about his apology to which when I said he is still processing it, he didn’t ask for it again.

When we came back to my apartment, Neel pulled me in a hug and then started playing my nose with his. This is one of his ways of making me initiate kiss which I happily do. And when we started kissing, it was slow but earnest. He wasn’t rushing nor making me rush.

Another thing I became aware of Neel is that whenever he is a sad or having a lot in his mind, he seeks intimacy. Which he never told me but I got it. He likes someone to curl to when he is having a lot going on and I get it because that’s how I am too.

Spring is almost over and our town is going to have a little celebration for it. My café became the official distributer of coffee and snacks. When me and my staff were done with going over all the required things, my phone beeped and I saw Josh’s message on it.

“Is spring fest about to happen?”

“Yes.”

“The venue?”

“Not decided yet.”

“I would be coming too this time.”

“Cool, see you there then.”

And I put my mobile down on counter to see Neel waving his hands from the other side of the café door. I gestured him to come it.

This time I am going to enjoy this spring fest to its best.