𝐀𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 ✔

THE RING💍

Hoiiii

I brought the teaser part.
💖💖

Enjoy reading!!!

•●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●•

Eventually, our cab driver also switched off the cab’s engine which raised the already high levels
of anxiety within us still higher. Somehow, a running engine in a traffic jam still appears more
hopeful
than a switched-off one. Of course, it’s all psychological but, unfortunately, it made an impact on
both
of us.
And since it never just rains, but it pours—avni’s cellphone started ringing.
She looked at me in fear. I looked at my watch. It was close to 9 p.m.
‘What if it’s Mumma’s phone?’ she asked, worried and all I could say was, ‘First see who’s
calling.’
She opened her purse and breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Thank God! It’s riya’
She put the phone on speaker. Clearing her throat and recovering her strength (which she lost
when she heard the ring), she said, ‘riya.
‘Where are you, yaar?’ riya asked.
‘Yaar, we’re stuck in a traffic jam.’
‘But you're near coaching only na?’
‘Haan baba … We went to see a movie. Meanwhile it rained heavily and all the water on the road
has caused a traffic jam and we’re stuck.’
‘Theek hai, but come home quickly. I have reached home and have told Mumma that your doubt
class got delayed and you’ll reach here in another twenty-thirty minutes.’
‘Thanks. We’re just waiting for this jam to clear. I’ll be home soon,’ avni said and hung up.
Twenty-thirty minutes!? Nobody could drive to house that fast, even if the roads were
completely empty. Even avni knew that.
‘neil, I’m feeling very tense,’ she said, her voice scared and soft.
But obviously we’d be tense. Still, I said, ‘I know dear. But we should not lose patience. In the
worst case, we’ll reach your place a little late, right? Don’t worry. If that happens, I will explain
everything to Mumma. Theek hai?’ I tried to console her, raising my hand to move her head close to
me so that she could rest on my shoulder.
The next moment we noticed the traffic moving ahead from one corner of the road. Like
everyone
else, our driver started the engine and followed the herd of the vehicles. A ray of hope brightened
our
faces.
In a while our driver gave us a reason to bolster our smile. ‘Sahib ab nikal jaayenge aaraam se,
jam khul gaya hai. Bas ek baar ye jam puri tarah khul jaye . Phir highway theek hai.’
we successfully crossed in another 20
minutes. But our destination was still miles away.
Her head was still on my shoulder and I kept talking to her, trying to divert her mind. She was
moving her fingers on my palm, drawing imaginary lines, playing like a kid. When she reached
my third finger, she started playing with the ring I was wearing. It was an unusual ring with three
intersecting silver circles, just like the Olympic circles.
When she asked me about that ring, I took it as an opportunity to divert her from the panic of the
moment and started telling her a little story about my ring which became as mysterious as The Lord
of the Rings.
‘Aaah!’ I said, as if she had stepped on a broken limb.
‘What happened?’ she asked, raising her head from my shoulder.
‘Nothing,’ I replied very sadly, turning my head to the other side, looking outside the cab’s
window. Surprised by my reaction, she did not say anything but waited for me to speak. And I did,
saying, ‘I knew, someday I would have to tell you about this …’
This statement raised her eyebrows and she insisted I tell her everything. I kept looking out of the
window and she kept asking me to reveal the story behind it. ‘Bataao na neilu … Tell me please …’
I was killing time. The cab was speeding ahead. And thoughts were running through her mind about
the mystery ring on my third finger. More so, because I appeared so reluctant to tell her.
‘neil tell me na … kya baat hai,’ she again asked, turning my face towards her with her hand.
‘avni…’I said, looking at her.
‘Hmm …?’
‘Almost a year back, before I met you … Before I met you … I mean … It was like … One day a
beautiful girl put this ring on my finger …’ and I turned away, avoiding her eyes and looking
outside the cab again.
Silence …
She was still listening—all ears—forgetting completely that we were getting late.
Looking out of the cab I continued, ‘I always wanted to tell you this, but … but never got a
chance, for I didn’t know how you will feel about all this.’
Her eyes were staring at me with so many questions.
The next second, her cellphone rang. It was riya again, saying how their mom was getting
restless and the fact that, by now, she knew well enough that avni had not been to coaching but
somewhere else with me. She also said that it was raining heavily in delhi . And all that avni
told her was to
manage the situation somehow, ‘Tell her that I am stuck in the rain.’ Sweet riya was bouncing like
a shuttle between her mother and her sister. This is the fate of being the youngest in the family—
everyone tends to push you around.
The moment she hung up, she returned to the earlier topic.
‘A girl gave you this?’ she asked, looking at the ring and then at me. That wasn’t her only
question, though. There was a fusillade, ready for me. And I kept beating around the bush. This went
on for
some 15 minutes, when she finally asked me, pulling my hand over her head, ‘Swear on me, did a
girl slip this on your finger?’
So much expectation in her eyes. Expectation that I should speak the truth. And also the
expectation
that my answer should be a big ‘No’—which would have meant that my entire story was a lie meant
only to scare her. But, breaking her second expectation, I nodded my head, acknowledging that all
she
heard was true.
Pin-drop silence …
The environment inside the cab now was much more tense. The traffic jams, reaching home late,
standing before her mother to admit her lie, all of this appeared so minuscule in front of this giant
truth. The girl, who was in my arms so passionately an hour ago, was now facing such a different
truth. I expected her to shout at me, to yell at me, to do something before I told her. And I wanted this
to continue for a few more miles.
And I was doing that for a reason. The more time I consumed, the lesser she would have worried
about reaching home so late. It was already 10 p.m.
But when that sweet and innocent heart sobbed, when the first tear came out of those beautiful
eyes, I had to break the mystery. How could I see her crying?
‘Hey avi … Listen to me.’ And I took her in my arms and said, ‘All that you heard was
true, but in a totally different aspect. You have to know the complete story.’
‘Tell me then,’ she said, rubbing her eyelash like a kid, her eyes on me again.
‘The girl who slipped this on … I don’t even know her name. I hardly met her for ten minutes.
Almost a year back, I was at Waterloo station in London along with my friend, waiting for my train
to Belgium. Because my train was a little late, my friend and I visited a little stall on the platform
near us. A girl in that stall was selling rings. From the display, I liked this one and picked it up. But I
was wondering how to wear this ring with three circles. To help me, she held my hand and slipped it
on. It looked good. I thanked her, paid her five pounds and walked away to catch my train.’
With that, my tense expression turned into a mischievous one and I noticed the curve of her lips
expanding every microsecond. Her wet eyes were now glittering again.
‘One more thing …’I interrupted her smile. ‘That girl … She was damn beautiful!’ And I laughed.
And she laughed too, punching me on my chest and shoulders. ‘Youuuu … You know how badly
you scared me? I’m gonna kill you,’ she kept shouting at me and punching me while I was trying to
safeguard myself.
But the next minute, her cell rang again and on its screen was flashing riyacalling …’
Avni took the call and said, ‘Neeru … I’m just about to reach … And listen …’

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