Part 3
Rahul smirked at the fuse in front of him. Oh, THIS was definitely going to be a lot of fun. It wasn't everyday that Muskaan was home alone in the night. He rolled his eyes, Aryan and her were always together, and although he couldn't careless, he didn't deny that he was suffering from "annoying Muskaan" withdrawal symptoms. As he slowly fingered the fuse, waiting for the right moment to pull it out, he couldn't help but recall their last real conversation, the one at the wedding, where he had clearly frightened her with the change in his behaviour. He smirked again, so she could get uneasy very easily. "Good, plus point for me in my attempt to annoy the heck out of her."?
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Muskaan threw back her head, feeling the beads of water fly from her hair everywhere. "Now that's what I call a refreshing shower!" she mused as she proceeded to towel dry her hair. "I'm going to just sit and relax today, curl with up some hot chocolate and a book, sounds like a plan to me." She said out loud to no one in particular. All of a sudden, the lights flickered. Suddenly, she was surrounded in darkness.
"ARREE?!" Muskaan panicked. She threw her towel down and looked around, trying to let her eyes adjust to the darkness. After a few minutes, she was able to make out the outline of most of her furniture but was still unable to see much. "Yeh kya hogaya hai…" she muttered to herself uncertainly. Feeling her way around her room, she managed to open her drawer and grab her flashlight. She flicked the button on, but no light appeared.
"Ufff, useless, yeh sab bekaar ki cheez hai, ab main kya karoon?!"
Muskaan pouted. How was she supposed to find her way downstairs to the kitchen to get the candles?! Getting out of the room would be a challenge, but trying to make it down the stairs itself was just a call for trouble! She sighed, ran her hand through her sopping wet hair and carefully felt her way to the door. Carefully, she slid through the opening and pulled the door shut behind her. What would she do next…how was she going to get down the stairs without getting hurt.
Suddenly she felt herself being pushed roughly against her bedroom door. Muskaan's eyes widened in fright as she felt a hand clamp over her mouth. She gasped out in surprise against the firm palm on her mouth as another hand gripped her wrist tightly, holding it against the door.
Muskaan's mind went blank out of shock and she stared directly in front of her into the darkness. She could hear deep breathing, feel the person's warm breath on her face and thanked her lucky stars that her eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness. She was able to make out the outline of a man's face.
As her heartbeat continued to speed up, she felt the hand on her wrist let go. She could have strangled whoever this was. Both her hands were free. But the initial shock had made her defenceless and she stood still, staring at the barely visible face in front of her. A faint rustle was heard and suddenly the flicker of a small flame erupted. Muskaan gasped again as she realized that she was face to face with Rahul. Her insides boiled, this was IT! There was a limit to how far one could go! She raised her hand to slap him but was caught off guard when Rahul's strong grip grabbed onto her wrist in midair, stopping her hand from touching his face.
"Rmmhumm tum pmgalm hom chumkme hmmph!" She started screaming against his hand.
Rahul's eyes never left hers as he slowly brought her hand down and pressed it gently against the door again. Muskaan looked on, enraged yet unmoving.
"Muskaan.." Rahul whispered. He let go of her hand and slowly placed his free hand on her hip, instantly feeling her flinch under his touch. He watched as Muskaan's glare very slowly turned into a confused stare. He slowly raised his hand and brushed a strand of her curly, wet hair behind her ears and watched the confusion in her eyes heighten. He couldn't take it anymore. He dropped his hand from her mouth and began to laugh. He knew he'd get shot but it was just TOO funny. Her expressions, her shock, just TOO funny!
Muskaan stood transfixed, shocked beyond thought about what just happened. This was a prank?! A PRANK!? THAT WAS IT! Rahul was GETTING it!
"TERI TOH!! KAMEENA! CHACHUNDAR! YOU!" She began to scream incoherently. Rahul continued to laugh, gasping for air. She grabbed her slipper off her foot and watched as he ran down the stairs. Chasing after him, she vowed to get him back, whatever it took!
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*a few weeks later*
Rahul couldn't sleep. Someone was making a ruckus outside. He could hear random pieces of garbage being thrown on the ground. He shook his head in frustration, slipped out of bed and grabbed his jacket. Some people, no decency whatsoever!
He turned up the driveway and was slightly confused to see Muskaan grabbing another pop can and violently throwing it at a wall.
Rahul raised an eyebrow. What was going on with her?
"Um..Muskaan…I know it's hard for your species to understand, but some people do like to sleep at night." He stated sarcastically. No response. He watched her back as she grabbed onto another can and scrunched it up, throwing it at the wall.
"Muskaan? You can throw garbage around as much as you want tomorrow. I'll even HELP you! Can you just shutup and go sleep right now?" Still no response. Rahul was getting frustrated, the last place he wanted to be at 1:30 in the morning was here, his bed was calling him. He walked over to her and grabbed her arm, turning her around. What he saw made him draw back slightly in shock. Muskaan was a mess. Tears covered her face and her eyes were bloodshot. She struggled against his grip, avoiding his gaze, but wasn't able to make him let go.
"Muskaan! Muskaan kya hua? What happened to you?! Why're you crying?" Rahul spluttered, words pouring out of his mouth. He had never seen her in such a condition before. He could feel her continue to struggle against his grip but held on firmly. He dragged her over to her doorstep and sat her down. "Muskaan, what happened." Rahul asked in a soft, but fixed voice. Muskaan shook her head, trying to contain her tears. Rahul wasn't going to let her get away just like that. He prodded at it again. Muskaan remained silent.
Rahul began to feel frustration. "Listen Muskaan, it's 1:30 in the morning, I'm tired, I need to know what happened!" Muskaan choked back a sob and barely whispered. "Aryan."
Rahul held back the urge to roll his eyes. Oh, so they'd finally broken up. Who knew girls could get so emotional over something so stupid. He was in a bad mood, he has been woken up because of this. Although it wasn't Muskaan's fault, he felt slightly annoyed with her, girls and their mood swings, Rahul scorned.
"Oh, so you two finally broke up huh? I knew it'd happen soon enough. I was wondering how you two even got together. Look at him and look at you." Rahul began.
Muskaan looked up at him, confused. Her eyes began to widen as he continued.
Rahul didn't realize what he was saying and was unable to stop the words coming out of his mouth, becoming harsher by the second, caused most probably by the frustration of having to wakeup in the middle of the night. "I wonder how any guy can look at you any other way than a bhenji. I mean, you're wild! The number of times you've almost killed me! The banshee scream, the crazy hair, the retarded laugh. You're hardly a girl, you act, dress, pretty much are a boy. God knows what he wanted with you, maybe to-"
And suddenly a resounding slap was heard. Muskaan was standing in front of him, hand raised, eyes filled with something beyond anger, tears running down her cheeks. Rahul stared back at her, shocked. Had he just said all that?! What had overcome him!? He'd never EVER been that rude to anyone in his life. He didn't even mean any of that stuff!
Muskaan glared at him, her eyes transfixed. She opened her mouth to say something, decided against it and turned around, running into her house.
Rahul stared at the door, shocked, ashamed, in complete confusion. What in the WORLD had just happened?! Where did all that come from! He didn't mean ANY of it whatsoever! It was like an unknown rush of emotions had overcome him and he had gone and taken out his anger on Muskaan. But why was he SO angry?! Why was he targeting her!? Where was all this hatred coming from?! He closed his eyes, ashamed to a certain extent, but more than that, scared. What would she say tomorrow. He hated her but she was his neighbour and potential "friend" for nearly half his life. He couldn't lose her.
Udne Ki Aasha
Jaane Anjaane Hum Mile
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
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