Book cover credits: @Sadiascribesx
@_blueslays_ aka Neil Birla and @_writerrohi_ aka Aarohi Goenka.
A twisted tale of two individuals who are friends yet strangers, known yet unknown, so close yet so far.
Neil Birla and Aarohi Goenka co-incidently...
"Ahhh Finally!" Aarohi squealed happily as she came into the cabin to have her lunch in the evening after a tiring shift.
Just as she sat down on the chair relaxing, she found a lunch box on her table with a sticky note on it,
"Tried making something apart from Maggie! Have a great lunch Chipkali."
Aarohi chuckled as she took out her mobile and went on to check his new messages,
"Your cousin, who hides behind the kitchen garden window was disturbing maa a lot in the kitchen today, So Maine soncha jaise apni chipkali ko handle karta hu, is Wale ko bhi mai hi karunga, and tried cooking. Hehe. Look down, I caught his picture too. "
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She smiled wide at his Chamgadar tactics, not even letting her realise she was away from him. She got used to his 'Chipkali special' messages now, anyone would ofcourse, he's using his Intelligent brain these days. Aarohi scrolled up in the chat, and read his words again, her favourite hobby now.
'Hey Chipkali, just reminding you to attend your patients, enough of sticking to that wall now.'
'Hey Chipkali, guess what, I saw you in the garden today, hiding behind the bushes. Lol.'
'Chipkali, come back home, this flies in our room are troubling me, they need to be eaten.'
'Chipkali I hope, you're doing well, cause I just heard bro saying he's going to clean the ward no. 8 with bleach powder. I'm so worried for you, my cute Gecko."
Aarohi laughed again and again and realised she was so habituated to him now. She felt blessed to have him, have him by her side always, the Aarohi who hated staying in the Birla House, now runs after her shift to spend time with her Chamgadar. She smiled as she put her phone aside, having the meal made by him. And wondered how her life would've been without him.
She seriously paused suddenly, surprised at her own question, if Neil wasn't beside her today, she'd be married to Abhimanyu or she'd be at her Goenka mansion, depressed over her broken marriage and would hate her life more than ever.
But then, this marriage wasn't something she should be happy about, she should've actually be depressed right now, over her life, over her fate. She should be isolating herself away from the cruel world and run away. She should be busy hating her sister, her ex-fiancé, but here is a different shade of Aarohi Goenka, who stays happy 24/7, who tries to crack jokes, who spends time with the people around her, and also who decreased her overthinking now.
'Wasn't she behaving like her husband?' Aarohi choked on her food, as the thought popped up in her mind. Gulping the water she pondered again, 'Did I change? If I did, then, for good or bad? And before everything why did I even change? And why didn't I realise? When did this happen? I'm not the Aarohi who stays in her shell anymore, who builds up a cage around her, as soon as someone tries to invade her space, Aarohi, who hated to open up with people could never think of laughing along with the strange homo sapiens around her. And this, Birla family? How long did she knew them? Hardly a week'.
_________
Neil barged into Aarohi's cabin restlessly and soon sighed with relief as he saw her packing up.
"Thank God! You didn't leave." Neil smiled sighing as he pushed himself onto the couch.
"Tum yaha kya kar rahe ho? I was coming home." Aarohi asked him confused.
"Me? I'm here because -" He pondered looking here and there, "Yes! Because I thought to take you to my favourite place." Neil said as if he managed to make an answer at the moment.
"Taking me to your favourite place? Chamgadar, are you alright?" Aarohi asked fakely concerned as she checked his forehead with a smug smile.
"Ooo, Chipkali! Zyada hawa me mat udo, I just wanted to have ice-cream and Nishtha was busy so, I thought to try Chipkali's company." He justified himself.
"Accha, let's go then!" Aarohi smirkingly smiled as she moved out of the cabin with Neil following her.
The car halted before a small ice-cream stall. And, Aarohi got out and bought two cold desert cones into the car.
She sat back contently peeling off the cover, breaking the ice, "So, Kya hua Aaj?" She asked him looking into his eyes. Neil turned to look at her, and she continued, "I know, something happened, isiliye tum mujhe yaha le aaye. Tell me Neil".
Neil looked down as he replied, "Vo, there is a Goenka-Birla war since afternoon there, and I didn't want them to attack you again out of no where."
Aarohi looked at him shocked at first then slightly smiling in the end. " What's the matter?" She asked again as she licked the creamy cold chocolate.
"Bro!" Neil took a bite as he continued, "It's about Bro and Akshara. They want to get married." He paused as he looked up at her silent features.
"Oh! Nice to know." She replied back continuing eating her cone and Neil just nodded in reply.
The ride back to home was silent and slow. Silent because they had to process the line, "Abhimanyu and Akshara want to get married" and also ponder over it's consequences, would the atmosphere in the Birla House change after this marriage?. And Slow because, the later they reach the mansion, the lesser, the argument they would listen.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
To, @_blueslays_,
I was the larva always inside it's shell I was depressed or content, no one could tell
I built four walls Around myself Because I was scared of the world and my self
Scared, that the world would Tear me into fragments They'd mis use or hurt me This I stayed away from attachments
But then, he came As an exception Who in just a little period of time Had earned all my attention
Did I change Or did I not? If I'd did, then for whom And if not, what's this all about?
Hey, Yes. I'm happy and I don't know why. There's no such ocassion actually, like I neither win any competition nor I did well in my career. I've no reason to be happy but still- Btw, we're in the 12th chapter of our poetry book, the 12th day of our friendship.
•°•°•°•°•°•°•
To, @_writerrohi_
There should be no reason to be happy. Happiness is what we all deserve and It's just that, you've now learnt to live your life. Thanks to your so-called Bestfriend (I doubt sometimes him to be the person you love, Is he really just your bestfriend? The way you get affected by his behaviour, the way you talk about him, the way you feel a lot for him, Don't you think it's something else?) who taught you LOVE. And yes, Time flies. 3more chapters to go and our book would be complete, thought about the title, didn't you?
Life is moving along with It's slow, peaceful pace There are no worries No more things to chase
My family, my friend, my love And I go on count I feel, I've Everything that I want
But there's a strange fear Inside me That's getting powerful Every second, I see
I hope it's just my wrong perception And nothing else Cause, I couldn't lose anything now
•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•
A/N: I'm in love with Gecko lizards. They're so adorable 😍 Neil has such a cute choice 😂❤️ What do you think Abhi and Aksu are up to? And yes sadly 3 more chapters left before epilogue.
