Once again, they met in the heart of winter — and within her, the fire quietly reignited, now tempered with a touch more grace and the weight of growing older. He was smiling at a girl she didn't recognize… but then again, had she ever truly known him?
He was like the warmth of winter — fleeting, comforting, never staying long. She only ever saw him when the air turned cold, yet he lingered in her thoughts all year. She didn't know a single real thing about him… and still, her heart stirred at his every glance.
Was it a crush?
Love?
Lust?
Or just the ache of curiosity wrapped in the silence of winters?
She stood there watching him interact with the pretty girl, while she wondered if he even remembers her or even knows she exists, she watched him smile for the very first time, but did she knew someone else was watching her while Harshita watched Mayank?
She stood still, eyes fixed on Mayank as he laughed with the pretty girl draped in emerald green. His smile lit up the space between them — easy, familiar, like it belonged there.
Harshita watched in silence, wondering if he even remembered her… or worse, if he ever knew she existed at all.
It was the first time she'd seen him smile like that — and it ached.
But was she aware of the gaze resting on her — steady, unseen — while she looked at Mayank?
Someone was watching her with the same silent longing she carried for him.
Was it Mayank himself?
Or had the story shifted… and she just hadn't realized?