Jab Kuhu Met Jug

The First Decision

"Hey Jug!" Kuhu exclaimed as she skipped into the room. "How are you?"

Jug looked up amused and raised his eyebrow at her antics. Her enthusiasm and happiness were contagious and he ended up grinning back at her.

"I'm very well thanks. But there's no need to ask how you are. Everything is visible on your face!"

"I'm amazing! Brilliant! Fantastic!" she replied as she bounced into her usual seat on the sofa. "Are there any more adjectives?"

"Crazy?" he joked.

"Very funny!" she shot back. "Before we start, tell me, did you scold my husband?"

Jug shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He thought back to the previous week. Did he say too much? He just told him to listen and talk to her. Maybe his tone was too harsh.

"Erm... I did," Jug confessed, grimacing at her. "Everything I said was true Kuhu! But I had no business in talking to him about you. I'm sorry!"

"Relaxxxx!" Kuhu soothed him with a smile. "Thank you for doing that for me. Thank you for being on my side!"

"You're not angry?" Jug asked warily.

"Not at all!" she answered. "In fact, I'm happy. It felt nice to have someone having my back. Honestly, I don't need anyone to take my side. I can do that myself. But when someone does it anyway, it feels special."

They smiled at each other. Over the last few weeks, they had begun to form a beautiful platonic relationship based on understanding. To Jug, Kuhu was the misunderstood girl with insecurities bubbling to the surface; insecurities which could easily be erased with a few words of love and a few actions of support. Normal girl problems. Normal girl solutions. In fact, he had started feeling a little protective over her. Like he wanted to cover her in bubble wrap so no bouts of bad thought could harm her. And to Kuhu, Jug was the fairy godfather she needed when she was at her lowest. She asked for help and he appeared and he slowly eliminated all of her dark clouds of thought, making way for blue skies and sunshine. He really was the best. She could see parts of Nanno in him.

"So you wanna tell me what happened to get you in such a chirpy mood?" Jug asked with a smile.

"Well, after some time after I left from here last week, I got a text from Kunal asking me to meet him at a resort. He had booked out the whole poolside so we could talk without any interruptions. I did as you said. I pretended he was you and told him everything from the very beginning. I told him everything. My grievances. I confessed about all my wrongdoings and he listened...."

*FLASHBACK*

Kuhu had just finished what she had to say. They were sitting at the poolside cabana with a table between them. Her hands rested on the table clasped together as if making a silent prayer that he wouldn't explode at her. There was a moment of silence before he spoke.

"Come here," Kunal said softly, extending a hand towards her.

When she hesitated, he beckoned her again with his outstretched hand. Kuhu slowly stood up and placed her hand in his. She moved around the table to his side, where he pulled one of his legs up onto the upholstery and leaned against the arm rest. He manoeuvred her to sit between his legs, resting her back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. They sat there in silence. There was a light breeze, causing her curls to wave slightly and she shivered, making him hold her tighter.

"You know what Kuhu," he began softly. "You and I, we're exactly the same. We're not perfect. We have tunnel vision. We go after what we want without thinking about anything else. We love our families so much that we go to any lengths for them. And sometimes that makes us misunderstood. Sometimes it makes us the bad guy. Sometimes it makes us easy to be manipulated. I've been where you are and you've been where I am."