Chapter 4
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Virat walked through the forest with his Ipod torch scanning around. Leaves crunching under his feet giving him the feeling of loneliness. But when he thinks about it, he knows he is not alone. His Bandariya is with him. Virat collected the sticks and walked a little further for more. He kept checking his Ipod battery, making sure it doesn't die. He needed it to give some rest to his brain. It would still work for the next nine and a half hour. Apple is - no doubt - amazing. He had left her at the same place with his lighter. No, he didn't smoke. She had asked him that.
" Tumhare paas lighter kahan se aaya? Hawww, tum smoke karte ho? " She had questioned him when he landed her his lighter.
" Nahi pagal! But, meri habit hai. Apne paas lighter rakhne ki. " Virat had said, but she just narrowed her eyes in reply. He sighed. " Jab meun London mein tha, toh wahan mein aur, umm- mere friends campinig ke liye bahit jaate the. Humne sabke kaam baat rakhe the, like camp-fire ke liye sticks yeh laayeg, or food yeh layega, ya music CD's yeh laayega. Waise hi mera kaam lighter lana tha aur music system ka tha. " He had explained.
" Wow! Pata hai, mein aaj tak camp mein nahi gayi! Kitna mazaa aata hoga na? " She had said. He did frowned, and than shook his head laughing. He thought he was giving her some explaination on lighter!
He laughed at the memory. She was so funny. She was nothing like anyone he had encountered in his life. She never failed to entertain him. His special 'Entertainment Ki Machine'. More than anything else, he loved making her angry. It took her mind off the sad things, and it felt good when she smiled with all her heart. He loved her sarcasm. Some of her one-liners were hilarious.
He made his way back to where she was.
" Manvi? " He called out.
" Hmm! " He heard the little voice. He shone his torch at her. There she was. Curled up in cold and almost sleeping with her chin on her knees. It was his fault. He should not have forced her to come watch the movie. He arranged the sticks and than walked towards her for the lighter.
" Manvi lighter! " He said and she placed it in his hand. " Kya hua? Aaj Miss. Rishikesh Express ki bolti kyun bandh hogayi? " The spark form the lighter created falmes that slowly spreaded it light into the woods. And as if abrubtly, Manvi's face shone in the light, but her eyes looked dull. Still, she looked absolutely beautiful to him.
She could barely krep track of what was happening. Her head was dizzy, and her eyes felt so heavy she could barely keep them open. She lifted her hands and pressed against her temples.
" You okay! " Manvi hears him ask. She didn't reply. " If you reply, you get food! " Her head shot up. He was sitting on the other side of the fire. She looked at his face through the yellowish orange flames.
" Food? "
" Yeah! "
" Sachi? "
" Documents sign karne hoge? "
" Meine answer diya na? Ab do mujhe mera khana! " She extended her hand towards him. He laughed and stood up to walk to her. His hand slid inside the pockets of his hoodie and came up with an apple. She rolled her eyes. " Really? Food? "
" Nahi chahiye toh... " He started retracing his steps.
" Nahi nahi nahi! Mujhe chahiye! " She said spreading out her hands again. He laughed and handed it to her. He took out another another apple and started eating it himself.
" Ek baat batao," She said as she swallowed the first bite, " Pichhle janam mein apple se shaadi ki thi kya? Jab dekho tab apple hi khate rehte ho! " She asked. He laughed again.
" Yaad nahi hai! Tumhe yaad hoga na? Apna Bandar? " He said and she narriwed her eyes at him. " Just Kidding! " he backed off. She looked away smiling to herself, as he did the same. They both ate their apples in peace. Well, until the apples ended.
" Well! Now jab tumne apple kha liya hai, " Virat said fishing out somethkng from his pocket, " Kuch meetha ho jaye? " He said waving a DairyMilk in front of her. And as expected, her eye lit up with that pleasing shine. He could do anything for that expression, and that heart-warming grin. She moved towards him to snatch it from him, but he pulled his hand away. " uh-uh! "
She looked at him angrily and reached out for the chocolate again, and he pulled back. She took a deep breath and looked at him angrily. " Virat! " She whined.
" Manvi! " He replied in a naughty tone. Manvi frowned and than reached out for the little purple packet again, this time however, Virat lost his balance and Manvi fell on him. The chocolate forgotten as they dwelled into each other's eyes.
Virat swallowed hard. His heart beat rising and his mind light. He stared into the dark brown eyes, the shine settled in as if forever. A never felt feelng crossing his way. He had felt something close to this. Very close. But never touched the heights of this feeling. Maya never managed to enter that little piece of his heart. Though he was glad for that, he isn't sure if letting anyone else in there would be a smart move. But looking into those magnetic piece of bodies, he forgot everything. He forgot the promise he made to himself. His hand moved up to settle on her face. And then he frowned.
" Manvi? " He exclaimed bringing them both back from their la-la-land. She pulled away and looked anywhere but him. He slid back and settled. " Manvi tumhe toh bahot tez bhukhar hai! " He said forwning.
" Nahi, its fine. Bas thodi neend aa rahi hai, aur maine kahan na, mein kuch dino se so bhi nahi paayi and all. " She justified. He shook his head at her naive-ness. He shuffled to her. She tried to move away but he held her hand. He pulled her hand made her sit facing the flames. Close to the fire. She felt his hand cime past her should, let the heat settle in his hands and than touch his warm hands to her face. She shuddered.
" Is it too cold? " He asked concered. She shook her head.
" It feels good. " She replied softly. She appreciated this. No one had ever done such-touching-thing for her. Even after sitting so close, he wasn't touching her. Only his hand touched her face in order to give her the warm feeling. She smiled. Than a thought clicked across her mind that made her nervous. She wanted to let him know that she was thankful for what he is doing, and not judging his actions. To tell him that she...trusted him.
' How bad could that get? ' She thought, ' I should do it. Yes! '
Manvi took a deep breath and slowly leaned backward on his chest. She place her right cheek on his chest, leaning her body on him. As an instant reaction, she felt him freeze. His chest stopped moving, and she knew he wasn't breathing anymore. She laughed to herself. And than a moment later, she felt the rythemic movement of his chest again. His heart-beats providing the soothing lulaby. Within seconds, she was sleeping the most peaceful sleep of her life.
Virat was suprised. He never thought she would trust him so far. It felt good and special though. That girl never fails to make him smile. And he had never felt this way before. Never! He sighed and continued with his work, that is warming her up with the heat of fire. He felt her shudder a little. He looked down at her to find her sleeping, but she was shivering. He slowly took out his hoodie, without waking her up and covered her up with it. He shuddered himself. He looked at her peaceful face. He checked her fever, it wasn't as much anymore, but it was still there. He smiled at her innocent face and tried to put her bangs behind her ears. Some did stay behind the ears, but other fell back to her face. Giving her face a cute frame.
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The bords chirped, and little animals jumped around. The natures smiled at the beautiful couple sleeping in each other's arms. Manvi layed on Virat's chest, her fever far gone. There was no worry line on her face, infact, a little smile played at the corners of her lips. The fire had settled to the ashes. No flames, rather the soodhing glint of sun. The sun hadn't come up yet. It was still early morning with light, but no sun to be seen around. Virat's mind was the first one to wake up. He felt tired, but his heart smiled. He felt something heavy on his chest, something next to him. He opened his eyes to be greeted by the most beautiful sight he had ever encountered. He smiled. He saw her move a little and then open her eyes to greet him.
" Hey Chep! Good morning! " She greeted with her morning-voice. He swallowed. Her voice sounded...sexy.
" Good morning! " He smiled back. Thet looked at each other awkwardly and Virat removed his hand from around her shoulders. They both got up and looked anywhere but at each other.
" I think humein chalna chahiye. " Virat broke the uncomfortable silence. She cleared her voice and nodded. " Iss taraf chaltein hai. " He said pointing towards a random a way.
" What? Nahi! Woh jungle ke andar jaata hua lagta hai! Hum uss taraf jaayenge! " She pointed at some other direction.
" Nahi! Maine kahan na? Yeh ek jungle trap hai! Hum iss taraf se hi jaayenge. " He said with authority.
" well! Too bad! Mein jaa rahi hu! " She replied with the finality in her voice. He looked at her walk away, anger raising in him. He was about to shout at her but than an idea clicked his mind. He slowly walked back to the huge tree, and hid behind it. He was going to make some scary sound, but he knew it was not going to turn out like movies. So he kept quiet, trying not to laugh.
" Samajhta kya hai woh apne aapko? Uske bina mein kuch nahi kar sakti? Maana ki har baar Chandigarh mein joh bhi troubles aayi hai, usmein ussi ne meri madad ki hai. Par iska matlab yeh toh nahi ki woh apne aapko Mr. I-am-never-wrong samjhe! Chep kahika! " She talked tk herself stomping away. Suddenly she felt somethjng slide over her feet and she jumped in surprise. She looked down to meet the shiny creature, who seemed to look right back at her! It was a moment of blackness before she screamed her head off.
" VIRAT! Hey bhagwan...VIRAT! Mujhe bachalo! Please! CHEP! Aaahhh! CHEP! KAMINE! MUJHE BACHA! " Manvi screamed. She retreated her steps and took a sharp turn to run back to where she was with Virat. Her face slamed into something hard, she looked up to see his concerned face. Without any second thoughts, she hid her face in his chest.
Virat was waiting for her to comeback when he heard her scream his name. He had run towards her direction without thinking anything else. He held her in his arms as she sobbed.
" Manvi? Kya hua? Please rona bandh... " He was consoling her when he saw the green snake sticking its tongue out now and than in front of him. He knew it was very poisonious. The color showed it all. He swallowed and brought Manvi out of his arms. He took her hand and pushed her behind him. " It's okay Manvi..." He slowly retreated with her hand in his. He sighed when the snake slithered away. He turned around and held her face in his hands softly. As if scared she would break.
" It's okay Manvi! It is gone okay! Stop crying now! " He consoled her, wiping her tears with his thumbs softly. It took five minutes for him to make her stop crying.
" Badi ajeeb ho yaar! " He said. She looked at him confused. " Apne doston ko dekhke koi rota hai kya? " He completed. She frowned Looking at the ground and than a moment later realized what he was saying. She looked at him with angry eyes.
" Chep ke bache! "
" Chep ke bache abhi nahi hue hai Manvi! "
" Kamine tujhe maar maar ke chep ka bacha na banaya na toh mera naam bhi Manvi nahi! "
" Woh toh abhi bhi nahi hai! Bandariya! " He walked backwards running away from her.
" Chep kahika! Tujhe chhodungi nahi! Saare Kaminio ki Kamini hu mein! " She said running behind him.
" Achha? Meri saari fans apne aap ko kamini hi bolti hai! " He said and ran to save his life.
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The coldness cut through their body. Virat looked at her shivering and holding on to herself. Her wet hair falling over her beautifull cheeks. He swallowed hard and looked away. They both dragged their feet out of the cold river. The sun was still over their head. He was about to say somethng when he felt sharpness cut square on his face.
" What the F-," Virat said shaking his head. He ran his hand through his hair and wiped his eyes. He looked up when as he heard her laugh. He looked at her angrily. He plunged to get hold of her while she screamed and backed off a little. The water was still upto her waist. He narrowed his eyes at her. She was still laughing, her angelic laugh giving the air a beautiful feeling. He moved towards her as she moved tried to move back as fast as she could in the freezing water. Her laugh never dying.
" Ruko tum! Bandariya! Mein tumhe chhodunga nahi. " Virat said catching up to her. He slid his hand around her waist and both of them fell into the shallow water. Laughter boomed through the emptiness of the Jungle. Manvi laughed as Virat splashed water on her. She got up and splashed on him again. He tried to dogde it by covering his face with his arms. They played around for a while before Manvi's leg slipped on the mud and she fell, taking him with her holding the collar of his shirt. And as the fairytale would go, his eyes met hers and the world was forgotten. He swallowed hard-something he has been doing alot around her. His jaw clenched and shiver ran down his spine. Manvi didn't know what to say, or what to do at this point. Hos intense gaze burned through her like a hot rod.
Virat looked at her face intensely. He didn't do it on purpose. It just happened. He had no control over his mind...and heart anymore. He couldn't help but admire her beautiful eyes. Her beautiful face. Her beautiful skin. Her beautiful herself. She looked beyond beautiful, shivering in the cold. As another cold breeze sent rolls of shivers down their spine, Virat leaned down.
~ Prach
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