Raavi spent the afternoon in her room thinking. Shiva went outside without waiting for her reply. She began to think of all that he had done for her these last two days. It didn't even take her a whole day to get over Dev. Maybe she really wasn't in love with him. But how could she say yes to Shiva? With their history, one of them was bound to mess up. Shiva was almost perfect for her, inspite of everything.
Raavi sighed as she thought about this. Shiva had not only made her forget about her heartbreak, he had taken care of her and made her laugh. She'd be lucky if she were his girlfriend. Who knew one day Somnath's prettiest girl would be in a dilemma whether or not to date Shiva? Her heart was saying yes, but her brain was saying no.
"Raavi tu thik hai? Pareshaan lag rahi hai." Pari came into her room.
"Haa I'm fine." Raavi said. "Shiva ne mujhe propose kiya."
"Kyaaaaaa?" Pari jumped into bed with her to listen to more of the gossip. "Usne tujhe propose kiya? Mujhe kabhi laga nahi ki woh propose karne type banda hai."
"Direct propose nahi kiya. Matlab usne bas apni wish batayi. Ki woh friendship se zyada chahta hai." Raavi said.
"Wow Raavi. Teri toh nikal pari. Tune kya bola?" Pari asked.
"Main kuch bol hi nahi payi. Mujhe samajh hi nahi aaya." Raavi said.
"Tu dosti se zyada nahi chahti?" Pari asked.
"Haa chahti toh hu. Par... tu Shiva aur mujhe jaanti hai na. Hum bas jhagra karte rehte hai. Hum kaise karenge love affair? Mujhe toh impossible lag raha hai. But Pari, yeh do din perfect the. Sachhi. Shiva ke saath yeh do din main kabhi nahi bhul sakti. Par agar Somnath jake sab pehle jaisa ho gaya toh?"
"Agar itni problem hai toh na bol de."
Raavi glared at Pari. "Tu kaisi dost hai. Tujhe mujhe solution dena chahiye aur tu mujhe na bolne bol rahi hai gadheri!"
Pari smacked her own forehead. "Raavi, tu chahti hai usko. Woh chahta hai tujhko. Toh problem kya hai? Kar de na haa! Koi bhi relationship na guarantee ke saath nahi aati aur mujhe Shiva pe pura bharosa hai."
"Shiva pe bharosa hai matlab? Mujhpe bharosa nahi hai tujhe?" Raavi asked.
"Tera koi bharosa nahi hai Raavi. Par uspe pura hai. Kaise yaha aate hi usne tujhe sambhal liya. Waise bhi tum dono vacation vibe nahi, honeymoon vibes de rahe ho. Toh itna kyu darr rahi hai?"
Raavi considered that for a minute. She wanted things to happen between her and Shiva. Shiva wanted the same thing. Things would get tricky when they got back to Somnath. There would be their families there. But Raavi knew his family would be fully supportive. Hers wouldn't, but that didn't matter. She could manage her Maasi. Her mausapa would be happy for her.
Raavi immediately got up from the bed and went outside to search for Shiva. He was in the garden talking to someone on the phone. Raavi ran and hugged him from behind.
"Shiva main bilkul ready hu teri girlfriend banne ke liye." Raavi said. "Humare beech ab sab kuch ho sakta hai."
"Raavi??" Raavi heard Dhara's voice coming from Shiva's phone. She realised her Dhara di had heard everything. She had managed to get the family involved even before the vacation ended.
"Bhabhi main baad mein call karta hu." Shiva cut the call and glared at Raavi.
"Mujhe nahi pata tha tu phone pe baat kar raha hai. Matlab dekha tha maine par dhyaan nahi diya." Raavi looked down in embarrassment. "Sorry."
"Bhabhi ke sawal ab khatam nahi honge."
Raavi tried to contain her laugher as she imagined Dhara bombarding Shiva with questions about Raavi. His glare eventually made her laugh.
"Ae maami ki behen ki beti, kabhi toh timing ka lihaaz kiya kar."
"Sorry Shiva. Par ab unhone sun liya toh sun liya. Ab kuch nahi ho sakta."
Shiva dialled back to her confession. He wanted to make sure he heard her correctly. "Tu jo bol rahi hai soch samajh ke bol rahi hai na?"
"Shiva, aisi baato mein zyada dimaag nahi lagate. Jo dil kehta hai wahi karna chahiye. Aur mera dil kehta hai ki main tere saath dosti se bohot aage tak jaana chahti hu."
"Bohot aage...." Shiva smirked as he pulled her closer to him. He cupped her cheek and kissed her on the forehead. "Toh aaj se main bhi tera boyfriend."
Raavi hugged him tightly.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Pari shouted. "Main jeet gayi!! Thank you Raavi, Shiva! Main pure 7k rupay jeeti hu!!!" She has clicked a picture of them together and she forwarded the image to the group.
*****
The next morning before they left, everyone paid up. The people who bet on Shiva-Raavi were now 7k richer. Dev had a frown on his face because he had lost and also because Shiva had kept this from him. Rishita kept giving him an "I told you so look."
The gang left by the bus, and Shiva-Raavi returned on his bike. Things were going to be different in Somnath. But Raavi was confident that they could make it work.
