She to Gwalior, him to Nawanagar. She was interested in going to a design school, he was ready to pursue anything as long as they offered Polo infrastructure, which left him with Maan bhai’s alma mater in the UK.

He knew that time of temporary separation was a while away, but Samarth had learnt early on to think, anticipate, prep and make sure he was ready to bend with the winds or turn and fight back if he could — to make life easy for everybody involved.

Now, as autumn was bidding goodbye to the hills and the Himalayan ranges cocooning them began to freeze with icy trails, Samarth absorbed the deep biting breaths and tried to finish his Geography homework.

He sat cross-legged on their spot, the fencing breaking up the view in front of him, the grass chilled under him.

He made a mental note to start bringing a blanket for Ava.

He could manage this with his full-length woollen pants, she wore skirts.

Samarth glanced down at the homework — Topography map plotting.

He sighed, string in hand. He was unsure why he needed a string to measure the distance between two places on a map when he already had a ruler to do that!

For this very reason he had come close to flunking the Geography unit test. It had been abysmal, so much so that he had been ashamed of even telling his Papa.

He had never been ashamed of telling him anything.

“What’s my bae doing?!” Ava tumbled down over his hunched shoulders, pushing him into the homework he did not understand one bit of.

“Don’t call me that,” he grumped, putting his pen down between the pages and snapping the book shut.

Samarth reached back and pulled her in front, holding her sideways in his lap, bag and all.

He pushed her hair off her face and stamped his mouth on hers.

She wound her arms around his neck and straddled him, opening her mouth and kissing him back.

Her lower body smacked over his, and she moved.

She had learnt to do that recently, and he hated as well as loved what it did to him.

“Somebody is on fire today,” Ava sing-songed, pushing back.

“I hate Topo!” He ranted.

“What’s to hate?” She pulled his cheeks. “You just have to create a mind map of the symbols, liken them to something interesting, and remember their names.”

He glared at her — “Don’t be all perky about it. Logos and symbols are your thing.”

“What’s your thing then?”

“You,” he smirked.

“Try and think about Topo half as much as you think about me and maybe it’ll be your thing too,” she flicked his forehead.

“Don’t stress me out, Ava.”

She gave him a soft, knowing smile, then leaned in to tenderly kiss his cheek — “You’re not as bright as they say you are. Come to me, I’ll teach you.”

That brightened some of his glumness. Learning Geography from Ava had two benefits — 1. Actually learning Geography and 2. Officially spending time with her in the main campus area.

“If you insist…” he tried to play hard-to-get. She grabbed his throat in both hands and shook it, making him sputter. He had also started sputtering and snorting like her in these months.

“Today I have practise in the evening. Come tomorrow to my room after 8.”

“Room? I thought we’d meet in the library.”

“Why? Are you scared of being alone with me?”

He kissed her jaw — “ Very . What if you eat me? And… why would we be alone? Where’s Kresha and Kirti didi?”

“She is leaving for her one last hurray this weekend before they ban the 10th standard folks from leaving school until boards. Kirti didi is obviously going with her. So it’s just you, me and lots of topo maps tomorrow!”

He sighed. “I’m not here tomorrow. I’m going home.”

“You’re going home and you didn’t even tell me?” She pulled back, brows drawn together. Samarth ran a thumb over that line between her perfect eyebrows. She smacked his hand off — “How long are you going for? Is it an emergency? How is your Papa? Is it your Dada Sarkar…”

“Ava, Ava, Ava,” he got her to stop.“Everybody is fine. My Papa is going to Antarctica for an expedition. Remember I told you? I tried to send his letter?”

“And he caught you and took your case,” she giggled. Of course she loved that story.

“Yeah. I am going to see him off. I’ve applied for one day’s leave with Dada Sarkar’s permission.”

“You didn’t go to see him off when he went to America last to last month…”

“Yeah… this time it’s a trip that he didn’t want to take. Antarctica is dangerous. I mean, he is not going to do any dangerous work but it’s something that bothers him, to leave me like this. He has never left me and gone on this voyage again after my mother left.”

“He used to go before that?”

“Twice. He stopped because he worried that if something happened, I would be left all alone. Nawanagar would be left without a steady king.”

“Hmm…” she circled her palm on his chest. She didn’t realise it but she always did that when she was nervous or thinking or just lost in thought. Her hand would find his chest and keep running there in circles. She didn’t know it she did it. And she also didn’t know how it soothed him.

“You should go. Put him at ease,” Ava finally met his gaze and smiled. “Harsh is also going with you?”

“No. He has an exam tomorrow so he will be giving it from here only.”

“Ok then!” Ava dug her knees in the grass by his lap, ready to get up. “We start our Geography tuition day after tomorrow."

Samarth grabbed her back and pulled her mouth on his for another kiss.

“Umm…” she smacked his shoulder. “What was that for?”

“You owe me two,” he smirked. “Remember?”

“One. I owe you one kiss because yesterday before leaving you gave me one extra kiss.”

“Who’ll count the interest?”

“100% interest?”

“That’s my interest rate.”

Her eyes narrowed — “I don’t like this ruthless businessman-type thing you do!”

“Oh but I did warn you, Ava — I’m a Gujarati, I will keep count and collect interest,” Samarth smirked, closing his mouth over hers and moving her slowly over his body, letting the cold winds slow down around them as he coaxed her to kiss him, surrendering his tongue to hers.

In their months of dating, they had practised and learned a lot of different types of kisses, even Googled some together, practised, then laughed at those that didn’t work quite as well as they were portrayed to.

This one, this one was his favourite. Ava kissing him, paying up her debt.

When they parted, her peppermint lip balm had transferred onto his mouth, leaving his skin feeling cold and tingly. Samarth rubbed it evenly over his lips — “All girls use strawberry and cherry and all that, you use peppermint…”

She stilled in her pursuit of pulling the said lip balm from her pocket. Then turned scary eyes at him. This was another thing that had happened. At one point those scary eyes that just made him laugh and push her head away, now actually did frighten him a little.

“All girls?” Ava pushed his chest until he thudded back on the field, staring at her with amusement and horror. “ All girls? How many girls have you kissed to know they use strawberry and cherry?”

“It was…” he swallowed. “A comment…”

“A comment?” She scowled.

“A comment,” he nodded, the grass freezing in his hair.

“Listen, Samarth,” she slapped her hands on either side of his head. “You said a long time and I am adding onto it — nobody else.”

“Ever?” He cocked an eyebrow. Of course there would be nobody else. It was a no-brainer for him, even at this age.

“No, after five years it’s allowed,” she flicked her ponytail back from her shoulder. Samarth grabbed her and turned until she was lying beneath him — “Nobody. Ever.”

“Uh-huh?” She wriggled her head. He pushed his palm between her head and the freezing grass.

“Uh huh,” he asserted. “You are my girlfriend now, and you are going to become more and more as time passes. Nobody ever again. Not in five years, not in fifty.”

“Think carefully. You won’t get strawberry and cherry lip balms.”

He smirked — “Peppermint is good enough.” And closed the gap between their mouths.

————————————————————

“Hey, I just landed, running to the private airfield now,” Samarth informed into his phone as he dashed down the commercial tarmac. The officers on duty saw him, recognised him, and immediately let him walk into the airport.

“How are you going?” Ava garbled. “Nobody knows you came, right?”

“I’ll take a rickshaw…” he nodded at everybody who stopped to greet him — Police officials, airport officials, citizens who recognised him. He slipped his phone between his ear and shoulder, folding his hands as they folded theirs.

“Like a common citizen? Are you not famous there or what?” She taunted. “Huh… all big talk here, Kunwar Samarth Singh Solanki.”

“I get by,” he smiled, bending down to touch the feet of Santram Kaka, one of the oldest rickshaw drivers he knew who delivered fresh produce to the palace every single day.

He had already called him to the airport.

The man had abandoned his rickshaw outside the main entry and come inside to pick him up.

“Ok, Ava, I got it. I’ll call you later?”

“Sure, bae.”

“Don’t call me that.”

He ended the call and smiled at Santram Kaka — “ Kem chho, Kaka [6] ?”

“ Ame toh majama chhe, Kunwar, pan tame Papa jeva banta jao chho [7] ,” he grabbed both his shoulders and patted. Samarth couldn’t hold the proud smile that took over his entire face. To be compared to his father, even if physically, was the greatest achievement of his life.

“ Lamba bi thayi gaya chho!” He shook Samarth’s arm. “Papa jeva patla na reta. [8] ”

Samarth laughed. “ Ek mahino mahal maa jhamis toh fuleene fadko thayi jais! [9] ”

“ Maara lavela shaak khaso toh nayi thao… have halo, Rawal nikdi gaya chhe. [10] ”