Shiva was still in the store when his phone rang. It was Raavi calling, but she cut the call after one ring. He had two customers waiting so he got on with their orders, and when the store was empty. He called back Raavi. Her phone was unreachable. He called her again, but couldn't reach her.
"Kya hua Shiva?" Kaka asked.
"Pata nahi kaka. Yeh Raavi ne call kiya tha, phir kat diya. Ab main call back kar raha hu toh phone nahi utha rahi." Shiva said.
"Woh apne dosto ke saath ghumne gayi hai. Busy hogi. Tu use shaam ko call karna." Kaka told him.
Shiva got back to work, but his mind kept drifting off to Raavi. Why did that gadheri call him and cut the call? He had an idea that she wouldn't be completely gone from his life in these three days. The girl was completely crazy but she was annoying as hell. He knew she would keep calling him to disturb his peace. But why was his peace affected when she cut the call herself? He was getting very jittery, and finally he told Kaka that he wasn't being able to concentrate on work today. Kaka merely nodded and told him to take a day off.
As soon as Shiva came out of the store, he called Raavi. Her phone was still unreachable. Something was wrong. Raavi was addicted to her phone and she wouldn't keep it switched off for two hours. Perhaps her phone was malfunctioning or perhaps her battery had died and she had forgotten to take her charger. She should have told him if that was the case. That gadheri always gave him every update about her life. So why not now? She could call him from Pari's phone. That's when it struck him. He could call Pari. She picked up his call without delay.
"Haa Shiva, bol." Pari answered.
"Woh gadheri kaha hai? Phone kyu nahi lag raha uska?" Shiva asked.
"Pata nahi. Abhi 15 min pehle lauti. Kaha thi woh bhi pata nahi. Aur aate hi khud ko room mein lock kar liya. Maine bohot bulaya par kuch suni hi nahi."
Something was wrong. Raavi never acted that way. Shiva cut the call and disabled Raavi's number once again. It was unreachable. He thought of calling Dev, but he wasn't someone who could handle her. Shiva looked at his watch. It was 4 PM. If he went now, he could reach by 6, if there was no traffic. That gadheri just wouldn't let him have any peace.
***
Raavi was on the bed, clutching her knees to her chest. The initial shock of the truth has worn off and now only the hurt lingered. How could she have been so stupid as to think Dev was her? After all, he had never told her so. Nor did he object to anything she said in front of his family or friends. She'd taken his silence for yes. Why couldn't he have told her about Rishita himself? Things wouldn't get so embarrassing.
She thought of all the times she told her family, Dev's family, their friends and their neighbours about how she was going to marry Dev and become a Pandya bahu. All her friends knew she was going to propose to Dev on this trip. It was humiliating! What would she tell them? The entire Somnath knew that she wished to marry Dev. Everyone had already accepted it. Dev could have stopped her when she went out making those announcements. He atleast could have told her the truth.
How was she going to face Shiva? Her first instinct was to call him but she cut the call immediately. If Shiva knew about Dev and Rishita, he would laugh at her face. He was the only person against their relationship and this information would make him the happiest person in the whole world. Everyone would laugh at her. The whole of Somnath would laugh at her.
Raavi wanted to hide in a corner and never show her face to anyone. Rishita just insulted her to her back. Dev thought of her as a sister whereas she had plans to marry him. She felt like a complete fool. Watching them kiss still flashed before her eyes. It pierced her heart every time. She closed her eyes and laid back on the pillow. She just wanted this nightmare to be over.
Pari knocked on her door. "Raavi, please darwaza khol ab toh. Mujhe darr lag raha hai."
Raavi wiped her tears and opened the door. There was no way she was going to tell anyone anything. Pari came into the room and sat on the bed. Raavi tried smiling, but failed terribly.
"Kya hua Raavi?" She asked.
"Kuch nahi. Bas sarr dukh raha tha."
"Tujhe medicine chahiye? Hai mere paas." Pari got up. "Ruk main laati hu."
"Nahi Pari. Koi zaroorat nahi." Raavi said. "Kya chal raha hai bahar?"
"Dev aur Ashish snacks serve kar rahe hai. Tujhe bulaya hai unhone. Koi game khelenge."
Raavi thought of the crowd outside. Pari, Twinkle, Harry and Rohan all knew about her feelings for Dev. Rishita hated her because of it. Ashish was probably laughing at her. Dev didn't care about her that way. She wasn't ready to face any of them right now.
"Nahi Pari. Meri tabiyat thik nahi lag rahi. Main jaldi so jaungi."
Suddenly Twinkle came to her room. "Raavi, Shiva aaya hai. Tere baare mein puch raha hai."
Raavi suddenly felt her heart jump and her energy returning. She rushed out and ran outside to find Shiva waiting for her in the living room. Without wasting another second, she ran into his arms. Shiva almost lost his balance because of her force. Slowly his arms went around her. The others just stared in astonishment. This wasn't a usual Shiva-Raavi interaction.
