The Heart Of The Matter
(Before the 'heart- attack' pre-cap)
Later in the evening Khanak was in the kitchen, finishing the last few chores before heading to her room, Shantanu's room...' Hamara kamra, ' Khanak mentally corrected herself...She thought back to the strange events of the day, which were a mixture of happiness and dread...She was happy to meet Babuji and the family on her return home...She looked forward to watching their philm at the cenima....
But before this she had met a strange man outside the Khandelwal office, he had claimed to know her, which left her perplexed...Luckily their driver had interveened and she was able to get home quickly...She knew she was being silly, but she felt a fear closing in on her heart and she wanted Shaan to be at home..... ' Aaj toh mein Shantanu se apni dill ki baat, keh kar hi rahogi....Pata nahi, kyon aaj kuch teek nahi lagraha hain...Mujhe aisa lagta hai ke agaar meine kuch nahi kaha toh....Nahi, yeh mein kya soch rahi ho?!...Shantanu bhi mujhse pyaar, karte hai....Bus mein unse keh do, phir sub kuch teek hogaye ga....Hain sub teek.... '
' Tum abhi tak yaha ho?...Is waqt toh tumhe paatshala mein hona chahye na? ' Shaan asked....Khanak turned to see him leaning against the kitchen door, watching her....
' Woh mein.....Mmere Masterji aaj nahi ayeh nah, isleye mein yaha ke karm mein lag gayi ' Khanak's remark, produced a grin from Shaan...
' Urmm, sorry aaj office mein bohat karm tah...New project and all, kal se paatsahla phir se shuru, promise... '
' Koi baat nahi, waise ab toh mujhe intazar karne ki adaat daal ni pareh gi, aap itni mehnaat jo karte hai...'
' Abhi toh tumne kaha tah, tumhe yaha karm tah? '
' Haannn...Karm tah, aur aur, aap ko bhook lage hogi nah?....Isleye khane ke liye, intazar karnahi tah... '
' Sirf khane ki liye...'
' Nahi...Aapse baat bhi karni tih...'
' Hmmm...'
' Aaj jab mein office mein aayi tih, tub ek Bhaa mile teh....Jo....'
' Wait a second, let me guess...Usne tumse ye kaha ke woh Dulwadhi se hai, aur tum oski batao mein aagayi...I don't believe this Khanak, kitna baar tumhe samjawo....Hai rah chalta aadmi Bhaa nahi hota!...Tum phir se kissi musibut mein phus ga ti toh?....Aur, aur mein bhi waha nahi tah....Kh.....' Shaan stopped mid sentence realising that Khanak looked as if she would cry at any moment.....
' Tum teek ho? ' To which Khanak nodded and told him...
' Miene baat nahi ki Shantanu....Aur waise bhi mujhe woh teek nahi laage...' Shaan made a mental note to ask the driver what happened outside the office, but he didn't want to upset Khanak anymore...It was lucky he had a surprise waiting for her upstairs....Shaan went to the place near the sink, where she was standing and put his arm around her shoulder...She turned to face him and he rested his forehead on hers....
' Arre tumhe kya huwa, tum toh kitni bhadoor ho...Tumhe toh kisi baat se daar nahi lagta...'
' Shantanu!....'
' Mazak nahi kar raha, seriously...Achaa choro us baat ko...Upaar chalo.....'
Saying this he took her hand and lead her to their bedrooom...Just as Mr Agarwal, was approaching the Khandelwal residence....
As they entered, Shaan went to the window-seat and came back with a large rectangular parcel....He handed it to Khanak, who's face lit-up immediately...As she revealed what the parcel contained, her smile changed to surprise and wonder...She stared at the photograph of Shaan and herself, from the contract party....The photo had frozen, a beautiful moment in time....They were captured turning slightly towards each-other, away from the camera....They stood looking at each other, from the corner of their eyes...Anyone looking at the picture could see the unmistakeable love, which seemed to make them glow....
' Well?....Kesa laga mera surprise ' Shaan asked tentively...
' Beautiful....' Khanak whispered and then smiled inwardly remembering how Shaan had tried to trick her with that word once....
' So...Urr...Kaha lagani chahiye?....Aisa karte hai, paatshala mein laga deteh hai....After all, wahi se hamari dosti ki pehli shoruwat huwi thi nah? '....Khanak knew that Shaan was not talking about their dosti at all....He just wanted her to put their portrait in it's rightful place...So she climbed on the bed and placed it on the wall without any hesitation....
' Waise tumne abhi mere sawal ka jawab nahi diya...' Shaan said, as he helped her get down....Khanak knew exactly what he was asking...
' Mein ek bar bata chuki hoon....Aap yhun bar bar poochna bhund kijiye....' But as she tried to walk away, Shaan grabbed her arm and hugged her from behind....
' Phir aisa kyun lag raha hai, ki tum kuch chupa rahi ho?...' He whispered close to Khanak's ear....' Teek hai ek karm kara teh hai...Mein jo bhi baat dohrawo, oska sirf haan, ya nah mein jawab dena...Munzoor hai?...'
' Haan...'
' Good...Okay, mein TV dekte so gaya tah... '
' Haan....'
' Aur isliye tum sofe pe soyi thi...'
' Haan....'
' Tum apne dost ko, neend se nahi utahna chahti tih....'
' Haan....'
' Aur isliye tumne mujhe bed pe sone diya aur, mujpe kabal bhi aura diya....'
' Haan, par aap ye sub kyun.....? '
' Bas itna hi tumne kiyatah Khanak?...Mein kuch bhool toh nahi raha nah?..' As he asked this, Khanak remembered how she kissed Shaan's forehead as he slept....
' Haan.....Mera matlub nahi aisa kuch bhi...Huu!....' Khanak stumbled and she knew Shaan had caught her lie...
What happened next confirmed her suspision....As he held on to her, Shaan placed his hand gently on her forehead and brushed aside her hair, then mimicking her exact actions from last night, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead...Khanak knew without a doubt that Shaan had been awake...Now all he wanted to hear, were the words from her lips....She turned in his arms and rested her head on his chest...Shaan needed no further encouragement, to ask his final question....
' Khanak kya tum bhi mujhse itnahi pyaar karti ho, jitna ke mein tumse?....'
' Kehna zarori hai?...'
' Nahi, par kehdo gi toh meri tori confusion kum hogayegi...' Shaan joked...He then pulled away from her a little, so he could look into her eyes....
' Haan....Mein aapse pyar karti hoon...Bohat karti hoon...'
Shaan wrapped his arms around her again...Both of them breathed a sigh of relief, realising how tense both of them had been...They laughed at how foolish they were to be so afraid....They also remembered a Maha Purush once said,' Pyaar kiya toh darna kya? '....
But their laughter was short lived, as they heard Sunil Khandelwal's calls of assistance to Akshay,Kushbo and Shaan....
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(After yesterday's promo and pre-cap, I felt time was running out and I had to write the one-shot idea I had thought of, after watching the photo scene....So I incorperated the current track with the photo scene....Wonder what happened today?....Didn't get a chance to read the live update....**May runs to the DT thread**😆....)
Edited by The_May_Rose - 15 years ago
CID
Health and Fitness
