FF It's complicated||DISCONTINUED|| IMP NOTE-pg86 - Page 51

~CHAPTER 25~

Khanak ran deep into the maze. Before stopping and looking back, she was glad to see that Shantanu was nowhere in sight, a giggle escaped her lips as she recalled Shantanu's confused expression when she had started to run into the maze, 'woh mujhe kabhi nahi pakad payenge!' she whispered to herself with a proud smile. She looked around and saw a very intimidating statue looking down at her, the man in the statue held something round in his hands, 'kya hai!?' she asked the statue, but she became quiet as she heard Shantanu calling out her name, "Khaanaak...". She put her hand on her mouth, repressing her laugh, as she realised he was a little close. She then heard his voice again, a very faint murmur, he wasn't shouting any longer, "left? Ya right? Right? Ya left?" she heard him say, then he started reciting something she couldn't make out, 'yeh kya kar rahe hai?!' she asked herself in a faint whisper. Then everything went quiet again, woh doosri tarf chale gaye honge, she thought, then looked back at the big, strange statue, 'dekha Dhulwadi luka chupi champion ko koi nahi hara sakta!' she said with a giggle. She then heard footsteps nearby, she went quiet again, as the footsteps got closer, woh pato(leaves) ki deewar ki doosri tarf hai, she thought, as her heart beat increased with excitement, main bahar nahi jaane wali, she thought, abhi nikloongi toh unhe pata chal jayega. The footsteps appeared to have stopped, she concentrated hard, hoping to hear something, a minute went by until the footsteps started again, she slowly took steps back, as quietly as possible, the footsteps appeared to be getting close. Ab kya karoo? She asked herself, as she smiled, having fun after a long time. The footsteps got closer, but then she heard Shantanu calling out her name, but the voice seemed distant and not close, unlike the footsteps, Khanak froze. Shantanu toh door hai, phir yeh kaun hai? She stepped back, and toppled a small statue that lay there, the footsteps increased and came closer, 'k...kaun hai? She asked, the footsteps stopped, but there wasn't any answer, 'kaun hai?' she asked again. the person started walking again, the footsteps getting nearer. Khanak panicked as she asked again, 'kaun hai!?' this time a little louder, she stepped back closer to the way out of where she was, her breathing slowed as she got scared, the gardener knew her, he would have responded, 'kaun hai...?!'

She looked at the entrance and saw a huge figure appear there, Khanak got scared and shouted, then started to run as she called out Shantanu's name.

She heard him call back, 'SHANTANU!' she called back, she took a right, then a left, when she her hand got scratched by a branch, 'AH! SHANTANU! AHHHH!' the scratches bled, but didn't stop Khanak. She heard Shantanu again, she ran towards his voce, 'SHANTANU YAHAN!' she shouted again, and ran after his voice, she then found herself back to where she had started from, the same statue looking down at her, she froze. She didn't know what to do, who was that person, and where was Shantanu, whether that person was close by, should she call out to Shantanu... she heard his voice again, but was too scared to respond...

When she felt someone behind her, she went still hoping she was wrong, but then someone touched her shoulder, and she shouted...

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'hey Madhvi aunty! How are you?!'

'Natasha beta I am FF...'

'hmm...?'

'fit and fine beta...'

'Oh! Right! Great to hear that! Uh... Aunty Shantanu kahan hai? Uska phone nahi lag raha, and he is not even in the office, kahi woh office chodhkar bhaag toh nahi gaya?'

Madhvi laughed, 'nahi,. He is in ooty ek resort main, you know how Sunil is trying to get into hospitality industry, so that is why Shaan is there to look after the operations...'

'really?! Oh my god! I didn't really expect Shaan to continue going to the office and take up responsibility.'

'yes well my son has finally grown up! And Sunil says he is doing a marvellous job in Ooty. Though I don't like one thing.'

'what is that?'

'Khanak.'

'Aunty Khanak ne kya kiya?'

'she has gone with him! Sunil told me, Shaan especially requested him to allow Khanak with him!'

'so? He probably didn't want to leave her all alone in Mumbai... and she might have fun there, she had had a tough last few months...'

There was silence in the other end, 'aunty?'

'Natasha... are, you fine?'

'haan kyun?' Natasha asked with a smile.

'you do realise you were not affected by your fianc going away with his wife to romantic ooty?'

Natasha gave it a second, 'y...es, and ... I frankly don't see anything wrong with it.'

'so beta you want to tell me, you are absolutely zero percent jealous at the moment, you aren't having any wild dreams of Shaan and KFD falling in love, or just in bed or anything?'

Natasha laughed, 'uhmmm...no. None.'

'o.kay... good to see you. are .over your jealousy, issues...'

After two seconds of awkward silence, Natasha said bye after lying to Madhvi about Chitra calling her, she then walked to the window of her office, 'should I be jealous? Technically this situation is not the most pleasant, but then why am I not feeling Jealous and insecure? I mean thoda bahut toh banta hai, haina?'

'uh Ma'am, meeting in ten minutes, conference room.'

Natasha nodded and made way to the meeting, putting her conversation with Madhvi at the back of her mind.

She saw the clock as she was about to enter the meeting, hmm... it's past lunch time, how come Abhi hasn't called yet? He had been acting a little weird since that night of moon gazing... wonder what is up with him, she thought, then smiled as she entered the conference room, 'afternoon everyone! Right then let's get down to business!'

::::::::::::::::::::::

'AH!!!' Khanak tried to run, but the person held her hand and pulled her back.

'shh!'

Khanak looked back and all the terror she had felt went away as she saw Shantanu.

'shh...Khanak, main hoon.'

A tear rolled down her eyes, 'Shantanu...' she whispered, as she hugged him tight.

Shantanu wrapped his arms around her, 'it's okay he whispered into her hair, 'main hoon...'

'Shantanu... mujhe laga, woh tha, woh ...'

'it's okay Khanak...'

'woh...'

'shh...' he held her tight against him, 'it's fine...'

Khanak buried her head in his chest, his scent calming her in a weird way, she felt safe again, as his chin rested on her head. She moved her head slightly, her nose brushing his chest, as another tear trickled down her cheek, to his chest.

Shantanu had felt scared to his very core when Khanak had not replied to is calls, hundreds of dreadful thoughts had flooded, him, but the one that scared him the most, was the thought that he had not been able to protect her, that ... he had disappointed her. The sight of her, standing there alone, had flooded him with relief, he wanted to run and take her in his arms, and now that she was there, frightened and crying, he wanted nothing else but to make her feel protected, and safe. He held her tight, he held her close, and hoped that through his touch she would know that she was now safe.

'tumhe main kuch nahi hone doonga...' he whispered into her hair.

Khanak pulled away, as she nodded, Shantanu held her face and looked into her eyes, 'waise maine Dhulwadi luka-chupi champion ko harra diya...'

A smile broke out on Khanak's lips, 'nahi... maine Khelna band kar diya tha.'

'no, Khanak main jeet gaya.'

'Nahi jeete! Main chup hi nahi rahi thi, warna aap mujhe kabhi nahi dhoondh pate!'

'Achcha! Please haan!', Shantanu stepped closer, still holding her face, 'main tumhe pakad leta...'

'nahi....aap- thunku.'

'kyun?'

'aapne jhagada karkar mujhe rona bhuladiya.'

Shantanu smiled, 'you're welcome.'

They both looked into each other's eyes, and smiled; Khanak silently thanked her god that Shantanu had found her. The only thing she wanted, when she was running, for what seemed like her life, was to see Shantanu's face, his smile, flashing down at her, with a playful look in his eyes, just like right now.

She didn't know why but for that minute, when for a bare second the thought that she might not see him again flashed across her mind, along with dozens of other dreadful scenarios. And she had, in that moment felt hollow and incomplete, she hadn't realise up until then just how important Shantanu had become. She hadn't realised, that her wounds from Dhulwadi were so close to healed, and her memories of Suraj had started to become blurry... she looked into Shantanu's smiling eyes, and she felt herself smile back at him, he still held her face. the proximity between them made her think about the night they had fallen in bed, the way she had felt, the longing... she felt the same, but only this felt deeper, somehow more powerful than anything she had ever felt.

'sir?'

They both turned to see a large man standing there, Khanak muffled a shriek as she recognised him as the man who had scared her, she held Shantanu's hand. WSho had sensed her fear and had stood in front of her.

'uh, maaf kijiyega, woh...madam mujhe dekhkar bhag gayyi thi, mujhe laga maine unhe dara diya. Main bus maafi mangna chahata tha...main naya maali hoon, iss maze ki dekh-bhal main karata hoon. Shayad unhe pata nahi tha...'

Shantanu turned to Khanak who had her mouth hanging open, as she realised she had gotten scared of a sweet, albeit big, gardener. Shantanu burst out laughing, 'tum maali se daar gayi thi!?'

::::::::::::::::::::::::::

'ACHOO! Hai ram!' Khanak sneezed for the third time in a row, as she wiped her nose.

'God bless you.'

'huh?'

'aa, um... Bhagwaan...tumhari...Rakhsha?...karein?...'

'thunku, AA...ACHOO!'

'kaha tha na...Khanaaaak, un kambalon(blankets) ke neeche hilne ka soochna bhi maat!' scolded Shaan as he saw Khanak shifting under the heavy waeight of four blankets that she was under.

'mujhe itne saare kambalon(blankets) ki zaroorat nahi hai!'

'woh decide karoonga.'

'kyun?'

'kyunki tumne itni thand main bahar nikalkar yeh dikha diya ke tum yeh decide nahi kar sakti ki tumhe kitni blankets chahiye, kunki tumhe yeh nahi pata tha ki tumhe kitne sweater pehne chahiye!'

Khanak's mouth hanged open, 'maine teen sweater pehne the!'

'toh? tum phir bhi...' he pointed his hand to her as she made her sneezing face-

'ACHOO!'

'...rahi ho...' he looked at her and smiled as she wiped her nose, which had gone red.

'waise... Abhi ko kya likh rahi thi, ki room mein nahi likh sakti thi?'

Khanak looked up at him, she thought for a moment she saw insecurity, but then brushed the thought away, 'uh...Aisa kuch nahi tha, main bus... kuch nahi...' the truth was she felt lonely and she wanted to write something to Abhi, as the anticipation of an answer from him seemed so much more exciting than sitting around the whole day.

'uh, sir?' Murli appeared on the door with a bowl of soup, 'as you ordered, sweet corn veg. Soup, for ma'am.'

'thanks Murli,' Shantanu took the bowl from the tray, 'and please ask my assistant to cancel all my meetings for today.'

'right away sir, uh... do you need anything else?'

'no.' He turned to Khanak as Murli walked away, and out of the room.

'soup, tumhare liye...'

'shoup?'

'haan, gale ko sekh degi, and tasty bhi hai...'

'nahi mujhe nahi khana,' Khanak scrunched her nose.

Shantanu went and sat beside her, 'khana padega,' he took the spoon, and fed her some,even after her protests, 'kaisa hai.'

'theek hai, par main khud kha...'

Shantanu took the bowl away, as Khanak reached for it, 'naa! Mujhe tumhe khilane main mazaa aa raha hai, woh tumhe khane dekhne main nahi aayega!'

'matlaab?'

Shantanu turned back to her and gave her another spoonful of soup, 'matlaab, ki main tumhe khud khilaaonga aur saath hi...' he fed the next spoonful to Khanak's nose, 'thodi masti bhi karoonga.'

'Shantanu! Aap...' Shantanu thrust a spoonful of soup into her mouth before she could finish.

'sorry baba! Ab nahi karoonga...' he then fed her cheek, and laughed, 'achcha sorry that was last time.

Khanak smiled as she covered her face with a hand towel, pretending to clean her face, but really trying not to show how much she was enjoying.

'Ab batao, kyun gayyi itni itni thand main bahar? Abhi ko yahan beth kar bhi khat likh sakti thi...'

'uh...'

'khanak? tumhara jawaab "uh..." hai?'

'yeh saab aapki galti hai!'

'meri! Kaise? humesha meri galti kaise hoti hai?'

'aur nahi toh kya, hamesha aapki hi galti hoti hai!'

Shantanu smiled, 'achcha? Toh..iss baar meri galti kaise thi?'

'aapk mujhe akela chodkar chale jaatein hai, mere paas kuch karne ko nahi hota, toh... main garden main tehelne (walk) jaana chahati thi, aur Abhi ke Khat ka intezaar karna, zayaada, woh kya kehta hai? Ph...phun? laga, yahaan bethein rehene se.'

'phu? Oh! Fun!'

'saach main... aap iss waqt meri angreezi sudharne ka sooch rahe hai?!'

Shantanu looked around, 'uh...nahi... anyway.' He sat down, and smiled, 'itni si hi baat thi toh...keh deti, Murli ke saath...'

'Main Murli bha ke saath nahi jaana chahati! Main unse baat kya karoongi! Unse jhagadoon (fight) kaise...karoongi?'

'toh....tumhe mere saath ghoomna hai, taki tum mujhse jhagada kar pao?!'

Khanak got, 'aisa nahi hai...'

Shantanu held her hand and got her to sit again, 'theek hai.'

Khanak looked at him, 'kya?'

Shantanu fed her another spoonful, 'hum dono kal Ooty ghoomne jayenge, sirf main aur tum...' his eyes dropped to her lips, as he smiled, he then with his thumb wiped the bit of soup that was there on the corner of her lips in a soft, slow movement, 'aur, main tumhe jhagade karne bahut mooke doonga.' He whispered, 'par hum luka-chupi nahi khelenge...'

Khanak just looked into his eyes and smiled, as his thumb still lingered on her chin, she felt herself blush, as she nodded...

Shantanu, stared at into her eyes, happy to see the bright happiness in them again, 'good, ab soup khatam kare?'

Khanak nodded, as Shantanu fed her nose again, 'Shantanu!'

'Khanaak!'

They both laughed as Shantanu wiped her face with the towel Khanak had held.