CHAPTER

3 years ago

Aaliya

@xDownInFlamesx

ONE SHOT:

 "Main samjh gayi, haan haan! You should not be concerned, Maa "Sampreeti replied as she gathered her belongings and exited the bus. She landed her feet on the muddy ground as soon as she had them off the bus. Although she disliked how sticky her flats were, she felt compelled to bring the necessary groceries. Sampreeti had no interest in shopping. She particularly detested it when, soon after finishing her medical duty, her mother requested her to get some groceries. She landed on her other feet with extreme caution, but alas! This time, she came dangerously close to falling and gave up hope of rescue. Right up till she yanked a man's collar from behind and gave him her freely falling body.

Sampreeti rapidly reacted with an ‘ouch’, as she felt the man's warm touch on her. Her breath was quick, and her eyes were closed. After a some seconds in the man's arms, she felt dizzy, but as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw a pair of familiar eyes. She swiftly got to her feet and glanced to see if her bag was okay. The bags were, thankfully, still on the bus and were untouched by the mud.

“Oo madam! Thik toh hai na?” asked out the conductor. Sampreeti was too shaken at that instance to speak properly, but mustered up the courage to overcome her deep breathes and replied, “haan bhaiya…kya ap please…please mera bag utar denge?” The conductor was a jovial man and helped her get her heavy bag out of the bus. The bus left but the man, Sam had herself land on was still standing.

“Miss, I hope you’re fine?” asked the man. Sam turned towards him with wide eyes, full of shame in them. How could she even land on a stranger like that? Sam inspected his eyes for a longer time until her stare forced the shy man to remove his mask. Sam quickly saw his face and cried out, “Aarav?!” After straining his eyebrows in uncertainty, Aarav finally recognized his fiancée's face.

“Sampreeti?!”asked Aarav, still unsure. Sam took a sigh of relief. She felt relieved that she had not been in a physical contact with a stranger but her soon ‘to-be-husband’. Sam replied in affirmative and asked, “Kyun tumhe mera chehra yaad nahi?”

“Oh! No not at all! Wo bas maine tumhe saree and traditional looks me dekha tha na…so I couldn’t catch your face…” explained Aarav. Sampreeti had a silly reason to laugh. She laughed softly making Aarav smile too. Aarav continued, “so yahan kaise...I mean kuch kaam tha?”

“Haan…Maa ne kuch grocery kharidne ko kaha and since I was returning from my duty maine socha jaate waqt kharid lun. Tum…yahan kaise?”

“Actually mujhe mere laptop ka SSD change karwana tha. But mere yahan aate hi zor se baarish shuru hogayi. So I ended up waiting in this bus stop.”

"Baarish..."Sam said, looking up at the dark sky filled with huge clouds. Aarav noticed her staring up at the sky. He, too, looked around. The rain had finally slowed and only tiny droplets were falling. Aarav said, “acha baarish dheemi ho rahi hai.Would you like to have a cup of coffee?” He pointed towards a caffe which was not too far from them, just towards a little left on the other side of the road.

“I think iss mausam me I wouldn’t reject the offer!” Sam replied with an idiotic smile. Aarav laughed, “so basically, to the point agar bolein toh it’s a yes!”

Sam wore her bag and Aarav, being a gentleman, asked if it was too heavy and she needed his help. But Sam refused, and as the two were crossing the road, Sam tripped over a stone. The road was in poor condition, and the shadowy evening blurred the vision of the minor obstacles. Aarav, by chance, got hold of her. Sam felt a different vibe from him. She felt chills run down her spine every time he touched her. Aarav could feel the softness in her hands and couldn’t help his eyes to pause for a while, looking at hers. Just then, they heard the loud horns of the vehicles. Aarav held Sam’s hand and gently pulled her into a soft run.

The two went inside the caffe and took a cozy seat. They had their wet umbrellas kept safe and open beside them. Aarav raised up his eyes to have the sight of the menu card, pasted on the wall. He looked up to Sam and asked, “toh batao kya logi?How about a coffee mug?”

Sam looked at the menu. She was astounded and the expression of utter annoyance was visible on her face. She cried out, ‘hey Bhagwan! Itna mehenga? 150 rupees for a mere coffee? Nahi rehne do. Tumhe agar lena hai toh lelo.”

Aarav was irked. He tried to convince her, “don’t worry meri taraf se treat hai.”

“Kisi ke bhi taraf se ho, if I have this expensive thing in my stomach, mujhe hazam nahi hogi.” Sampreeti said. Aarav smiled at her middle-class traits.

“Waise pata hai? Maine college me jitni ladkiyon ke saath bhi date kiya tha, everyone loved to have such expensive things. Tum pehli ladki ho jisne mana kiya.”

“Obviously! Wives and girlfriends are different.” Sam said, but then pondered over what she had said. She tried to cover up, “I didn’t mean that..but…”

“Its completely fine. Waise bhi we cannot ignore the fact that we’re getting married in three days.” Aarav said. He called the waitress and ordered his coffee. Sam got a call from her mom. She answered it and said, “haan maa! Main bazaar ke pass hi hun, baarish dheemi hote hi samaan lelungi.” Aarav stared her and took a sip from his coffee. Sam disconnected the call and looked at him, only to find his gaze on her.

“Aur batao kaisi hai tumhari mehengi coffee?” Sam asked.

“Thik thak hai. I think chini thodi zyada ho sakti thi.”

“Main na tumko road side wali kadak chai pilati hun. Trust me wahan ki chai is better than cafes ki expensive coffee.” Sam said in an awe. Aarav was touched. He was happy that he had someone whom he could relate to.

“Sahi kaha,” said Aarav. Sam looked at him with confusion.

“Agar tumhe bhiaisa lagta tha toh tum yahan kyun aye?” asked Sam. Aarav looked outside the window. Again, the rain was slower. Aarav quickly got hold of his bag and umbrella.

“chalo baarish dheemi hai warna phir se badh jayegi,” said Aarav. Sam was taken aback with confusion but then decided to follow him. They came out of the café. Unfortunately, they had covered half of their journey when the rain again fastened its flow. The two quickly tried to open their umbrellas but Sam’s umbrella broke. It didn’t open, probably it was stuck. Aarav got his umbrella and his body closer to her. Sam stopped; she felt a different connection with him. She felt his hot breath hit her cheeks and her body could feel the warmth of his close presence.

Aarav looked at her, her eyes fixed on his face. He smiled and gently asked, “ab chale bhi?”Sam got distracted and the two tried to walk as quickly as they could. Aarav took her to a small tea shop.

“Bhaiya ek kadak si chai dena”, said Aarav, taking out money from his wallet. Sam said, “rehne do main de dungi”. Aarav looked at her with a disgusted face. Sam silenced. The seller gave Sam a small cup of tea. Sam offered it to Aarav but he refused. Sam enjoyed the hot tea. The tea was hot and fresh and whenever she gulped down a sip of it, her itchy throat felt relief.

“Kaisa hai?” asked Aarav. Sam took a sip and replied, “arey bahot acha hai tum bhi try karke dekho. You’ll love it!” Aarav smiled but refused to take a cup for himself. The tea seller was looking at the two, and said, “waise beta! Yeh girlfrand*boyfrand* aisi jagahon pe kahan chai peene ate hai.”

“Uncle ji! Yeh meri hone wali wife hai, fiancée hai meri,” said Aarav. He rose her and his hand, pointing at their engagement rings. The seller smiled at the two but Sam was overcome with shame. She was shy whereas he was confident. After Sam finished her tea, the two took a leave from the shop.

“Chalo main tumhe tumhare grocery shop tak chodh deta hun…since your umbrella seems too arrogant to help you out,” said Aarav, as they walked away from the shop. Sam replied with a ‘hmm’.

“Toh doctor sahiba kaisa tha tumhara din?” asked Aarav. Sam yawned and replied, “as usual, another tiring day it was. Pata hai har din kam se kam teen-chaar patients se milti hun, unki problems sunkar samjhti hun and then ilaaj karne ke liye medicines prescribe karti hun…but phir bhi hamesha darti hun.” Aarav turns towards her.

“Darti hoon kekahin koi galti na hojaye..koi kami na reh jaye”

“Waise pata hai?Darr ek achi cheez hai.”

Sam turns towards him. The two of them stop and face each other.

“Jab hum darte hai tab hum zyada perfections lane ki koshish karte hai. Hum apni mehnat double kardete hai aur puri koshish karte hai ke ek ‘ideal’ height ko chu sakein. And you know what, isi process me we help to get a major change in our lives,” said Aarav. He saw the wet road with small pits and continued, “life me agar insaan ki performance stable ho toh maza nahi ata. Life chote mote changes laati hai and then haath chodh deti hai. But jo log khudko better banana ki koshish me lage rehte hai, they always bring about remarkable changes and then that’s the true spirit of life!”

Sam looked down for while and then smiled. She looked up to him and asked, “kya tumhe bhi kabhi kisi cheez se darr laga hai?”

“Lagta hai na! Darr lagta hai ke mujhse pehle mere competitors ko promotion na mil jaye, darr lagta ke mere saare friends mujhe bahot age chale jaye and main unse bahot peeche reh jaun,” replied Aarav. He placed his sight at her eyes and said, “but usse bhi zyada darr lagta hai ke meri life simple ho jayegi.”

The two resume their walk as he continued, “pata hai Sampreeeti! Mujhe simple life nahi jeena. I want to make sure ke jab main retirement lun toh main…I should be content with my ‘jawani’ ke din!” Sam giggled, at his way of speaking humorous yet thoughtful ideas.

“Toh tumhe kya lagta hai? Yeh saari tensions tumhari life ko chatpata kardengi?”

“Obviously! Its socool. Ek ke baad ek problem ko face karna and har problem se kuch naya seekhna”

“Tumhari soch kitni positive hai. I really liked it!”

“Haina? Tum bhi positive raha karo it doesn’t cost anything!” said Aarav. The two had a good laugh at his lame joke and noticed that they had reached the CVS.

Sam looked at the store and said, “thank you! Yahan tak company dene ke liye.” Aarav gave his umbrella to her, “yeh lo iski tumhe zarurat padd sakti hai.” He looked at the sky. It wasn’t raining anymore and the sky was slowly getting clear. He continued,“waise bhi it’s no more raining and moreover mere friend ka hi shop hai toh I’ll ask him to drop me.”

Sam smiled. She was about to get inside the shop when a warm hand held hers and stopped her. She turned back. It was Aarav. Aarav smiled and said, “pata hai mujhe sabse zyada darr kisse lagta hai?” Sam looked at him puzzled. Aarav went closer to her ear and whispered, “loneliness se”. Sam’s eyes were wide open. Her heartbeats fastened.

Aarav got himself away from her and continued, “but ab mujhe lagta hai I’ll overcome that. Since I am going to have you in my life.” Sam’s lips shaped into a soft smile. Aarav waved his hands, indicating a bye. Sam whispered, “bye!”.

What’s next? Aarav went on his journey to his friend’s shop and Sam started with her shopping. 

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Word Count: 2030

*I used 'boyfrand' and 'girlfrand' instead of boyfriend and girlfriend to get the fact that the seller was an educated old man. Aur agar yahan tak pahuch gaye ho toh humko feedbacks bata dena! I'll be glad to know my loopholes

DHANYAWAD FOR READING