"I'm sorry Bua, please mujhe maaf kardo" Nandini held both her ears as a sign of apology to Veena, who opened the door for them. "Beta ek baar bataake toh jaana chahiye the na?" Rajesh also came there "Par aap please gussa mat huyiye, uncle aap bhi please, aur yeh dekho, yeh hai mera bhaai" Nandini cajoled him and introduced her brother. "Bhaai,... Bhaai aap kaha kho gaya?! {But all the while, Sid was in a nostalgic dilemma and he was not in his senses. Nandini shook him and made him look at them}, Yeh hai Bua aur uncle" "Veena Maa!....,{Sid unknowingly whispers made Veena look at him in a different way, but then he corrected it} matlab Bua ji" "Andar aao beta, aao... beto" They welcomed him and then Rajesh and Sid sat on the sofa "Veena bachon ke liye khana lagva de" Rajesh told to Veena "Nahi Kaakka, ... matlab uncle, voh hum log dinner karke aaye hai" Sid told them "Dii aap bhi na, dara diya" Shivani also came there "Pari kaha hai?!" "Hmm voh bahut gusse mein hai....{Prerna came downstairs} lo aa gayi" "Nanduuu, tu theek hai?" Prerna walked towards Nandini with a concerned face "Haa baaba mujhe kya hoga, ek dum first class" "Achaa agar theek hai toh mein teri taange thodthi hu, kyu?!" "Gussa ho?!" "Aur nahi toh kya?!, matlab tum mein toh akal nahi hai, par tumhara voh khadoos bhaai, voh bhi toh..." She was getting hyper, and while she was saying those sentences, her eyes accidently locked with a person sitting in front of her.
"Pari... Pari, yeh hai mera Bhai" Nandini nudged Prerna to gain her attention, but she was looking at him all the while.
"Priyuu zara idhar aa" Veena called her from the kitchen, and that made Prerna look sideways and then she went towards the kitchen "Yeh lo yeh chai de kar aa"
She picked up the tray and went towards the living area.
"Chai" She forwarded the tea to him "Thank You" He was looking at her all the while. "Ohh, toh aapko yeh sab polite shabd bhi aata hai!!?.... You are welcome" She mentioned sarcastically "Voh Veena Maa...(he cleared his throat)buaji ke liye tha" He said in a teasing tone "Khadoos" Prerna whispered annoyingly to herself and turned towards Rajesh to give him the chai.
Sid smiled inwardly hearing her sweet swear while sipping his tea.
"Pari, guest room ready kardo, Sid ke liye" Rajesh told to Prerna "Nahi, nahi uncle ji voh mujhe jaana hoga. I came here for a meeting and mere saath mera assistant bhi hai toh preparations bhi karna hai. So I need to go" "Hmm, work comes first. But beta kal meeting ke baad dinner yaha ho jaaye, Assistant ko bhi le kar aa jaa" He stood up to go. "Yeah sure" "Main Bhai ko gate tak chod ke aati hu" .. They both reached the gate
"Nanny, tum please apna khayal rakhna and kuch bhi chahiye toh mujhe call karna theek hai, I will be here" "Haa Bhai, and you too take care, uss Naveen ko jaldi se sabke saamne lekar aao" "Tumhe ..pata tha!?" "Haa, maine Zubin aur aapki baat suni thi" "Fine ab tum andar jaa, jaao bahut cold hai baahar"
..... After Nandini got inside the house, he opened his car door to enter, but got stopped by a voice,
"Suno.....{Prern came running towards him and forwarded a steel box to him} rasgulla hai" "Veena Maa ne..huh,{he corrected} Buaji ne banaya?" He asked excitedly like a kid
"Haa, par aapko kaise pata?!" She was amused by his reaction and asked in confusion
"I just guessed tumse toh hoga nahi, so" He again teased her maintaining a neutral tone.
"Khadoos" She again whispered and turned to go.
"Its Okay" He smiled and said suddenly which made her stop
"Huh!!?" She turned in confusion
"Nahi voh tumne sorry kaha na abhi"
"What?! maine kab sorry bola!? Aur kyu kahu main sorry?!" She stood there with hands on her hips and asked him annoyingly
"Phone" He signaled her by his hand gesture reminding her of their phone conversation, in which she talked to him rudely.
"Ohh really! then you are highly mistaken. Uske liye toh main kabhi sorry nahi bolungi, hum mein se kisi se bhi bina bataye Nandini ko lekar gaya and oopar se jab call ki toh attitude bhi dikhaya. Agar meri jagah koyi aur bhi hoti na toh esa hi baat karte, I was just being protective about her. Nandini meri bhi sister hai and rahi baat Sorry ki to, aapko bolna chahiye"
He smiled hearing her but hid it efficiently.
Prerna again turned to go, but got stopped by,
"Sorry"
"Hmm!? Kuch kaha aapne?" She smiled and turned with a teasing tone
"I'm sorry...{He again said sorry with a guilty face} Good night" He entered inside the car and drove off.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
She stood there and her eyes followed his car
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
..............................................
..............................................
A dark room with a pole lamp on the center, illuminating only that small area, where a lady sitting on a sofa. The right side view reveals that her side face is covered with her side-parted hair and her right hand is holding an empty glass.
"Manik-Nandini...." She whispers tightening her grip on that glass, and her grip tightens more with a breaking sound.
