Meant to be

Chapter 3: You and I is now a thing

When does that magical shift happen? When is it that two individuals are together seen as one entity. Like a gentle wave turning over, Sidharth and Shehnaaz became an entity. In their minds, in the mind of the other. Even before anyone could ponder over what constitutes their relationship friends? Mentor, crush? Siblings? Even before all that for the house and for the people watching them on television they were an entity. Sidharth being the home body he is took naturally to embodying her presence because it came naturally to him. Being around her seemed like an extension of having the loving crew of women around him. He ofcourse did not consider these things, sometimes love hits you like a thunderbolt and you work your way backwards to a relationship, sometimes something nestles itself in your heart and starting slowly warming itself up changing you as you go along and you don't realize it till the whole being is aflame and lit with the ambers of the person who is now central to the flames and the fire and that very same person is also central to the relief from the flaming fire.

As they were getting ready for the first weekend ka vaar, Sidharth was nonchalantly looking at all the girls who were eager on getting extra dressed for the shoot. He noticed that Shehnaaz wore a pretty salwar suit and still managed to glow inspire of the lack of 'designer' or 'stylist' touch to it. Again it reminded him of his sister Preeti and his mum.

She was always one of the first to get ready and was nervous at the same time excited about meeting Salman Khan. She admiringly looked at Sidharth, through the course of the past few days she got to know actually what a big name Sidharth was, but it was like people were talking of someone else entirely. He was so humble and for the lack of a better word 'normal' never once he threw around any fo his achievements or never name dropped. Though she initially felt attracted to Paras and she would here and there spend time with him for some reason she found herself gravitating towards Sidharth. While Paras was busy in  consolidating his his game strategy she noticed that sidharth was casual yet very deliberate in the way he went about understanding the game and not rushing into things. She liked that he never treated her as somebody who was naïve or that he never talked down to her. As she was getting ready he came up to her and looked at her Through the mirror and said " haye haye aaj to aap extra khoobsurat lag rahi ho!" To which she quipped "abay bohot buri tarah se phatti hai. Kya pata aaj pehli aur aakhri full wkv ho!" " matlab khel shuru honay se pehle hi maidaan chodna padaa" She noticed that his expression dropped for a quick flash before He shrugged and turned away.

Finally the shoot for the weekend episode had started and everyone was eager to get feedback from Salman Sir . The way he interacted with Shenaazit was very obvious that she had warmed the heart of the audience. Sidharth was so pleased with the feedback that he got and for some inexplicable reason he was so relieved with the way  sir Interacted with Shehnaaz. While He had said that her best connection was with Paras in the house for some strange reason as she moved to sit with him in the couch he felt a twinge of something. He did not want to get distracted by anything at this point of the shoot so he was successfully able to push it to the back of his mind.

At one point during the shoot when Salman Sir spoke about what Paras had said about the kiss that burned 800 cal she in embarrassment involuntarily turned to him and caught his eye. She was not prepared for the piercing look he had for her. His face was absolutely expressionless yet his eyes spoke volumes to her.She quickly turned away because she did not have the wherewithal to deal or process what that look meant.

Siddharth noticed that she was clearly very attracted  to Paras and that she was genuinely fond of him. He was a bit concerned for her because he had noticed how Paras was playing a very smart game by keeping all his options open. Later on during the episode Salman Sir asks both the Sidharth to come to the fighting ring. At this point Shehnaaz gets very agitated that the whole house seemed to gang up on Sidharth day. When she spoke to everyone she understood that he was clearly in the wrong  so she took him aside and spoke to him. Sidharth was watching all of this very carefully and truth be told he was very taken aback at the maturity with which Shehnaaz was able to speak with him and make him understand. After she spoke to Dey she quickly scurried up to Sidharth and gave him A bear hug and said "arre chak de phattey! Shabaash mere sher! Medal leke aya mera yaar! Medal ke saath dil bhi jeet liya tunay!"

Sidharth who never liked to give his cards away did not want her to see how pleased he was that she would say these things. He quickly falls back to his bored expressions and says "chal aaja woh ek Sidharth ka toh dimaag ka dahi banaane ke baadh ab aaja merepe chad ja! Tu hai Kya cheez bey....bol bhi rahi hai Kay tu uske saath Khadi hai. Sir ke saamne bhi bol rahi hai ke tujhe irritation ho rahi hai lekin bechaaray ke liye seeeti bhi nahi bajaarahi hai? Tera scheme Kya hai bey. Abhi na mereko itna batha dey mein khush hoon ya savdhaan rahoon ke tunay mereliya seeti Maari?"  "Maaahahahahahahahahahahah!" Shehnaaz gave a huge peal of laughter because she was absolutely thrilled that someone had not only noticed her Ulta mind but had understood it enough to joke about it "shukla teri yeh tipaany  ney dil jeet liya!" To which Sidharth immediately latched on "haraaami abhi toh bola medal ney dil jeet liya. Amazing bro! Just amazing!"

"Abbey! Kya yaar! Ha ha ha ha ha. Abey Mai ek baat Boloom. Mujhe na bilkul acha nahi lagta Jab sab log ek ke upar chadh jaatey hain.  Abhi support toh mera tere hee saath mein hai lekin Bechaara Dey sab log corner karne lagay toh bura laga. Mujhe patha hai akela padna kitna weak kar detha hai aadmi koh." While she said this she had a very melancholic expression on her face which Sidharth did not miss. He filed all of these random comments of her in the back of his mind and decided that in time he will get to know the full story. While they were having this little chat of theirs Aarti walks in and sits with them. Somehow the moment and the atmosphere of the moment suddenly shifts and Shehnaaz  excuses herself and says that she is going to change and get ready for bed.

Sidharth for the first time felt Aarti's presence as an intrusion, given a choice he would have liked to be alone and decipher for himself how the day went and zero in on his instincts and then calibrate his behavior and game strategy for the week ahead. If he was being absolutely honest with himself he would have also liked to spend some time with himself and gather and at the same time settle his thoughts about Shehnaaz and the mixed feelings she evoked in him.

Before Aarti could say anything he excused himself and went inside and prepared himself to retire for the day. Both these souls had underestimated the collision course that Fate had set them on with each other. For today they slept peacefully because of the way they connected and the way they were able to make each other smile. Sidharth  smikrd in satisfaction thinking of the fact that Shehnaaz  had supported him and Shehnaaz had satisfaction thinking of the fact that he had understood her so well.

Sorry about the late update. I am stuck in this lockdown in a hotel room with two young kids and a husband working from here. In the middle of all this I went and got myself hooked on the crazy phenomenon that is Sidnaaz. My first time watching BB and it has to be their season. Inexplicable really they way make me gasp in awe and sigh in sweetness. Not following number of read, votes etc but grateful for all those of you who stop by. I am writing this to exorcise my emotions. 😘😘😘