My brother's best friend

Chapter 19

It was 11 in the night, and the Nirmal Jyoti Society was quiet, except the usual chatter of the mosquitoes who were omnipresent in the society. Most people had already retired to bed, armed with a good mosquito replant or the old nuska of neem leaves.

The Aggarwal household wasn't any exception, not that it happened often. All the members were warm and comfortable in their beds, except a young woman, who was reposed against the sofa, conversing endlessly to a young man.
"Naina bahut raat ho gayi hai. Neend Nahi aa rahi tumhein." The young man uttered.

"Tumse baat kiye Bina mujhe Neend kahan aati hai Sameer. Aur woh mujhe phir se apni bike par bithaane Ke liye thanks. Mujhe bahut accha laga." Naina spoke softly and the young man on the other end smiled at her purity.

It had only been some days since their first bike ride, and they had definitely became addicted to it. Every afternoon, they would sneak off during their break time, mumbling individual excuses to the gang, about how they had to converse with a friend, or ask a query from the professor, the latter of which was frequently used by the school topper Naina, also keeping in mind that if used by the young man, would give rise to suspicion from the boy gang. If the weird glances from the group were not enough, the suspicious gaze of one Ponga Pandit was becoming more of a problem. Sameer was becoming more and more sure that his dear friend was sensing something fishy, and tried his best to hide his relationship with Naina Aggarwal from him.

Anyway, after the dangerously fake excuses were made, the couple would somehow reach the bike unseen, keeping in mind that they had to reach at a interval of five minutes, so as to avoid any kind of suspicion. After the bike was reached, Sameer would start it, his dear girlfriend would plop on it and, he would then drive off. Naina had to make sure that she was holding his shoulders firm and tight, given the fact that her boyfriend never tried to avoid any potholes or any speed breakers, and even searched for nice and large pebbles sometimes. Everytime the brake had to be applied, Naina would fall forward on his back, earning herself a silly and wide smile from him. It had become a routine.

As Naina finished recalling their today's bike adventure, she was suddenly interrupted by her boyfriend.
"Naina main tumhein batana hi bhool gaya tha. Woh kal mera bhai Rohan aa raha hai. Woh Dilli wala, bataya tha na..."

"Are ha Sameer mujhe acche se yaad hai. Tum bahut close the na uske, Dilli mein"

"Nahi close toh nahin, par hum ek doosre ko samajhte the... Accha Yeh sab choddo. Waise woh kal raat ko ayega aur humare Saath hi college mein padhega."

"Tum bahut khush hoge na... "Naina stopped in mid sentence, as she heard the coughing from her Chachiji. She quickly mumbled a Good bye to Sameer, and sneaked inside her room. She quickly pulled the blanket over herself and an already snoring Preeti, and went to sleep.

Sameer sighed as she cut the call and cursed his luck internally . Left with no other option, he too buried himself in his bed and hovered off to sleep.
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The next morning was a surprising one for the couple, since four members of the group were absent. Preeti was at her Nani's place with Chachiji since the old lady was extremely sick. Pandit's father had taken him to Baroda for a family friend's shop inauguration while Sunaina and Mitali were out for their weekly shopping day, much to the relief of the others.

The remaining members were in the Red Rose right now, munching on some snacks. Swati and Munna were passing the same plate of samosa to each other and both were forcing the other to eat, and the process wasn't reaching any conclusion after all, since the samosa were still untouched even after ten minutes. Sameer was conversing with Arjun about the problems they should include in the election speech, though his fingers were entwined with Naina under the table. Naina was still eating her pav bhaji, and the speed by which she was eating was decreasing more than it already was, everytime Sameer tightened his hold, or stroked the back of her hand. None of it was much help.