Forever yours

The Heartbreak

Part 10

Naina sat on the bus with Swati; however, her gaze was fixed straight ahead and mind was recapitulating the happenings of the morning. She had already summarized everything to Swati, who at present was unsure about how to support her friend. She decided that whatever Naina might say about forgetting Sameer and her feelings for him, she still loved him and would continue to do so. Nevertheless, the best course of action in the current scenario was to remain silent and let her bestie absorb the feelings, only time would heal and decide the course of future.

A moment later, Sameer entered with a swag in the same bus with his suitcase, followed by MP. Instantly his gaze settled on Naina. He knew that she felt him like always but was in the mode of denial about their strong emotional connection. He was happy and dejected at the same time.

He took the seat right in front of her, same as that one during the outbound journey. His side of the window was already open, which reminded him how Naina had let go of her breath of freedom just to see him smile when his hair flew in the wind. Her selfless love and devotion towards him had been evident in such tiny gestures. Now it was his turn to reciprocate them & assure her slowly and steadily that it was never one-way, always two-way, although he realized it a bit late!

He silently pulled the window close towards him letting the fresh breeze calm her nerves. She did not oppose, restrain, or react but he knew that she understood. He settled down too as the bus started, simply reveling in the feeling of her proximity. This silent exchange was noted by three pairs of eyes (SwaMunDit).

Chachaji & Preeti were waiting at the school gate to pick up Naina. The moment Preeti saw her, she squealed in delight, ran up to her & squeezed her in a bear hug as if the sister-cum-friend hadn't been gone for four days but rather four years. She had expected the same excited response from Naina but didn't get it & instantly realized that something was amiss. Her eyes darted to Swati to ask as to what was wrong with Naina.

Chachaji came up to the girls: Naina beta, kaisi ho tum? Trip kaisi rahi?
Naina pretentiously: Main theek hoon Chachaji, trip bahut achcha tha, humne bahut maze kiye. She hoped that there would be no more questions as she wasn't in the mood of confrontation, but trust Preeti to be a pest at such times.

Preeti: Naina, Mujhe sab kuch jaanna hai. Tum log kahan gaye, kya kya kiya, kya kya khaya, kahan kahan ghume aur jo kuch bhi wahan hua woh sab kuch!

Chachaji: Preeti, Naina wapas aa gayi hai! Jo bhi baatein karni hai, ghar chalke kar lena! Dekh nahi rahi ho ki Naina kitni thaki hui lag rahi hai! Ghar chalkar aaram se baat kar lena!

Chachaji collected her bag and the three left in an auto. Swati too was about to leave in the auto with her dad but not before she gave death glares to SMP.

Sameer's home:
Sameer had not spoken a single word since after leaving Naina's room. MP knew something major had occurred between the two, but what exactly was unknown. They came to drop him home but also rather prod him into revealing all that he was bottling up inside.

Finally, after much prodding and coaxing, Sameer summarized the conversation between Naina and him, cleverly leaving out Arjun. MP were not sure what to do, how to advise their friend and how to bring everything back on track. The only sure thing was that Sameer loved Naina immensely and was really sad about her breaking up any friendship with him. Sameer would not survive that.

Just then Nanu walked in and was delighted to see his beloved grandson back.

Nanu: Sameer, tu aa gaya! Tere bina toh ghar bilkul suna ho gaya tha! Arre Rahu Ketu bhi yahi hai... woh bhi boriya bistra samet, lagta hai ab tak ghar nahi gaye...Lagta hai tum donon ko godd hi lena padega, saara waqt toh yahi rehte ho, tumhare ma-baap toh jaldi hi tumhe bedakhal kar denge...
All three smiled at Nanu's teasings. But Nanu instantly realized that the trio was not their usual.