Strings Of Love

Chapter 23

"Aunty aai nahi. Unke bhai ki family aayi hui hai yaar, aise me unko disturb karna acha nahi lagta. Wo jis din aayengi mai puchungi unse." Shehnaaz replied. She had finally decided to move out of her current home but she still had to wait till she'd find a new place.

"Aunty se tu baat kar lena, lekin wo koi broker thodi na hai? Jo tujhe nayi jagah dikha dengi. Wo toh co-incidentally unke kisi pehchan wale ne tabhi kiraye pe apna ghar de diya." Bindu said.

"Meri maan, khud se pata karna chalu kar." She added.

"Hmm, lekin mai puchu kisse?" Shehnaaz understood her friend's point but she really didn't know many people around.

"Online dekhle." Bindu suggested and Shehnaaz fished out her phone, beginning with her search.

She was sitting at the counter, waiting for Amrit while surfing online for a place. It was a Friday night and she had asked her sister to stop by at Sprinkles today so that the two could go home together, at Amrit's place and watch something over dinner.

"Mai ek meeting me tha, isliye call nahi le paya. Bata." Sidharth called back Shehnaaz in the evening, after he couldn't receive her call during the day.

"Acha. Maine ye bolne ke liye call kiya tha ki, tere liye Prasad layi thi mai Lalbaugh se. Vicky ke hathon bhijwa du tere ghar? Wo delivery karne ja raha hai." She said.

"Actually Preeti out of town hai, toh ghar pe koi nahi hai. Mai aa jata hu prasad lene." He replied.

"Tujhe aane me time nahi lagega? We're about to close. Ya phir ek kaam karte hai, raste me mil. Overbridge ke paas?" She suggested, looking over to the wall clock, it was a quarter to 8 and they were strictly supposed to close it by 8 in Mary's absence.

"Tere ghar ke opposite padega na, kyu wait karegi tu? Jaldi aata hu na." He wished to disagree. Not really wanting her to wait for him, especially alone, at a place far from her home. It was not just a parcel she was going to drop, a prasad was something special. Well, also it was out of his nature.

He normally felt responsible for her safety if she was coming to see him. This was where he came from, or perhaps how he was raised. It was out of habit that he felt protective of women. If it's a friend's gathering, he'd always have an eye out for the girls just to make sure they're okay.

"Tu kitna bhi jaldi karega, iss time traffic me time lag hi jana hai. Mujhe aur late hoga usse. Amrit ke sath plans hai mere." She disagreed with him.

"Abhi jitne time hum baat kar rahe hai, tab tak toh mai adhe raste me hoti." She added, rolling her eyes at him.

"Tu na, ek kaam kar. Preeti ke ghar hi bhijwa de. Itni takleef mat le." He replied.

"Ab chid kyu raha hai? Mujhe kaam hai thoda." She tried to reason, she did have some online research to do upon the availability of rented places.

"Toh bola na, bhijwa de prasad. Mai le lunga baad me." He shrugged, hanging up.

He was slightly irritated when she said that, not that it was rude nor was it very difficult to understand if she had other plans, still he felt avoided. She was busy, she had been busy for a few days now, especially after her sister had joined the same city. He knew she'd want to spend more and more time with her sister, he knew she was helping Amrit with the new place and life but he didn't know that this would make her so engaged. Not that he had a problem with it, he'd be probably doing the same if he was in her place but wouldn't avoid her like she just did.

Or was it something else? Was she still holding up about the fact that he only wanted to be friends with her after they had kissed? Well, she could hold it up against him, she had involved her feelings into it. When he began to think further into the case, he realized they had unintentionally stopped hanging out after the day he had confronted her. It was quite predictable, the downfall. It depended a lot on how she handled his rejection and what his  relationship with her was prior to the rejection.