"Juban pe baat hain lekin
Sunana hi nahin aata
Hume tumse mohabbat hai
Batana bhi nahi aata
Chhupana bhi nahin aata
Jatana bhi nahin aata"
SIM - "Bacha, tu dekh legi na ghar pe? Woh Preeti bhi akeli thi toh maine socha ruk jaun ajj yahi, agar din-"
"Maa aap kabse puchne lgge? Aur yaha ki chinta mat kro, zaroorat padhi toh aadhi raat ko isse lekar waha aa jaungi. Aap relax kro" I mumble walking back into the room hearing something fall. I shook my head seeing the jug off water shattered on the ground thanks to him lifting it with the still weak arm. I end the call moving around the bed to find my slippers from the other side to wear before I stepped by the glass to clean it up. The water only making it worse. "Sidharth! Kharish kya hai teko? Abhi agar zyada lag jaata? Apni hi marzi krni hai na humesha? Koi kuch bakwas kr ke gya hai toh sun liya kro. Bhale k liye hi kaha hoga tujhe." I shriek losing every ounce of restrain in myself seeing him trying to get up. I sigh seeing the expression on his face fade. I knew exactly what was coming. He'd started getting a hint that I was getting frustrated, which yes I was but not because of doing things for him. It was because he would try to not let me.
S - "Bebuuu.. samajh na? Main Nhi chahti ki yeh zyada der ho. Dard hoga tujhe aur mujhe burah lgta hai jab tu aise khudse krne lagg jaata hai bataye begair. Main kr ti hu na sab? Toh krne de. Aaram kr. Theek hone ke baad gin gin k kaam karvaungi tere se bas abhi mat kr"
Si - "Hmm.Maa ne kya kaha?"
"Woh Di k ghar rah rahi hai aaj. Kal shaam tak ayengi" I respond picking up the bigger pieces of glass laying on the floor deciding to broom up the others once I got rid of the water. "Acha sun raat ko drive pe chalien?" I ask not hearing him respond before. "Apartment bhi jaa skte hai.. If you want." I continue watching his eyes light uo at the mention.
Si - "Pehle jaise? Dinner, drive aur-
Mtlb obviously vaise nhi but..."
I give him a nod thinking back to the reason he fumbled between his words. The apartment was our hideout. We'd end up there whenever we wanted to be with just each other. Itd seen almost all our firsts.. the ones we had that is. We'd painted it together, bought and settled furniture together, watched tons and tons of movies and series, Babysat both his sisters kids, celebrated Christmas, New years, Halloween, both our birthdays, anniversaries... almost everyday we spent there was a celebration. "Baby? Woh pictures hai abhi bhi tere paas? The polaroids?" He questioned breaking my trance. I gave him a nod smiling to hold back the tears in my eyes, "sab kuch hai". I walked back into the room taking the bag with everything in it. I took out everything, the letters, cards, jewelry, and pictures. Tons and tons of pictures. He sat frozen looking at the stash of things spread over the bed. "Yeh necklace.. tune phenka-"
S - "Never. Yeh tera first gift tha mere liye"
Si - "Letters?"
"Tu jab kuch bolta nhi tha toh inse parh kr
Khud ko Khush krti thi. Aise kaise phenk du?" I explain letting him puck one up and read it over. Chuckling at his own words, the blush finely risen against his cheeks.
Si - "Maine sahi mein sab bigad diya na? Agar nhi krta toh kitna sab aur hota. Maybe even all set up in m- our room. Jaise hum chahte the. We'd be married."
"Hmm. But khud ko blame mat kr. Its destiny. Decided tha aisa hona pehle se." I mutter looking over each picture. He had one in his hand, smiling at it continuously. "Yeh outfit tera favourite tha na mere pe?" I ask moving over to look at the same picture he was staring at for a while.
Si - "Aaj bhi hai. Reds and black have always been your colours baby."
S - "Aur white, grey and black tere"
"Ek baat puchu?" He asked looking back at the picture in his hands. I hum collecting the rest into a more organized pile. "You dont have to answer but.. did you do all of this with anyone after me?" He concluded looking up at me with the picture still tightly gripped between his hand. "All of this as in?" I ask leaning further into him.
Si - "Apartment, car rides, amusement park, bike rides.. anything we used to do"
S - "Nhi.. tere baad sirf Karan tha and woh bhi dad ke kaaran. Apartment k sirf bahar tak aaya woh and dates pe hum bas ek do baar gye. Sirf restaurants. Thats it, maine pass bhi nhi aane diya usse and he knew that I Love....."
"You love..?" He inquired a small smirk lining his lips. I clench my eyes shut resisting the urge to say it before he at least takes me out somewhere. "I love someone else" I complete off the sentence the best I could before getting up to grab my laptop and order food to the house. We'd usually eat out but with him like this I was skeptical he'd want to go. "Pizza, pasta ya fast food?" I ask showing him the three restaurants I'd pulled up. He chooses the exact one I'd hoped he would. I order us both some domino's Alfredo pasta, waiting almost instantly for it to arrive even though I'd ordered it for an hour and a half later. "Main change kr ke aati hu" I annouce grabbing a oversized red crew neck and grey biker shorts. He nods still completely engrossed in the pictures. He'd never had many of them, thanks to me being adamant on putting them either in the apartment or my room. I walk back into the room with my hair tied up in a messy bun, just tight enough to keep it out of my face.
Si - "Mujhe bhi krvade? Just anything like sweats or something. Aise bahar nhi jaunga"
I nod pulling out a thin pair of black sweats and a grey t shirt. We'd grown used to me doing this sort of. I pull off the shorts first not wanting him standing too long. I pull up the sweats letting him tie up the strings himself. I pull the shirt out of both his head and not injured arm first a sliding it off the second as slow as possible. I let my eyes fall over his bare torso for just a second too long. The smirk on his face quite obvious right after. "Main woh... paani refill kr ke aati hu."
"Aankhon ko khaab dena
Khud hi sawaal karke
Khud hi jawaab dena teri taraf se
Bin kaam kaam karna
Jaana kahin ho chaahe
Har baar hi guzarna teri taraf se
Ye koshishein toh hongi kam nahin
Ye koshishein toh hongi kam nahin
Na chahiye kuch tum se zyada tum se kam nahin"
