Chapter 2
Chapter 2
“Ay Maami! Sun..” Shiva commented, walking into the kitchen. Prafulla jumped in shock but quickly gathered herself, “Kya hua, Shiva? Kuch chahiye tha? Bhook lagi hai?”
“Ek mahine ka raashan tho yeh rakshas ek din mein khaa jaatha hai. Yeh itna khaana jaatha kahan hai?” Maami muttered under her breath, giving Shiva a once over.
“Sun..” he looked a little flustered, as he scratched the back of his head and looked around. “Woh Anita se poocha aur usko kuch nahi patha.. tujhe patha hai?..” Shiva looked at her curiously, almost whispering. Prafulla leaned in and quirked her eyebrows, asking him what. “Woh.. Chipkali.. mera matlab hai.. woh Raavi ke.. woh jo Raavi hai..” he fumbled along. “Raavi? Kya hua meri Raavi ko? O mhara bhogilal! Meri phool si bachchi! Ay rakshas! Kya kiya tu ne meri Raavi ke saath?” Prafulla immediately launched into her drama mode. “Arey chup kar, Maami! Kuch nahi kiya teri Raavi saath,” Shiva stopped her before she got into full blown theatrics. Abhi tak tho kuch nahi, he thought as he smirked. “Main bas yeh pooch raha tha ki.. woh Raavi ke.. matlab..” he fumbled again.
“Arey kya bhai.. kabse Raavi ka naam jap raha hai? Koi jaadoo tona chal gaya kya tujhpe?” Prafulla asked, confused.
“Raavi ka sabse favorite phool kaun sa hai?” He asked, finally.
“Eh? Phool?” Maami was beyond confused.
“Phool, flower, pushp, uske aage mujhe paryayvaachi shabd nahi aate,” he said, frustrated.
Prafulla looked at him curiously, “Aur tujhe kyun jaanna hai?”
“Tere photo pe chadane ke liye maala jo banani hai,” he quipped, irritated.
Prafulla was shocked. “Dekh, maine tujhe yahan rehne diya aur tu mere photo pe haar chadane ki baath kar raha hai?”
“Arey Maami! Yeh kya kyun kaise kab kaun sab chhod aur chup chaap batha ki uska favorite phool kaun sa hai!”
Order tho aise de raha hai jaise maine isse apne ghar mein nahi, iss ne mujhe apne ghar pe rakha hai. Favorite phool na? Beta, abhi chaka thi hoon tujhe dhool, Prafulla thought as her face burst into a huge smile.
“Raavi ko sabse pasand gende ke phool hain,” Prafulla smiled.
“Gende ke phool?” The expression on Shiva’s face was priceless and Prafulla had to clamp down on the urge to laugh out loud.
“Arey Maami.. aur kuch hoga na.. jaise laal gulab, ya pink gulab, ya phir mogre ka gajra.. aisa kuch..”
“Arey gulab se tho usse sakht nafrat hai.. aur gajra tho woh kabhi pehenthi hi nahi,” Maami explained.
Shiva scratched the back of his head again. Ab Chipkali hai hi itni ajeeb, ho sakta hai uski pasand bhi ajeeb ho, he reasoned in his head. Pan yeh gende ke phool ke bouquet bante bhi hai kya? He wondered. With that thought in his head, he walked off. When he was out of earshot, Prafulla burst out laughing. “Jaa beta jaa.. Raavi ko gende ke phool zara bhi nahi pasand. Teri jab solid waali chop hogi na, tho mujhe bahut maza aayega,” she giggled.
***
Raavi wondered where the Bhootnath had disappeared. He’d been gone all day long which was very uncharacteristic of him, given that ever since he’d moved in, he’d been hovering around her constantly. Driving her almost crazy as she tried to keep up with her front that he did not affect her. The truth was, the bloody Bhootnath affected her. Way way way too much. Especially this non-bhootnath side of his.
Every morning as she stepped out of her room, she was greeted by him because his room door was flung open wide as he stood before the mirror, a white towel hanging low on his waist as he whistled away. When she’d tried to tell him off for walking around semi-naked the first morning, he’d simply told her it was too hot in these rooms upstairs to wear any clothes. And then he’d proceeded to ask her how she managed to sleep in so many clothes?
“Itne kapde pehenke tu soti kaise hai, Chipkali? Shaadi ke baad na pehli shopping teri yehi karwaoonga. Kuch halka sa, silky, comfortable sa lenge tere liye. Jise utarne mein bhi aasani ho. Pan haan, sirf raath ko hamare kamre mein pehenna, okay? Warna kya hai na, kahin mujhse raha nahi gaya aur maine tujhe aangan mein ya kitchen mein ya sabke saamne aise hi kiss kar diya tho? Iss mein meri koi galti nahi agar meri biwi Somnath ki, nah, sirf Somnath ki nahi, duniya ki sabse khubsurat ladki hai.”
Oh she could wring his neck. But more than him, she was frustrated with herself. After all that had happened, his shameless flirting and teasing shouldn’t be causing parts of her womanhood to tingle to life. She’d been stoic enough when he cared for her at the hospital so what had changed now? Maybe it was because this time he was putting in the efforts just for her. Not because she was sick, or because someone had asked him to, or because he had no other option.
As if he’d been conjured out of her musings, the devil incarnate appeared before her. His hands were behind his back like he was trying to hide something. She stared him down in what she hoped was an angry manner but his smile only broadened.
“Ghoor kya raha hai? Khayega kya?” She asked. He quirked an eyebrow, leaned closer to her, his eyes wandering towards the delectable pout of her lips and replied with a lazy smirk, “iraada tho hai.. tujhe khaa jaane ka.” What he was insinuating couldn’t have been missed by even the most obtuse fool. And to her utter embarrassment, Raavi found herself blushing as her heart pounded in her ears.
“Par abhi nahi,” he straightened back up and brought one hand forward. He was holding the most gorgeous bouquet of baby pink roses she’d ever seen in her life. The luscious pink buds were interspersed with sprigs of baby’s breath and shaped like a heart, wrapped in delicate white gossamer fabric, complete with an oversized pink bow. Her breath caught for a second at the absolute beauty of the bouquet. She looked from the bouquet to Shiva and back, completely at a loss of words.
“Yeh..” he cleared his throat. “Yeh tere liye.” He held the bouquet out closer to her and her hands reached to gently clasp around the stem. The soft fragrance of the roses wafted to her nostrils and she closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply.
“Mujhe patha nahi tha ki tujhe kaunse phool pasand hai. Phir yaad aaya ki kaise tu pink dekhke paagal ho jaati hai aur hamesha kehti thi ki koi agar tujhe pink roses de kar propose karega tho tu wahin ke wahin haan bol degi.. tho.. main.. yeh.. woh.. Woh.. kya tu.. matlab.. kya tu mere saath date pe chalegi?” He asked, his heart thumping right in his throat in nervousness.
Raavi stared at him wide-eyed. He was asking her out on a date? She closed her eyes and shook her head to wake herself up from whatever dream she was in. But it wasn’t a dream. The roses were still there. He was still there. He had remembered what she’d said to Dhara di when she was 16 and had been trying to drop hints to Dev to get him to ask her out. Dev obviously hadn’t paid any attention, but she had no idea that the Bhootnath had. And here he was, making her dream scenario come true.
He was looking at her with such earnest expectation that even if she tried, she couldn’t have turned him down. She gave a slight nod and the smile that broke out on his face could have put a thousand splendid suns to shame.
Just then, Maami walked in, “Aye Raavi! Yeh phool tho bahut mast hain. Kahan se liye?”
Raavi remained silent and looked at Shiva. Shiva turned to Maami. “Aapke liye bhi hain, Maamiji,” he said sweetly. He brought his other hand forward and in it was a rather odd assortment of gende ka phool, marigold!
“Aap ne kaha na ki aapko gende ke phool pasand hain? Poora Somnath dhunda gende ke phool ke bouquet ke liye. Phir kahin bolke banvana pada yeh,” he said, handing her the bouquet with a knowing smirk on his face.
“Tu Maasimaa ke liye phool leke aaya? Woh bhi unki pasand poochke?” Raavi asked, unable to comprehend what was going on.
Prafulla muttered something under her breath before pasting her fake smile back on her face and taking the flowers from Shiva.
Shiva - 1
Maami - 0
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