Meant to be

Ch 3 contd....

As the days were passing by all the contestants settled into groups of friendships. Some of these friendships were organic and some were strategic, of all  the contestants Sidharth , Shehnaaz and Fifi seemed to be the most genuine of the lot. So it was only natural that the three would spend the most time together. Shehnaaz by nature was a very inclusive girl probably because she knew what it meant to be left alone.

Time came for the nominations task of the week the task was that 2 girl contestants would
Stand against each other and a male contestant choose which girl to see. Every girl who was nominated out of this made some sort of noise and a fuss about being nominated except Shehnaaz.  Sidharth couldn't help think that she being one of the youngest was the most sporting off the lot. He also noted of how she was affected because of Paras and for some reason The fact that he had chosen mahira over her pleased him because it was good to see that a lot of Shehnaa's misconceptions will now come to the light of day.

The night after the nominations task and after Koena had come down heavily because she had not managed to make a connection strong enough to
Participate in the game, Sidharth and Fifi we're sitting on the couch just outside the bedroom area and were talking in hushed tones so as to not wake up the sleeping contestants . Fifi with a sigh told Sidharth "things are going to get very ugly now. After Salman's feedback everyone now wants to be seen taking individual stands and look like they are fighting for what is right. It looks so petty and funny when you watch it from afar. It's funny how people forget that there are cameras capturing your every move, so best is not do anything that is not your natural disposition."
Sidharth was so glad that there was someone in the house with whom he could have this conversation and be as candid as possible on national television " you know Fifi I don't have any strategy except to be my absolute self. Not win by dragging anyone else down but win by excelling. If I try to 'be' something for the audience then I am going to ultimately exhaust myself and I will also end up making a fool
Of myself eventually because no one can be consistently fake and that too not on front of so many cameras!" Just then in the mirror they could see Shehnaaz imitating someone and making everyone around her laugh. Both the men look at her fondly and Fifi quips " in all my years in the industry I have never met someone with such a frank disposition. Shehnaaz is so refreshing and natural. Sadly instead of that being celebrated she is going to earn a lot of jealousy and dirty games because of it. Sidharth looked deeply at Shehnaaz through the mirror and then sighed before turning to Fifi and saying " all the girls thought they had equipped themselves by watching all the previous seasons they have armed themselves with the best designer clothes, worked on their body hair and make up and then comes out madam raw and un bridled, that's the thing I like about Shehnaaz what you see is exactly what you get. These girls have already started zeroing in on her. Yesterday I heard Mahira fat shame her and Koena too speaks so badly about her, the beauty is this girl knows it and just does not give a damn. Paras seems to affect her though" he says this with a tinge of regret which does not go unnoticed by Fifi. Before they could continue this discussion a whole bunch of them including Shehnaaz came out and plonked herself right in between the two of them and instinctively Sidharth rested his elbow on her shoulder. He could not help but notice how when she sat next to him he just seemed to melt into her and there was this feeling of warmth and security that filled into him. Very strange it was and he really did not have the bandwidth right now to process what it really meant.

Shehnaaz secretly pleased that Sidharth reacted to her quickly looks at both of them and says " Kya hua yaara kya gambhir baatay ho rahi hain. Don't worry Koena aur Rashmi tum logon ko kuch nahi karengi, main hoon na. Chalo ab ache bache sana ki tareef karo, the day is coming to an end friends hamaarey paas zyaada waqt nahi hain. Come on! COME ON!" Both the men burst out laughing and Sidharth looks at her and says " yaar ab hum sab itnay achay dost ban gaye hain to ab tumse kya chupaana. Tum na jab Koena ki acting kar rahi tho bada acha laga, lekin asli dar lagta hai jab tum make up karke din mein ghoomthi ho na, darr jata hoon baby" saying this he winks and puts his tongue out at fifi to indicate that he is kidding. Shehnaaz takes a few second to process this and she narrows her eyes before figuring out that Sidharth just pulled her leg and she started lashing her palms at his chest saying "kuttay meri tareef kar tareef, bakwaas kiye jaa raha hai. Mera bad luck hai jo tum jaisey namoonay ke saath big boss Khelna padh raha hai, seekho kameeno seekho uss Paras se Mahira, Rashmi, Aarti, Koena kitnon ko ek saath manage karta hai aur tum log ho Kay ek say hee thakh gaye. Sad very sad!" All three of them laugh at their own antics and call it a night. Increasingly Sidharth and Shehnaaz found it difficult to say goodnight to each other. It felt more natural for them to be together than to stay apart. Funny really if you thought about it, two people who never knew the other existed, now found it difficult to even say goodnight while within the same room but ok different beds.

The next two days were particular tumultuous in the house with many fights and arguments over the 'Rani' task and in general the food management.  At one point Sidharth and Rashmi had a huge argument about food management which actually was just a ruse for all the underlying issues between them. Shehnaaz was watching Sidharth and it somehow pinched her when she realised that Rashmi evoked a reaction from Sidharth. She was surprised when she felt that pang and in the depths of her heart wanted Sidharth to react only to her. She quickly shook that feeling away and put it down to her issues with Paras.

In the afternoon Rashmi and Devoleena were making lunch when Shehnaaz noticed that they size of the rotis that were being made were irrationally big and quickly zeroed into the fact that this was being done to quickly finish the atta for the rotis to prove a point to Sidharth. She without hesitation called them out on it and all the girls in the house took this as a chance to unleash on her and  possibly get her eliminated as she currently was spoiling and scuttling everyone's game.

After the fish task when there were a few more altercations and many things were unjustly levelled against sana, Sidharth too bad his first rift with Mahira things had definitely cranked up a few notches. Sidharth and Shehnaaz found themselves sitting in the L shaped love seat in the corner of the house opposite the entry gate. There was a comfortable silence amongst them and both were lost in their thoughts when Sidharth suddenly asked Sana "tereko bura laga jab Koena nay tereko uneducated aur gavaar bola?" He looked directly into her eyes trying to read her expression, she was taken aback by his gaze. She felt a sense of belonging which she had trained herself to not feel. Expectations lead to disappointments, she had learnt that the hard way. Today it felt nice that he enquired about her vulnerable moment but what if tomorrow he stopped or did not care? She flashed him a big smile and said "Shehnaaz ka naam aur shehnaaz ki baath Honi  chaiye bas, vaisey idhar degree language Kya lena dena, audience thodi na certificate dekhe vote karega. Chod yaar abhi toh aagay aagay issay bhi bura sunna padega! Vaise Mahira ke joothay ya Mahira ki shakal ya phir uski Awaaz?" She asked with a naughty chuckle. He lightly tapped her behind her head in an affectionate gesture and said "bohot smart hai tu. Show me yours and I will show you mine" he said and walked away with a slight annoyance that she was not willing to speak to him openly. Something shifted in her when he asked that question, like she was deliberately holding back and why did that annoy him? 

She quickly joined him and they both walked back into the house to get ready for bed. That night as they both laid themselves to sleep they had to admit to themselves that while they had definitely made adversaries in the house they each had entwined themselves around each other just another notch tighter and some how that gave each of them deep satisfaction.

Hope you guys enjoyed this update. Next chapter I am going to take this story outside of the BB house and take it to the doorstep of Rita Shukla and the Shukla household who are big stakeholders in the SidnAaz journey (atleast from whatever I have been able to gather from Social Media and interviews and Shehbaaz's wonderfully candid post BB finale live videos!!!)