Part 11
"Kaajjal .. tumhara dupatta kharab ho jayay ga." Dev looks at her as she tears her dupatta,
"aap say zyada zaroori nahi hai yah …." unintentionally words slip her tongue and by the time she realized what she had said it was too late. She looks at him and instantly bends her eyes, trying to avoid those unsaid questions in his passion-filled eyes.
She wets the dupatta and gently starts to wipe off the clotted blood. With every gentle stroke of her hand, he felt his heart skipping as many beats as a human heart could possibly handle. Bringing her head closer to his shoulder, she blows at the wound gently, focusing closely to find the glass particles.
"There … I can see the glass …." She says softly. He bends his head to look at his shoulder and right at that moment she lifts her face towards him and the moment freezes. With faces just centimeters apart and eyes lost into one another they found themselves losing into the heat of that ecstatic moment. Unintentionally her lips part and his eyes shift from her eyes to her glowing lips …. He tried hard to avoid but unintentionally his hand lifted and his fingers touched her cheek – very very softly; every touch conveying his undying love for her. The heat of the moment made it extremely hard for both of them to breathe. She swallowed her breath with great difficulty and tried to shift her gaze back to the wound, but in vain. The magic of his eyes were not letting her look away … he knew this was getting out of hands … With this thought he reluctantly turns his head aside, breaking that magical eye-contact and gaining his control one more time.
As soon as their gaze dispersed she composed herself and looked at the wound again,
"Dev, I am about to take these glass particles out. Lekin bohat dard ho ga …" she says worriedly but he keeps quiet. She takes a plucker out of her handbag and looks at him again. Their eyes meet again and this time she silently conveyed that she was going to pull the particles out now.
Holding the end of the particle visible from his skin, she pulls the piece out and the moment it happens he grabbed her shoulder out of sheer pain. His jaws clenched, his lips firmly put together and a vain jumped roughly at the side of his neck. His fingers pinched in her shoulder, making her acutely aware of his pain.
"bas aik aur baqi hai." she says softly, trying to sooth him with her voice. There were two glass pieces and she took the other one off as well. However, the second one was bigger and pressed deeper in his skin and the pain was unbearable when she pulled that one out. He almost shouted with pain and threw his head back, trying to take control over this ache. Kaajjal's heart stopped beating when she saw him fighting with this pain; she could not see him like this. With one hand, she reached his wound, placing the dupatta tightly on it to stop the bleeding, which had started once again. With other hand, she held his right shoulder, tight and strong, conveying silently that she was right there with him. He placed his hand on hers and pressed it hard … conveying his trust and faith in her. For a long moment, she stayed like that …. The uneven rise and fall of his chest that resulted due to the pain he was dealing with settled slowly and gradually, and he finally opens his eyes.
"aap theek hain," she asks with a weak voice. He looks at her and then both her hands, one tightly securing the wound from bleeding and the other still crushed tightly beneath his own. He loosens his grip and she moves it instantly to the wound to do the final dressing.
She takes out some small bandages form her handbag and dresses his wound as much as she could do with available resources.
"This is the best I could do …." She says while moving away from him …. He pulls his shirt back covering his shoulder; however, the buttons were left untied.
"Kaajjal …" his voice stops her right there. She looks at him and sees the same affection in his eyes.
"ji …" she bends her eyes, not able to bear the passion of his expressive eyes.
"Please mujh say dur na jao …." There was something in his voice, which makes her heart skip a zillion beats in one go. She didn't not why? How? But she did know that she didn't want to go away from him as well. What was in him that had casted such a deep spell on her in such a short span of time. "kuin mujhay lagta hai kay mera in say koee pehlay ka rishta hai … jaisay mera roam roam inhain janta ho, in pehchaanta ho … jaisay main inhi kay liyay zinda hoon … Kuin???" many questions crosses her mind with no definite answer. She was still lost when he calls her again,
"meray paas aao Kaajjal …." He holds her hand and she lifts her eyes to look at him. "mujh say dur na jao …. Main tum say dur ho kay nahi reh sakta …. Kya tum mujh say dur ho kay reh sakti ho?" he asks her and waited for her answer, promising in his heart that if she said she wanted to go away from him, he would never follow her again … he would let her live her life anyway she chooses. Silently praying that she admits her love for him, he asks her again, "bolo Kaajjal, batao, jab main tumhaian apni bahon main laita hoo tu kya tumhain kuch nahi hota? jab tum mujhay chooti ho tu kya tumhain aisa nahi lagta kay hum aik doosray kay liyay banay hain …." His voice was more beautiful than she had ever heard and with every word, she felt herself melting like honey.
"Bolo Kaajjal …." He asks gently
"mai .. main …" she babbles knowing very well that she was falling for him. She knew it was absurd but her feelings for him were getting stronger and stronger with every passing second.
"main janta hoon tum mujh say bohat pyar karti ho…" she looks at him at his words and he holds her face in his hands … bringing her closer, "jo dard tumhari aankhon main tha meray dard ko dekh kay wo sirf pyar main hota hai Kaajjal … sirf pyar main …." His words were pure and truthful making her sway to them.
"aik baar kehdo tum meri ho Kaajjal …. Bas aik baar keh do tum apnay Dev ki ho …. phir chahay mar bhi jaoon tu mujhay koee parwa nahi …" he says with heartfelt emotions and she restlessly places her fingers on his lips, silencing him immediately. The sound of his last words was dreadful. She knew she couldn't lose him, she just could not. He had silently crept in her heart and unknowingly she had developed the strange feelings for him. 'Am I falling in love?'
She looks at him with mixed emotions, whereas he sees the same love in her eyes which used to give him a reason to live …. He places his hand on her fingers, which were still on his lips, and presses them gently ….
"agar tum meri nahi tu mera mar jana behtar hai Kaajjal ….. mom kay baghair tu main ji raha hoon, lekin tumharay baghair nahi ji paoon ga … Nahi ji paoon ga …." He breaks down and she feels her heart breaking with him. Without another thought, without another word, she pulls him towards her and moves her arms around him – securing him in her warm embrace, conveying him silently, 'You are very important to me ….' She didn't know what was her relationship with this man, but she knew very well that he was no more a stranger; that she trusted him more than anyone else; that she wanted to see him happy; and that she was falling in love with him; No logics, just love – for love was playing its magic ad she was swaying on its mesmerizing tune.
He feels her arms around him, the same way Kaajjal used to hold him and he loses all track of time. How had he waited for this moment? How had he longed for this feeling? He moves his arms around her and holds her close to him promising with every touch that he would never ever leave her again … never. None spoke for a long time; the feeling of being in each others arms was overwhelming.
"I love you Kaajjal …" he says with all the love in the world and holds her closer and the song plays in the background.
Aaj jaane ki zid na karo
Yunhi pehlu mein bethey raho
Aaj jaane ki zid na karo
Haaye mar jaayein ge
Hum to lutt jaayein ge
Aisi baatein kiya na karo
Aaj jaane ki zid na karo
Tumhi socho zara
kyu'n na rokein tumhey
jaan jaati hai jab uth ke jaatey ho tum
tum ko apni qasam jaan-e-jaa'n
baat itni meri maan lo
Aaj jaane ki zid na karo
Aaj jaane ki zid na karo
She was not sure what took over her in those moments of intimacy and nearness. All she knew was his arms were very familiar, his eyes were very known, his voice was very soothing, and his touch was like her own. All she knew was he was the man she had waited all her life. With overwhelming emotions taking over her mind and body she moved closer to him and suddenly became acutely aware of the touch of his bare chest on her body. Her hands trembled, her lips flickered and she opened her eyes instantly. Through the tightly fitted thin material of her kameez, she could feel the warmth radiating from every inch of his chest. In an instant, she realized how very close she was to him, and how they were touching soooo intimately. She pulls herself together and slowly moves out of his arms. With trembling body, haywire senses, and shyly bent eyes she moves a little away from him and sits next to the fire with hands stretched out, pretending she was warming herself. Dev saw her every move, felt her every emotion and confusion; without another word got up, opened the bag of potato chips and sits next to her.
"thora sa kha lo" he gives her the bag.
"mujhay sach main bhook nahi hai," for her heart was sooo lost in his touch and her own feelings that she didn't have time to think about food.
Without another word Dev takes a chip in his hand and brings it in front of her mouth. She looks at the chip and then him and instead of arguing or saying no, she opens her mouth to eat it. One, two, and three he fed her many pieces and she silently kept eating. She tried to take the bag from him but he denied and she didn't want any argument with him any more. She had already lost herself to him. She just ate from his hands and her face blushed like a girl falling in love for the first time.
Episode Ends
Cricket
