Rab Rakha

Prologue

Rab Rakha - Prologue

"Hello? Am I speaking to Sidharth Shukla?" She asked over the phone.

"Yeah, speaking." His voice was so firm, bold and manly. Well, how else was it supposed to be during a work day.

"Hi sir. I mean Sidharth. This is Shehnaaz, Sheena's batchmate if you remember." She introduced herself, hoping he'd be able to recognise her. She called him sir out of the fact that he was once her senior and that is how the juniors would address their seniors back in college.

"Um.." he couldn't recall. Who was Sheena? And then this girl who was Sheena's batchmate? He finished college almost 15 years ago and was only in touch with a few classmates.

"Sheena Agrawal! Ghar pe usey Micky bulate hai!" She added but wondered if she was reaching out to the right person or not because he sounded so clueless.

"Mickey! Ha, mai janta hu usey. Mickey ka naam Sheena hai?!" He exclaimed.  How could he forget that girl, Mickey was a neighbour back when they were kids. She was the cute little chubby girl in their colony who used to come to his place for tutions his sister taught.

"I'm sorry, actually kafi time se touch me nahi tha toh mai Mickey ka naam bhool gaya tha. Yes, I know her and her family very well." He added.

"It's okay. Happens all the time. By the way, aap next month 15th ko shaam me free ho? Actually Sheena, Mickey, is getting married soon. Uska birthday bhi hai next month, so I was planning a little bachelorette for her." She replied, getting straight to the business.

"She's getting what?!?!" He was taken aback. The Mickey he recalled was always a 10 year old silly girl. She was the little sister he never had and she was getting married!? How dare she?

"Yeah, aapko nahi pata tha? I thought you guys were like brother and sister?" She asked him.

"Yeah, we were. And then I moved out for work. Kisi ne mujhe kuch bataya bhi nahi." He replied, still reeling with the fact that Mickey had grown up and was getting married. Not that he had last seen her when she was 10, he had seen her a few years ago when both of them were visiting their places. Hell, both of them had graduated from the same school and college.

"Hello?" Shehnaaz called out for him because he seemed so zoned out.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"So, are you free?" She asked again.

"I'm actually not sure. What are your plans.. for the bachelorette?" he replied and forgot her name all of a sudden.

"Please aane ki koshish karna. It'd mean a lot to her and it's a surprise. Toh please aap kisi ko bhi nahi bolna, Maine bas planning start ki hai abhi, no bookings, nothing. Mai aapko location aur timings sare kuch din me bhejungi." She told him.

"Okay!" He agreed.

"Also, maine aap logo ke aur friends ko bhi invitation diya hai. Honey, Mannu, Golu aur Montu, acha Montu toh aap ho. Aap sare Sheena ke surprise ho." She informed him.

"Hm." He felt slightly uncomfortable when she used his nickname. It sounded so foreign. He preferred being called Sidharth all the time.

"Okay then." She said.

"Um, how do you spell your name?" He asked, "So that I can save your number." He added, so that she doesn't mind telling him again.

"Shehnaaz sirf naam bada hai, spelling toh easy hai. S-h-e-h-n-a-a-z. Ya Sheena ki friend karke save karlo, yaad rahega." She replied with a chuckle, it happened for the first time that anybody asked her to spell it.