~34~
"Uh... sorry... I thought Anuj was there... he asked me to meet him here."
"He has gone for a meeting. Will be back in sometime."
"Ok I will wait outside."
As he turned to walk away, she stopped him.
"Aarav"
"Yes?"
"Why don't you wait inside?"
Seeing his hesitation, she said
"We have never really had the chance to know each other."
"Okay..."
He entered and settled himself on the couch. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, she broke the ice.
"Congratulations on the win"
"Thank you"
"Mukku told you about me?"
"Huh?"
"The day we met, you recognized me..."
"Oh that.. "
"Yes?"
"She did..."
"Why?"
"Why would she not? To Mukku you were her dream, her inspiration, her everything. It was always "Bhabhi will come and everything will be alright", "Bhabhi will like this", "Bhabhi won't like me doing this". Any decision she took, she would think of you..."
"But why?"
"Meaning?"
"I know she loves me so much, I have seen it myself but I sometimes don't understand why... I mean I just met her. All those years... why did she love me? Don't... don't get it in the wrong way. I love her so much... but sometimes I wonder what I did for her to love me so long, so much..."
"Why are you asking this to me? You could have asked Anuj."
"I could have... but his observation would obviously be clouded by his love for me. And I am asking you because you know her well enough to know why and I am sure your views would be neutral."
Aarav gave a small smile.
"I am trying to love you too, Bhabhi..."
She looked taken aback. He continued.
"We moved near the Kapadia's when I was 8. I think I was 9 or 10 when Anuj saw you in college. After that, he used to come home everyday and gush all about you. You wore this dress, you were walking, you were dancing, your hair was like this like that... since we didn't have any girl your age in our street, you became Mukku's favorite imaginary playmate and someone she looked up to. Devika Di used to come but Mukku and Devika Di never got along with each other."
"Why?"
"Maybe because she was a real person who used to prank her and playfully pull her chotis..."
Anu gave a chuckle.
"Poor Mukku... Devika and her love for pranks is never ending..."
"That's true... And Anuj gave a picture that you were an angel on earth... so she used to dream and pray that you would come to meet her... She used to wait for Anuj to come home and ask what you were wearing and what you did that day etc etc... but me I used to hate you."
"Because I took up too much of Mukku's time?"
"Because you took up too much of Anuj's time..."
"Anuj's?"
He sighed a little.
"I don't have a father... there was no one in my family but mom and me... Anuj was always the leader in his gang... the coolest and the smartest. When we moved here, I was often bullied because I had no father... no one included me in any of the games, parties or even lunch... no one but Mukku... though she was younger to me... she was definitely braver... it was Mukku who used to stay by me and comfort me when I used to cry after some really bad bullying sessions... then one day, after some bigger boys came to bully me, she informed Anuj and he came... he became my superhero... He fought my battles for me, thrashed guys who dared to say a word against me... took me out on bike rides, took me to movies, to hockey matches... taught me the game... when he saw I had a knack for it, he spoke to his trainer and made sure I got the necessary coaching... when I went for junior leagues, he came to all my matches, cheered for me the loudest and needless to say the bullying stopped and I got so much attention. Everyone wanted to know how to get on good books of the Anuj Kapadia. Girls who crushed on him got me ice creams and chocolates just to get a chance to say 'hi'... He was the heartthrob..."
"He still is... I need to do something.."
She muttered under her breath.
"Huh?"
"Nothing... just... what made you hate me?"
"After he met you... he spent most of his time gushing about you or writing nonsense in that little red book of his. I was irritated at first but accepted the fact that he was happy with you.... then... then he lost you.... and became so dejected and distant from every one of us. It's not like he didn't do anything... he still took me to my matches, took Mukku to school, to her swimming classes, was the perfect son... but his eyes... oh they had completely lost the spark and... Aunty-Ma... Uh... that is Mukku's mom... she couldn't bear to see him like that and talked to his father and they planned to send him abroad. He left... left me... all because of you... so I hated you... sorry..."
Anu shook her head.
"No no... that's OK... I took away your most precious treasure... but I don't understand why Mukku didn't hate me too..."
"Because she believed her brother when he said he was late and you were not at fault... she blamed her brother just as much as he blamed himself."
The tone of his voice struck her and she looked at him.
"Aarav... you still believe I am at fault... don't you?"
He hung his head.
***
A/N: Real life caught up to me unexpectedly as it usually does🙂. Due to time constraints, I won't be able to update twice but since I already promised two updates, I will update both the chapters once a day as and when I get time. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for understanding.
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