part 1 D3 academy office- two yrs after Taani s engagement
swayam and kriya doing some stuff..rey s restless walking up and down toppling the chair here, disturbing the files arranged here and there ... swayam too busy to notice it..kriya getting irritated ..sharon talking over the mobile at the door
Rey "swayam" noreply ," kriya"
"rey let me complete this..." irritable kriya
"we should hire someone to do all this stuff..tumhaara burden kam hojaayega"
Swayam stopped working and looked up- " tuje hua kya hain? "
"he s gone mad swayam" kriya replied irritatedly," teen din se he s acting like crazy"
"itna restless kyun ho?" swayam asked looking at him and then at kriya
Kriya shook her head frustrated ," dont look at me, im bugged. Yahaan itna saara kaam padaa hain , schedules daalne hain aur rey ...pata nahin...kal raat ka kaam..." and showed swayam one file, swayam looked through it and raised his eyebrows
"tumhe bahana chahiye complain karne ka... so gaya bas aur waise bhi har waqt tho kaam nahin "
"oh really yeh aap kehrahe ho ki har waqt kaam nahin..." kriya put the pencil down ready to fight , swayam smiled at them- things didnt really change much
Sharon joined them and hit rey on the head angrily ,"what the hells wrong with you?...tumne summer classes ki students ki list aur long term students ki list ulta kyun kiya? Ive been doing damage control since morning..."
Kriya shook her head ..rey looked at the three of them staring at him, then stopped at swayam who looked more sympathetic," somethings wrong swayam...mujhe aisi odd si feeling..."
"kya rey? sab kuch tho teek hain..saara performances acche gaye hain, saari payments on time pe hain..blah blah.." swayam listed off the stuff personal and professional that were fine ..rey looked at him unable to explain his confusion ... swayam s mobile rang TAANI, swayam gave a minute glance to rey , excusing himself received it and moved out of the room to talk.
Rey didnt notice whose call it was but still looked like he had a bad ache somewhere in the body...kriya and Sharon exchanged glances , kriya sighed closed the file and putting her hand out to him, pulled him to sit on the chair next to her," kya hua rey? " he saw the concern in her eyes and felt a strange guilt he couldn't explain," maybe you need a break bas..last stage performance jo ..." she kept saying something and suddenly he just wanted to run from her his urge surprising himself -kal shaam ko bhi aisa hi laga..pata nahin aisi kaunsi baat hain jiske wajah se mujhe kriya se door bhaagne ka mann hoga, thank god usse kuch pata nahin chala warna she would ve felt bad-"...aap ghar jao aaj.bohot zyaada kaam hogaya hain..." she was shaking him , he came bac from his random thoughts and heard Sharon say
"haan, we ve been really busy . weekened ko classes mat daalna , lets all go somewhere"
rey sighed nodded and smiling at both of them said guiltily "sorry girls..pata nahin kyun.. main ghar jaatha hoon.." got up , kriya pulled him and gave a quick peck on the cheek making him smile slightly swayam ko batadena" and left.
Kriya watched him go worried - 3 days se he s not here, maybe ghar me kuch problem?? Tho batadethe..uncle ya aunty se poochoon? nahin, lets wait..god knows kya problem hain and kal raat ko tho mujhe itna avoid kiya
Swayam entered looking thoughtful ..sharon catching his look," all ok? Ab tum Itna worried kyun ho?" he opened his mouth, saw kriya also looking at him and then stopped himself saying," rey kahaan hain?"
"he left ghar ke liye ...maybe he s just burnt out..last three months have been ..." Sharon and kriya started talking about how busy life had become etc., while swayam stared at them , his thoughts going- god knows kya connection hain un done ke beech ya coincidence hain? jab bhi taani ki koi bhi important baat hogi tab rey ko pata chaljaatha hain..shaking his head.. life mein itni ajeeb ajeeb situations dekhne ko milthe hain jiska koi explanations hi nahin dhoondpaathe..maybe we are not supposed to understand all that - SWAYAM
he heard Sharon calling him and realised the girls were staring at him . he smiled at them and got back to work saying-" btw im inviting all of you home kal shaam ko.kuch surprise hain" the girls went on trying to get what the surprise was from him and he kept dodging them
"kuch bhi ho just hope rey ka mood teek hojaaye usse" kriya finally gave up trying to find out what it was
Swayam s face broke into a wistful smile- -wo tho dekhne ke baad hi pata chalega- sharon raised her eyebrows catching his expression wondering why he smiled
swayams place - next evening
rey outside the door, rang the bell still looking restless, impatient he rang the bell again muttering - itna dher lagatha hain.. the door opened and he stared , his eyes widening first in shock like he was hit by a bolt, then in surprise and then in joy all in the span of a single moment, then he heard a laugh- a familiar tinkling laugh and his face broke into a huge smile- the first in the past four days
"pata nahin tha ki tum door open karoge"
"pata tha ki aap hi honge ..."
"but i thought ki sab aannewaale the..."
"sab aachuke hain bache bas aap...tho..." hadn't they had this conversation before? He laughed suddenly feeling light-hearted and heard her join him. why were they laughing? He couldn't even see her properly..it was a bit hazy like he was in a dream..was it her?
" rey door pe kyun..." irritated kriya joined them, stopped looked from a suddenly cheerful rey to the pretty girl with a broad smile at the door, her face broke into an involuntary return smile and she looked questioningly
"hi! Aap kriya ho?" she said more of a statement than a question a hint of curiosity in her face, kriya nodded," main taani, wo bhai ki behen..." she laughed , shaking her head at her own mistake looked at rey and rey laughed with her," matlab swayam ki behen" kriya s eyes widened in understanding
so this was taani- so sweet! Her heart went to the girls friendly smile immediately
"kya taani, kuch aur introduction tho do.."rey
"next week se doongi...Mrs Taani Vishesh XXX " she replied her smile turning serious , rey s smile faltered from the eyes but stayed on the face ," meri shaadi hain agale hafthe" she explained to kriya
"oh congrats!"kriya ," so this was swayams surprise?"
"haan..thanks, isiliye main sabko invite karne aayi thi and phir i was hoping ki sabko shopping bhi lejaooo ... sab itna suddenly decide hua ki ..." she spoke hurriedly with a half smile on her face, her hands moving all over, facing kriya and not looking at rey
rey continued to look at her - his vision getting more clear- shes the same..just as cute and weird as before..ya shayad mujhe kuch bhi change dikhaayi nahin detha . waving her hand all over while talking, jab bhi nervous hain ya excited haat hilaayegi and had a glimpse of the original taani who tried to impress him in one of their first dance practice sessions- the brightness in her eyes completely mismatching her hands and legs moving in wrong directions and he laughed loudly out of the blue making both the girls stop their conversation and turn to him. he looked at them unapologetically while taani suddenly hit her forehead with her palm and said,"im so sorry aaplog andher tho aao..main yahin ..." and moved in
kriya followed her and snatched a glance at rey- turning to give him a glance to say that his ex girlfriend was cute and pull his leg but he didnt catch the approving look, instead he smiled at her absent mindedly and followed asking taani in a clear voice - " so why the sudden wedding?" taani started explaining something ," wo meri naani maa..." blah blah
kriya face showed her surprise at the sudden change in his frame of mind and behaviour - all the restlessness of the past few days had vanished ,forget the past few days abhi abhi jab drive karne ke waqt mein fighting mood tha even thats gone, his whole body language s changed- he looked different... he caught her looking at him,smiled at her, his hand holding her arm he pulled her along inside the house following taani who kept talking something chalo achha hua, i thought ki ex girlfriend se milna is sure shot bad mood day but well rey ka mood tho teek hogaya..ek distraction miljaayega .. shes so sweet..thank u universeji, aisa hi rakhna past three days have been bad enough..
they moved to meet up with the whole gang whose noise all three of them heard only now. Taani went around distributing invitations to everyone and everyone pulled everyone elses leg ; exchanging news..ur fat ur thin..etc., etc.,
by the end of the evening two ppl however had their alarm bells ringing -swayam and kriya
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
CID
193