Part # 14
Adil composes his mind rather heart wid much difficulty and returns to Ashna!! She was having her food by now'.and as he reaches her she looks towards him and speaks up.
Ashna: Actually'.tum khane wale to ho nahi'.so w8 karne ki formality nahi kii'.
But it was as if he didn't pay heed to anything she said and simply sat down on the chair in front of her. It was a lil strange for her as he completely ignored her words!! Not even the curt nod of acknowledgment was there!!
All the while that they were sitting there, Ashna threw curious glances at him but he just didn't notice anything!! In fact he wasn't even looking at her and restricted his gaze on the ground.
"Isse kya hua? Maine to kuch bhi gadbad nahi kii aur to aur kisse baat karke iska mood aise bigad gaya? Well pehle bhi mood kuch khaas achha nahi tha lekin ab to statue ban gaya hai!!"
[Wanna remind you Adil had excused himself saying he had to make a call, that's why she thinks call ke baad Adil ka mood kharab ho gaya hai]
However Ashna finishes her meal and gets up to leave whereas he was still sitting!! He didn't even notice her standing up!!
"Okay'this is too much!! Ek taak zameen me dekh kya raha hai wo?"
Ashna: Adil'.do u plan to leave or wat?? Aise kya dekh rahe ho??
Adil: Huh? (gets a lil startled and looks at her in a confused way)
Ashna: Wat huh?? Chalna nahi hai kya?? Khud hi to keh rahe the ki thak gaye ho and all'.to ab kya'
Even before she cud finish, he gets up and starts to walk towards their room. At first Ashna stares at his way in astonishment and then quickly follows him to the room.
Reaching the room'..
Ashna: Tum aise ajeeb behave kyun kar rahe ho?? Maine kya ghalat kiya?
Adil: Tumne? (gets a lil confused as to why she thinks she did sumthing wrong) I didn't say u did sumthing wrong!!
Ashna: To aise uthke chale kyun aye?
Adil: Coz I suppose u were asking me to do so'.tum khud chalne ki baat kar rahi thi na?
Ashna: Gosh!! You r strange!!
Saying this she goes to the washroom'.while he gets rid of his formal attire!!
At night Adil had his eyes closed and he was trying hard to sleep. But he was too much disturbed to get sum sleep. He recalls whatever has been happening for past few days and soon he knws he has been doing wrong all the while.
"Ghalti meri hi to hai. I need to be more controlled regarding my acts. And she is right''.I have been behaving strangely and disoriented whereas I cant afford to do that."
Next morning, Adil gets ready to leave for the work he had come for.
Ashna: Site pe jaa rahe ho?
Adil: Hmm'..U will stay here na? (she was abt to speak up but he didnlt let her) Waise it wont take long so tab tak tum yehi raho......and it wud be better if u don't leave the hotel. After all u don't knw the place do you?
Ashna doesn't answer that coz he actually didn't ask for her reply rather he just stated it.
Ashna: Lekin main akeli kya karungi?
Adil: Kyun? Watch the cartoon u have been watching till now!!
Ashna: Cartoon?? (she now looks at the TV screen and then looks towards him again dropping her jaw and continues in a raised voice) Main cartoon nahi dekh rahi hu'.this is a movie!!
Adil: Okay'chill. I thought it's a cartoon coz sab cartoon jaise hi lag rahe hai'see. (he points at the TV screen)
Ashna: Gosh'just shut up!! That's Johny Depp and its 'Alice in Wonderland'. This is no cartoon'.and more importantly HE is no cartoon. He is one of the sexiest men alive on earth!!
Adil: (narrows his eyes at that but still replies calmly) Achha fine'.I am sorry!! All I was saying is'. Tum iss movie ko rather Johny Depp ko enjoy karo. I'll be back by then.
Ashna: Arre'movie to abhi 2 minute me khatam ho jayegi'phir main kya dekhungi'aur kya karungi?
Adil: Ah'.but tum mere saath bhi bore ho jaogi.
Ashna: Achha tum batao'.tum karne kya jaa rahe ho?
Adil: Jis site pe RGI ki next construction hogi'.usse inspect karne jaa raha hu.
Ashna: Matlab?
"How cud I forget'.she needs to be spelled everything"
Adil: Matlab'.the deal is of a high-storeyed construction. But I was wondering yaha kis land me itni high construction ki scope hai. In short I was not convinced'..so am gonna check the site myself.
Ashna: Iske liye itna kuch karne ki kya zarurat hai?? Construction ke liye Govt. se permission to li hogi na unhone?
Adil: U don't actually get it do u??
Ashna: Get wat??
Adil: (speaks in a very gentle voice) Ashna'.duniya me tarah tarah ke log hote hai'.and u cant afford to trust them all. Ek permission letter haasil karna'..u think that's a big deal??
Ashna: U mean'.agar koi site bahut high construction ke liye sahi nahi hai'..phir bhi uss par construction ki permission mil sakti hai?
Ashna asks cutely and Adil felt his heart suddenly missed a beat!! The way she was looking at him wid her striking curious eyes, it suddenly caught him in a trance!!
Ashna: Adil??
Adil: Ah..haa? (cums out of the trance) Well Yes'.I mean exactly that'..ye koi badi baat nahi hai'.
Ashna: Hmm'.
Adil: (sumthing strikes him) Achha'tumhari movie kab khatam hogi?
Ashna: (panics and looks at the TV screen) Arre'its almost over!! Literally 2 minutes bache hai.
Adil: U mean pehle jab tumne kaha tha tab 2 minutes baki nahi the?
Ashna: Of course not. Main kya ghari dekh ke tumhe tym bata rahi thi?
Adil rolls his eyes while she finishes watching the last scene of the movie.
Ashna: Hmm'now its over!! Abhi chalte hai (she is abt to take a step but then retreats and looks towards him) Tum mujhe apne saath leke to jaa rahe ho na? Ya phir aise hi movie khatam hone ke bare me puchha tha?
Adil feels like smiling at her innocent query as her intoxicating eyes stare into his. "Intoxicating"'..thats the word he had thought long back abt her eyes and now he feels every bit of that!! But however he does manage to look away and tells her rather curtly.
Adil: Lets move.
On their way back Ashna rather seemed to be thinking abt sumthing for quite a while and Adil knew sum queries of her were w8ing for him to be answered.
Ashna: Achha ek baat batao'.how did u knw everything was f9?? And how do u knw if sumthing is wrong?? Bas site pe jaa ke pata chal jata hai kya?
Adil: Kyun'.tum bhi to site pe thi''tumhe pata chal gaya tha kya?
Ashna: (feels offended) Sidha jawab nahi de sakte kya?
Adil: I hav been in this business for a long span of tym Ashna. Have worked in the construction sites as well. Mujhe thoda bahut andaza ho jata hai. And as of now'I didn't find anything wrong. Actually I haven't worked wid this client before'..to bas thoda sure hona chahta tha!!
Ashna: But Adil Raichand ko iss chhote se kaam k liye itni dur aane ki kya zarurat hai?
Adil: (gets the taunt pretty clearly) Sab kaam agar dusro se karaunga'.to main kya karunga? And again'.agar main kuch nahi karunga to dusre meri baat kyun maanenge??
Ashna: (holds her hands up as if giving up to the fact that she doesn't understand his words) Okay'I didn't get that!!
Adil: Thought so!!
Ashna: What do u mean by 'thought so'?
Adil: Ashna'.lets forget it ok?
Ashna: Now wat do u mean by 'forget it'?
Adil: Wat do u want baba?? Translate karu kya tumhare liye?? Simple si baat hai'.naa samajhne jaisa kya hai isme? (he doesnt like the fact that sumtyms she was so naive)
At this Ashna doesn't answer back. She was truly offended and sumwat hurt as well.
"Samajhta kya hai apne aap ko? Maine aisa bhi kya puchha?? Uske logics mujhe samajh me nahi ate. Khud hi to kehta hai'..he is experienced and all'.and I am new na'.to mujhe kaise samajh me ayega?? Kabhi mujhe predictable and naive kehta hai''.to kabhi nasamajh and bewkuf. Huh!! Ab tumse nahi to kisse puchhu Adil? Aur hai hi kaun?"
After a while Adil stops the car at the hotel and Ashna is abt to step down, when he speaks up.
Adil: Kuch baatein hamein sirf waqt samjhata hai Ashna. Jab tumhara waqt ayega tum bhi samajhne lagogi. All u can do is to try and hope that ur time cums soon.
At this Ashna wanted to shout "Mujhse apni philosophical baatein mat karo". But for sum strange reason she didn't say anything. She remained motionless as her back was facing him and here Adil also doesn't break the silence.
Just then, a guard cums rushing to open the door for Ashna and he was saying sorry for being away, but Ashna didn't pay attention to that!! She was still pondering over his words!!
Here in Mumbai'''
There is a call at RGI.
Caller: Rishabh Raichand bol raha hu. Adil ko phn do!!
Receptionist gets a lil nervous as she hears the hard and cold voice on the other side but just then Shekhar was passing by the reception''.much to her relief.
Receptionist: Shekhar Sir, Mr. Raichand ka phn hai.
Shekhar: Adil ka?
Receptionist: Nahi'.Mr. Rishabh Raichand ka!!
Shekhar: Hmm'..Connect him to my room. (and he leaves and answers the phn from his office) Hello'
Rishabh: Adil??
Shekhar: No Rishabh'Shekhar bol raha hu'.kaise ho?
Rishabh: Stop pretending Shekhar. Tum achhese jante ho main kaisa hu!! Adil kaha hai? Usse phn do'.and don't u dare say he is busy in sum meeting or sumthing of that sort!!
Shekhar: Adil Mumbai me nahi hai Rishabh. Koi problem hai to mujhse baat kar sakte ho.
Rishabh: Oh how convenient of u!! Khud problem create karke uska solution dena chahte ho? Listen to my words very carefully and convey them to Him''.. I am not going to come back!!!
Shekhar: But kyun Rishabh? Lautne me harz hi kya hai?
Rishabh: Main yaha kyun aya tha yaad hai na tumhe?? I don't want to be where He already is. Aur phir tumne khud mujhse kaha tha ki iske aage jo main chahunga wo hi hoga'..to aaj mujhe Mumbai bulane ki ye kaisi zidd hai??
Shekhar: I don't knw Rishabh but Adil wants u here.
Rishabh: Yeah yeah'.Adil (with a pause) Raichand ha?
Shekhar: (gets the taunt in Rishabh's words as he mocks Adil's surname) U knw wat Rishabh'.I think u shud talk to Adil only.
Rishabh: Yes I knw'.tum kuch nahi kar sakte na. His wish is your command!!
Shekhar: Kuch aisa hi samajh lo. I'll give u his number.
Here in Jodhpur Adil and Ashna reach their room.
Adil: Abhi raat hone ko ayi hai. Hum subah Mumbai ke liye nikal jayenge ok?
Ashna nods in agreement and Adil's mobile rings. He answers that most usually but the caller says sumthing and he doesn't seem that usual anymore. He excuses himself and leaves the room.
Ashna finds iit strange coz he cud simply talk in the balcony. But as she opens the door and peeps outside she finds him standing at the other end of the corridor and he was very much engrossed in the conversation!!
Adil: Haan bolo Rishabh.
Rishabh: Bolna kya hai Adil? Tum jante ho maine kyun phn kiya hai.
Adil: May be I do. But I don't exactly knw tum chahte kya ho?
Rishabh: Well main kya chahta hu wo mayne nahi rakhta aur ye baat main achhese janta hu. Still I wud prefer agar tum apni ye zidd chhor do'..main wapas nahi aane wala.
Adil: Don't act like a child Rishabh. U knw u r gonna be deported if u don't cum back on ur own. Tumhare naa ane ka to option hi nahi hai!!
Rishabh: Tum aisa kyun karna chahte ho??
Adil: Bahut simple si baat hai. Tab tum mujhse dur jana chahte the as u cant stand me. F9!! I agreed to that but now its high tym u got over ur dislike for me!! U have a family here and u need to be back!!
Rishabh: Darn you!! Wats wrong wid you??
Adil: Nothing. Its just the tym to get things right!! See u in Mumbai in a while Rishabh. Have a safe return flight!! (and he hangs up)
Here in the room, Ashna sits on the bed and doesn't feel sleepy. She was very much thoughtful abt things happening around her. She notices a paper and a pen kept on the table nearby. She grabs it and settles herself on the bed.
In the center of the page she writes "Adil Raichand". Then she makes two columns "gud traits" & "bad traits".
"Pehle gud traits likhti hu. Bad traits likhte likhte to raat dhal jayegi"
She tries to think of incidents when he had done sumthing gud to her or others!!
She thinks he cares for his family and sumtimes for her, he was quite understanding and wud help her to deal wid many aspects which were new to her. So she writes down:
Caring
Understanding
Helpful
"Ab bas!! Isse zyada achhayi usme nahi hogi"
So now she starts to think abt the bad traits. She remembers the time when he almost forced her into the marriage, his manipulative tricks that worked on her father, his arrogance, his adamance to get married to her, his irritating proud nature whenever he seems to give her sum weird logics and the looks he gives her whenever she makes a mistake in office. She writes down the traits in super fast speed.
Rude
Arrogant
Adamant
Forceful
Manipulative
Proud
Uncooperative
Irritating
Then she stops for a while and thinks again. And she is reminded of his usual nature of hurting her or rather his strange ability to hurt her and still act like nothing happened and walk away!!
Hurtful
Insensitive
And now the traits which very much define "The Adil Raichand".
Complex personality
Secretive
Mysterious
For Ashna, the mission to knw abt Adil Raichand, finds a dead end at these traits of his. He was too much complex and was way too mysterious. No matter how expressive his eyes were, they didn't deceive him in guarding his secrets!!
Ashna was busy in her 'Adil Analysis' when the door is flung open while Ashna is startled. It was Adil.
Adil: (seeing her suddenly curled up on the bed) Oh am sorry. Didn't mean to startle you!!
Ashna: (relaxes a bit) No'.its ok!!
Now she folds the paper and keeps it in her bag. Then she lies down the bed and quickly closes her eyes to avoid him!! His curious gaze was making her restless. However the act of closing eyes didn't help much, as she still felt a certain chill in her body. It seemed his very presence was having an effect on her!!
She shut her eyes more tightly and tried to calm down her heart. She thought she was restless becoz of his sudden entry when she was 'analyzing' him. She thought her heart was pounding hard becoz of the reflexive instinct of getting caught!!
Here Adil had a curious look as he didn't think she wud be awake by now. It was quite long that he was gone. He had talked to Rishabh and after cutting the call he had stayed there relishing his loneliness for a while. He expected Ashna to be asleep by now. On the contrary he found her wide awake'..and it seemed she was writing sumthing in the paper that she just kept in the bag.
Adil was definitely curious but didn't think it was much important for him to knw. So after wondering for sumtym, he just shook his head, got changed and settled himself in a sitting position beside her while switching off the light!! He looked over her and found her eyes closed. He remained in that position for a while as he seemed to chalk out his necessary future actions in the mind!! And then he turned his face to the window and looked at the moonless sky. The darkness and emptiness of the sky seemed to reflect in those deep and dauntless eyes!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edited by sumaiya wahid - 14 years ago
267