Intertwined

Chapter 19 : Tug Of War

Mahir was ignoring Sneha like a plague. At first, she thought he was being moody like other times but no, she gradually realized he was deadly serious this time. He was again spending his time out of the house as much as possible, barely seen around her just like those ten years when he used to disappear in her presence. She was observing this for a week now. Even if he was in the same room as hers and had no way to escape, he busied himself with his laptop.

Like right that moment.

She was stood at the entrance door of the lawn, leaned against it while quietly observing him who was seated on the bench far away in the lawn, the laptop in his lap. The Chauhan siblings and their cousins were playing tug-of-war in the middle of the lawn, girls on one side and boys on the other. Their squeals and squeaks echoing in the air.

She heard footsteps from behind her and a moment later, Kabir appeared holding two mugs of coffee in his hands and handed one to her.

“Thanks.” - she said, smiling feebly.

She couldn't help it. Mahir's not talking to her, point out ignoring her had her restless. She was actually feeling — however bizarre it sounded — that the sun had lost its warmth, the moon had lost its shine and every other thing of the universe had lost its charm.

“Kabir ?” - she said in a daze, her eyes not leaving Mahir.

“Hm ?” - he replied taking a sip, his eyes on the game going on.

“Do you know Mahir's laptop password ?”

He turned to her with a heavy frown. “Mahir's laptop password ?” - he repeated incredulously.

She took a sip of coffee and nodded her head. “Yeah. See he is always busy with it. So I was thinking to change the password to teach him a lesson.” - she lied with a forced chuckle, not wanting to make him suspicious that why was she interested in Mahir's laptop.

Kabir laughed. “Well, if that's the case then you won't succeed because Mahir is a pro in these things.” - there was a proud smile on his face saying that which made Sneha smile as well. “As for the password, I'm quite shocked to know that you don't know it.”

Her forehead creased and she left the support of the door. “Means ?”

“Ever since his first laptop, he had them password protected. As kids, whenever we asked about it, he used to say that Sneha can open his laptop. So we surmised that you are his friend so maybe he has let you know.”

Her eyebrows nearly touched the sky and mouth dropped open. She could open the laptop ? But how ? Had he ever told her the password and she forgot ?

“I know the password ?” - she wondered aloud, unable to wrap her head around the newfound information.

Kabir raised his mug in agreement. “According to Mahir, you do.”

Sneha looked at Mahir again who still had his head bent down, typing continuously. Her curiosity on an all time high now.

“Kabir! Come to our rescue yaar!” - Vinod, one of Kabir's maternal cousin, shouted.

The girls team included Shreya, Divya, Disha, Rania, Taniya, Nisha. The boys team consisted of Drish, Rithik, Ayaan, Akshit, Rohan and Vinod. They were equally balanced yet the guys were struggling with the girls and the later looked on the brink of winning.

“That's cheating! We are balanced!” - Shreya exclaimed.

Kabir placed his mug on a stand and went to join the guys. “Everything is fair in love and tug of war.” - he said grinning and pulled the rope.