Part 2
Jhanvi was furious….Her mother woke her at 6 am instructing her to get ready and then come to prepare pancakes as Jhanvi cooks them best, that too for Mom's most fav person at the moment….The same because of whom she had to sleep empty stomach last night….thanx to Mr. America…..just because of him she had to return back to her room without having anything…Only if he hadn't scared her in the middle of night……
****
Rayan had woken up as he was feeling thirsty…. Since he is alienated in the guest room which is on the ground floor, whereas rest of family members slept upstairs… as he walked over to the kitchen he was surprised by hearing some noises of opening & closing of cabinets that too when its dark all around…..
He ventured more inside….& saw someone's back near the counter…. He can tell it is a girl….even with little moonlight filtering in he can clearly make out the mid-length layered hair let out, resting against the person's back… and the lacy tang top paired with pajama pants the girl wears….
As long as he remembers Surbhi had left after dinner, curious he goes near to see who exactly she is & what actually she is doing so late at night… but before he can even call out to her or cud take any another act of action, the girl turned around--meeting him eye to eye…
His breath is caught in his throat….he cud do nothing except but gape at the girl… as she is nowhere close to being Surbhi…its only when he hears her let out a startled gasp….& cud make out she is about to scream…instantly his hand flies to her mouth worried that she will wake everyone….
Jhanvi's eyes widen as a reaction to what he does and she stares at him with momentary disbelief….they kept staring each other …until they hear footsteps coming down stairs, Rayan looks around & looks back to the girl, who stares curiously back at him…. Seconds later, they hear Aniket-Madhu entering kitchen ….as an instant reaction….Rayan startles Jhanvi wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him, and then whisks her off to the side, hiding behind the refrigerator…..with other hand still securely kept over her mouth….
Lights come on right at moment…. If, in darkness his breath stopped now Rayan felt like his heart just skipped a beat…as now he can clearly see what he cudn't in darkness…… he can make out, she is about 5'4" or 5'5" with full, silky long hair…. big, expressive hazel warm eyes… a small cute nose, a slender body…Before he can give her a thorough look through…they heard voices…
Madhu—Koi nahi Aniket, bina baat ke utha diya…See, koi nahi hai yaha…
Aniket (still looked around)—par kuch girne ki awaz aayi thi…
Madhu—koi hota toh dikhta na….ab chaliye…(she almost dragged him) ab sone chale please…..
She switched off the lights & tagged him along….drowning the room again in darkness … but Jhanvi- Rayan remained eye to eye with one another….. Jhanvi kept staring at him, wide-eyed….not muttering a single sound….It felt like both didn't wanted to break the spell….. It was Rayan who broke the silence
Rayan (softly)—Sorry…I didn't mean to scare you…ermm Jhanvi, Right…
Jhanvi eyes widened more…..surprised how he knows her…Rayan smiles at her reaction, So, finally he meets the girl who has avoided him all evening…….finally they meet…..
Rayan (teased)—It seems some serious Headache, you have been resting for long…..
Jhanvi's cheeks turn a shade of pink as she lowers her gaze from him…looked away sheepishly….she tried to push back Rayan, accidently hitting flower vase on the side table which wud have fallen if Rayan had not caught in time…….seeing his attention diverted, Jhanvi took the opportunity to rush back to her room…
Rayan (tried to hold her hand)—Wait, at least let me introduce myself….
But Jhanvi just rushed past him……..
******
Rayan joins the family, at breakfast ……wishing Aniket & Madhu, who instantly rushed to look after the breakfast wondering whats taking Jhanvi so long….
While settling Rayan cudn't help but notice empty seat beside….he wondered if she gonna avoid him today too….what gonna be reason today "Stomach ache" Rayan smiled to himself…… Last night's meeting with had left him intrigued & kept him awake for most of the time…..he cudn't take the innocent face out of his thoughts…..
Rayan's thot broke as freshly, golden pancakes are served to him, he looks up to thank Madhu, but is surprised to see it was Jhanvi… who has by now started serving her father….completely ignoring Rayan…. She can literally feel his eyes following her every move…. She consciously places the plate onto the table and about to go back kitchen but Madhu….asks her to sit….. Sighing to herself Jhanvi obediently sits down into her chair stubbornly keeping her eyes on her plate… refusing to let them wander up and look at the person across from her….She only looks up when she hears Madhu introducing her to Rayan….
Madhu—Rayan, this is Jhanvi…she was not well yday, so u two cudn't meet …..(to Jhanvi) aur Jhanvi, Yeh Rayan hai…
Jhanvi just gives a fake smile…& shifts her focus down onto her plate again….
Rayan tries hard to hold back his laughter…. her behavior towards him is quite cute really…. He has never seen a girl so quiet and distant around him before…. He's never met one of those kinds….He has always seen girls usually throw themselves on him….
Rayan (composing himself)—Hi!!! Hope you are feeling better now….since you rested a lot yday….
Jhanvi cud make out he is making fun of her
Jhanvi (gave a fake smile)—I am fine….Thank you Rayan!!……
Rayan—by the way You can call me "Ray" as people who know me call me Ray…
Jhanvi –thank god!! Uncle aunty ne aapka naam Gayan nahi rakha warna log aapko…
Rayan (confused)—what??
Madhu(diverted the conversation)—yeahh Rayan… now she is fine, infact she was the one who made these pancakes…..it was her idea….
Jhanvi glared at her Mother, it was never her idea, infact she was sleeping peacefully only if her mother didn't woke her up…
Rayan had see the unbelievable look Jhanvi had given to her mother ….he wondered if she really did it...still he played along…
Rayan (smiled)—ahhh for me specially, dat was very sweet of you……Thank You, Jhanvi…
Her cheeks bloom red by the sincere look he directs in her way and she tears her gaze quickly off from him….
Jhanvi (to herself)—khud ko itni importance dene ki zarut nahi hai…(smiled …To Rayan) I know I am sweet…now u can have them, as subah subah itni mehnat karke yeh dekhne ke liye nahi banaye…
Rayan (confused)—excuse me!!
Jhanvi (mumbled)—ek toh har baat ke liye subtitles dene padte hai, angrez kahi ka….wonder how di will manage him…puri zindagi translator banker reh jayengi… (loudly) I was just saying can we start our breakfast…
Rayan—ofcourse…
Jhanvi was looking at his reaction as he ate, she was waiting for him to say something but he was coolly eating…she wondered how its happening…
After breakfast as Aniket left for office...Madhu also cleared up the table…Jhanvi was about to get up…when she heard…
Rayan—I didn't knew in India…Pancakes are too salty….till now have eaten only sweet Pancakes….(Jhanvi gaped at him) but still, inspite of "too much salt" they were good enough to eat…Or may be you got confused b/w salt & sugar… (as if realizing) don't tell me it was intentional (tried to see her reaction) as I scared you last nite…….. I had already said Sorry for that….
Jhanvi—toh, bahut bada ehsaan kiya sorry bolkar…
Rayan—excuse me!!!
Jhanvi(shook her head in No)—nothing…(ignoring him she shouted for her mother) Mom….main ja rahi hoon late ho raha hai…
Madhu (joining them back)—Late?? Par ja kaha rahi hai??
Jhanvi—aap aise surprise ho rahi hai jaise pehle baar ja rahi hoon…obviously for painting classes… bache wait kar rahe honge…
Jhanvi used to teach painting to kids in her locality …as kids were having summer vacations…
Madhu (disappointed)—par ….Tune promise kiya tha….
Jhanvi (interrupted)—I know…aur isiliye thodi der mein wapis aajaungi…jaana important hai…now don't expect aapke mehmaan ke liye saare kaam chodkar main ghar par baith jaun…
Madhu (silenced her)—dheere….Rayan sunlega…
Jhanvi (laughed)—jaise main jo bolungi use samajh aaega…har baat ke subtitles chaiye hote hai use…anyways I am going…
Madhu—par Rayan aise akele ….
Jhanvi—Mom plzz……Rayan chotta bacha nahi hai jo akela nahi reh sakta …he can entertain himself…aur waise bhi aap hai na…aur iski nayi Fan "Surbhi" who bhi aati hogi…
Surbhi (joined them)—kisi ne hume yaad kiya…
Jhanvi—See, ab main jaun…
Rayan (coming where all of them were chatting)—You are going somewhere??
Jhanvi (pissed off)—kyun?? Aapko problem hai…
Rayan—ermm I guess No…but…
Jhanvi—Good …kyunki agar problem hai bhi…toh who aapki problem hai…meri nahi…
Rayan(confused)—what??
Jhanvi—Never u mind!!! Have a good day!!
Rayan (moving a little closer)—it wont be…since you're going…(Jhanvi rolled her eyes…& left wishing goodbye to Madhu & Surbhi)
Rayan –Is she always like this…I mean angry 24*7….
Madhu—ermm No…actually she is getting late…so her mood tends to get off……
Surbhi—Yeahh…
Rest of day…Madhu-Surbhi kept him occupied….giving him company…
*****
Jhanvi purposely came back home late in evening…she didn't know why she got irritated with this guest….there was something which completely pissed her off...For some reason, she felt he must be a big Casanova, a big flirt back in States…the way he is friendly with Surbhi…& also tried to be comfortable with her…
Jhanvi (to herself)—yaha timepaas karne aaya hoga…Mr. America ko shadi wadi mein kaha intrest hoga… isi bahane free ki mehmaan nawazi jo mil rahi hai….
Out of habit returning home she entered her room (her old room…she completely forgot she had shifted her stuff)….as soon as she entered she got a heart attack seeing whole room in a mess …Jhanvi has always been organized…she had this streak of cleanliness….& cudn't tolerate clutter …specially in her room…
Jhanvi (shocked)—What the hell!!! …….room mein tsunami kaise aaya….
It was then she realized things scattered were not hers…she remembered its all Rayan's stuff…. She was surprised to see all things scattered around….the windchime she had on the window was pulled down…but still she hated to see her room in mess….She was about to walk ahead to put it back…when she tripped on shoes kept in midway… moved them aside…mumbling "Joote beech mein rakthe hai" ….she placed windchime back in place… She turned back only to hitting her foot on the suitcase beside…she moved it aside too…She tried her best to place the things in order…& keeping them back in place….
Jhanvi (mumbled)—Mom ko batana padega…apne Mehmaan ko samjhane ke liye…ek din mein room ki yeh halat kar di…
She kept on rambling…& getting irritated more & more…finally finishing off she turned around to leave only to be bumping into Rayan who just entered the room….since both were caught unaware…both bumped with a force resulting both of them ending on floor with Rayan on top of Jhanvi….
Jhanvi—dekhkar nahi chala jata…(only to be lost his eyes…it was as if she cudn't tear off her gaze…it was same for Rayan….as if there was silent challenge game b/w both…who breaks the spell first)….
It was ringing of Rayan's cell that broke the spell…
Jhanvi (tried to push him back so they can get up) —aap uthenge!! (seeing confused look on his face) yeh aur inki English….koi marte hue madad bhi maang raha hoga na…use English mein madad mangni padegi…(loudly) ermm Mr.Rayan…do you mind getting up…
Rayan (coming out of daze)—ahh!!! Yeahh ….(getting up) I am Sorry….(gave his hand to help Jhanvi get up which she accepted after a moment of thought) You OK!!! Sorry I didn't realized you were in my room……
Jhanvi (shocked)—aapka room!! ….excuse me!!! Yeh mera room hai….(calming herself) I mean its my room…
Rayan (smiled) —yeahh… but for time being its mine….So,…
Jhanvi—In dat case , I wud appreciate if you keep it clean…aur jo cheez jaha hai use wahi rehne dijiye… (correcting herself) I mean…Forget it…aapse baat karna bekaar hai…
Rayan was confused why she is always pissed off with him…she doesn't seem happy with him…but why?? As for him….he wants to know her better… he feels there is some unknown pull b/w them….for some reason he wants to be around her….but she always runs away from her….He was finding himself strangely more and more attracted towards Jhanvi every time she distanced herself farther away from him…. It's like some kind of magnet was drawing him to her…. Her arrogance and stubborn attitude only seemed to intrigue him rather than keep him away, making him want to know her even more …
He kept wondering what is the reason behind her prejudice against him? Is it simply because he is American? ….or unintentionally he has done something ??
****
Jhanvi was chatting with Neha,….complaining how she has turned a tour guide…she glanced around to be mesmerized by Rayan's laughter ….who was a little away laughing at something alongwith Surbhi….whom Jhanvi tagged along though it didn't required much of effort to agree her joining them …its after 3 days of avoiding Rayan, fourth day…her mother didn't gave her any option …she literally had to scold her for making such silly excuses & not being welcoming enough… Madhu…emotionally blackmailed her…for once Aniket also supported Madhu…explaining Jhanvi it doesn't look nice ignoring a guest…. Finally giving up Jhanvi reluctantly agreed…
Here she is, dedicating her full time for him, being a tour guide to Mr. America…. setting aside her own plans… Just to piss Rayan off Jhanvi purposefully took him only to parks & museums…thinking next time Rayan will refuse himself he doesn't want to go with her….but to her surprise….he found fun visiting the boring places too…. & readily agreed to visit more the next day…..
It was later while having coffee before calling a day, Surbhi suggested they shud catch a movie or go to some disco instead of just roaming at boring museums….
Rayan (acted surprised)—you have such places here….(Jhanvi glared) No…. I mean I thot its only parks & museums here since we have been visiting them since last 2 days…
Surbhi (giggled)—Rayan…ofcourse we have theatres…..& places of entertainment… So its decided will catch a movie first & then some cool disc…
Rayan –sounds good!! (to tease Jhanvi) but are you sure Friend wont mind…
Jhanvi (sarcastically)—Main kyun mind karungi… aap mehmaan hai…aapki marzi hai….jaha jana chahe ja sakte hai…(surbhi nudged her) I mean…sure you two are most welcome to enjoy….
Surbhi—you two matlab!!! Tu nahi chalegi…
Jhanvi—Nahi…Pura din ghoomne ke baad main thak gayi…
Surbhi—haan toh hum kaunsa aaj ja rahe hai…kal challenge…
Jhanvi—kal ki kal decide karenge…abhi ghar chale… (she got up to leave)
Rayan (seeing her leaving)—is something wrong with my face … Your friend completely detests me….runs away instantly…
Surbhi (laughed)—there is nothing of that sort…
Rayan—I mean it…seriously…something is surely wrong somewhere….maybe I did something…
Surbhi—Come on…its nothing like that….lets go…she must be waiting…
As they joined Jhanvi in parking lot…They walked past a flower shop thinking of something, Rayan called back Surbhi, asking for help...which she readily agreed with a mischevious smile…
****
After ending her call with her mother informing they wud be reaching home in a while… only to be bumping into Rayan… with b'ful bouquet of flowers & a Smile on his face…
Jhanvi (startled)—Rayan!!! …. (she smiled looking at the flowers)
Rayan (smirking) —So, the girl Smiles….
Jhanvi (blushed)—ofcourse…I do…
Rayan (agreeing)—yeahh to everyone else except Me…
Jhanvi (looked away sheepishly)—ermm (changing the topic) b'ful flowers…
Rayan (casually)—they have to be…afterall its for you (passing her the flowers)
Jhanvi (confused)—Mere liye!!! (She looks behind Surbhi giggling away…she cud guess she is upto something) I mean….for what??
Rayan—ermm (trying to recollect what Surbhi taught her) coz wanted to say…ermm (scratching his head remembering the exact word)
Jhanvi (amused)—what ??
Rayan—yeahh….wanted to say "Main-tumse-pyaar-karta hoon"
Jhanvi (shocked …she was about to drop the bouquet from her hands)—huh!!! (she looks away shyly)
Rayan (confidently)—yeahh…. I mean it (he looked behind to Surbhi) Hope I said it correctly….
Surbhi breaked into laughter….she had been trying to control for so long… she had readily agreed when Rayan asked her to help to teach her to apologize in hindi, he felt may be Jhanvi will forgive her much easily if does it in hindi…
Jhanvi handed Rayan back the flowers understanding its just a silly joke by Surbhi… she just asked them they should head back home & walked towards their car…. not heeding any attention to Rayan who stares curiously on after her….
Rayan (apprehensively)—You told me to say right thing!!! NO!!!
Surbhi just smilingly nodded in yes!!! & tagged him along….
****
For the next few days Jhanvi mostly tended to ignore Rayan who tried his very best to be friendly, but she was hard as a rock…It would take a miracle for her to even speak with him, he concluded.
On the other hand, Jhanvi was growing more and more frustrated by the stranger who she had to go out of her way all of the time to make comfortable… If this continued, she might just explode….
Surbhi dragged her alone to the discs, movies…Jhanvi remembers how irritating it had been as Rayan comfortably chose to sat b/w both of them… & kept asking for the translations of the movie going on screen… Jhanvi had to literally point him out that he can read the subtitles in English …& not to bother…
5 mins paying attention to the subtitles he losts interests in the movie…& sighs in boredom he looks around both Surbhi & Jhanvi into the movie… He stealthily catches Jhanvi's bright eyes shining and her face so relaxed and serene-like ….totally engrossed into the film & smiling at the screen, on the antics of hero… Rayan had to admit she really looks b'ful when she smiles…. He is momentarily smitten by the smile ….cant help but wonder … What could have he possibly done to make such a beautiful girl angry with him….
****
Jhanvi's further plan to ignore Rayan were dashed as Surbhi just informed she is leaving for Delhi for a week or so as to meet her Bhabhi, as she had just given birth to a baby girl… Leaving Jhanvi with no other option to deal with Rayan alone….
After taking Rayan around a place to visit which he thoroughly enjoyed…Jhanvi decided for once to be cordial to Rayan…& didn't got irritated much ….she even asked for his opinion of what he wants to visit next…
***
Here she is sipping her lime juice at the popular disc, as it was Rayan's suggestion of the place he wanted to visit…She glanced around seeing Rayan enjoying the music… it was only when he suggested for dance she chocked on her juice……
Jhanvi –ermm…. I don't know how to dance…(smiled) but still don't stop urself…you can go… I am fine here…
Rayan—R u sure!!
Jhanvi (smiled)—ofcourse….
Instantly…Rayan joined the dance floor as dancing was something he really enjoyed & something he cant stop himself from dancing….
Jhanvi smiled noticing how he was enjoying himself... she was lost in watching she didn't realized someone sitting beside her …. A young man, who looked a drunk…seeing Jhanvi alone came near her & tried to harass her making her uncomfortable…Jhanvi tried to ignore him & asked him to back off…but he didn't relented…Jhanvi tried to get up & leave but was stopped as the guy caught her hand…. Jhanvi turned back & was about to slap the guy but instead found the guy on floor…as he was punched in face by Rayan…infact he was still hitting him… punching him…
Jhanvi looked surpringly at Rayan beating the guy… it took a moment for Jhanvi to react as she saw Guy hitting back at Rayan too……Jhanvi realized she has to stop Rayan else he wud end up killing the guy…as both were getting into full fledged fight…
Jhanvi (tried to pull back Rayan)—Rayan ….stop it…!!! Chodo use….Security will deal with him….Chodo….
Rayan (angrily)—only if security have dealt with him…(continued hitting him)
It was only when Manager called on for security ….they managed to separate the two…
Jhanvi literally had to drag Rayan out of the disc…
*********
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