Hey!So this part was written while suffering from severe flu.Blocked nose ke saath saath blocked head.Please forgive any mistakes.Am too lazy to go back and re-read=D
Hope you like!
P.S: Thank you notes above!=)
PART II
The day had progressed from worse to whatever was worst than worse.
He had gotten up late, been late for his meeting and then spent the rest of the day trying to clear up the mess that had resulted from his mistake of signing an invoice after failing to notice the omission of one zero. He pondered over the error as he sat nursing his coffee.
He rarely made such blunders in his business front. Even after all that had happened he had been able to continue with his business efficiently, after taking off a few days from work. His personal life was another matter. He hadn't let a day go by without doing something or the other that upset or irritated Khanak. Had he not been so accident prone when it came to their life naturally, he might have resorted to making mistakes on purpose just to see that frown on her forehead and the fire in her eyes.She never did things halfway. She fought him as passionately as she made love with him. And he loved her equally at both times.
'Shantanu! Mein ne aap se kaha tha na ke theek 8 bajay Priya ke ghar pahunch jaaiye ga! Uss ne itni mehnat se hamare liye khana banaya tha aur aap hain ke puray 2 ghantay late aye!'
'Khanak sorry yaar! Mein kaam mein itna phuss giya tha ke bilkul hee bhool gaya.'
'Issi liye kaha tha ke reminder laga lein phone mein.Magar nahi.Meri tou kissi ko sunni hee nahi hai!'
'Reminder lagaya tha mein ne! Lekin umm uss ka alarm on kerna bhool gaya! Ab obviously jab bajay ga nahi tou dekhoon ga kaise?'
'Agar alarm lagaya bhi hota tou bhi kuch nahi hona tha! Phone jo band tha! End mein tou mujhe call kerne mei bhi sharam aa rahi thi unn ke saamne. 3 times I excused myself taake bathroom mein jaa ker aap ko call karun!'
'Haan?Bathroom se call kyun kerni thi?!'
'Shantanu! Mein tang aa gayi hoon! Jab bhi meray kissi friend ne hamein bulaya hai ya tou aap koi bahana bana letay hain ya phir itna late pahunchtay hain ke sab mujhe pity kerna shuru ho jaate hain!'
'Arrey yaar.Mein kya karun?Mein hamaray liye hee tou itna kaam ker raha hoon! Aur waise bhi, tumharay friends kaafi boring hain!'
'Meray friends boring hain?Aur aap ke friends ka kya? Unn se baray stupid log na maine dekhe hain na kabhi dekhna chahoon gi!'
'Stupid hain tou kya hua?At least unn ke jokes per hansi tou aati hai!Tumharay friends ka sense of humor tou itna aala hai ke jab joke sunatay hain pata hee nahi chalta ke joke hai ya koi Did you know? types fact!'
'Shantanu bahut ho gaya aap ka! Bas ab mujhe aap se koi baat nahi kerni. Mein sonay jaa rahi hoon! Good night!'
Shaan had hated the term Good night that moment on.Once a sleepy Khanak had mixed up her languages and wished him good neend.They had taken to wishing each other good neend since then. The good night now grated on his nerves.
'Good night nahi Khanak good neend!' Shantanu had corrected as he slipped into bed.
'Good night.Aur aap yeh kya ker rahay hain?!'
'Umm sonay jaa raha hoon?Kyun, tumhe kuch aur kerna hai?'
'Shantanu!Mujhe aap per bahut ghussa aa raha hai.Aaj aap yahan nahi so sakte!'
'Khanaakkk.Ab itni raat ko mein Rahul ke ghar nahi jaa sakta! Last time uss ne mera itna mazaq udaya tha!'
'Mujhe kuch nahi pata.Yeh sab aap ko pehle sochna chahiye tha!'
Shaan had given her his pleading look.She had relented after a few minutes.
'Theek hai!Rahul ke nahi jaiye!Lekin bed pe tou nahi so sakte.'
'Yaar sofay per nahi!Yaad hai uss time meri back mein kitna dard ho gaya tha?Aur aaj tou mein waise hee bahut thaka hua hoon.Aaj bed pe sonay do! Aaj ke badlay kal sofay per so jaaon ga!Promise!'
Khanak just gave him THE look.Shaan let out a frustrated growl and stomped over to the sofa.
Half an hour of trying to get comfortable on the sofa had resulted in Khanak coming over and pulling him towards their bed.
No words were needed.
Shaan came out of his reverie as he realized he was sipping an empty cup.The coffee had long finished. Like always, he had forgotten the world around him when he thought of her. Just like he used to forget everything when he looked into her eyes. Her eyes were reflections of her soul. The soul that his soul had fallen in love with. Only after meeting her had he realized what the term 'soulmates' meant. Their bond had gone beyond the physical, the worldly. They hadn't been able to resist each other. When their eyes connected it had been as if everything finally fell into place. His life had found a meaning that he had never been consciously aware of. No wonder no matter how much he worked now, how busy he kept himself, he hadn't enjoyed anything for a long time now.
He gathered up his files and made sure he had his notes for tomorrow's meeting.They had gotten a project from one of the city's most prestigious schools and he was glad that they were expanding their client base into previously unexplored industries. However, the client was unable to make it to his office tomorrow at the only time slot he had free for almost a week which was why he was going to have to head to the school in the morning. As long as they got the contract he didn't mind the extra mile he would have to go. In fact he was excited about this project. This deal would give him leave to explore new horizons, work with different people, different circumstances. A slight challenge after a long time.
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Khanak was doubtful about giving her students the assignment she had in mind for them.
'Justify the actions of Darcy and Elizabeth during the course of the novel, keeping in mind their individual characters and their love.'
She knew most of her students were capable of going into the depth of Pride and Prejudice but in this particular instance she wasn't sure if at their age they would be able to delve into the intricacies of love and how it worked. Especially with two people like Elizabeth and Darcy.She had always had a hard time understanding it herself. Her love for Shantanu-and his love for her-had been too great for anything to come in between them. They had been painfully honest in their love, had ignored every feeling, every person that might have come in between. Since the moment they saw each other it had just been the two of them though they hadn't realized it until a bit later. And once they had recognized their love they had given into it whole-heartedly, unashamedly. Pride and prejudice had not come in between them even though they both had plenty of the two qualities.
She had grown up being proud of who she was, her values and morals and had been prejudiced against rich spoilt boys who thought life was a lark. He was proud of his status, his family, his looks and prejudiced against girls who took life too seriously, actually came to college to study and wore dresses for the function they were supposed to serve, not as a means to flaunt their bodies. Yet none of it had mattered.
There are moments in life that attain a photographic quality. Your brain snaps a picture of every look, every feeling, every emotion. They amaze you with their clarity. The instant that they had laid their eyes on one another was one of those. They didn't know each other, didn't know how much they would come to mean to each other, but her mind had registered it all with surprising detail all the same. Another one of life's mysteries.
'Hey Khanak this is Rahul. We're in Accounts together. And Rahul...'
Khanak had looked up from her tattered copy of Jane Eyre to meet this Rahul Payal was always talking about but instead of Rahul her eyes had landed on the boy standing lounging against the wall behind him.
Dressed in a pair of Levi's and a black t-shirt, hands folded across his chest, he was looking at Payal in amusement. She felt irritation rise up in her. Just because Payal was plainly dressed in a kurta shalwar and wore old fashioned spectacles, did not mean that any I-just-stepped-out-of-my-air-conditioned car pretty boy had the right to look at her like he was entertained by her. She had just gotten up to lecture him about it when he looked her way and their eyes collided. And held. She had read of such things in the abysmal romantic novels Payal used to force on her but had always laughed at them and pitied the poor girls. She forgot all of that as they just stared at each other. She did not know what she was looking for, why she could not break away the hold his eyes had on her but she heard her heart beat in her ears and felt the heat rise up her body and travel to her cheeks. His gaze travelled down and he looked back up with confusion in his gaze, as if he could not understand why he was looking at her, why he was giving her more than a second of his time. He shook his head as if to clear his mind and sauntered forward, confident again.
'Hi! I am Shantanu Khandelwal.' He said as he offered her his hand, as if a king doing his serf a favour.
The moment gone, she coolly looked at him and shook his hand.
'Khanak.'
His hands engulfed her tiny ones but somehow it felt like they were made to fit in the hollow of his palm. They both looked down at their joint hands and quickly withdrew them. He looked surprised, as if her hands did not meet the image he had formed of her. She rubbed hers as if trying to rub away any feeling that lingered on from the hold.
'Umm Khanak? Rahul...' Payal had finally interrupted them.
Khanak had turned around, flashed a smile at Rahul and said 'Hi!'
She had glanced at her watch, realized she was late for her next class and quickly gathered her stuff.
'Sorry I have to rush. My Literature class is about to start. Nice meeting you Rahul!' she had said while she stuffed her book in her bag and ran towards class.
Shaan had stared, as if unsure what to make of the sudden whirlwind created by the girl who had seemed so calm the past few minutes.
She had reached her class just in time and gotten engrossed in the discussion about why Mr Rochester was drawn towards Jane and vice versa. Subconsciously she rubbed her right hand from time to time as if trying to erase the memory of a certain pair of eyes, the strength of a certain hand.
Khanak looked at her clenched hand and slowly relaxed it. The memory of his hands against hers still lingered. When he laid his palm against hers to make fun of her small hands, as he held onto her whenever they went out, as they entangled them while talking and every other time their hands had met, it had been a different feeling. Different yet similar. It had been a long time since her hands had felt alive.
Dasht-e-tanhai mein
Doorie ke khas-o-khaak talay
Khill rahay hain teray pehlu ke
Saman aur gulab
(In the desert of my solitude,
Beneath the dust and ashes of distance
Bloom the roses and jasmines of your proximity)
Shiv Shakti
Madhubala - Ek Ishq Ek Junoon
Cricket
Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon
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