Hello everyone,
I haven't posted for a very long time but the current storyline has given me some writing inspiration. Here is a short one shot about Aryan and it is following the last episode. Aryan brings dinner for Cheeni.
Enjoy xx
Zara
Miss Sugar was adorable. Everything about her reminded him of Im… Her voice, her accent, her dots on her chin and most of all her fearless, playful nature. He watched her eat the food and admired as she savoured every bite whilst peeking over and smiling at him with her bright eyes.
‘Dekho Miss Sugar, ab bahut hogaya… ab mujhe tumhare ghar pe phone karke bolna hoga ke tum yaha aayi ho.’
She looked up with her mouth full and immediately widened her eyes.
Aryan told himself not to melt… ‘ye tumhari safety ke liye hai aur…’
‘aur?’ she asked. ‘Aur kiski chinta howat hai tumka? Imliya ki chinta hai na… sach sach bataao?’
She was relentless. ‘Haan, of course woh tumhari liye kitna pareshaan hogi? Usko neend kaise aayegi? Miss Sugar, this is not fair. She loves you… aur jinse hum pyaar karte hai, unko aise pareshaan karna theek nahi hai.’ Practice what you preach, his mind berated him, but he quickly strangled that voice in his head.
‘Dekho Hero Jee... pehli baat, hum humre Imliya ko pareshaan nahi, unko too much love karte hai. Doosri baat, Imliya to waise bhi raat ko sau nahi karat hai to uski neend nahi disturb howat hai. Aur teesri baat… udhaar rahi!’ she giggled and her shoulders began shaking whilst she rolled around in laughter.
Flashbacks of Imlie complaining about lack of sleep in a kitty party came to mind. His jungli loved sleeping! Aryan quickly picked her up and said… ‘kya kaha tumne? Imlie raat ko soti nahi hai?’
Cheeni stopped laughing and was unsure about whether what she was going to say would be betraying her mother. She stared at her Hero Jee while he lifted her and put her firmly in his lap. ‘Miss Sugar… answer my question.’
Cheeni knew he was serious and she remembered the promise she had made to her Nani. In a quiet voice she said, ‘Hero jee, Imliya roz humka sulati hai lekin woh khud nahi soti. Kabhi jab hum raat ko uth jaaye to Imliya khirki ke paas baith ke royi rahi hai. Usko lagta hai ke humko pata nahi par hum sab dekhat hai.’
‘Phir?’ Aryan was listening intently, hanging onto her every word. She could feel how still he was. So she continued.
‘Phir ka… phir hum jaawat hai Imaliya ke paas, Imaliya bahaana banake humka wapas sulati hai. Too much time humka jhooth bolat rahe… ke woh soyi hai…aur bistar pe Imaliya ke peet dukhat hai, iss liye who waha nahi soti. Par subha ko uski aankhen too much sujat hui hai.’ She gave him a sad smile and hugged him.
Aryan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest.
His thoughts were frantic… his mind began racing in all different directions. As much as he had wanted to hurt Imlie, to torture her for what he had been through, what he heard just now did not give him the satisfaction he thought he was craving.
She didn’t sleep as well? She was crying every night… why? Was she experiencing exactly what he was? Did she long for him how he desperately yearned for her every night? If he was the reason for her tears then why didn’t she stop him?
During his stay in Pagdandiya, he had experienced a rollercoaster of emotions. Surprise that she was Ms Sugar’s mum, anger at her unbreakable ego, relief that she hadn’t been with another man and then the hurt… the never ending hurt at their distance. They had been so close, yet so far. He had held her, touched her, felt her presence and her scent but the growing mountain of pain, distrust and unsaid feelings was insurmountable.
He had convinced himself that she had left and she didn’t want him in her life. Whatever happened five years ago were words said in anger and pain… his jungli had just disappeared from his life overnight without a trace. Of course he would think that… but Cheeni’s revelation…
He had to know more! Just as Cheeni was about to drift off, he lifted her up.
‘Ms Sugar… utho… sorry sweetheart, lekin tum mere kuch sawaalo ka jawab dogi?’
She nodded sleepily ‘hmm’.
‘Imlie ne kabhi mere baare mein baat ki?
She shook her head.
‘Imlie ke zindagi mein koi aadmi hai?’ Cheeni rolled her eyes and gave him a look. He knew the answer to this question but he needed to hear it.
She shook her head again. ‘Ab humka do question pooch rahe… pehla, jab toka Imaliya ki itna chinta hai, parva hai… to tum aur Imaliya pati patni ke tara saath kyoon nahi hovat?’
Aryan was stumped again… she knew? ‘Tumhe kaise pata ke…?’
‘Humka shak howat hai ke Imaliya aur tum itne larte kaahat ho… to Nani ne humka sach bataya.’
Aryan sank back into the sofa. He didn’t know what to say to Cheeni, here she was asking him about the biggest truth of his life and he had no words to explain himself.
She poked him in the chest, ‘Hero jee… humka second question ka jawab abhi chahiye… second question… tum Imaliya ko too much love karat ho na?’
Aryan suddenly felt like a lost little boy. This cheeky 5 year old had just read the entire situation and he hadn’t said a word. Was the truth so glaringly obvious? He had spent every night trying to forget her and in fact the opposite had happened. A tear dropped from his eye and she caught it on her little hand.
‘Oh Hero jee!’ She wrapped her little arms around him and his tears began to flow. He didn’t know whether it was the tenderness of the little girl, the memories of his greatest love or the hurt at how things had all fallen apart which made him shed tears. Aryan Singh Rathore cried his heart out until a piercing scream was heard from downstairs.
‘CHEENI!’
She was here.
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Veer Hanuman
