Manav

Chapter 2 - Something Happened Few Months Ago

I was in Bandra waiting at a bus stop for none other than Dev. I was listening to songs. There weren't many people around, not even at the bus stop. I was around a residential perimeter, so not many people hanged out there.

Dev came in a hurry. He might have thought that I might get annoyed again for keeping me waiting. Well, I wasn't, because I had songs to listen to. In a way, Dev trying to be on time, helped me understand about how much I meant to him.

"Hey, sorry, I c-o-u-l-d-n-t g-e-t a t-a-x-i..." Dev said panting his breath.

"It's okay, I'm not angry, chill." I said.

"Oh, thank god! Here have some." He said and passed me a coke bottle. We started walking along the footpath.

"I'm glad you called." I said.

"Well, I told you yesterday, that I'll call, so..." he said. We both took a sip.

"You know about Shlok's party?" I opened the topic.

"Yeah, he messaged me about it. Wait, how do you know?" he asked.

"He met me yesterday."

"Oh okay. So are you coming?"

" 'Are you coming', that means you will go." I said.

"Well, absolutely yes!" Dev said.

"Hmm..." I reacted.

"So, are you?" he asked. We both took another sip.

"No, I mean, you know I've left all this behind." I said and Dev's eyebrows went up.

"I wonder why you can't let go." He said.

"Let go?"

"Yeah, let go. Let go what happened."

"I don't understand what you are talking about."

"Come on bro, don't act like you don't remember anything, at least when you are with me." He said.

"What? I told you I don't know what you are talking about."

"Just admit it. You know I'm talking about her."I stopped right there, right where I was standing, and said,

"Who?!"

"Priyanka.""

* * * * * * * *

Few months ago:

""Dude, these vendors have become so stingy. I mean, consider this. This small packet of roasted groundnuts consists of only about fifteen to twenty groundnuts but the price of it is of two such packets. Damn! Nothing is ever going to get reasonable." I said.

"But still you are eating it, aren't you?" Priyanka said.

We were at sea face. I was having groundnuts in one hand and my phone in other. Priyanka was with me. She seemed a bit annoyed and worried about something.

"Dude, Piyu, what happened? Now I was hungry so cheapest item are groundnuts only." I said as I followed her towards the rocks where eventually we sat.

"Oh really? One big banana costs ten rupees, and you know what, one banana is equivalent to four such packets of groundnuts." I understood something was going in her mind, otherwise she would never blame those groundnuts for anything.

"What happened? Tell me." I said.

"Nothing has happened." She tried to ignore the topic. And I knew her very well. If she'd get irritated and worried about something, she would try to avoid eye contact. She looked at the golden lining of Bandra bay. At night, Bandra looked beautiful. I gently turned her face towards me and said, "You know you can tell me. I'm your best friend right? So go ahead, feel free." She looked at me for a while and lost focus. She was very firm on her decision that she won't tell me. So then I also thought that she needs time; so to cheer her up, I fed her few groundnuts and she smiled a little.