This is part 8B. I wanted to finish the weekend in real time š. The next update will be Monday night India time. I have done replies on the previous page. I am still missing @rekha and @ak2010. I see I have new commentors, pls pls keep commenting, I may not be able to reply to all but I do take time if the comment is long or has a question. And I read each and every word, thank you all.
Part 8B
After spending a sleepless night, he decides to forget all about Sai, by going to his family for Sunday brunch, anything else would have been better. His mother of all the things was talking about engagements and marriages, why doesnāt God just kill him?His mother goes on and on, āJab unhone kaha ki yeh saal mei magni kar lete hai, toh maine kaha aise kaise ho sakta hai, Samrat chota hai.ā He rolls his eyes and munches on the dosa, his mother looks at him and continues, āDekh Virat, koi ladki hai agar dhyaan mei toh bata de, Mai apne dono ladkon ki magni ek hi mandap mei karwaungiā Virat stops eating, stands up, his chair screeches backward and with an exasperated mood, walks away. Ashwini is upset and looks at her son walk away, with great difficulty he has come back home and now she is driving him away, she looks at her husband with tears in her eyes, Shivani and Devyani glance at each other. Ninaad stands up and says, āMain dekhta hun usse, aur Ashwini, please promise karo ki tum abhi shaadi vaghera Kuch bhi nahi chedogiā. Ashwini nods solemnly.
Ninaad watches his son sit in the garden with his elbows on his knees looking at the grass. His heart goes out to his older son who is obviously going through something. He walks to his son, āKya baat hai Virat? Tumhe kiss baat ka gussa hai?ā Virat shakes his head and rubs his face, āPata nahi, baba, I am so confused.ā His father sits down in front of him and holds his knee, āVirat, tum confused kabhi nahi ho sakte, tum problems mei ulajhte nahi ho,unhe suljhate ho. I am sure ki jo bhi tumhe bother kar raha hai, tum solve kar doge, donāt worryā his father pats his knee and continues, āAur tum Aai ki baatei ka bura mut maan, haan voh ziddi hai, lekin uske mann mei koyi khott nahi, sirf pyaar hai tujhse. Hum dono hamesha yehi chahte hai ki tu khush rahe. Agar shaadi nahi karni hai...toh thik hai.ā Virat suddenly says, āAap dekh lijiye ladki mere liye, Mai kar lungaā His father is taken aback, āKya?! Are you sure?!ā Virat stares at his father and says seriously, āHaan lekin aapki pasand, sirf Aai ki nahi.ā Ninaad nods and is about to ask Virat something when Ashwini walks into the garden with a sheepish look, āMera beta mujhse baat karna chahta hai ya nahi?ā Virat has a small smile, shakes his head, āAai drama band karr, filhaal mai nikal raha hun, apne pati se baatei kar leā, she puts her hand around his waist and he pats her shoulder. He walks into the living room where Shivani Tai hugs him and says, āagle weekend tak mut rukk, beech mei ek do din aaja, tujhe hum bahut miss karte haiā He smiles at her, Devyani shows him her tongue and says, āDada mai nahi miss kartiā He laughs and leaves.
Sai has spent the most of Sunday settling down, she knows she will have no time to figure out her daily living logistics once she starts to work at the camp.During dinner, itās just she, Abigail and Aniket at their place, and they are divulging personal information and the goings on in the camp. Aniket broke off less than a year ago with his girlfriend and still nursing a broken heart, Abigail is a widow who has no interest in marrying again, she has a nephew in a college in Pune who she supports and loves like a son. Something stopped Sai from revealing her connection with Virat, and she corrects herself mentally, revealing her recent single status which has nothing to do with Virat, right?! She talks about how close she is to her father and leaves it at that.
Aniket changes the somber topic to the issues at the camp. āFilhaal kaam Thoda light hai, lekin ACP keh rahe the, ki agle do mahine bahut careful rehna padegaā Abigail shakes her head and says, āPata nahi yeh police valle, don, bhai log sab jhamela kab khatm hoga, kal inventory lena padega gauze, aur bullet supplies ka. Aur haan, zara workerās se keh do na Aniket, ek break room ka bandobast kare, log badh jaayenge, we need mental breaks manā Aniket nodded, Sai is thoroughly confused, ābullet supplies matlab, Mai samajhi nahiā The other two glance at each other and Abigail says, āSai, police abhi bhikku ka gang pe close in kar rahi hai, matlab anevale hafton mei bahut saare encounter, aur sab yahi pahunchne vale hai. Private hospitals mei inn sab ki Bharti kaun karegaaā Sai naively asks, ālekin camp gareeb logon ke liye hai, gundo ke liye nahiā Aniket sarcastic laughs, ācamp dono ke liye hai, you will seeā Abigail joins, āyeh gundey garib hi hai, Saiā.
As he sits in his balcony staring into the night sky, it seems like all is well in the Dubey household, great all the mess is only in his life. His phone rings, Shivam on the other side excitedly asks, āKaisa raha weekend? Dil ki baat zubaan pe laya?ā Virat replies with a caustic laugh, āKuch honey se pehle hi khatm ho gayaā Shivam is confused, āKya matlab?ā Virat just mumbles, āVoh sab chodh na yaar, mere files miley?ā Shivam pauses, āTu thik toh hai na?ā Virat smiles, āHaan haan mai bilkul theek hun, letās move onā. He hangs up, and looks for the phone number which has no name saved against it, he slides and presses delete on it, it prompts him, āare you sure you want to delete this numberā his thumb stays above cancel for longer than a minute and he then presses yes and leaves the phone in his balcony and goes to his bedroom. Itās like he wants to hide that part of his life ...but for how long?
She is getting ready for bed in her room, she combs her hair into a braid, staring at her phone. She chatted with her dad this afternoon and knows he must be asleep by now, she can call Shilpa but doesnāt. She opens her phone and runs through the recent calls list. The digits stare at her amongst the list of names. She keeps staring at the number, she touches it and before she knows it, she is calling him. She hangs up immediately. Waits for a minute, he doesnāt call back, so she realizes he hasnāt saved her number, so itās ok to delete his. Isnāt it? Well, they donāt really know each other, and have barely really met, and she told him what she wanted to, what else is left to say?
She keeps the phone aside, she comes out to fetch some water from the kitchenette, where Abigail is seated and watching some show on her laptop. And suddenly, they can hear someone singing with a guitar, Abigail smiles, āBechara boy, heartbroken hai, dinner ke bad kabhi kabhi sad songs gaata hai, pata nahi ladki ka kya problem thaa, itna sweet boy haiā Sai nods and listens to Aniket singing in between the guitar strings...
Tujhe kyun dekha na tujhe kyun jaana na
Shikaayatein karu ya nahi
Thami hai yeh saansein, bhari hai yeh aankhein
Sahu kaise abb yeh faasala
Bin tere bin tere bin tere.........
Koyi khalish hai hawaao mein bin tere
Saiās face is wet, as she lies down on her bed, she wonders how come the song has affected her, hasnāt she moved on from Samrat?
āā
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