Parineeta

The Hide and Seek Ends Today

I woke to the sun peeking into the slight gaps between the curtains. It seemed as if I'd slept into the mid-day. I woke up with a jerk remembering I had to be at the wedding functions because otherwise Maddy would know and he'd be super pissed and I didn't want to lose another friend anymore.
I spotted my cell at the far end of the room and reached out for it as the conversation with Navya from last night came back to me.
It was time to finally face the music. Have the conversations with people I so did not want to. Ever. But did I have a choice?
I took a pair of ripped jeans and an off shoulder top and was almost into the washroom when my phone buzzed. I looked at the caller and saw Navya's name flashing.
"Hello?" I picked up almost immediately before she went on to make a dozen calls.
"Tum uthi nai ho abhi tak?"she screeched over the phone.
"Tu.. tumhe kaise pata"I asked a little confused.
"Time dekha hai? Aur apna phone bhi? Pata nai kitne calls kat chuke hum tumhe.. Maddy ne bhi kiye the tumne uthaye hi nai.. isliye usne hume call kiya ki yeh jaanne ke liye ki tum theek ho ya nai.."
"Haan main thee.."
"Hume pata hai.. ab jaldi ready ho mehendi aur sangeet ke function ke taiyari karni hai"she said cutting in mid. It was as she was in a hurry and did not have time for my exaggerated conversations.
"Hmm okay.." I also cut the call short and went into the washroom.
I stood under the shower giving myself a peo talk while the water soothed my tensed muscles as my brain kept working me up with the constant reminder that I had to face all of them again.
"Bas ek hafta nandini.. you can do it" I told myself just before I turned the shower off but almost immediately heard my own voice reminding me the fact that out of everyone, it was him that I was not ready to face, again, at all. It was him who my brain was working against but then again it reminded that I did not have a choice.
I stepped out of the shower wrapped myself in towel and was struggling with my top when my buzzed again. It was a shorter buzz this time, probably a text message, maybe from Maddy, wanting to know how I was because I did not pick his calls earlier.
I decided to wear my clothes outside, grabbed my phone from the washbasin and walked out. I dumped my clothes on the side of the bed as I unlocked my phone and checked the recent messages. There wasn't any from Maddy but there were five from a weirdly known yet unknown number.
: Goodmorning beautiful: read the first message that I was guessing had come when I had entered into the shower.
:Now that you're back in town and not even married anymore, I guess I can freely flirt with you I hope: this dude definitely had some audacity asking if he can flirt, over the second message he'd ever sent. But wait, who is he?
: It's gonna be fun Nandini Murthy, the hide and seek ends today: hide and seek?
:And yeah, if it makes you feel better, I missed you: why would I care? I shrugged my shoulders in dismissal unable to get a hold of who it could be. Was it a prank? I remember I had saved almost everybody's number after I changed mine, even his, though he does not have my new number but I would know if this was him. But it was a completely different number and yet it gave me a feeling that I thought I had moved past in the last year. A feeling that I felt only when he was around and that by the way had beem done with Exactly after marriage, except for the times when he and I were really really close, like that night...
I was feeling butterflies and it felt like my mind had gotten stuck at 'I missed you' part. A part of me hoped it was him but the other kind of constantly threw images from last night where he rushed out of the party for his sick girlfriend.
I forced myself out of the bubble I was beginning to create and scrolled to the last message.
:see you very very soon, Murthy.. no that's not what I call you.. Nandu, can't wait to see you:
The last I remember only Aryaman used to call me Murthy, so this is not even him. Besides I have his number saved too. I felt annoyed with the increasing confusion and the curiosity that had begun to build within me but I couldn't do anything about it so I decided to get over my confusions and get back to getting ready because from whatever I'd understood Navya could be here anytime because I know she wouldn't leave me alone.
...
I was up and about with my stuff when I heard a knock on my door. Usually kaka would've opened but the door but he wasn't around because dad had no idea I was coming back, just like everyone else, and so there was nobody to tend to all of these little things.
I walked more like rushed in my pumps to get the door. Had it been any usual day I would've called myself overdressed when i decided to throw pink off shoulder top, which would've looked cute on me by the way, but I didn't want to look cute on any of these days. Not until I was here. Especially not until I was around him.
So I had changed into a white tube top instead and grabbed a leather black jacket to pair with my black ripped jeans and the pumps. I put on only a bit of a makeup with the little blush over the cheeks to make it look natural and like every other day when in fact I often used to run off to work in casual tees and trousers back in NYC.
I opened the door to a panting Navya as if she'd run the mile to reach here. She had a few bags in her one of her hands and a starbucks coffee cup in another.
"Oh tum ready ho?"Navya asked trying to catch a breath.
"Haan mai bas tumhe.."looked she was getting a pro at cutting me mid sentence.
"Good.. chalo.. thorha change of plans hai but hum tumhe sab raaste mei batayege.."she grabbed my arm and pulled me out. I took a few seconds to lock the door before she rushed into the parking where a black BMW stood with it's backside towards us.
"Baitho.."she ordered as I looked at her confused.
"Navya meri car.."
"Baitho Nandu.. time nai hai humare paas"she said almost immediately.
"Time nai hai?" I asked and I could literally hear hee sigh in frustration. Before I could say another thing, she opened the door of the car and shoved me into the backseat. She pushed me further in and followed into the passenger backseat.
"Mai toh thhak gyi hu tum sabse.. kisi ko shaadi karni hai..kisi ko sawaal puchne hai.. shaam ko function hai lekin ab shaadi ka venue shift karna hai.. kabhi shaadi yaha karni hai..kabhi shaadi vaha karni hai..tum aur yeh sab hume pagal kar dege.. aur Manik... Manik ko sab control karna chahiye lekin nahi.. vo bhii.."she kept blabbering, her last lines alittle sarcastic, while the car took off at a speed that wasn't quite comfortable.
"Shaant Madhubala.." came another voice from the front passenger seats and I looked over to Cabir sitting tucked into his seat almost as if it was nothing, Navya's rantings, the speed of the car, everything, just normal.
"Aur hello mai bhi kya?ujhe kis baat ke liye blame kiya jaa rha hai? Mujhe kya pata tha Alya ko suddenly Destination wedding chahiye hogi.. Dhruv iss irrational decision ke liye maan jaega.. jab miya biwi raazi toh kya karega Manik?" Asked another voice from the driving seat and my eyes shot in the direction of the rear view mirror.
His eyes still a weird of combination of the peace of the ocean and the storm of the sea, stared unblinkingly, yet Awkwardly at road ahead as if trying to avert and avoid eye contacts, as if he knew I was looking into Exactly his eyes through the mirror.
"Kaazi.."Navya said irritated.
"Kya?" Blurted both of us almost immediately. I looked back at the mirror and I was sure he'd looked too. We had a contact because my heart had almost immediately stopped and that wasn't a feeling I'd felt in a long time, one that I thought I never even wanted to feel ever again but here I was feeling it again and not surprisingly even liking it.
"Hab miya biwi raazi toh kya karega kazi... Galat bola tumne"she sighed.
"Meri personality pe kaazi achha lagta hai? Kya yaar madhubala?" He said annoyed. And I humphed almost inaudibly and this time he really looked me through the mirror while I rolled my eyes. I'm pretty sure his stayed for a while.
"Navya tumhe pata hai mujhe iss gadi mei nai jaana tha.. mai apni car mei aajati agar tum mujhe bata deti.."I looked back at her.
"Haan obviously..tum iss speed se chala leti car aur aaj shaam ke function ke liye raat tak nahi pohochti.. I'm sure... Infact Cabir tujhe lagta hai yeh kal subha tak bhi pohoch paati?" He mocked and I rolled my eyes.
"Nandu hume pata hai.. tum dono.. lekin humara vaha jaldi pohochna bohot zaruri hai aur tum kabhi iss speed se nai chala paati.. isliye yeh zaruri tha.."Navya said almost like implied and then looked away as if she wasn't in the mood to listen to anymore of it and had already settled this on her end.
"Anyways why do people think ki mai unhe leke ghumne mei interested hu... I would've preferred this long drive with my favourite people... people who would've been fun to be with.. and people who wouldn't keep rolling their eyes at me.." Manik put up his irritating rhetorical question and I looked at him.
"I did not ask for this.. le aate apni girlfriend ko.. I anyways don't want to be anywhere near you.."I replied bluntly as he murmured an "ofcourse" with a slight chuckle.
Something in me felt hurt as I looked at him through the mirror smiling sarcastically and evilly as if he knew i was looking. I wondered if I wasn't his favourite ever, if he always thought I wasn't fun to be with. It just hurt the same all over again and I couldn't take me eyes off of him as if trying to ask my questions silently through the mirror but his eyes stayed fairly glued to the road instead only sometimes shifting to either sides kind of awkwardly as if still trying to avoid or hide something.