#2 [AR+D3] Sajda (FF) Chap12 (A&B) Pg80 March16

During the rest of the dinner, Kriya didn't speak and no one forced her to either. She just listened to the family talk and smiled at seeing their unity. After dinner, Rey helped her up to her room and said, "You change. I'll be right back."

She gave a smile and asked sweetly, "Can you pick out a pair of clothes?"

Without asking 'why', he nodded, walked to the closet and picked out a comfortable night suit for her. He closed the door behind her and ten minutes later, he came back and knocked on the door.

She replied. "Come in." and he did.

She looked beautiful even with her hair all uncombed. He took out a plate that he was hiding behind and gave it to her. "Here."

She removed the covering on the plate to see carrot pudding. She had a spoon filled and said, "It's delicious and my favorite. How'd you know?"

"I didn't. But I saw the way you were eating dinner and thought you were still hungry."

"I was. Thank you!" she replied and had another spoon taking the bowl out of the tray and in her hands. He watched her eat and she realized she was being selfish by eating it herself and not offering him any. He did think about her and got it for her. She did but he turned the spoon around and fed her instead. She smiled while having it and taking the spoon back from him, continued eating. In no time she was done.

***

Kriya wanted to try if she could walk without pain but Rey wouldn't let her. He said for the umpteenth time, "I said no Kriya. After the doctor checks it tomorrow, we'll see."

"Gosh! Why does everyone get so worked up? It's just a knee dislocation. If I don't walk, it's not going to get better."

"And if you do walk, it could get worse." Rey voiced out the other option.

Aarti stood by the door and watched the two with pleasure. Then, a second later, a devious plan formed up in her brain and she knew no one would be able to escape that. She came in asking, "Kriya how is your arm?"

"Arm? What happened to my arm?" both the son and mother gave her a look and she remembered. "Oh yes. My arm; it's perfectly fine. It was just a small cut after all. No pain." She concluded, making sure they bought it and were convinced.

Aarti turned to Rey. "Acha, Rey. Help her one more time and carry her to your room please?"

"My room?" he asked confused.

Kriya asked just after he finished, "His room? Why?"

She put on a sweet, innocent look and explained to them. "See, this room is isolated from our room and Rey's room as well. If something happened during night, we wouldn't know. So if you're with Rey, we would feel at ease. It was Aditya's suggestion."

Rey wasn't at first convinced that his dad would suggest something like that but then, he had no reason to not believe.

Aarti continued, "You don't have a problem with that Kriya, do you? You can sleep on the bed and Rey can have the couch. Besides, he falls asleep on the couch all the time. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Right Rey?"

Rey had only one option but to agree with his mother. "Yea right; why would I mind?" and in reality, he didn't. It just gave him more time with her! As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he asked himself why he wanted to spend more time with her. Unfortunately for him, he had no answer to that. He kept his thoughts aside when Kriya spoke up.

Kriya wasn't convinced that Rey was happy with the decision but she couldn't say anything in front of the worry that came from all three of them. "If Rey doesn't mind, I guess I have no objection…" she replied much to Aarti's happiness.

Her work was done. She instructed before leaving, "Alright then, I'll leave you teens to yourselves. Rey, get her to your room and feel free to do anything. Just go to sleep on time. Rey, you're not going to pull another all night, understand?"

"Yes mom." He replied and wished her good night with a hug. Aarti gave Kriya a hug as well. "Sleep tight." She said and was out of the room.

Rey looked at Kriya and said, "Let's get you shifted again then." Again, she felt helpless when he had to carry her. Somewhere, she was enjoying it but felt sad too that she was being so much of a trouble to them. And they were all being so nice to her even when they didn't know her or anything about her at all.

***

"Okay… I guess its goodbye then." Karan replied as he stood by the front door of Shilpa's mini-house. He had offered to drop her home as it was on his way, forcing her to accept so she wouldn't have to take a cab this late at night.

She stood inside the house while he stood on the other side. Having nothing else to say, he didn't know what to do. They had been close once, had shared many personal close moments together. But after all these years, he didn't know how to react. Mostly, he didn't know how she would react to any movement from his side.

So awkwardly, he just turned and was about to leave when he felt a tug at his arm. It was her who had held it to stop him. Curious to know why, he turned around and looked at her with questioning eyes.

"Come in." was all she said.

He asked, "Why?" It was a sincere question whose answer he needed to know. There were many questions he wanted to ask. Questions like why she is acting like this, what she has been doing since that last night and many more. But for now, the simple 'why' seemed to be making it a lot harder for Shilpa to answer. It was as if it was a life and death question for her.

She didn't answer and he knew he'd have to wait. She just moved aside as a gesture to welcome him in. He took the step in and waited. She closed the door behind and guided him to the living room.

Once seated, she replied taking a deep breath. "Because it's not time for goodbye and I want you to."

He was trying to read between the lines, but till then, he was doing a very bad job at it. The last time could mean a lot to him if he looked at it one way. And it could mean totally something if he looked at it the other way. He wanted to know which reason it was. His mind wasn't clear and the way she was talking in riddles wasn't helping.

He wanted a clear answer but he knew he wouldn't get it. The girl always liked to keep herself as a mystery book with unexpected moves and twists and that is what he had always been getting. Just when he thought he had her figured out, she would do something or say something that would prove him wrong.

He pulled himself back to present and replied, "You can't always have what you want."

"I know…" she replied after a moment's silence. She was definitely able to read between the lines and she knew what he was referring to. The night when it had all happened, he had asked for something. And she didn't say yes. Over the years, she had been wondering how different her life would have been if only she had had the courage to say yes. But she didn't tell him that. It was one of the many things she kept to herself.

She looked down and nodded, implying she didn't want to talk about it. He didn't probe it further either. To make the atmosphere light, he asked, "So am I going to get that famous coffee of yours or not?"

She chuckled at the question and nodded. "One of the many things you're best at doing."

"Uh-huh? Name a few?" he asked, getting in a naughty mood and moving an inch closer to her face.

"Oh please!" she replied as she made a run for the kitchen leaving Karan to grin to himself. This mission might just turn out to be more than a simple mission after all.

***

Rey helped Kriya lay down on bed and pulled the blanket over her. She thanked him with a gesture and he went over to his bed for the night: couch. On his way, he turned the lights off. Kriya turned on her side to see where Rey laid down. He couldn't see her face in dark and wanted to see if she was still awake. He called out softly.

"Kriya?"

"Hmm?" she replied, letting him know she was awake and listening.

He asked being hesitant, "What did you mean when you said before, 'That's why I don't stay around people?'"

Kriya went silent. She remembered saying it when the boys had sweetly threatened her to come home with them. She knew he was waiting for an answer and she replied, a bit stammering.

"I- uh- I didn't think anyone would catch that."

"I did." He stated, still waiting for an answer.

"I see that." She stopped to take in a deep breath and continued, "Actually, it's just that I've always been home schooled. Due to which, I didn't need to have friends. Karan is everything for me after my parents left and I haven't had the need to go out at places on my own. He's always been there next to me at all times. Never really felt the need to be around people."

She explained being completely honest. That was an unchangeable fact. She hated lying but she knew that in her profession, they had to say many wrong things to cover up the truth to protect their identity. She was just glad that what she had answered at that moment was the truth and she didn't have to lie.

She didn't know why but she just didn't like lying to Rey about anything. She knew a time in future will come when she'll have to. But the feelings that were new to her were forcing her to think of things she really shouldn't be.

Silence followed after she had answered the question. Rey didn't feel the need to reply to the answer. It had touched his heart and even though he couldn't see her, he knew she was telling the truth from bottom of her heart.

Minutes passed in silence and both were lost in their own thoughts. Kriya was thinking about the mission and the thoughts about the answer covered the cloud of thoughts around her. On the other hand, Rey was re-thinking the nights' events and how much different he felt after meeting Kriya.

Kriya asked breaking the silence, wondering if he was awake. "Rey?"

"Hmm?" Rey asked this time.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Hmm." He said again as a gesture for her to continue.

"What does friendship mean?"

Someone else must have thought it was a silly question. But Rey genuinely wanted to reply to it. It was just as deep of a question to him as it was for Kriya. For her, it was a feeling she never felt before… till tonight. She didn't know the meaning of it at all and she really wanted to know from no one else but Rey.

"Hmm… friendship… friendship means different things for different people. There can be different types of friendships. If you ask me, it's one of the most valuable thing one can have. Some say love is the best feeling but I wouldn't know. Friendship is believing a person and standing by them when all odds are against them. It's knowing blindly that you can trust a person without actually knowing why. Whatever you do, you do together and don't feel the need to hide anything. Even if it's something that'll hurt the other, you tell them expecting them to understand and support you even if the other doesn't agree with it. It's like a feeling that comes from heart when seeing someone. It's when you know that you will do anything for that person even if they hate you. My friends mean the world to me. They're my 'everything'."

"The feelings come from your heart, not from your head. If you feel like you have to do something for someone even if you do not know them, that's friendship. In reality, there is no ending to the feeling or definition of friendship. It's different for everyone and it's just one of the things you just have to feel and express."

Kriya made an inference out of it all. She didn't need to think more after hearing that. "Thank you Rey. Good night."

"Good night," came the reply.

***

Karan entered the kitchen and sat on one of the two stools kept on other side of the counter. He watched as Shilpa poured the coffee into cups and handed one to him. He took it and waited for her to come sit on the other stool next to him.

After letting him take a sip, she asked, "So, how is it?"

"Amazing as ever." He complimented.

"Thank you."

He asked then, "So, name?"

"Riddhima – Riddhima Gupta." She replied with confidence.

"Not bad… Riddhima. Actually, perfect. Love it." he went on as he considered the name over and over again.

"And yours?" she asked.

"Armaan Mallik." He replied after taking another sip of the coffee.

It was now Shilpa's turn to admire the name. "Armaan…tamanna…desire? What do you desire?" she asked.

He put the mug down and answered. "Wrong question." He paused to look right into her eyes and continued, "Whom do I desire?"

She became conscious and she realized he was talking about her. She looked up at him, into his deep blue eyes that often took her into a different world of feelings whenever she looked in them.

She continued watching into them till he raised his hand and outlined her face, slipping his fingers through her bangs and hair on the side of her face. She closed her eyes, feeling the moment and the touch of his fingers when they made contact with her face.

It was just as mesmerizing as before. The old feelings poured back into both of their hearts but they knew they had to control it. He moved his face closer to hers and closed his eyes. Moving his lips close to her ears, he breathed in the familiar scent from her hair. It was just intoxicating as ever. He could feel her stiffen from inside as he whispered, "And you… know the answer."

He moved back and looked at her as she reopened her eyes. It took a long time for her to get a hold of herself and her feelings. She got down the chair and replied, not making contact with his eyes till she was done.

"I- uh- think it's time for you to leave." She didn't want her feelings to become any more obvious. Moreover, she didn't trust herself around him. He could come close to her once again and all the past distances would melt away in less than a second. Both of them knew that.

Karan too got down. "Yes… I'm sorry." He let his fingers slide down her silky soft hands till they came down to her fingers. He held her hand in his and continued softly. "It's good to see you after a long time."

He looked at the chain around her neck and looked at the ring hanging down the chain. He had seen it the moment he had seen her that night. But had kept that quiet. After a pause, he continued, "It's also good to see that the ring still matters to you."

Her heart stopped for long seconds to pass. She hadn't thought he'd noticed. She had to clear her throat to find her voice back. "You know it always will." She replied with a croaky voice.

"Even better to hear it from you." He remarked. As before, he swung his fingers through her hair and with a last look at her, went out the kitchen door and out of the house.

For a minute, she stood there like a statue and then sighed. Why does he still affect me? She asked herself with anger. Somewhere, she felt like she should be mad at herself for still loving him. She had no right to after that night. Still, she did.

***

Me waiting for your comments and likes 😃 Hope they increase more this time... They do mean a lot to me and encourages me to continue writing😳

Next update... not sure when.. from 20th, my school re-opens and I know it'll be hectic this year. But I don't know exactly how hectic. So it all depends on the first few days of school and then only I can tell 😳

-Khushi.

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