Jee le zindagi

Chapter 10

After leaving the club, Taani is trying to avoid looking at Aditya and Aditya too is avoiding looking at Taani as he doesn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. "Bhai aap Taani ko drop kar denge? Actually me Sneha ke ghar ja rha hoon uske parents ko milne" Abhay asks, "Me chhor doon tum logo ko?" Adi asks, "nai bhai hum cab le lenge, me aapko seedha ghar pe hi milta hoon, bye Taani" Abhay replies, "Bye Abhay" Abhay and Sneha give a side hug to Taani while bidding goodbye. Sneha side hugs Aditya as well and thn they are off, "Tum yaha wait karo me car leke aata hoon" Adi says a bit awkwardly and leaves.

'Taani why are you getting affected by his stares so much' She mutters to herself while she waits for him to come.

She sits in the car and they drive off, "Aap Abhay se bahot close he na?" Taani asks trying to strike up a conversation as she is feeling bored, "haan, jigar ka tukda he woh mera" Adi says with pride. "You are also close to your brother Swayam na?" Adi asks curiously, "Haan we used to be very close growing up, he was veryyy overprotective and used to spoil me the most" she says with a smile remembering her childhood, "used to?", "umm college ke baad we drifted apart, he has a lot more stuff on his plate so zyada time nai milta ab" Taani says sadly looking away, Adi curses himself for making her upset.

"Sorry" he says not knowing what else to say, "aap kyun sorry bol rhe he?" Taani says with a small smile. "Pata nai, ummm ice cream khaogi?" He says having seen an ice cream truck on the side of the road, Taani nods with a smile, they park the car on the side and Adi goes to get them both some ice cream.

He comes back with two chocolate cones, passing one to Taani, they both start eating their ice cream. "Aapki hobbies kya he?" Taani asks feeling a little comfortable with him, "Umm zyada nai he but I like singing, badminton, reading and solo traveling", Adi replies. "Have you traveled a lot? Sorry if I am asking too many questions" Taani says suddenly realizing, "I don't mind answering, you can ask me anything, as for traveling yes, I have traveled a quite good bit, college khatam hone ke baad mene ek saal ka break liya tha to travel and explore myself. Have you traveled?" Taani looks at him and replies, "not really, kabhi mauka hi nai mila", "agar mauka mile toh sabse pehle kaha jaogi?" He asks, "Kashmir, mene kabhi barfili jagah nai dekhi" Taani replies with a dreamy look and Aditya gets lost in her again but the only difference is Taani loses herself in his eyes too for a few minutes but quickly composes herself and starts looking here and there, Aditya also snaps out of his daze and finishes his ice cream. "Chale?" They remain silent for the rest of the ride home.

"Bye, see you on Monday" Adi says before driving off after dropping Taani at her house.

Sunday

Taani wakes up to someone ringing her house's doorbell, opening the door she finds her tauji on the other side, "Tauji! Aayiye na" she steps aside so he can come in. "Kesi he? How's work? Studies ko neglect toh nai kar rhi na for work?" He bombards her with questions as soon as steps in, "Tauji, sans toh lijiye, me theek hoon, work is going good, kafi achcha experience mil rha he and nahi me studies ko neglect nai kar rhi, aap betho me pani lati hoon aapkr liye" saying so she leaves to get him some water from the kitchen.

They talk about random things for a while and around 12 pm, "Lunch pe chale? Tu ready ho ja fir nikalte he" Tauji tells her, "me bas 10 min me ready hoke aayi" saying this she goes to her room to take a quick shower and gets ready while Tauji checks some of his work emails.

They reach hotel and get seated at a nice corner, after ordering some food, "Aap call pe keh rhe the na ki aapko kuch important baat karni he?" Taani asks remembering their conversation. " haan karni toh he but usse pehle me tuje kuch aur kehna chahta hoon, you don't have any pressure from me to say yes to this okay?" He says not wanting her to feel compelled to say yes, "Tauji daraiye mat na, kya baat he?" She asks, "Me aur Yash kuch dino pehle baat kar rhe the, teri aur Aditya ki shadi ki, bas ese hi casually baat he, agar tuje nahi karni he usse shadi toh koi force nai he, me bas yeh baat tere aage rakhna chahta tha" hearing Tauji say this freezes Taani for a good few minutes, "But Tauji me unhe janti nai hoon aur abhi shadi? I mean padhai bhi toh puri nai hui he" she replies looking down.

"Taani as I said before, koi pressure nai he, agar tum dono ek dusre ko pasand karoge toh hum baat aage badhayenge, shadi tumhari padhai khatam hone ke baad hi hogi" Tauji says assuring her, "If you don't mind toh ek baar use officially milna pasand karogi?" he asks, "Kya me aapko yeh thoda soch ke bataun?" Taani replies not knowing what to say. "Off course beta, take your time, aur batao, office me koi friends bane?"

After finishing their lunch, Rishi is dropping off Taani, while they are in the car ride, "Swayam tumhe bahot miss kar rha he, ek baar baat karogi usse?" Tauji says, "Muje nai karni unse baat Tauji please and woh koi miss nai karte muje, jab unke sath rehti thi tab toh mushkil se baat karte the" Taani says looking away, "do you really think your brother doesnt miss you Taani?"

Saying this he calls Swayam and puts the call on speaker, "Dad, aapki Taani se baat hui? Kya woh muje milne ke liye haan boli? Hello?" Hearing Swayam desperate makes Taani feel a little bad but thn she remembers his past behavior and feels hurt again. "You are on speaker, Swayam, she can hear you" Tauji says making Taani glare at him. "Taani bachcha kesi he tu?" Swayam asks gingerly, "Zinda hoon" Taani snarks back, "TAANI" Swayam and Tauji both say disapprovingly, which makes Taani look down in guilt.

"Dekh me janta hoon mujse galtiya hui he bahot but tu ese chhor degi apne bhai ko? Ek mauka toh de apni galtiya sudharne ka muje" Swayam pleads, "Kyun doon? Taaki aap aur aapke friends muje wapas se hurt karen?" Taani replies. "I promise you ab me kisiko tere sath ese behave nai karne dunga, please I am sorry na Shona" Swayam pleads again. "Don't call me Shona and nai karni muje aapse baat" saying this she ends the call. She wipes her tears angrily, "Taani-" Tauji says gently, "please not now Tauji, please". they don't talk for the rest of the ride home, Taani is silently crying throughout the ride home.

Rishi drops her off and goes to his meeting and thn goes to Swayam's place. "Dad, is she okay?" Swayam asks first thing as he sees his father come in, "Pata nai, you have really hurt her Swayam, use thoda time de shant hone ke liye" Rishi says, "but woh fir bhi nai maani toh?" he says dejectedly, "ese kese nai manegi? She loves you, she looks up to you the most, she respects you more thn she respects me, she is just hurt and angry right now, thoda time de use" Rishi consoles Swayam.

They have dinner and Rishi goes to sleep while Swayam is just laying down on the bed when he gets a call from Sharon. He hadn't picked up her calls since Friday fiasco, he picks it up right now feeling vulnerable. "Hello Swayam?", "hmmm" he replies, "Swayam I am sorry, I am really sorry for hurting you-" Swayam interrupts her, "its not me you should be apologizing to Sharon, you hurt my sister", "I know Swayam, I know, I don't know how to make it right, please forgive me.".

"I am more angry at myself thn I am at you Sharon, I let her down the most, I hurt her the most, she is my life Sharon and I neglected her, hurt her and took her for granted. How could I? She doesn't even want to talk to me let alone see me, apna number change kar liya he, same city me hoke bhi me use nai mil pa rha kyunki she won't give me her address, nafrat karti he ab woh mujse" Swayam says this with tears in his eyes, hearing Swayam, Sharon feels guilty.

"She is angry right now Swayam, isiliye she doesn't want to talk to you, give her sometime and she will forgive you" Sharon says trying to console him, "pakka na?", "pakka". They hang the call after a few minutes as Swayam doesn't feel like talking much.