Chapter 3
Rewa smiled, 'bohot acchi lag rahi hai gulaal, jaise bilkool change nahi hoh jaata,'..Gulaal giggled and fiddled with the dupaata, she looked at kesar nervously, but to her suprise he was staring at her with a awe about his face...
'kesar main kaisi lag rahi hoon'...she said nervously and then held her breath waiting for his reply..
he looked away immidately, 'mujhe nahi pata, yeh ladkiyon ki cheeze'..
gulaal looked at him and then giggled, 'arrey isse toh dekho, jaise main isko pata nahi kya pooch rahi hoon, arrey kesar, yaha london mein aise dar dar ke raho ge, toh kaise chale ga, yaha ke ladke apne dil ki baat khul ke kehte hai aur tumhe dekho'...
kesra looked at her in anger, 'main yaha se nahi hoon'...
'haan toh, ab toh yahi rehne waale hoh na'..
kesar jumped off the bed in anger, 'main yaha nahi rehne waala' and he went out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
gulaal stared after him and then turned to rewa who was sitting on the bed quitely wathcing,
'kya yeh hamesha se hi aisa hi tha'
'nahi gulaal kesar aisa hamesha nahi hota, bas usse kabhi kabhi gussa aa jaata hai, aur phir sirf maa hi usse shant kar sakti hai, leki yaha' and she looked down, wnating to cry..
gulaal immidietly changed her tone of voice, 'rewa tu parshan mat hoh, main ussse le ke aati hoon' and she smilied and left.
Gulaal walked down the stairs and looked around the house but kesar was nowhere and then she saw that the backdoor was open, she slowly walked outisde and there he was sitting on the small garden swing, it was a dark but silent night, gulaal took a deep breath and walked over to him.
he looked up and the anger immidately went away from his face, she looked so serene and innocent,
'main yaha baith jaoon' she said grinning cheekily..
kesar siad nothing but moved to the end all the same, as she sat, he steadily breathed in her smell, as fresh as toothpaste..he had the urge to burt out everything he was thinking but then he thought about what she had siad to him inside, shayad mere chup rehne mein hi balayi hai he thought, abhi toh aahayai hai na mujhe koi lamba lecture dene ke liye..but to his suprise minutes passed and she said did nothing except form softly hum, kesar turned towards her suprised but she was looking up at the sky with her head abck and eyes still soflty humming, he stared at her mesmerised...and then suddenly said..
'kuch kehne ayee hoh kya, ta aisi hi...
she looked at hima nd then slowly said, 'nahi tumahre paas baithne ka dil kiya isiliya ayee..' she burst out laughing at his suprised expression, 'haan main itni pagal hoon na, ke itne andhere mein, tumhare paas baithne ayee hoon , mujhe yaha se kisi ne kidap kar liya toh tumhari galti hai ok, maa se keh dena' and she laughed at her own expression..
'main bacha loonga' kesar said without thinking, gulaal looked at him surprised, 'um mera matlab hai, pagal hoh kya yaha tumhare back garden se tumhe kidnap kaise kar sakta hai' and he said smiling...
'choro ka kya barosa, kahi se bhi chra lete hai' gulaal said smiling, 'ab tumhe kya aur manana parega, chalo na bohot thand hai'..
'haan chalo' and he stood up holding the swing for her to stand, gulaal stood nonchalantly smiling, 'hmmm not bad, manners are quite good, mera matlab hai...'
but kesar cut her across abruptly and said in a extremely fluent accent, 'and you dont half bad in that dress' and then he walked away inside, leaving gulaal stunned and staring after him.
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As kesar lay in bed, he thought about her and smiled,
'kesar'
'haan rewa'
tum abhi soye nahi'
'nahi tum bhi toh jaag rahi hoh',
'soh jao, suna nahi gulaal ne kya kaha kal woh hume mandir le ke jayegi',
'haan jaanta hoon, soh jaa' and he turned,
'kesar'
'ab kya hai rewa',
'gulaal itni bhi buri nahi hai',
kesar grinned to himself silently, 'jaanta hoon rewa'.