Destiny Tales

Chapter 6 : It's Complicated

Rheesa. Khushi repeats the name. Could it be the same woman she saw with Kabir the previous night? Perhaps. But why is that name bothering her? It meant nothing. It has not even been 72 hours that they know each other. Why was her mind so restless? Unable to find any answers, Khushi decides to sleep over it.

It's 11 in the morning, and Khushi decides to take a nice long nap, minus Kabir sleeping in the living room, minus all the drama that happened the night before. Khushi is still unable to understand why Kabir thought it was okay to come to her at such wee hours of the night. Khushi doesn't mind at all, but she finds it odd. There's something that she is unable to understand. Something mysterious about how she feels when she is with him.

As the day falls and the clock strikes 6, Khushi wakes up. She has been sleeping for seven hours straight. How tired was she! Famished, Khushi goes to make some coffee and toast. As she heats the water for her coffee, she discovers that she has run out of sugar. Should she go and ask for some from her neighbour, Kabir Sikand. The Kabir Sikand? She smiles. TV superstar Kabir Sikand spares some sugar to rising talent Khushi Grewal.

After a lot of deliberation, she decides that Kabir owes her one, and a spoon of sugar is the least he can offer. She smiles. Deep within she knows she could have just had black coffee minus sugar, but finally she had a reason to see him again. She quickly dresses up and applies a hint of mascara and lipstick. She smiles while doing so. It's so stupid, she thinks. Getting dolled up for what? A spoon of sugar?

As she rings the bell, she tries taming the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Her smile widens only to disappear, as the door opens. It's the same woman she saw the previous night. "Who's it Rheesa?" Kabir shouts from behind. Rheesa smiles and questions through her eyes. Khushi is suddenly numb. After a few seconds, she manages to mutter, "Hey, hi. I have run out of sugar. Could I have some? I live across. A1200."

Rheesa is warm and extremely cordial. She asks Khushi to come inside while Khushi politely refuses. Rheesa comes back with a bowl of sugar and hands it over to Khushi, who is too confused to react. She was expecting Kabir to be alone. How stupid of her. As she holds two bowls, one empty and one full of sugar, she silently walks back.

Her eyes prickle as she shuts the door. Khushi, why are you being so stupid? She almost scolds herself. Forget coffee, she is no longer hungry. She has no clue about what's happening to her. This was supposed to be her new beginning, and things have gone terribly haywire after that fateful encounter with Kabir.

After an hour or so, her bell rings. Khushi hasn't been expecting anybody, and is in no mood to entertain anybody. Reluctantly she goes and opens the door without even looking through the peephole. She is shocked to see Kabir standing there.

"I came for my bowl. Can I have it back?" Kabir asks nonchalantly. How odd, Khushi thinks. Such a big star and coming back for a meagre bowl! She leaves the door open and Kabir steps inside after a lot of deliberation. As Khushi transfers the sugar from his bowl to hers, she almost curses him for being the cause of her misery.

She turns around to see Kabir standing close to her. She is startled and almost falls, but Kabir holds her firmly. As he moves closer and takes the bowl from her right hand, he says, "Rheesa was here just to check on me. There's nothing between us." Khushi tries to hide her smile as Kabir searches for a reaction on her face.

After what seems like an eternity, Khushi says, "Okay Kabir, I need to take rest." As Khushi shuts the door after him, she breaks into a jump of joy. As Kabir walks back to his house, he looks at the bowl and smiles. It was indeed stupid of him. But it was totally worth it.