Chapter 20

Chapter 19

         

                    By the time Niyati was done with her work, twilight had given way for the night to take over in full glory. As the Freshers' loomed closer, there were a lot of payments to crosscheck and clear. VP sir wasn't kidding when he said, the Accounts Department at college were swamped with work. And here she was tired doing just a fraction of what they do on a daily basis. But she wasn't as tired just because of the work as she was because of checking and crosschecking. Heck! Over-cautious was her middle name! She didn't want to let VP sir down. She knew what it felt like to have trust shattered into a million pieces.

 

                    The cool air coming from the window hit her and soothed her frayed nerves. Try as she might, she would always find references in her present life to relate to her past one. She walked into her balcony wanting to enjoy the cool weather a little more. It was a full moon night and the whole street was bathed in silver moonlight. Swayam and others were still at College, rehearsing. She gave herself a mental pat on the back. It was a stroke of brilliance getting Sharon and Swayam to dance together. Poor Aashi, she thought. She was sandwiched between the two. But it was necessary. Taani had informed her that Sharon was very jealous of Aashi because of her crush on Swayam. It was important to make Sharon realize that she couldn't take time for granted, that Swayam would never wait for her forever. That she would have to let go of her reserves and put down her guard if she ever wanted to be with him. Nobody was perfect. No relationship was perfect. Use perfect banana padta hai she thought.

 

          Just then her phone rang and she had a very good idea who would be calling her. A glance at the caller id confirmed her guess.

 

Picking it up she said, "teri sau saal ki umar hogi Taani, ye meri bhavishyavaani hai!"

"Kyun? Mere baare mein soch rahi thi kya? Aur by the way badi ghatiya bhavishyavaani hai! kise jeena hai sau saalon tak?!"

"Chup! Yahan hoti na toh maar khaati. Hamesha utpataang baatein karti rehti hai!"

"Kya karoon? Kaam ki baatein karne waali chup hai. Tu bolegi toh mujhe bolne ki zaroorat hi nahin padegi!"

"Hey Krishna ji! Kya unique piece banaya hai aapne! Jab dekho tak drama karti rehti hai! Neha ko asaani se peeche chod degi tu!"

"Haan batana? Sab kaise hain? Tu mili hai na sabse?"

"15 din hogaye hain mujhe yahan aaye! Obviously sabse mili hoon!"

"Chal detail mein sabke baare mein bol."

"Taani..."

"Please? You know I miss them all"

"Nautanki kahin ki! Acha Nil, Vicky, Bharat aur Amar waise ke waise hi hain. Maine bataya tha na tujhe maine Nil ko kaise chup karwaya tha? Tab se woh mujhse bilkul baat nahin karta" Niyati chuckled.

"Haww!! Tu bhi na Neeti!"

"Kya? Faaltu baat karega toh faaltu jawaab hi milenge. Khair, Neha, Aashi, Rini aur Simmi se zyada baat hoti nahin meri. Sharon se bhi kaam ki hi baatein hoti hain."

"Aur Kria?"

Niyati faltered for a moment. She could hear the pain and vulnerability in her voice.

"Thik hai. Pehle se better hai. She can walk around but abhi dance karne layak recovery nahin huyi hai. Isliye she is not participating in this Freshers'."

"Kya guzri hogi un par?" Taani asked rhetorically.

"Nobody can understand that Taani. Ye sirf Kria hi jaanti hai ke who kaise har din jee rahi hai. Physio sessions chal rahe hain. Everybody is very hopeful. And she is a fighter. I can vouch for that."

"Hmmm."

Sensing her dejection, Niyati changed the topic to something she was sure would divert her cousin. "Tumhe pata hai aaj maine kya kiya?"

"Kisi ko daanta?"

"What? No!"

"Kisi ko daraya?"

"Taani!!"

"Kisi ko peeta?"

"That's it! I'm hanging up!"

"Acha baba sorry!! Please I was just...bolo kya kamaal kiya tune?"

"Maine Bhai aur Sharon ko ek saath dance karne ke liye convince kar liya."

"He he he... nice joke. But hansi nahin aayi".

"Sachchi yaar! I convinced them to dance a paso doble!"

The next minute she had to keep the phone a mile away from her ear because Taani had begun shrieking at the pitch of a Banshee.

"Taani!!! Chilla baad mein lena pehle poori baat toh sunlo!" Taani's words were punctuated by screams. Predictable, Niyati thought
"I can't believe it!!" *scream* "Ye toh chamatkaar hogaya" *scream* "You are great!" *scream* "Sharon Bhabhi dancing with bhai" *scream*

"Both of them are dancing with Aashi."

That brought the round of screaming to an abrupt halt. "Kya?"

"I convinced them to do a Trio. I didn't have any other option. Warna maan hi nahin rahe the. Plus, Sharon ko jealous karne ka haq banta hai hum nanad ka!"

There was silence for a moment. "You are really great. Kya plan banaya hai yaar!", Taani exclaimed in awe.

Niyati smiled a half smile. "Aage aage dekho hota hai kya!"

Taani felt Neeti was in a good mood and thought of talking a chance. Maybe she would turn out to be lucky. Taking a deep breath, she asked

"Tu mili unse?"

"Unse? Unse kinse?" Niyati was confused. She had an inkling who Taani was talking about, but didn't want to acknowledge.

"Neeti! Tu jaanti hai main kinki baat kar rahi hoon!"

Niyati Sighed. "Poora ek saal hone ko aaya hai Taani. Ab bhi?"

"Hamesha."

"I don't know Taani. Maine usse zyada baat nahin ki hai. And before you ask, nahin. he hasn't asked about you even once."

"Woh khush hain?" *pause* "Kria ke saath?"

Niyati didn't know how to answer to that. She had hardly seen both of them together alone. They were always with everyone. And she wasn't close enough to either of them so that she could ask the status of their relationship. But most of all, she didn't want to hurt Taani. She was walking on a double-edged sword. Rey ka khush hona ya dukhi hona, donon hi Taani ko taqleef pahunchayega. Thinking quickly of a middle ground, she replied,

"Taani, mujhe yahan aaye 15 din hi huye hain. Main itni jaldi kaise itni gehri baat pata kar sakti hoon? On top of it, hum sab Freshers' organize karne mein busy hai. Let this event get over, phir main lag jaungi detectivegiri par. Ab rakhti hoon. Kaafi kaam bacha hai abhi."

"Okay My Sherlock Holmes! Take care Neeti! Miss you!"

"Miss you right back! Bye."

"Bye."

Precap:  Sharon-Swayam-Aashi rehearsal

 [NOCOPY]

[MEMBERSONLY]