All is Fair

Chapter 6

Sanaa sat staring at the words on the blackboard blankly. Nothing made any sense to her. Shoba gave her friend a look. Why was she acting so weird all of a sudden? She tried to focus on the ma'am's lecture, deciding to deal with her friend during the lunch break. But 20 minutes later, when the bell rang for lunch, Sanaa just got up and left. She didn't even look at Shoba, who just sat staring after her.

Once she was in a quiet corner of the busy canteen, Sanaa took out her phone. She really couldn't bear the guilt any longer. Her whole body ached to say something to Shoba. But what could she tell her to make her believe? Shoba was still angry with Ravi. Any attempt at trying to solve the issue would only make Shoba more furious. And, she didn't deserve this pain of separation. As far as Sanaa could tell, these were the only couple who had shown even an ounce of sincerity towards each other.

Sanaa dialled Rasheed's number. He picked up on the third try.

"Yeah?" he said.

"This is Sanaa." she began.

"She's not with me."

"What?"

Rasheed rolled his eyes at her. "Your sister, Ameena, she's not with me." Then, Rasheed's heart almost stopped. Was this drama? For lying about Feroz? Was the sister going to make him feel sorry for making Ameena cry? He shrugged it off. No way she knew.

"I didn't call about Ameena." Sanaa said. "This is about Shoba."

Rasheed broke a piece of paratha from David's box. "Shoba? Ravi's girl? What about her?" David looked up. Rasheed casually grinned at him as he stood up and moved away to the corridor outside the classroom. He leant against the balcony, looking out at the college ground.

"I need you to patch them up."

Rasheed laughed. "How is patching them up my problem?"

"Listen, I know all about you. I know what you do for time pass."

"Great! So now what? You want an award for that?" he chuckled. "You should be awarded, though. I'm guessing Feroz told you."

"Yeah."

Rasheed swore angrily.

"I need you to patch Shoba up with Ravi. Can you or can you not do that?"

"Sorry. No can do."

"Well, you initiated their break up. So, I suggest you better make them a pair again."

Rasheed sensed a threat in her words. Out in the grounds below, he saw the college kabbadi team come out to practice. He noticed Ravi, their star player, among them. "Or else?" he asked Sanaa.

"Or else I'll go and tell Ameena all about you."

Rasheed just chuckled. "Yeah, and she'll believe you."

Sanaa smiled. "You of all people should know how to convince Ameena. I just have to ask her the right questions, set her thinking. Let her join the dots. And boy, you better avoid her after that because she'll be mad. And believe me, you don't want to be near my sister when she's pissed off. More so if you're the person she's pissed off at."

Tears sprung to Rasheed's eyes. The memory was still fresh in his mind. He could picture the fight between Ameena and Feroz; the one that had occurred two years back. If Shoba and Ravi's break-up had been ugly, then Ameena and Feroz's was about two times worse than that. And all the while, Feroz had said nothing. The only reason Rasheed feared being in Feroz's shoes was because he was not Feroz. Rasheed would lash out. And he didn't want to lash out at Ameena.

Sanaa checked her phone. Had he cut the call? "Hello?"

"Yeah, tell me!" Rasheed spoke through the lump in his throat.

"So, will you patch them up?"

"I'll try my level best." he growled then hung up.

Sanaa smiled. Strike one.

Rasheed gave Ravi one of his most charming smiles. "What do you want?" he sighed.

For two days Rasheed had followed Ravi around the college, serving on him hand and foot. They were seated in the canteen with all the guys in their gang. Ravi had already suspected Rasheed's intentions and therefore had blatantly ignored him. He gave up when he accidently took a look at Rasheed's smile. Rasheed just broke off a piece of dosa from Ravi's plate. His smiles always worked.

"I once knew a couple. Extremely beautiful together. They say the sun dies everyday to let the moon come out and see the world. Well, they were like the sun and the moon without all that gloomy melodrama."

Ravi shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

"Oh, I don't mean you and Shoba." Rasheed said cheekily, earning a glare from Ravi. Rasheed just smiled and continued, "Well, like all good things, this couple too had to come to an end. Tragic, really. The boy was confused, heartbroken, unhappy, all the usual things associated with a break-up. You should know, you've been through one." Ravi's face fell. Rasheed continued, "The girl, however,...."

Ravi broke in. "Yeah, the girl suffered just as much. How much the break-up broke the boy, just that much it broke the girl too. Yup, seen that in all the movies. Boy looking glum, drinking to his heart's content and regretting meeting the girl. And the girl looking very sad and crying for like four months straight."

Rasheed looked round the table and asked the boys to leave. They did when Ravi gave them a look of assurance. Ravi was about to get up too when Rasheed stopped him. "See, never interrupt my flow. As I was saying, the boy's heart was broken, true. But the girl, she was broken from the inside out. We men tend to love from the darkest corners of our hearts. And when that love leaves us, only our hearts are damaged. But women, they tend to love you from the deepest depths of their souls. And when that love leaves her, not only is her heart damaged but, her soul is also shattered. And I've seen, with my own two eyes, what a shattered soul does to a woman." The twinkle in Rasheed's eyes was gone. His eyebrows were drawn together. It added an eerie sort of darkness to his face.

A chill ran through Ravi's body. That night, all he could think about was Shoba and her shattered soul.