Part # 30
As Adil reached home, he found Rishabh at the entrance. Adil made a face for the possibility of being 'interrogated' while Rishabh's mouth shaped in a perfect 'o'. For obvious reasons, he was shocked to see Adil coming out of the car, that too from the driver's seat.
Rishabh: What the...!! Tum kahan se aa rahe ho? And did u just drive this car?
Adil: Not really.
Rishabh: What not really? Maine abhi abhi dekha tum drive karke aye!!
Adil: Ah well, u asked if I just drove the car now, but the fact is I often drive it. Anyways, tum iss waqt ghar pe kya kar rahe ho? U shud be in office.
Rishabh: Main ek meeting se aa raha hu, yahin se guzar raha tha aur lunch time ho gaya, to socha lunch karke phir nikalta hu.
Adil: Hmm, gud. Lets get in then!! (and he is abt to leave)
Rishabh: Hey excuse me!! Mujhe baki sabki tarah samjha hai kya? U cant fool me. Tumne abhi tak mere sawal ka jawab nahi diya. Tum aa kahan se rahe ho??
Adil: Main?
Rishabh: Yes, tum!!
Adil: Well, I was just out.
Rishabh: Wo mujhe bhi pata hai ki tum bahar the, lekin bahar kahan?
Adil: Mujhe ghar pe achha nahi lag raha tha, isliye bahar chala gaya.
Rishabh: And wat abt the driver?
Adil: What abt him??
Rishabh: I meant to say, tum khud drive kyun kar rahe the? Tumhara hath to...
Adil: (quickly cuts in) Its fine!! I can drive and that too pretty well. Abhi tumhara interrogation khatam ho gaya ho to andar chale?
Rishabh: Har conversation ka anth tum nahi kar sakte Adil. I'm not finished yet.
Adil: And I have not left yet. I was simply suggesting to go inside, kyunki aise bahar 'converse' karna seems a lil odd, don't u think so?
Rishabh: Kabhi kabhi lagta hai tum bahut badal chuke ho Adil aur kabhi kabhi lagta hai ki nahi, tum to aise hi the!! Shayad main bhool hi gaya hu tum kaise the!! Par badlav zarur hai, kaafi badlav hai.
Adil: Kya kare, zindagi khud badal chuki hai. I had to move along!!
Silence prevailed for a few moments. Adil knew Rishabh was talking the younger Adil who was perhaps at the best phase of his life. That Adil looked for light in darkness; he was learning to be positive whereas now things have changed. Now it doesn't matter if its light or darkness, it doesn't matter if you think positive or negative; life will just move on in its own way and no matter how hard you wish and try, you can never really change its course!! That young Adil didn't knw this fact, but now he does!!
Here Rishabh finally wanted to spill out wat he's been trying to say for quite a while.
Rishabh: Adil, mujhe tumse kuch kehna tha!! (Adil just looked at him and he continued) I just wanted to say...I am...I am not really proud of the way I have been and I'm quite...Mere kehne ka matlab ye hai kii...I now understand that there were some flaws on my part and...
Adil: (cuts his words) Ek minute!! You are stretching it too long. Ek kaam karo, pehle ek paper pe likh lo tumhe exactly kehna kya hai and then just recite it to me!! Right now, I wud like to get inside and this time I'm really serious!!
Rishabh keeps looking at the way while Adil moves inside the house. He didn't knw wat exactly he felt becoz of the way Adil just cut him off. Perhaps he was slightly angry but mostly upset. He was so awkward in himself and now Adil had made it odder.
Here as Adil moves towards the main door, he finds Ashna standing in the way. She had her hands across her chest and by the look he cud tell she wasn't in her best mood for sure!! Now whether it was her worst form or not, that he wud have to chk out later. As of then, Adil just just avoided looking directly at her and went in.
At night, Ashna had a talk with Rishabh.
Ashna: May I come in?
Rishabh: Yeah, sure!!
Ashna: Tumse kuch baat karni thi, if u have tym of course!!
Rishabh: Don't be so formal. Kaho kya kehna hai.
Ashna: Tum kuch dino se thode pareshan lag rahe ho. Agar koi badi baat hai to I think tumhe share karna chahiye.
Rishabh: Nahi Ashna, nothing much!! Actually Adil ke accident se achanak sab kuch thoda sehem sa gaya hai, I mean to say ghar ka mahaul and office me bhi it feels like he is not there!! U knw wat I mean ryt?
Ashna: Yeah, I do. Lekin main iss change ki baat nahi kar rahi hu. Actually I heard u two earlier today!! Shayad main janti hu tum kya kehna chah rahe the and it's really awful the way he cut you!! Lekin...
Rishabh: Well, ek pal ke liye mujhe bhi gussa aya but I guess it wasn't really the right time. I mean he just had this accident and he is stuck at home for long, he was actually frustrated I guess.
Ashna: Shayad tum sahi ho. Lekin main bas kehna chahti thi ki Adil se koi baat kehni hai to bas keh do. Don't w8 for him to listen peacefully coz that never happens. Usse to zabardasti sunana hota hai.
Rishabh: (smiles) That sounds interesting. Lekin main bas usse blame nahi kar sakta. May be its high time I saw my own mistakes. Sahi kaha tha usne ki itne saalon me zindagi badal gayi hai, sab kuch aage badh chuka hai aur shayad sirf main hi thehra hua tha, apni nafrat me, apne gusse me, apni zidd me!! Aur aaj achanak jab ehsaas ho raha hai to main sab kuch pehle jaisa chahta hu, waqt ko pichhe lena chahta hu. Par ye to mumkin nahi hai na?
Ashna: Sahi kaha, waqt ko pichhe lena mumkin nahi hai. Waqt to bas aage badhta jata hai. Isliye iski kadar karna sikho aur isse waste mat karo. Jo bhi kehna hai keh do, wo samajh jayega!! Kaafi samajhdaar hai wo, bas dikhata nahi hai, thoda akru bhi hai na!!
Rishabh: (laughs feebly) Akru?
Ashna: Kyun? Tumhe nahi lagta wo akru hai?
Rishabh: You knw wat Ashna, you are really sweet. Aur pata nahi kisine tumhe kaha ya nahi but you're just so perfect for him!!
Ashna: Actually Rashi ne mujhe ye compliment bahut pehle de diya tha!! But thanks to you of course, for saying so!! Khair, abhi main chalti hu, tum baat kar lena usse ok?
Rishabh: Okay, thanks by the way!!
Ashna: You're welcome!! Gud night!!
As Ashna came out of Rishabh's room, she looked at the closed door of her room. She knew Adil was there and she was too angry on him right then. She hadn't talked to him all day though she made sure he was having medicine and proper rest as needed. However, Adil didn't seem to be bothered, he made no effort to even apologize and that angered Ashna all the more. So keeping her rage intact, she entered the room and closed the door pretty hard just to let him knw she was not in her best mood. That, however, didn't help her. On the contrary, Adil choked on the water he was drinking and began coughing hard!! So Ashna had to rush by his side and pat on his back.
Ashna: Tum thik se paani tak nahi pee sakte kya? Araam se peena chahiye na?
Adil: Wo to tum achanak se...
Ashna: Main achanak se kya? Tum araam se pee nahi sakte the kya? Tum bhi na Adil, you are always careless!!
Adil: Ashna!! Its just water!! Thoda pani hi to gira hai aur tum...oh wait...are you? Hey look at me!! Are you like seriously sobbing? (and he continues coughing)
Ashna: Chup raho na zara!!
Adil: Lekin tum kyun... (he coughs again)
Ashna: Tumhe baat samajh me nahi ati kya? Thodi der, bas thodi der chup raho!! Khaasi bandh ho jayegi to baat kar lena!! Please!! Tumhe to apni fikr hai nahi. Koi tumhare liye har pal pareshan rehta hai to rahe!! Tumhe kya!! Tumhe jo karna hota hai tum to bas wahi karoge na!! Why wud u care if that scares the hell out of someone?
Adil: (murmurs) Okay, so this is not abt choking on water!!
Ashna: Kya kaha tumne? What did u say?
Adil: Kuch nahi.
Ashna: Kuch kehna bhi mat!! Huh…main ghalat thodi bol rahi hu!! Tumhe fark hi kya padhta hai? Koi hurt ho ya upset ho, why wud u care? Tumhe to ghar me ghutan hoti hai and so u go for a drive, wo bhi driver ke bina!! So what agar tum injured ho? So wat if it can get dangerous! You don't care! You are Adil Raichand after all. Tumhe kyun parwa hogi as long as everything goes ur way!!
Adil: Ho gaya?
Ashna: Kya ho gaya?
Adil: Tumhara gussa karna!! Ho gaya? Do u feel better now?
Ashna eyes at him for few moments, she wanted to yell at him but cudnt do that somwhow. So she chose to leave and turned around. However, Adil stopped her by the hand and gently made her turn back.
Adil: Sit.
He gestured the place beside him with his head. Ashna looked at his side but then looked away again. She simply kept standing maintaining the frown on her face!!
Adil: Maine baithne ko kaha na?
Ashna: Suna maine!!
Adil: Fine!! Tumhe nahi baithna to main khada ho jata hu!! (and he is abt to get up, but she stops him)
Ashna: Uff, baith rahi hu main!! Tum apne tricks mat chalao!!
Adil: Ye meri nahi tumhari trick hai. Blackmailing!! Remember? (he states quite cheekily, he was enjoying her irritation)
Ashna: (sits beside him) Tumhe sab kuch mazak lagta hai kya? Main kitni pareshan thi Adil tumhe andaza bhi nahi hoga!! Tum aise kyun nikal gaye? Mujhe bata to sakte the!!
Adil: Taaki tum mere jaane ki har option bandh kar deti?
Ashna: Lekin tum mujhe mana bhi sakte the na? You knw u can do that to me!! Phir main khud tumhe bahar le jati. Ya phir at least tum Kaka ko le jate, he always drives for u!! Akele nikalne ki kya zarurat thi? Tum sab kuch itna lightly kyun lete ho? (eventually she looks down while speaking and her voice becums heavy)
Adil: Don't tell me tum phirse ro rahi ho!! Upar dekho!!
Adil makes her look at him and finds her almost crying. So he carefully wipes away the one droplet at the corner of her eye and waits for her to calm down. Ashna tries hard to stop her tears and begins wiping her eyes roughly. She tries to look up and smile at him but fails miserably.
Here Adil gently holds her hand back, her eyes were already red due to too much rubbing!! He tugged back the few strands of hair that were coming on her face. But before he cud say anything, she hugged him tight and began sobbing.
Adil just let her be like that, he didn't even try to stop her crying. Rather, he wanted her to vent out her anger and frustration in whichever way she preferred. When he was going out in the morning, he had thought that she wud be furious!! And when she didn't see him for the entire day, he knew it for sure!! So now he just let her express herself to him.
However, the way she clung to him, he realized she was more hurt and scared than angry!! He knew the pain she was going thru, after all he knew wat it took to love!! Yet, he didn't hug her back. He clutched his hand tightly into a fist and remained still. It was hard to hold back, when he cud feel her so close to his heart. Her hair rubbed against his chin and he cud feel her warm breath against his chest. And as her tears invaded thru his shirt, he felt like they pierced into him. But he struggled hard wid the urge to hold her in his arms; he had already given in too much.
After a while, Ashna slowly lets him go and speaks up softly.
Ashna: Tum phirse aisa kuch nahi karoge!! Promise me!!
She extends her hand innocently asking for a promise. Adil, however, stared at her hand for a moment and then looked up to see her face. He didn't miss the tears of anxiety in her eyes but he didn't knw if he had the right to make that promise. He knew how much it hurts when you pin ur hope to something that doesn't last long enough!! He didn't want his words to prove false. So instead of holding her hand in a promise, he instinctively moved forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. The kiss lasted for more than a mere moment. It didn't hold the promise but at least his urge to make that promise.
Here, Ashna closed her eyes the moment his lips touched her forehead. She didn't knw what she was supposed to interprete, so she didn't bother at all. She simply cherished the feeling of being close to him, but it wasn't going to last forever and soon he drew back!! Ashna faintly hoped that he might say something, something he has wished to say for a while. But Adil hardly spent a moment to stare at her and then he stood up.
Adil: I need to change. Paani gir gaya tha, so I'll just be back.
Ashna realized he didn't want to talk yet and she let it remain that way. She knew he wudnt speak up anyways unless he himself wished to and the last thing she wanted at that moment was an argument wid him. So she just nodded her head bringing a cordial smile on her lips and watched him move away.
After a while, when Adil was back...
Ashna: Mujhe na tumse kuch zaruri baat karni thi. Rishabh ke bare me!!
Adil: Kya hua usse?
Ashna: Kuch hua nahi. But he is really upset Adil. Main ussise milke ayi. Aaj subah wo tumse sorry kehna chah raha tha, u did realize that ryt?
Adil: Ek minute!! Wo mujhse sorry kyun kahega? As far as I knw, usne recently koi ghalti nahi kii. Shekhar updates deta hai mujhe. So he was definitely not trying to apologize or something!!
Ashna was stunned at the way Adil just ignored the situation even now. She now realized that he perhaps deliberately avoided Rishabh back then and right now he wasn't even ready to acknowledge that.
Ashna: Tumne jaan bujh ke usse baat nahi kii, hai na? Kya tum usse naraz ho?
Adil: I don't knw wat you are talking abt. Kaafi raat ho chuki hai and I think we need to sleep.
Ashna: Lekin Adil...its so not you!! Tum Rishabh se naraz kaise ho sakte ho? Tum uske bina kahe, bina samjhe hi usse maaf karte aye ho, to aaj jab wo samajh chuka hai aur kehna chahta hai to tum yu ruthke kaise aa sakte ho?
Adil: You are out of ur mind Ashna. Kuch zyada hi sochti ho tum!!
Ashna: Nahi Adil, main sahi soch rahi hu. Jab mujhe samajh me aa gaya ki wo sorry bolna chahta tha, tab tumhe bhi samajh me aya hoga!! After all tum Rishabh ko usse behtar samajhte ho. Uski har harkat ki wajah uske bina kahe tum usse pehle samajhte ho. To aaj bhi tum samajh gaye hoge!! Subah mujhe laga shayad tum achanak se usse ye sab baat nahi karna chahte the, isliye chale aye. Lekin tum to...
Before Ashna cud finish, Adil had stormed out of the room. He went straight to Rishabh's room while Ashna followed him. He knocked twice and Rishabh opened the door. He wasn't asleep at all.
Rishabh: Tum? Iss waqt?
Adil: Subah maine tumse baat nahi kii, lekin karni chahiye thi. So tell me kya kehna chahte the tum?
Rishabh: Main bas...
Adil: I heard tum mujhse sorry kehna chahte the. Is that true? (Rishabh was abt to speak up but Adil didn't let him) Well, agar ye sach hai Rishabh then pls don't bother!! Tumhe mujhse sorry kehne ki koi zarurat nahi hai coz it doesn't mean anything to me!! Subah tumne kaha tha u r not proud of the way u have always been. So I am assuming that you are saying sorry for everything u have done till date. Aur agar aisa hai, agar tum sach me kuch regret karte ho, to tumhe sorry feel karne ka pura haq hai. Lekin tumhe mujhse maafi mangne ki koi zarurat nahi hai Mr. Rishabh Raichand.
At this point Rishabh looked into his eyes as Adil called him so formally for the very first time ever. He tried to know from his eyes whether Adil meant wat he was saying. But those eyes didn't give away anything, they seemed as cold as they had mostly been.
Adil: Aur main ye baat tumse naraz ho kar ya kisi abhimaan ki wajah se nahi keh raha hu. Sach yehi hai ki tumhare kuch bhi karne se mujhe kabhi fark nahi padha!! Agar kabhi tumse ghalti hui to maine tumhe hamesha toka hai aur usse sudharne pe majboor bhi kiya hai. So it has always been even for us!! Isliye apne aap ko ya kisi aur ko bother karna bandh kar do. Just mind your work!! (he is abt to leave but Rishabh speaks up)
Rishabh: Sahi tha main, tum badal chuke ho.
Adil: I donno tum kis aspect se ye baat bol rahe ho. But as I said earlier today, everything has changed and so have we all. Gud night.
As Adil gets back to his room, Ashna follows him back. She doesn't speak up as she wasn't very sure of his mood. Even Adil remains silent and pensive. Ashna curses herself mentally for troubling him like that, but the damage was done and she cudnt amend that.
Later at night...
Adil was lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling above. It was all dark and he cud feel Ashna asleep beside him. She had held his left hand around midnight, most probably taking him to be in deep slumber. Now she was holding it close to her neck where his knuckles touched her jaw.
"Tumse kitna kuch kehna bhi hai aur nahi bhi. Pata nahi shuruwat kaise karu? Kaise batau tumhe ki main kyun Rishabh ko ignore karta hu, kyun Dadi se dur rehta hu, kyun Mom se nazre milana nahi chahta, kyun Rashi ki itni fikr karta hu aur kyun tumse ye sab kuch share karne se ghabrata hu!! Tum kaise samjhogi Ashna? Aur tum shayad samajh bhi jao, lekin kya main samjha paunga? Sab kuch chhupane ki itni adaat ho gayi hai ki ab batane se darr lagta hai. Aur phir main ye bhi to nahi janta main chahta kya hu. Tumhara saath ya...!!"
Adil looked back at their hands that were interlocked wid each other. Her grip was tight even in sleep. Adil, however, didn't make any effort to withdraw his hand while she seemed perfectly comfortable that way.
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Edited by Sumi_162710 - 13 years ago
Pati Patni Aur Panga
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