"Miss, give our tickets to these two kids. I think they are far bigger fans than we are," Elora said.
The waitress looked at her. Then at the children. Then back at Elora.
"Yes Miss. Have a good day then," she said.
She watched them walk away and shook her head slowly.
"Rich people and their peculiar behaviours. People work double shifts just to afford a regular ticket and they toss away a VIP without blinking." She looked down at the two children beside her, eyes wide and disbelieving. "I guess today is your lucky day. Follow me."
At Home
Aine sat across from the therapist, hands folded in her lap, the room quiet around them.
"Hello Aine. How are you feeling about today's session?" the therapist asked.
"I am good," she replied.
"But how do you know it was family and not a friend?" the therapist asked.
"I felt it," Aine said. "I rem… embered being so cl… ose to the per… son. The feel… ing was diff… erent from any… thing else."
The therapist wrote something down quietly and nodded.
At the Airport
A black travelling bag rolled smoothly across the arrivals floor while every head it passed turned instinctively toward its owner. White top. Dark joggers. Unbothered energy that filled every inch of the space around her.
Tesni Mendoza had arrived in Paris.
A black SUV waited outside. The driver loaded her bags efficiently as she settled into the back seat.
Esmee turned to her from the front. "We are so sorry about your flight delay. You missed the premiere today."
"Do not worry about it. I watched it online." Tesni pulled out her phone. "I also brought script for the second part of The Boss."
Esmee's face lit up. "That is wonderful. We just wrapped the first part yesterday. Everyone gave their absolute best. Your storyline and script are incredible."
Tesni looked out of the window as Paris moved past her in the early light, streets she had never seen before opening up one after another.
She was here.
And somewhere in this city so was Aine.
Knock knock.
Aine rose from her bed and opened the door. Ravi stood in the doorway.
"Y… ou are b… ack. It has b… een a wh… ile sin… ce I s… aw you," she said.
"Yes. Work has not been easy. I am finalising a few contracts," he replied.
"I c… an h… elp if you w… ant," she said.
He looked at her for a moment. "Do not worry. You can return to school in about a month. The therapist says you are improving rapidly. I will also hire a tutor on weekends to help with your studies."
Aine was quiet for a moment. Then she looked up at him. "El… ora t… old me ab… out my fam… ily. I und… erstand now wh… y you were k… eeping it fr… om me." She paused. "Th… ey ab… andoned me."
Ravi's expression shifted slightly. "Elora told you that."
"Th… ank you for b… eing there for me," Aine said softly. "Ev… en though I do not rem… ember any… thing. I will al… ways rem… ember to th… ank you."
The room held that between them for a moment. Ravi looked at her, at the bandage still wrapped around her head, at the face that used to know everything about him and now offered him nothing but quiet gratitude from a careful distance.
He said nothing.
Sometimes there are no words equal to the weight of what you are carrying.
"I b… ought some noodles. W… ant to try?" he asked.
"I h… ave been search… ing for some but I had none." Her face lit up. "Y… es."
Ravi brought a small table and settled it at the centre of her room. He opened the boxes one by one and the warm scent of ramen filled every corner of the space immediately.
"I bought all the flavours. I did not know which ones you like," Ravi said.
"I w… ill try all of th… em," she said, and the smile that crossed her face was the kind Ravi had not seen in a very long time. Bright and entirely unguarded. The kind that arrived before she could think to contain it.
Even noodles could do this for her.
She worked her way through every box carefully. "I l… ove all of th… em. The ch… icken tastes b… etter than the b… eef. The veg… etable and mush… room are dec… ent too."
"Eat up," Ravi said, working through his own in quiet steady bites.
Hours later every box was empty between them.
Ravi reached into the bag and produced bottles of Soju and a box of spicy chicken, setting them on the small table without ceremony.
Aine looked at them and her eyes went wide.
"Oh. I c… ould not wish for an… ything m… ore," she exclaimed.
"T… ake your t… ime," Ravi cautioned.
Aine tasted the soju. Then another sip. Then another, munching on the spicy chicken between each glass, her eyes bright and her cheeks warming.
Shortly after she was face down on the table, entirely spent.
Ravi looked at her for a moment. Then he gathered her carefully and carried her to the bed. The moment he laid her down she turned and vomited directly onto his shirt.
"I am s… orry," she said, barely conscious.
"It is fine. Drink this," he said, reaching for the water.
He helped her drink it slowly, then tucked her in and pulled the covers over her without another word.
Next Morning
The headache arrived before her eyes were fully open.
Aine sat up slowly and looked around. Every empty pack and bottle still lay exactly where they had been left the night before. Nothing had been cleaned. Nothing had been moved.
She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and looked down.
Ravi lay on the floor beside her bed, sound asleep. His long dark hair spread flat beneath him. His nose mask was gone. For the first time she was seeing his face completely, the scars resting calm and unguarded beneath his closed eyes, his chest rising and falling in the quiet of the morning.
Aine sat very still and looked at him.
He looked different without the mask. Softer somehow. Like a version of him that only existed when nobody was watching.
She did not look away.