Finally another short-story from my end on these two. This one is not related to the show in any way. The characters deviate a little from the original as well but I hope you can like and accept them. :-) Wrote something proper after a very long time, so I'm still a little rusty.. I hope this doesn't disappoint though. Worked a lot on it.
This one is dedicated to one of my closest friends, Ani.. I really, really hope you enjoy this one and it is atleast a little worth the wait I put you through. -_-
VirMan SS: Kuch Ankahee Mulakaatein
CHAPTER 1
His eyes were the first thing that had captured her attention. He could be smirking, laughing or even insulting her but there was always a constant warmth in them that touched her. Even when he got sarcastic, his face and his eyes would be far too full of humor for one to take any real offense at his words. And yet despite all that.. they were almost always guarded. It was an interesting and rare combination, eyes that were warm and kind yet still managing to be perfect curtains for his thoughts.
She still remembered his self-assured smile and the occasional quirked eyebrow speaking of a hint of challenge. That and a shock of dark black hair, which she found thoroughly amusing simply because they seemed as rebellious as the rest of him, refusing to lie flat and standing on end instead.
When he spoke to her..
Maanvi Chaudhary was starting to feel bored. The occasion was her bestfriend's sangeet and she supposed that it was a most rude not to mention incorrigible thing to feel bored of all things at it. It wasn't her fault entirely though, she argued. Her bestfriend had been whisked away by some of her relatives and she didn't really know anyone else here. The function hadn't been bad but she had been here for over 3 hours now and her bestfriend had forbidden her to leave. She had been patient, very much so, but now after almost an hour of doing absolutely nothing she finally let herself wonder why the whole thing hadn't come to an end already. "Who are they waiting for?" She voiced outloud.
"I suppose that would be me." A voice remarked behind her and she started.
She turned around to find a roguishly handsome man (Really? She already found him handsome?) looking back at her.
"And you are?" She asked, recovering quickly from the stranger's sudden appearance. That was Maanvi, she was never the one to really stare.
"Virat." He said with an easy smile.
Before she could reply, she heard an excited yell from behind before her bestfriend's fiance walked past her and pulled the guy into a hug.
"You made it!"
"I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to reach so late."
Maanvi regarded the pair curiously for a few seconds before deciding to leave the two alone.
She had only walked a short distance before she heard a voice call out,
"Hey, wait! What's your name?"
She turned around once to find the same guy looking back at her before she answered,
"Maanvi."
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"Ladies and Gentlemen! We're very, very sorry for the delay but our.. Guest of honor has finally arrived! Fashionably late as always.."
Maanvi couldn't help but grin a bit at the touch of sarcasm in her Jeeju's tone.
"Virat Vadhera has been my bestfriend since we were in school, you'd think that would count for something and he'd atleast show up on my own sangeet in time..."
"That's enough praise for one night Rohan." Virat responded as he came forward and the crowd laughed alongwith Rohan.
"Just do what you do best." he said, before slapping Virat on the back and stepping back into the crowd.
Virat smiled once, before stepping off the stage as well and sitting on a seat instead so that he could now actually interact with the people around him instead of looking down on them, an action that caused Maanvi's eyebrows to rise just a bit.
He smiled at the people around him and plugged in his guitar once before addressing them,
"So what does everybody want to listen to?"
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Maanvi couldn't sleep. She had been tossing and turning for a half hour now but try as she might her mind kept buzzing with thoughts and questions. And most of them revolved around him, she admitted begrudgingly.
Giving up on her futile attempts to sleep she got up and made her way out of the room. She hadn't gone home afterall, instead her bestfriend had insisted that she stay here until the wedding and she had complied. She wasn't looking forward to going home anyway, not when she had had a fresh argument with her Father that day.
But she didn't want to think about that right now. Instead her thoughts returned to the one subject, her mind couldn't stop obsessing over.. Virat Vadhera.
He had surprised her.
Not just because she hadn't expected him to sing as well as he did but in other ways as well. His voice was beautiful. It was rich and deep, and just a little bit husky and carried the kind of emotion you wouldn't expect from a carefree soul like his. There was definitely a lot of depth there.. Depth that not many had perhaps really tapped into.
But it hadn't stopped there and maybe surprise was too small a word for how she had felt as she had watched him. Virat had fascinated her.
He interacted with the crowd easily, not just with people who were his age but also with children and women who were old enough to be his grandmother. She saw how he took every request in count, only declining to sing the more inappropriate songs, he laughed with the kids and was gentle and respectful to the ladies but most of all.. More than anything that had struck Maanvi was how happy he looked when he sang. His whole face lit up, and there was a smile.. A pure, infectious, almost personal smile on his face everytime he sang a song. He clearly felt incredibly passionate about singing and that was what had really captured her attention. There was a freedom, an intensity and a wild happiness about him that she couldn't help but admire and envy. To be able to follow your dream, to be filled with that kind of purpose.. Was it as easy and beautiful as he made it look like? Was apprehension and fear only a small part of it?
She had been so lost in thought that she barely noticed when her meaningless wanderings took her to the rooftop and it was only when she heard a familiar voice singing that she woke up to her surroundings.
Virat.
He sat on the ledge with his back to her, his face tilted upwards, the moonlight washing over him in soft waves as he sang softly to himself.
The universe seemed to belong to Virat Vadhera tonight, just like the people who had loved him a few hours ago. There was a strange kind of emotion in his voice, as if.. as if he was giving himself up to a greater power. There was a humility, a trembling kind of submission that caused her breath to catch in her throat and she could feel herself being pulled in again as she drew closer to hear the finer notes of the song. It was his voice, it had the ability to absorb you whole in a way that she didn't even realize when he stopped singing altogether and addressed her instead,
"Right little owl aren't you?"
She started for a second time that day as he turned around to look at her now.
"I.. I couldn't sleep."
"So you ended up here."
"Well its allowed isn't it?"
He grinned at that distinct increase of sharpness in her tone before responding,
"Ofcourse." He said, before the easy smile returned.
He did that, she noticed. It made it all the more hard to be actually mad at him.
"So.. What were you doing?" He asked now, tilting his head to a side as he observed her.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I don't think you are usually as quiet as you were a few seconds ago." he looked at her, raising his eyebrows in question at her obvious discomfort.
"I was.." She hesitated once, wondering if she should be honest or not.
Ah, what the hell.
"Listening."
"Pardon me?"
"I was listening." She said, more firmly now, her gaze direct and unflinching.
"Oh." He said, the smile disappearing, his eyes suddenly unreadable. What was that emotion she saw in them? They looked like a mixture, a mixture of curiosity and.. Vulnerability?
A few seconds passed and they simply looked at each other, almost as if they were making up their mind about the other person.
"So.. " She said breaking the uncomfortable silence that had ensued. "Why couldn't you sleep?"
"Oh this and that.. You?" He shrugged, straightening up now.
"This and that.. Whatever that is."
He grinned once and she found herself smiling.
"That's a smart mouth you have."
"So I've been told."
"So.. do you plan on standing there all night?"
"What?"
"Come on," He said, patting a spot next to him on the ledge. "It's a great night.. and the view is great too."
She edged forward, hesitating again for a brief moment before her gait turned confident and she swung a leg over before taking a seat next to him.
She glanced to the ground once and wished it wasn't as far away as it seemed right then.
"Kinda scary I know." He said, having noted the direction of her gaze.
"I suppose. Depends on what you're more scared of though."
"Fair point." He said, nodding once in agreement.
"So... You're one of Esha Bhabhi's family members?"
"Not exactly. She's one of my bestfriends."
"Oh.. so you're the bride's bestfriend and I'm the groom's bestfriend!"
She laughed a little at that.
"Its not completely unusual."
"Ofcourse it isn't. Shall we complete the picture anyway?"
She turned to look at him at that.
"What do you mean?"
A hint of mischief flashed in his eyes and she knew at once what he had meant.
"No thanks." She said at once.
"Why not? Acha bhala hun!"
She merely rolled her eyes at that and he chuckled.
"On a serious note.. Bhabhi's great. You're lucky to have her."
She smiled now.
"I know."
She liked this. This comfortable flow of conversation was not something she was used to or even very good at, especially when it came to strangers.
As she thought about that a silence ensued again, something he didn't seem to mind in the least as he began to hum instead leaving her to her thoughts.
Another rarity.
"When did you start singing?" she asked after a while.
"Ever since the music found me."
She quirked an eyebrow at him and he shrugged a tad bit sheepishly.
"I know it sounds filmy and dramatic but that's how I feel about it."
She nodded once, accepting his answer.
"When did you know it was what you wanted to do for the rest of your life?" She asked quietly, the question perhaps not meant just for him but for herself as well.
He looked at her curiously once.. Nobody had ever really asked him these questions, except as a formality and apart from Rohan and his brother, she was perhaps the first person who actually seemed to care about the answer.
This was odd. This brutal honesty was not something he was used to and he hesitated once before answering.
"I just knew. Its one of those things that you just know I suppose."
"Yes, but how?" she probed further, her tone growing restless.
He had been right. This was indeed very important to her.
"Its a part of me. A part that wouldn't go away even when the world tried to knock it out of me. My parents wanted me to do well in my studies like any set of parents would want for their son. They were thinking about my future but all I could think about was music... Melody.. Words.. Emotion. Its in my heart, its the only thing that helps me when I feel empty and hollow because while I can shut people out, it still penetrates through. It guides me, gives me purpose. I don't know if I seek it out or it just embraces me on its own but its something I cant escape.. and perhaps its also the one real thing that I know I am good at.. It makes me feel useful, makes me believe in myself. And after all that.. How can I turn my back on it?" he breathed once before turning to look at her only to find her gaze turned towards him, the intensity in his eyes reflecting back in hers and he knew that he had just poured his heart out to someone who cared enough to listen.. Really listen. They were strangers still, but he had just gone ahead and shared one of the deepest parts of himself with her and he didn't feel as vulnerable as he would have otherwise because he knew she understood and that she wouldn't judge him or mock him. He was sure of that.
"I'd like to feel like that." she said quietly.
"Like what?"
"You know.. To feel so strongly about something and feel so determined to pursue it as well. It's.. It's very brave of you. Too often we give up on our dreams, thinking the world wouldn't understand our passions and simply do what it expects us to do."
"Have you given up Maanvi?" he asked softly and she shuddered as if he had touched some part of her that she wasn't quite sure she wanted to reveal just yet.
"Maybe." she said after a while.
"Go for it."
"What?"
"I'm saying go for it."
"You don't even know what it is."
"Well I'm assuming it's not illegal." He said and she couldn't help but laugh at that.
"Its not."
"So? If you feel so strongly about it then you should give it a chance to breath."
"How do you know how I feel about it?" She asked, turning to look at him.
He smiled once before answering,
"Because if you didn't, we wouldn't be having this conversation in the first place."
**********************************
"Who's Virat?"
Maanvi walked in to find her flatmate looking up from what was apparently her laptop.
She looked at the laptop and then back at Lauren, her mouth going on to form a small O. Lauren however looked back calmly as if what she had just done was not a complete invasion of someone's privacy.
Maanvi practically jumped on her, knowing far too well what she must have read.
"You weren't supposed to look!"
Lauren merely shrugged at Maanvi's obvious embarrassment,
"I was getting bored."
Maanvi shook her head, praying Lauren wouldn't ask anything else even though she knew it was a fool's wish.
"So who is he?" Lauren asked putting her laptop aside.
"Just a guy I met." Maanvi replied, trying her best to sound casual.
"And you write about every guy you meet?"
"It was a long time back.."
5 years to be precise. And she still remembered every bit of it.
The night, the easy conversation, the laughter, the brief yet strange friendship formed..
She wondered where he was right now... And more importantly.. would she ever see him again?
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Good? Bad? Boring? Let me know what you think! 😊
Maham.
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