Wings & Chains (Season 2) Chapter - 4
Chapter 4 – The Cage and the Sky
The Aurora Café smelled faintly of roasted coffee beans and freshly baked cinnamon rolls. Morning sunlight spilled through the wide windows, catching the dust motes in lazy spirals. Outside, the city hummed — scooters weaving between cars, vendors shouting over the din.
Aditya sat in the corner, a sleek figure in charcoal-grey, his watch catching the light each time he lifted his cup. He didn’t look like a man who belonged in a place with mismatched chairs and painted mugs — yet he sat there, perfectly still, as though he had nowhere else to be.
Aarvi dropped her camera bag onto the chair opposite him.
“You waited,” she said.
“I said I would.”
She sat down, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face. “So, what is this really about? Because men like you don’t invest in something without expecting a return.”
“Not everything is about return,” he said, leaning back. “Sometimes it’s about… keeping something in sight.”
Her brow arched. “That sounds dangerously close to ownership.”
His mouth curved faintly. “And you’re dangerously allergic to that word.”
Inner thought – Aarvi
He’s clever. He twists his sentences like they’re chess moves.
“I travel,” she said plainly, as if offering him her terms. “Sometimes for weeks, sometimes for months. No schedules, no fixed plans. I can’t be somewhere just because someone expects me to.”
“I’m not asking you to stay,” he said. “I’m asking you to let me make it easier for you to go.”
“That’s still a chain,” she replied, her tone calm but steady. “Even if it’s made of gold.”
Dialogue
Aditya: “Every bird has a nest to return to. Even if it spends most of its time in the sky.”
Aarvi: “And some birds don’t come back at all.”
Aditya: “Then I’ll build a nest so it never wants to leave for good.”
Her eyes held his for a long, quiet moment. Something in his voice wasn’t the language of a businessman anymore — it was something older, something primal.
She reached into her bag, pulling out a small stack of prints. “Fine. You want to see what I do? Here. These are from my last trip — Spiti Valley.”
He took the photographs, his fingers brushing hers briefly. Cold mountain landscapes, prayer flags rippling in the wind, shepherds leading their flocks across snow-dusted slopes.
“You risked this for a photograph?” he asked, his tone a mix of curiosity and disapproval.
“For a moment,” she corrected. “A moment that doesn’t come back if you miss it. You can’t schedule sunsets, Mr. Varma.”
Inner thought – Aditya
She chases what can’t be held… and I’m trying to hold what can’t be caught.
They sat in silence for a while, sipping coffee. Outside, a street performer played a slow tune on his flute, the notes carrying through the open door. Aarvi’s gaze followed the sound, her shoulders easing.
Aditya found himself watching her instead of the photographs. The way her eyes softened when she listened. The way she leaned back as though the music was a breeze she could rest against.
He didn’t understand it fully yet, but he wanted to.
When she finally stood to leave, she said only one thing: “If you ever try to clip my wings, I’ll fly so far you won’t even see the shadow.”
He didn’t smile this time. “Then I’ll just have to make the sky smaller.”
She shook her head, half amused, half warned — and walked out, sunlight catching the edges of her hair.
Inner thought – Aarvi
He’s not going to stop. And the strange thing is… a part of me doesn’t want him to.
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