The smile on your face
Lets me know that you need me.
There’s a truth in your eyes
Saying you’ll never leave me.
The touch of your hand says you’ll catch me wherever I fall.
You say it best when you say nothing at all.

He crooned this Ronan Keating fresh hit, and she involuntarily swayed to its lilting melody. He looked into her hazel brown eyes and she tried to fathom the depth of his intense gaze. He was on the stage, and she was one amongst the audience, surrounded by all batch mates, teachers and even the school Principal. It was class XII farewell at St Augustine’s School and probably the last day Rishabh Shukla and Rishona Mehra would be seeing each other.

They were not best friends, neither were they sweethearts, but it seemed somewhere nature had conspired to always bring them together. Yes, it was their names. That was the only factor serving as a catalyst for Rishabh and Rishona to forge an inexplicable bond, the strength of which was unbeknownst to either of them. Thanks to the alphabetical order setup for assigning Roll Number to students Rishabh was always followed by Rishona. As a result they ended up being in the same group be it for games, practical classes, co-curricular et al in school. When they were together, Rishabh though a shy guy found himself comfortable talking about anything under the sun and moon to Rishona, while she a vivacious extrovert took pride in the fact that this reticent guy would open up only to her. This was reason enough for friends to join the dots and draw out Cupid’s Arrow between Rishabh and Rishona, but both of them vehemently objected to these playful observations by friends. Both thought ‘dating’ was ‘bad’ while in school, but somehow on that farewell day things looked different.

For the first time in life Rishona found herself trying to gauge the depth of Rishabh’s gaze and he on the other hand was struggling to prevent himself from drowning in those hazel brown eyes that were watching him for a distance. The lyrics he crooned, as part of a winning entry to a competition seemed to have assumed a new meaning and each word pronounced appeared to be emanating from the deep crevices of his heart. Rishabh topped the competition no doubt, but the fact that he literally poured out his heart into the lyrics won him accolades amongst friends and the faculty. On the last day of school, everyone realized that the intellectual topper not just polished his grey matter, but his vocal cords as well.

After mesmerizing the audience with his near perfect performance, Rishabh came back to his seat and the activities preceding that were all performed mechanically. His mind was with Rishona. She however went about with the activities putting her heart into it, for somewhere in the corner of her heart she had started nurturing a thought which made her cheeks turn crimson in colour. “Was Rishabh actually in love with her? Were her friends’ right in their observation? This is too utopian to even think of? Rishabh, the studious, intellectual kinds who never seemed to think of anything but studies and maybe sports could never have space in his heart for things like love,” pondered Rishona. She thought if he exchanged address and contact number with her, like all friends were doing that day then it would be the beacon that she was waiting for. Almost everyone in the class asked Rishona for her coordinates, but Rishabh did not. And Rishona, the social star in the class had a pride of her own which prevented her from making the first move. She walked out of the school gate chattering with her bunch of buddies, while fully conscious and noticing from the corner of her eyes, that Rishabh was standing with his group of friends discussing something serious. She stole one last glance at him with the hope of capturing the image and keeping it neatly folded in a corner of her heart, as her first crush. He suddenly looked perfect to her, with the Tall, Dark and Handsome features described in the heroes of the Mills and Boons series. Rishona walked out of the school gate leaving her first crush, which she just realized, behind.

Exactly eight years after they had last seen each other, on a usual call with Shreya, her best buddy from school, Rishona, now an established lawyer based in Mumbai, heard something which made her heart hop, skip and jump with joy. “Guess what Rishona, I bumped into Rishabh at a coffee shop. The Rishabh Shukla from our batch. He looks really smart flaunting a corporate look, working with some MNC in Delhi. He was heading home from office when his car broke down, so while his driver went with it for troubleshooting he was enjoying his cuppa,” said Shreya, who was now a fashion designer based in Delhi. Rishona couldn’t believe what she heard, but she however was successful in hiding her excitement. “And he was enquiring about all our batch mates one by one, except for you,” continued the excited Shreya. Rishona thought maybe Rishabh had realized that she had fallen for him on the farewell day, so he purposely didn’t want to bring it up. Or maybe he already had a girlfriend so he avoided bringing up her topic. Rishona’s silence over the phone made Shreya impatient. “Hello are you even listening? The exciting part is coming up now,” said Shreya. “And what is that,” was Rishona’s drab response. To which Shreya said, “Well listen carefully then. I then told Rishabh that he was enquiring about everyone except for someone, and mind you Rishona, I did not take your name. I just said someone. To which I was surprised to see Rishabh blushing for the first time as he replied saying I knew about whom he wanted to ask. Isn’t it obvious that it is you because the entire batch knows we are best friends?”

Rishona could almost feel the flicker in her heart! A warm sensation suddenly seemed to have enveloped her as the farewell day starting from the crooning of ‘You say it best when you say nothing at all’ started replaying in front of her eyes. Shreya had informed her that he had also taken her contact number, so now it was going to be a wait and watch. Well the wait was not long at all, as within the next 24-hours she heard the voice that she longed to hear for eight long years. It was Rishabh and his voice sounded different. It was deep, intense and had a husky effect. Rishona almost trembled while talking to him, fumbling with words, but Rishabh on the other hand sounded confident and knew the exact agenda of the call. “After eight years you thought of me Rishabh?” that was the only thing Rishona could manage to ask him from all the things that she wanted to ask. To which Rishabh casually replied, but with a reiteration on each of the words, “Yes, I got a little late in contacting you.” From then on there were daily conversations, but it seemed that the frozen ice of eight long years had yet to be broken. Both had a lot stored in their hearts which they intended to pour out to each other, but invariably on their calls they ended up discussing friends, lifestyle et al. Anything but the turbulences of their hearts. However within a month, Rishabh informed that he will be coming to Mumbai for a business meeting and he will take a day off so that Rishona could take him around the city. He had requested her to take that day off from work, which she willingly obliged. Planning for that prized day and special arrangements were being meticulously planned by both of them. While Rishona was trying to tick landmarks as Mumbai’s must which Rishabh would enjoy, Rishabh was busy buying the most stunning solitaire that would adorn Rishona’s ring finger for life.

D-Day finally arrived. Rishona was at the airport in a rose pink casual dress which accentuated the colour of her cheeks. She looked the perfect epitome of beauty with neatly drawn kohl outlining her eyes and a light shimmer on her lips. Rishabh walked out at the arrival lobby beholding a sight which he had been visualizing in his eyes for the past eight years. Rishona looked even more ravishing than what he had last seen her. He walked straight up to her, looked into her eyes and before he could say anything Rishona found herself mouthing ‘You say it best when you say nothing at all’. It was a shy laugh from Rishabh, as he hugged Rishona and said “Those lines found its meaning in you”. The words uttered by Rishabh made Rishona feel complete, as if the questions that stayed in her for eight long years were finally answered. They had a lot to catch up on, but did not know where to start from. Rishabh suggested they head straight for lunch and then start with Mumabi Darshan, as planned by Rishona. Over lunch they discussed Rishabh’s schedule for the next couple of days in Mumbai to figure out when they could catch up again and then it was time to see the landmarks Gateway of India, Juhu Chowpatty, Haji Ali et al. Finally it was at dinnertime, the restaurant was chosen by Rishabh, while sipping her drink Rishona noticed the rock. Initially she thought she was mistaken due to the dim lights of the interiors, but a closer look confirmed her thoughts. She looked at Rishabh and she found herself melting in his intense gaze. The guy did not speak a word about love and he was directly proposing by popping a solitaire in her champagne glass. He came down on his knees and asked for her hand. Rishona did not know how to react, the crowd around her started applauding and she could only smile through her glistening eyes and nod her head in affirmation as Rishabh slipped the rock adorning her ring finger.

Both set of parents were happy about the match. And within no time discussions about marriage started. It was scheduled for the next year and elaborate arrangements were being chalked. Everything seemed perfect and rosy. Amidst all this, Rishona had once asked Rishabh that did they not need to catch up on the eight years that they were not with each other. To which Rishabh had replied jocularly, “Save all those discussions for our first night together.” Their first night was indeed going to be very special.

Post the three-day elaborate marriage affair Rishabh and Rishona arrived at the plush suite of the premium hotel where they were to start their life together. Friends accompanied them to the beautiful room adorned with red roses and purple orchids. A big gang from their school, including Shreya, had turned up for their wedding and they opened a champagne bottle raising a toast to Rishabh and Rishona! Just after they left, the big screen TV sprung into life, friends had set a timer on it to start. Images of their schools days kept appearing and fading out with beautiful songs playing at the background. Rishabh and Rishona cuddled together on the bed were watching the video with an emotional heart and misty eyes, when they heard commotion near the door. Within fraction of a second, the door was barged open, masked men with guns rushed in blindly firing at them. Just two bullets it took from the terrorists, one after the other and Rishona followed Rishabh as their souls left their bodies. And on the TV screen played the background score ‘You say it best when you say nothing at all’.