It's all relative - 2
Few weeks ago...
"You're writing to Pari again?"
"Ya, sorry I couldn't stop appreciating her love for sarcasm"
Sameer laughed then.
"Strange, she's the sweetest person one could come across"
"Okay, I think you just mistook her to be an angel"
"She is as sweet as an angel, Andy. Trust me on that. I know her personally"
Andy just paused for a beat then as everything fell into place.
He remembered Sameer mentioned about a girl on his birthday. A girl whom he had met when he went for the basketball tournament, and a girl whom he goes to meet up some weekends...
Angel. That's what he had called her then.
Andy sat back as he looked at the undersigned name in the mail.
Pari.
Angel. Pari. Damn! Why did he not figure that out before?
-
Present...
Andy sat by the entrance of the train and saw the trees pass fast as it picked up the velocity.
He leaned against the door, as he let the wind brush his hair, and closed his eyes.
He tried to picture how his Archenemy would look like...
As he opened his eyes back and checked the mail again, those few lines she had written him which showed concern, yet was so subtle in showing that she cared, and concentrated on being her usual sarcastic self, something she seemed to share exclusively for him, he felt himself smile.
"Give it a rest"
He read the line again and felt himself give out a chuckle despite of himself.
How would that sound in her voice? He wondered but shook his head.
He had lost it.
Completely.
-
Few weeks later...
Driving in the rain had always been his favourite. The rush of the water against the skin, the wind blowing against your face, the speed, it gave him a kick.
But as he crossed the bike that was going relatively at a slower speed, with the biker wearing a smile, and a woman, possibly his girlfriend holding him from behind, her eyes closed, her face shining with the droplets of rain, Andy felt himself smile as he for the first time saw somebody forgoing speed, not rushing, yet finding peace and comfort...
-
He had lost his father when he were a child. He had lost his mother to difference of opinion. He had pushed her afar in his growing years, trying to be the grown up. He had been there for his siblings, trying to take his late father's shoes, in the process wherein he had forgotten he could do with some love towards him, some care showered upon...
And when somebody did show some care, however tiny it was, it mattered to him.
But something happened on one afternoon that changed everything...
It was a week for Sameer to leave for US, and on one afternoon he had came to him, and one look at his face, it was clear that everything was not alright.
"What's the matter?" he had asked then.
"She... I didn't hear from her for so many days. It's not normal Andy. Something's up. I got to leave to see if she's ok"
Andy need not be told whom he was talking about.
"You tried contacting anybody else? Any common friend?"
Sameer sat down as he buried his face in his palms.
"Yes. No luck. Nobody knows where she has disappeared to"
Something in Andy's gut twisted, as he felt his knuckles clench.
"She'll be fine" Andy said more to himself than to Sameer.
"You want me to come along with you?"
"No, it's ok" Sameer said "I need you to be here to take care of my family when I'm gone"
"You're not going to the Mars"
Sameer smiled despite of himself "Yeah but mother will freak out if she doesn't find me with just a week to the departure"
"I will take care of it" Andy paused, while Sameer nodded and was walking out of the room.
"Sameer?"
"Ya?"
"Make sure she's okay"
Sameer passed a reassuring smile to his best friend as he closed the door.
Andy caught his reflection on his late father's picture and felt ashamed of himself for being the kind of friend he was. Sameer was more than a brother to him, and in hell would he let something affect their friendship, let alone a girl.
If Andy's father was alive, Andy was sure, he would be disappointed at him.
"I will not pursue it father" he made a silent promise, and walked out of the room himself.
After that day he never opened the mail he used to contact with Pari.
It was a closed chapter to him now.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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