Neira FF JOYRIDE : ANNOUNCEMENT Pg 150 - Page 15

"I'll manage!" she said quietly as she moved ahead but her soul was praying to god for making Nachiket come along with her.

"Ragini ruko! I'll come with you. Main tumhe akele nahi jane de sakta and you know that!" he said, turning on his heel towards her. .

"Fine. I'll go with you!" she said huffily but quietly thanking god for his mercy.

She was looking into the rain that had intensified into a heavy drizzle now. She had that slight smile on her face. It was that tiny smile that barely lifted the corners of her lips, but shone fully in her eyes. He'd seen it peek out once in a way.

He liked that smile, he decided.He looked away as she shot him a puzzled glance. He'd been staring, he realized embarrassedly.

"What?" she asked.

"What what?" he said.

"Mujhe aisa kyu laga ke tum mujhe ghoor rahe ho?"she said as she looked into his eyes as if to find something in them.

"I wasn't staring. Don't flatter yourself Ragini. Aur jaldi chalo..der mujhe nahi tumhe ho rahi hai." he muttered.

They walked along quietly for the next 5 minutes or so. Besides the jingling sound of her anklets, threre was a perfect silence. Lights from houses on its opposite shore glistened on the surface, lighting up the water in patches.

Ragini looked at the lamps on the other side of the alley. Each bright yellow bulb lighting up the tree around it.

He kicked a stray pebble into a tiny puddle, splashing his shoes with muddy water which in turn splashed a little water on her sari.

"Nachiket!" she said irritatingly as she looked at her sari.

"Oops! Sorry Ragini."

She looked at him sideways "kya sorry? Thik se to chalna hi nahi hai. Meri itni achi saree kharab kar di! Eewww!" she said shooking her saree.

"Kya Ragini tum bhi..ek saree hi to hai!" he said carelessly.

She shot a hard stare at him. He sighed in reply. She rolled her eyes in the darkness and they started walking.

"Nachiket.."she broke the silence after a minute

"hmm.."

"Tumhe ye khusbu aa rahi hai?" she said as her eyes twinkled.

"You mean the smell of the wet earth?" he asked

"Hmm.." she said inhaling he fragrance with her eyes closed."You like it?"

"I love it!" he said smiling lightly.

"I love it too!"

Their eyes met crinkling at the corners as he smiled at her.