part 2Reyfelt a sudden dread clutch his heart and tightened his hold on the mobile wishing none of this
had happened for a hundredth time , feeling the same guilty wave wash over him again but at the
same time felt a rush of anger that he was forever left feeling guilty when it came to Taani
" tho? Main kya karoon swayam? Meri responsibility nahin hain wo" he shot back
Swayam frowned and exchanged glances with sharon who spoke up before swayam," rey! What
the hell s wrong with you? She s ..."
"sharon she s not a baby. Im sure wo khudh ka khayal rakh sakthi hain...usikeliye tho break up kiya
tha... ki wo independent hojaaye. Aur ab hain tho kyun ..."
"rey SHUT UP" swayam s anxious voice came out angrily," yeh tumhaare baare mein nahin hain ,
wo kahaan ..."
" i dont know ...and honestly i dont..."
" REY! " swayams angry tone stopped rey for a moment. He sat back on the sofa and feeling
another wave of guilt wash over him closed his eyes tight as swayam continued in a worried tone
" She doesnt tell me anything pehle se bhi but the past one week mujhe pata bhi nahin ki wo kaise
manage karrahin thi...i just wish i knew.."
"she ll be fine swayam" rey interrupted him," dont worry. I guess she just wants to be alone for
sometime now"
"how do you know?" sharon. Swayam s worry didnt lessen
" because thats exactly what im feeling now" rey replied his face breaking into a small smile ," just
let her be. Wo aajaayegi" rey stopped as he suddenly he heard sharon say on the other end
TAANI where the hell were you? Swayam was so worried and heard her voice come in distantly
saying "bas sharon bhabhi kuch dher akele rehna chahrahin thi. " rey smiling sadly disconnected and
picked up his videogames remote- when he knew her so well, why couldnt he have just spoken to
her and punched on the remote
Swayams living room
Sharon and swayam exchanged glances immediately thinking of what rey had just said about her
swayam went to her in fast steps and gave her a quick hug simultaneously asking kahaan thi?
Batake kyun nahin jaathi ho taani? And took in her dull eyes kya hua?
she shook her head and smiled Bhai waise mujhe aapse baat karni thi.
--------------------------
Next evening - swayam in front of his house near a car
Rey s car came and stopped in front of the gate making swayam look at the car in surprise. Rey
hadnt come home in more than a week. Rey walked out of the car looking irritable and catching
sight of swayam moved to him and gave him a small tight hug
kaise ho?
Teek hoon mujhe kya hua hain? I hope you are ok swayam though surprised smiled happily at him
Teek ho? Really? Rey for a while looked confused and then as realisation dawned on his face
shook his head and asked Where the hell s sharon?
She just came , andher hain and looking at the irritation on reys face increasing asked what??
usne mujhse kahaan ki tum dono ki badi fight hui hain mere wajah se... and you were upset and
she needed help to settle it and what not ...and asked me to meet her here.
swayam smiled broader -If anyone could get rey out of his house, it was sharon! -He laughed and slapping rey on his back said" kuch fight wight nahin hua hain. Sharon must ve
just ...But good you came. Waise bhi sorry kal raat ko i couldnt call back . Taani ke aane ke baad,
got busy..." he stopped and then continued hesitatingly," taani is shifting from here...to a new
place college ke paas. Main aur sharon usse help karrahe the"
rey frowned not understanding for a moment but then suddenly heard his own voice say - and i ll
avoid tumhaare ghar aana- shit shit shit . His fault again! why the hell did she have to try all the
time to make things easier for him?
He heard swayam ask loudly "rey...rey ??
" why s she..."
"she said usse kuch ...independence chahiye etc., etc.," swayam sighed . For a second neither of
them spoke and then swayam said," i dont like it , i just dont rey par sharon ko lagtha hain ki she
has a right to decide ki usse kya karna chahiye"
rey didnt speak as swayam leaned on the car and continued," wo bachpan se kabhi bhi akeli nahin
rahin hain and i dont know papa ne usse permission kyun dedi... And i dont understand ki achanak
se usse meri saath rehne mein problem kya hogayi. Pehle se bhi kuch share nahin karthi thi aur
last week se tho...matlab i was in your place mostly and ...i dont even know how shes managed rey"
hearing swayams voice filled with guilt rey was about to speak up when he heard sharons loud
happy voice call out to swayam and both turned to see her with taani holding some bags.
Reys face ready to frown at sharon however stared at taani, her small frame almost hidden behind
a huge suitcase that she was pulling along simultaneously pushing her hair falling on her face
back , smiling a little at the weight of the bag and her turn of the head that made her catch rey
staring at her. She looked back at him caught in his eyes for a second but then turned away just as
quickly moving to the back of the car.swallowing her tears as his face hardened.
Well atleast he looked better than before ,itna dull nahin dikhthe
Before rey could react, sharon hugged him saying loudly- thanks rey. You r a...
Sharon dont ever do this again sharon grinned and winked at swayam as he moved to taani who
was trying to adjust bags and stared at the bags , his face clearly saying he was hating the whole
idea and catching taani s small smile grumbled " itna horrible brother hoon ki tum khushi khushi
jaarahin ho?"
Taani dropped a bag to the ground and hugged him arms around his chest ,he sighed gave her a
squeeze and said i dont like it one bit
bhai please with a tearful smile . Swayam sighed again , rey felt multiple feelings inside him- the
bond between the two- hardly ever evident and guilt that she was moving out to keep his friendship
intact and irritation that she always seemed to come out better between them
By then taani moving slightly away from swayam continued but aap positive side dekho na...main
yahaan nahin rahoongi tho aapko aur sharon bhabhi ko kuch privacy miljaayega and smiled
teasingly looking from one to the other . For a second SS looked at each other quietly debating
whether to tell her about their status and then taani saying my purse ran back to the house door
You guys should tell her about yourselves reys voice broke into their thoughts
SS exchanged glances and sharon, " i wanted to rey but... this is a stressful time for...
Mujhe bhi yahin lagtha hain...maybe after sometime swayam agreed
Rey shrugged its upto you swayam but...she ll be very happy and frankly she needs the happiness
now and looked at the door through which she had disappeared
Uski happiness ki itni fikar hain tho why are you giving up on her rey? Sharon ignoring the warning
look swayam was giving her
Rey laughed sharon dont try to restart sab kuch phir se... Taani by then was coming back and he
said loudly we should move on . kisine mujhse kahaan hain
Taani s small normal smile got wiped off her face as she heard it and she stopped a little while rey
moving physically away from them repeated and im moving ...on. Bye sharon turned and smiled
dryly at taani.
Taani turned her face away and started walking to the cars backseat as sharon continued
But rey! I was hoping tum kuch help karoge shifting mein ...thats why i called...
No ! Rey s word came in sharp and rude as taani folded her arms and stood without giving any
reaction
Swayam signalling sharon to keep quiet pulled rey by the arm to reys car saying
its okay rey, itna kuch nahin hain. We ll manage...and reaching reys car said...tu...dont mind all
this...u just take care
Rey nodded and hugged him giving taani a glance behind swayams back and then left.
------------------
Sharons frown was cut short by taani s " sharon bhabhi its ...breakup hogaya hain "
sharon s frown deepened cmon taani, mujhe breakups ke baare mein mat batao. Jab rey ke jaise
deep feelings hothe hain tab kitne saare breakups ke baad bhi kuch over nahin hotha
I dont know sharon bhabhi ...but its over. Jis relation ka koi future na ho, uske saath jude rehne se
sirf disappointments hi milthe hain
Sharon shook her head strongly disagreeing i dont think rey ke taraf se its over. He really loves
you you know. He cant move on so easily. And agar mujhe yeh yakin nahin hotha ki end mein
sab teek hojaayega main usse kabhi encourage hi nahin karthi is drama ke liye, uski saath nahin
dethi. But then...i guess you took it completely differently
Taani had been staring at sharon while sharon spoke and asked so aap mujhe blame karthi ho ?
Sharon met taani s eyes looking disappointed and let down and realising how she sounded
shook her head again but taani smiled of course you do! Aapko apni best friend ki heartbreak ke
saamne kisi aur ki pain kaise dikhegi? and stopping her from replying opened the car back door
sat in shaking her own head said smiling still sadly," bas mujhe yeh samaj nahin aatha ki kyun
aap sab rey ki breakup ke baare mein baat karthe ho ...taani ki nahin.
Sharons face registered slight embarassment as she replied why do you take the worst meaning
taani saare situation mein?
Taani saw swayam listening to the whole conversation and called out in a forced normal voice
chalo bhai, sharon bhabhi jaldi. Lets leave...and both of them climbed in -sharon in driving seat- in an uneasy silence.wanting to break the it taani said,
"thanks sharon bhabhi , aapne itni madat ki"
"its fine taani! What are friends for? " And both smiled at eachother through the rearview mirror
sincerely hoping they would become friends as swayam sat quiet in his own thoughts
----------------------------
Taani s new apartment- late in the night
Taani sitting on a floor bed near a window staring out into the night lost in some vague feeling of
contentment- she yawned tired and looked at the time in her mobile...smile appearing on her face
she looked around at the rooms . Thanks rey aap jo bhi karthe ho mereliye achha ho hojaatha
hain. I love this place.
Rey was in house on the couch playing videogames
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