Previously: After the mehendi ceremony, all the families visit the temple. Shiva accidentally throws sindoor all over Raavi, then then proceeds to push her into the temple tank to wash it off her. The temple elephant also gives its blessings to ShiVi.
Part 8
Once again, for the third night in a row, Raavi found herself unable to sleep. She looked at the time on her mobile, it was almost midnight. She sighed turning on to her stomach and screamed into her pillow.
Her phone pinged with a message. She picked it up again to see that it was her friend, Anu sending her a picture of her outfit for tomorrow.
Raavi called her instead of replying. When she picked up the call, “Anu, tu doctor hai na?” She asked quickly.
“Haan?” came the guarded reply, knowing very well about Raavi’s tendencies to cook up mischief at the most random times.
“Toh tu mujhe bata, mujhe kaisa patha chalega ki mujhe sach mein pyar ho gayi hai? Ye dil ki baath kaise sunte hai?” Raavi asked.
“Huh?” Anu asked. “Aaj kuch zyaada pi li kya?” she teased.
“Mazak math kar! Life and death situation hai!”
“Ye sab tujhe film makers ko jaake puchni chahiye,” deadpanned Anu.
“Anuuuuu,” Raavi whined.
“Acha teek hai! Jab tu Dev ke paas hoti ho, to teri dil ki dadkan normal se bhi bad jaathe hai na? Toh tu samajh lena ki pyar ho gayi,” she said.
“Par- par aisa mujhe nahi hua hai.”
“Hua hoga. Tune notice nahi ki hogi.”
“Meri dil bahut silent and soft types hai, bilkul meri tarah,” Raavi announced.
Anu scoffed.
Raavi ignored her. “Mujhe dil ki baath sunne ki machine chahiye,” she declared.
Anu facepalmed, “stethoscope?”
“Yesss!” Came the chirpy reply. “Mein abhi teri ghar aa rahi hoon, tu mujhe tera stethoscope dhede,” said Raavi, shocking her friend.
“Tu pagal ho gayi hai?” Anu said, but Raavi had already cut the call.
Raavi quickly changed out of her night suit into a comfortable kurti and a pair of leggings and jumped out of her window landing not so gracefully. She dusted her clothes and jogged to her friend’s house in the next street.
Anu wasn’t pleased to see her at her house in the middle of the night, especially with her wedding the next day.
“Raavi, rukh mein abhi teri Mausi ko call karthi hoon,” she threatened when Raavi climbed into her room.
“Teri eklauthi friend ke liye tu itni bhi nahi karegi?” Raavi put of a puppy dog face that never failed to melt Anu, holding her hand out.
“Bhagwan, please iski nautankiyon se ham sabki raksha karna,” Anu prayed, annoyed at her antics but handed her the stethoscope.
Refusing Anu’s offer to accompany her, Raavi took her cycle for her trip to Pandya Nivas.
She quietly jumped into the house through an open window and tiptoed to Dev’s cot.
The entire house was dark and silent. Everyone was asleep.
Reaching next to Dev’s sleeping form, she took out the “dil ki baath sunne ki machine” from her sling bag and put the ear pieces on.
She placed the chest piece above her heart, concentrated her gaze on his face and waited. She couldn’t hear anything, “ye Anu bhi na, lagta hai ye karab ho gayi hai,” she thought.
She pressed it a little tighter to her chest and she heard the faint beating of her heart, satisfied she got up and went around to Shiva’s cot.
He was sleeping with his blanket over his face. Not even his hands or legs were visible.
“Ye bhoothnath bhi na, sote huye bhi bhoot jaisa hi hai,” she said as she bent down and lightly lifted the edge of the blanket off his face.
Looking down her eyes widened in surprise, there was just a pillow in the place where his face was supposed to be.
“Ab ye kahan gayab ho gaya,” she wondered, looking around.
Something touched her shoulder and she opened her mouth to scream in shock. But a hand closed around her mouth, stifling her scream in his throat. She struggled against the hand, but the person refused to let go and moved closer to her.
Shiva breathed in her ear, “chup reh, puri ghar ko utayegi jya,” he said, the front of his body right up against her back.
Her heart thumped loudly in her chest. Her right hand came up to try and remove his hand covering her mouth.
She brought the hand holding the chest piece to her chest to try and calm her racing heart. The ear piece was still in her ear and she could hear her heart thundering in her eyes this time.
A blush spread across her face, she thanked the gods that it was dark and hence not visible to Shiva.
She desperately wanted to see the look on his face, to see if he was affected as much as she was. Without warning she twisted around to face him. Her leg caught in between his and she tumbled backward on to his cot, grabbing him along.
Shiva placed his hands on either side of her body to break his fall. Raavi’s arms had flailed out during the fall, knocking the jug of water on the small table next to the cot.
The metal jug fell on the floor with a loud clang as the water spilled on the floor beneath the cot.
Raavi squeezed her eyes tightly at the loud sound. Shiva turned to check on Krish and Dev, they both were still asleep. He sighed in relief.
“Krish?” Came Dhara’s voice, as she walked out from her bedroom. Shiva quickly threw the blanket on top of both of them.
“Shiva?” She called again approaching the cot.
“Dh-“ Raavi started to call her di, Shiva’s eyes widened realising that Raavi would give away their comprising position. His hands were still holding his body above her, without a thought, he leaned down crashing his lips over hers, effectively silencing her.
Her eyes grew wide as saucers. Both their hearts were beating fiercely, and this time she didn’t even need Anu’s stethoscope to hear it. She heard her dil ki baat loud and clear.
♥️
Part 9 - Page 25
Anupamaa
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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