10-07-2025, 11:33 AM
The air.
Priya walked into the kitchen without removing her sandals.
Her anklets didn’t jingle.
She didn’t hum, didn’t speak, didn’t look over her shoulder.
Ravi stood near the shoe rack, unsure what to do.
Part of him wanted to speak.
Say sorry, or was that wrong, or did I do something stupid?
But the words wouldn’t come.
His throat felt like it had closed around them.
From the kitchen, the sound of water.
She had turned on the tap.
Clatter of two cups. A spoon.
The faint click of the stove.
Tea.
She was making tea.
He watched from the doorway, half in, half out of the hallway.
She moved without pause.
Without effort.
Her fingers moved precisely, like they were trying to forget they had ever touched him.
- o -
Priya walked into the kitchen without removing her sandals.
Her anklets didn’t jingle.
She didn’t hum, didn’t speak, didn’t look over her shoulder.
Ravi stood near the shoe rack, unsure what to do.
Part of him wanted to speak.
Say sorry, or was that wrong, or did I do something stupid?
But the words wouldn’t come.
His throat felt like it had closed around them.
From the kitchen, the sound of water.
She had turned on the tap.
Clatter of two cups. A spoon.
The faint click of the stove.
Tea.
She was making tea.
He watched from the doorway, half in, half out of the hallway.
She moved without pause.
Without effort.
Her fingers moved precisely, like they were trying to forget they had ever touched him.
- o -
.