Chapter 12 : Our First Virtual Encounter
Smiling at Pretty boy who hopes off my room I tuck the loose strand behind my ear. He really did clear my mind.
Bel curls up and lies on the comforter while I switch on my phone and see Nani's name popping up.
Nani.
And just like that the efforts he had taken to make me happy were put into a waste as all the memories ran once again on my mind. All those come back in a f**king fast second making my mood go sore, again.
Taking a deep breath I take the call, "sup sexy?" I try to sound excited wanting to hide the sadness and grief in my voice.
"hi beta, kaise ho?" I hear her tired voice from the line with familiar background on the screen. She's in the kitchen, cooking, obviously.
Even though we had chefs, Nani always insists on taking over the kitchen, and my, oh my, her food is the best! They are so delicious.
I've kinda turned into a foodie just because of Nani's food, unlike, her. My sister was this typical diet sticking girl, but yeah she had her cheat meal days, and they were like everyday. Literally everyday, she would eat some salad for breakfast but I'll find her hiding beneath the kitchen counter eating away the butter paneer with extra butter and butter naan. Now tell me how's that for a diet?
And that's just not it, at school I'll always find her at the cafeteria if she's not in the class. She'd be stuffing her face with some cheese burger or cupcakes, but being the good sister I was, I just let it slide away.
I let out a small sigh and answer to Nani, "achi hun" I fake a smile, "aap kaise ho? and what're you doing?" I ask trying again to sound cheery.
"tum mujhse kuch bhi chupa nahi sakti ho beta" she shakes her head at me with a small smile, "but to answer your question, i'm doing your, well her, favorite kheer" she answers showing the kheer in the bowl.
"you guys haven't changed that tradition, have you?" I say seeing the her face again. "kaisa hai?" I ask when I see her tasting it.
"just the way she wants it" she replies smiling sadly. It's been a while seen we've spoke on video calls. Her face looks aged, her eyes looks tired yet she always has that smile that immediately make anyone fall in love with her. "aur pata hai kya maine almonds bhi nahi dala"
She had a huge allergy with almonds and being the opposite twin I was, I love almonds. Even though almonds are good for her health, she had those skin and oral allergy, so almonds were a big 'no' for her.
And the tradition I was speaking about was whenever it's her... death anniversary, we made a promise to ourselves that we won't mourn for her death, instead we would cherish the memories we made with her. On the day we would make a her favorites foods, and we all have to eat that only, we would dress in her favorite colour, which is baby pink, we would watch her favorite movies, we would- basically we would live like her for the day, reminiscing the moments she shared with each one of us.
Last year on this day, I was broken. Not only this day my twin sister passed away, but approximately 365 days back, on this day, my heart broke, by my so called 'boyfriend' and 'bestfriend'.
I remember Nani standing by the doorway not knowing what to do, stop her granddaughter leaving, or handle her daughter crying. I remember dad trying so much not to cry but he broke down so badly when he saw mom cry. I remember my chachis standing giving a support hand to my chachas. I remember bua handling another bunch of crying kids, my cousins. I remember them standing there, with guilt on there faces.
I miss them so badly, and it hurts so freaking badly!
"ahh Nani, I miss you so much" I say my voice cracking, "I miss you all, I miss papa, I miss mama, I miss everyone and I miss her" a small tear falls on my cheek as I speak.
Nani picks up the phone so that it's facing her directly, "agar tum hame miss karti ho toh phir laut ayo na, laut ayo hamare pass" her voice cracks.
I shake my head in a 'no', "no Nani, aap jaanti hai ki main yeh kyun karroun... woh meri behan thi aur main uski sapna puri karungi, aur main kushi kushi karungi, toh telling me to came back is not a conversation we're having" I state to Nani who lets out a defeated sigh.
The past year she has been trying a lot to convince me to go back to India and continue the life I was living there. I was done when that incident took place a year back, I made my decision very quickly that one moment I was in back in my room crying my eyes out and in the next I was in the plane riding to start my new life, a beautiful life.
That day broke me so much which made me take the haste decision. I still regret that decision but... i'm also glad that I took it. If I had not that I wouldn't have had an identity to myself. I still would be known as another twin of the Patel couple and their other twin raped so f**king badly which led to her death. People back there gave me pity and I didn't want that, I wanted love and unfortunately the ones who gave weren't there with me, one had left the world and the other shut himself from everyone.
"beta" Nani's called out, "mera samne rona mat, aur tu jaanti hai we don't cry for her, you know that right, don't you?" she says and that's when I notice the tears rolling down my cheeks.
I sniff a little wiping my tears off, "main... I won't cry Nani" I state firmly but the pours in my eyes betrays me.
Taking a deep breath, I try to hide my cracked up voice. "BTW Nani? What is this?!" I exclaim showing the bracelet to the camera, changing the subject.
Nani eyes shines as a grins widely, "he gave it to you?" she asks surprised.
I nod "yesterday" I smile thinking of the things happened yesterday. God it truly was a roller coaster. We were about to kiss. A small blush raises in my cheeks as the picture of him standing at the door of my room, with his chiseled abs full on show. I remember how his hair was messed up in a big mess making him look damn sexy.
And somehow just like that our mood changed. He has that power to lighten up everyone with a smile, the fact that I adore the most about him.
"ahh I knew it!" Nani exclaims pulling me out of my thoughts.
"huh?"
"mujhe pata tha, yes! I knew it!" she speaks with her voice lacing happiness and... victory?
"Nani kya bol rah-" I was cut by one of our happy squeals. My Nani was truly a child in a elderly women's skin.
"mujhe pata tha! YES!" she fist bumps in the air as she jumps clapping her hands.
"Nani" I giggles at her actions.
"maa?" I hear her voice. My short laughter stops, my eyes widen as I hear footsteps heading in Nani's direction.
"kya karrai hai aap?" I hear her voice again as I see a small shadow like figure.
"main woh... woh... " Nani tries to pick up words as she laughs excitedly. But my mind is still stuck in her voice.
It's her, isn't it?
"kisse baat ho rahi hai?"
"woh Roshni se" Nani answers, her lips set in a wide grin.
"Roshni?" I hear her voice again. I don't know why but hearing my name from her made my eyes to tear up.
"haan Roshni, baat karoghi?" Nani asks taking the phone in her hands.
"no- nahi maa... aap.. aap baat kar... aap baat karlo... main room main jaati hun" I hear her voice again, having an edge to it.
"par Du-" I see Nani saying but is cut off when she sees her. Nani sighs and turns to me a small frown on her once smiling lips.
"Na- Nani" and now my own voice cracks, "w...woh... m...m... Mama thi, na?" I ask.
Nani nods her head, "haan beta teri hi mama thi" she answers.
"kaisi hai?" I ask worried about her health.
Nani smiles sadly, "teek hai... par tujhe bohot miss kar rahi hai... there's not a single day she lived without talking about you, jab bhi dekho teri hi baat kar rahi hai" she says.
I try to ignore Nani's words trying to show how much it had an effect on me but it was clearly plastered on my face by the tears, that I miss her.
"Papa?" I inquire.
"study main, aur woh bhi teek hai, bas teri aur uski yaad main duba hua hai"
"uski?" my eyebrows furrow slightly.
"teri behan, aur kaun?" she lets out a sigh.
I nod at Nani wanting to shut the emotions but I just couldn't. Even though each year we spent this day celebrating her life, I won't lie by saying that I hadn't cried. I cried super badly each and every year. And my only support was my parents. The whole day I would be with them and... that gave me the strength to get through the day and head on with life.
But now everything's changed. I've moved from there, into a new country, away, away from all of them. And today I have no one, well obviously except for Bel, him, my friends and Si- yeah only Bel, him, and my friends.
Siddharth doesn't knows about her, and neither do the sisters nor Cabe. I've actually spoke about her to Bel and being the good kitten she is, she listened to me intently, not disturbing me.
"uh muffin?" his voice cuts me off my thoughts. I look up to find him standing at my doorstep with a tray in his hands.
"sorry to disturb you but I have them" he says walking in slowly into my room.
"kya?" I ask wiping my tears off which earned a frown from him.
"muffins, aur kya" he sets the tray in front of me, and I see a mug with freshly filled coffee with whipping cream and all that stuff, caramel frap. Along with it were fresh muffins, just the way I wanted.
"thanks pretty boy" I say smiling at him. And I think that I'd be able to add him to the list. To rephrase my thoughts, him, Bel, the sisters, Cabe and Siddharth will always be with me as family, supporting me through thick and thin.
He nods wiping off the lone tear on the corner of my eye. He gestures towards the phone and moves his head subtly to the door, his way of telling me to continue with a call and he'll wait outside. Smiling a little I nod at him.
He turns to exit my room but stops when he hears Nani's voice. "who is that?" she asks.
My eyes widen. Shit!
"is that Siddharth?!" her voice lacing amusement and surprise.
Double SHIT!
What should I do?
Should I lie to her and say no- no she saw his hand that's why she asked... hmm can I just say that the sisters and Cabe were here and it was Cabe...
No then she'd want to speak with them so I can't use that lie to her.
What should I do? Should I let him speak with her? Then she'd think that somethings going on between us, well except for friendship, nothing is.
What should I do?!
Yep I know, I should lie to her and say it's him and not Siddharth. And he had come to visit me for a few days. Yeah that's what I should say.
But before I could speak he came in the view of the camera so that Nani could see him, "Hi Nani, kaisi hain aap?" he wishes smiling at her.
Why would you do that, pretty boy? I think wanting to ask him. Cause I really don't know what would Nani think, I mean she would take it in a bad way. But my doubts were cleared when I heard her voice.
"Hi Siddharth!" she exclaims waving her hand at him, "main achi hun, tum kaise ho? aur khayal rhak rahi ho na meri natni ki?" she asks.
I stare at Nani thinking why should she add the last part. Why Nani, why?
He lets out a small chuckle before crouching, "main teek hun par sirf ek machar hai mujhe bohot pareshaan kar rahi hai... aap dejiye mujhe koi solution use machar ke liye?" he speaks teasingly smiling at me and Nani.
"wha-? main machar hun?" I accuse looking at him.
He smirks at me, "haan kyun, nahi ho tum machar jo hamesha mujhe pareshaan karti hai?"
"main?! main machar hun, really?!" I hiss at him. He nods his head innocently with an annoying smile plastered on his face which actually earned him a hard punch on his stomach.
"ouch muffin" he places his hand on his stomach. I really did give a hard punch. "it hurts" he states.
"never underestimate the power of a common woman" I smirk at him with a little wink on my own.
He narrows his eyes at him before his lips breaking into a small smile as he rubs his stomach. His smile turns into a grin when, I think, when he remembered yesterday's events.
Well yesterday after receiving the bracelet, after having our almost kisses and all that sexual tension between us, we kinda cleared it out with a laughing fit we were in. We ate dinner with a friendly conversation lingering in between us and when we were eating we were watching Chennai Express. And now I just kinda twisted one of it's dialogues and quoted it.
"you're a halwa wali?" he raises his eyebrow winking at me. Without an accord the corners of my lips pulls up in a smile.
God we're so cheesy!
I come up with a reply but was cut off very badly when I heard Nani's squeal.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" and here we go again. She starts to squeal again, clapping her hands smiling life crazy as she sets the phone on the counter. I see her jumping before walking away yelling.
Oh no! No No No!
"Sam! Sam! offoo woh toh yehaan hai hi nahi... wait Akansha! Akanshaaa! jaldi ayo idar" she yells.
"oh god NO!" I groan falling back on the bed closing my and face palming myself.
"um... something's up?" I hear him beside me looking at me confused.
I sit back up and pat the spot next to me. "yeah it is!" I say looking at the screen hearing hurried footsteps. I groan again letting my head rest on his shoulder as he was sitting behind me.
"what's going on, muffin?" he ruffles my hair letting out a deep chuckle.
"well-" I was again cut off by the squealing of my 18 year old cousin sister looking at the screen.
"OMG! OMG! OMG!!!" she chants repeatedly before she starts to screech jumping up and down.
"I told you, didn't I?!" Nani's voice speaks, excitement in it's peak.
"OMG! YESSS! YESSS!!!" I see Akansha fist bumping the air as she giggles. Her eyes looking at the screen. "Daadi aap rukiye main abhi ayi" she says before running away.
"be quick" Nani says still smiling widely.
"Akansh STOP No! Urgh!" I again groan because I know what she's doing.
"should I be worried?" he asks as I lift myself from his broad shoulders.
"very much" I nod looking at the screen hearing now a couple of pairs of footsteps.
"OH MY F**KING GOD! WHAT THE F**K?! ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME?! OMG!!!" I hear my other cousin sister cursing at the phone as her eyes widen like saucers, her jaw hanging down letting a lot of curse words, which earned a slap at the back of her head from Nani.
And that's my 17 year old cousin, Kiara. I couldn't see her face clearly as the scene shifts as the phone is snatched away from her.
"EXCUSE ME!" she swears again. Leave it to her to keep a silent peaceful home.
"phone idar de" I hear yet another voice of my another cousin sister. "main bhi dheku jiju ko" her face appears on the screen. "Hi di" she speaks, "hi jiju"
Oh NO SHE DID NOT!
"uh hi?" he speaks confused as hell with an amusing smile on his face.
Great, just great!
"nice to meet you, jiju" she says smiling at the screen.
"jiju?" I mouth to her, raising my eyebrow at her.
"nice to meet you too" he says slowly processing everything.
"main aapse ek baat puchu?" she asks innocently.
"uh sure" he scratches his head looking weirdly at me as I shake my head vigorously in a 'no'
"jiju, meri di bed pe kaise hai?" she winks at us wiggling her eyebrows in a teasing manner.
She freaking DID NOT!!!
God WHY?!
"GunGun main tujhe sach main mar dungi! Dayan!" I hiss at her.
"oh ho di, acting mar kar. Mujhe pata hai that you get all excited" she rolled her eyes at me. "aur tujhe kya problem hai, main jiju se poochrahi hun, batao na jiju, kaise hai woh?" I hear my family laughing at us, well me!
And that my guys is my 22 year old sister, Gunjan.
"uh" he scratches his head again, looking at me and the phone then again at me. "mujhe kaise pata hoga?" he says sounding not so convincing.
"kaise nahi pata hoga, jiju, tell us na" Gunjan says and Kiara jumps in the screen.
"YES BIL TELL US! HOW IS SHE IN BED?!" she yells.
"yes jiju batao na hame" Akansha hops in.
I see Nani giggling behind them as these three idiot hover the screen.
"um am I..." he clears his throat, "am I supposed to answer that?" he lowers his voice so that only I could hear.
"unfortunately, otherwise these three will never ever leave you" I mumble at him glaring at my sisters.
Oh I'm so getting back at them for this.
"uh well" he clears his throat again, "uh...she snores" he offers.
"I do not!" I object looking at him.
He diverts his eyes from the screen to me, a small smirk forming, "yes you do muffin, main kal raat dheki thi"
He just did not tell that in front of-
"OH MY GOD!!!" and they start once over again.
"he stayed over"
"in your home"
"you guys slept together!"
"Oh My God!!!"
And the 'OMG' chant continues.
I really do think that they've born with some technical defect in their brain. I mean they just had implied that Siddharth and I did the deed and now they're squealing because they were informed that he stayed the night in my home.
Sometimes I really can't cope up with them. And my savior is no where to be seen. I look at the screen intently hoping to find him but no such luck.
"Nani" I shout ignoring my sisters giggles. "Aayu kahaan hai?"
Before Nani could speak a figure takes over the screen as phone gets picked. "aapki Aayu yehaan hai di" he speaks flashing me a toothy grin.
"oh god Aayu bacha le mujhe in loggo se" I plead.
"have no fear, when your favorite brother is here" he winks at me running out of the kitchen. And that is my 18 year old brother saving my ass from the evil sisters.
"HEY!" I hear Akansha shouting as she runs behind him.
"Ayush mujhe jiju se baat karni hai!" Gunjan tries to run but is stopped by Nani's warnings. "fine, I won't run" she mutters walking.
"Aayu! GIVE ME THE PHONE! I WANNA TALK TO JIJU!" Kiara runs along with Akansha but Aayu being the best brother he is doesn't stops and keeps on running around the sofa.
As he tries to jump over the couch, Akansha yells, "oh no you're not!" and jumps over his back making him crash on the couch with Akansha on top of him. "give me that" she snatches the phone from her brother.
"OH I'M COMING, GIVE ME SOME SPACE GUYS!" Ki jumps over falling on Akansh and on Aayu, not wondering that she's using an innuendo right there.
"GOD! get up! you guys weigh a ton!" my poor little brother groan underneath the duo laughing their asses off.
"no we're not" the both say in unison and jump on his back again earning a deep grunt for him.
"urgh! di! help me!" he whines trying to get up.
"I feel so sad for you bro" I say holding my heart, faking sadness as I laugh.
"haww! DI! I did this for you and-" he cuts off showcasing a hint of disappointment in his voice. He shakes his head in disapproval. "it's time for payback, di", my eyes widen.
He can be the best saviour but you can't trust him when he says 'payback'. Every time he uses that word on some person, lets say that the person would be embarrassed AF. He wouldn't stop, he'll only finish when he's satisfied.
"don't! you're on my team" I warn him knowing he's gonna say something really unwanted right now.
"jiju" he lifts his head up looking at the camera.
"what's with these guys and 'jiju'?" he whispers behind me his face is having that amusing smile.
Not wanting to answer him I let out a frustrated breath. My brother's voice again pulls my attention so I look at the screen.
He has this evil smile plastered on his face, "you know what jiju, I think my di deserves a punishment for not being a good girl so I really do hope you punish her so badly inside the confines of your walls, well of course no one wants to hear you, right?" he pauses for any objections and then continues, "anyway I really hope that you rock her so bad that it's difficult for her to even stand up for the next whole week, you get that jiju? and yeah please don't forget to spank her all the time, my di is very very VERY kinky!" he winks at us.
What. The. Actual. F**K!
He really didn't say that, did he?
Oh My God, Aayu! WHY?!
The other line cracks up and all we could hear was laughter by everyone present there on my shocked face. I really wanna crawl into the phone and beat the hell out of my little brother.
Bro, I love you but we're gonna have a little chat with my fists.
Why, Ayush, Why? You're the only one who stands with me. Oh God, why?! This so f**king embarrassing for me.
Wait I mentioned we, didn't I? OH GOD!!!
I suppress the urge to groan as I turn my face to look at him. His lips parted, his eyes widen. An unreadable expression on his face as they change. From confusion, to surprise, to amusement, and again surprise and what not!
"and yeah jiju" Ayush's voice peaks up as he pauses for a second, "also don't forget that my di is a shouter, she shouts really badly so keep up your tactics to shut her up, if you know what I mean" he winks and laughs seeing my disappointed and shocked face.
"Aayush!!!" I shout, "i'm gonna f**king kill you little prick".
"see jiju, Aayu is right" Akansha speaks hi-fieing Ayush. "she's a shouter so you better keep her mouth filled with something else" she laughs with the others.
First off, EWW! And second off WTF! What the actual FAWK?! Have they really gone mad? Do I need to book rooms for them in the hospitals? God this is way too embarrassing!
"bache" I hear Nani's voice finally. "leave your di alone and Aayu if you want your jiju to do all those things to your di, you better cut the call and give them the time" Nani laughs.
"not you too Nani" I whine as my family is literally ganging up on me.
"yeah sure Nani" Ayush chuckles, "bye di, jiju don't forget, keep it kinky" he winks.
"and spank her from time to time" Akansh speaks up earning a death glare from me.
"and A LIL' TIP, TRY HANDCUFFS!" Ki winks at us.
"and yeah take care of my sister" GunGun says smiling at us. Finally something not involving doing the deed. "oh yeah I was talking about the after effects from the 4th round you'll have, take care of her jiju" she smirks.
"Gunjan!!!" I shriek, "i'm so gonna kill you guys!"
"we love you too sis, and next time we call give us spice news, yeah?" they all laugh at us.
"jiju don't forget the spanking!" was the last thing we heard before the line went dead.
Those brats! URGH!
"what did I just witness?"
Oh no!
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