A SanDhir short story
ENEMIES...NOT ANYMORE...
Randhir kept splashing the cold water again and again on his face. It felt soothing in this scorching heat of May, but only from outside. It couldn't do anything to the inside turmoil he was going through. Nothing could help him right now. He rested his hands on the corner of the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Randhir Singh Shekhawat", rank no. 1, genius, rude, stone hearted, and arrogant; these were the most frequent adjectives people used to define his personality. Nobody thought even he could be hurt, even he was just a common human being, and even he had a heart...
He came back to his room and saw Jiggy sleeping peacefully. Sometimes he was envious of him. Whenever he talked nonstop about his "baa" and his family. How he wished that he could switch places with Jiggy. Sometimes Randhir frowned at this injustice. Why couldn't he talk like normal students about his home, why couldn't he go to home like everybody else in the holidays? It was the last day of his second year and everybody else was busy with packing except him. He couldn't even go to Firoz chacha's garage this time as he was out of town to see some relative of his who wasn't well. His dad had called a number of times but he had plainly refused. He would never go back to that house, never...
He had been alright, handling the situation well, until that good-for-nothing girl decided to storm his life again. He thought about what had happened just a few hours back.
It was evening time and he knew Vardhaan sir was about to leave for his home. He had gone to him for permission to stay in hostel in summer vacations. He thought Vardhaan wouldn't agree but to his surprise he had asked Randhir to assist him in a project. Randhir had agreed. He didn't have any choice.
He came out of Vardhaan's office when he just ran into something; rather, someone and both fell on the floor. His back hit the floor and that someone fell on him. A familiar fragrance told him it was Sanyukta even before he opened his eyes.
"Get off me" he groaned and pushed her away. She quickly stood up and so did he.
"Can't you walk properly?" he said.
"And can't YOU see properly?" she snapped back.
He knew she would do it. She always did it, fighting unnecessarily with him. Today he was in no mood to waste his time with her. He was already exhausted. He turned around to leave, but damn this girl! She just wouldn't let him live peacefully.
"What's up Shekhawat? No retorts at all!" she smirked.
Randhir looked back. He was already going insane thinking about one woman. He didn't want another.
"Sanyukta Agrawal I'm warning you again! Don't cross my way! Just don't mess with me!" he hissed.
"Oh really! I'm so scared Randhir!" she mocked.
"Sanyukta Agrawal! You never learn, do you?" he said as he started taking steps towards her. She stepped back until a wall stopped her. Randhir put both his hands on the wall. He could see the fear in her eyes, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to scare her. This girl needed to know her limits. He leaned closer, and her eyes grew wide with fear.
"What are you doing Ran..." she started but her voice trailed off as the distance between their lips turned into millimeters. Randhir could almost feel her uneasiness, when she shut her eyes tightly, her lips quivering.
He wanted to scare her and he did so, but suddenly he had this weird urge to actually kiss her. Having her so close was uncomfortable, almost, thrilling. He found himself leaning into her but just in time he pulled back. He should have done it earlier, a moment earlier, because there was a slight brushing of his lips against hers that lasted possibly for a nanosecond and left him startled. He didn't want to do this. It was completely unintentional and he hoped she hadn't felt it. He jerked her away.
Sanyukta held an armrest of a bench to save herself from falling. Randhir looked at her and said
"You would have been in a better condition Sanyukta had someone told you what you actually deserve"
Giving her a final glare, he turned around.
"And you would have been a better person had your MOTHER shoved in some manners in you!" her voice came.
Jiggy's ringing phone pulled Randhir back into the present. He was feeling hurt, so much that he didn't even snap back to Sanyukta at her last comment. He hadn't said anything to her afterwards. He left the corridor and came back to his room. He kept looking at a whisky bottle which YOYO brought one day, referring to it as a cure to all the pain. Randhir has never been the kind of a guy who needed alcohol to drown all their miseries into it. But today, he needed to give it a try. He grabbed the bottle and set out for the institute terrace. He wanted to be left alone.
GIRLS HOSTEL (NIGHT):
She wasn't angry with him.
Even after his "almost-kiss" prank of scaring her, she wasn't angry. For the first time, she was scared. Not because he mistreated her, but because of the pain she saw in his eyes. Ever since they came back from the "dream-team-competition", she had hoped that their fights will stop. Their fights have stopped too, but the reason was his ignorance towards her. He never spoke to her until needed. And today, she found a chance to get back to him. She provoked him because she wanted to tease him in a playful way. But after his act, she had lost control over her mind, as well as tongue. She always knew he had some problems with his mom coz he avoided the topic. She had intentionally said those words, to hurt him. In return, she had expected a series of curses against her but all she got was a quiet Randhir, who left the place immediately.
She tossed and turned in her bed. She had an early morning bus but she couldn't sleep at all. She didn't know why but she felt guilty. It was such an unsettling feeling to see him so broken. She sat up on her bed.
"Uff MCP! You're driving me nuts!" she murmured as she slowly opened the door of her room and sneaked out. She needed to see him.
Just as she was wondering how to enter the boys' hostel, she saw a tall figure coming out of the hostel and going towards the college. Even in the darkness, she could tell it was Randhir.
Randhir reached the terrace. He opened the bottle and took a sip. He was hating himself that moment, running away from his problems like a coward. He didn't want to be a slave of alcohol. He threw the bottle aside and stood near the railing. Everything seemed to be so quiet, so peaceful, in sharp contrast with his life.
Before he could control, tears made their way through his eyes. It was a sign of weakness for Randhir Singh Shekhawat. Only weak people cried. But today, he also felt weak.
Sanyukta had to press her hands against her mouth to keep herself from making any noise. Randhir Singh Shekhawat was crying!! Had she hurt him that badly?
She saw helplessly as he sat down against the railing, his legs stretched in front of him. She too kept crying when she saw his tears didn't stop even for a minute. She was horrified to see this side of her personality. For her, Randhir was the strongest person she's ever seen. It was frightening to see him this way. He needed care, he needed love.
She didn't know for how long she hid behind the door of the terrace. Probably 2 hours. She stood and watched as he fell asleep sitting on the floor, against the railing. She slowly went to him and sat next to him. Tears had dried on his face by then. She kept looking at his face and wondered how much loneliness he used to hide behind his rude attitude. She didn't know when she too drifted off to sleep...
Dawn broke. Sanyukta opened her eyes lazily. It was still a bit dark. She loved this early morning atmosphere. She looked around and for a moment she couldn't make out where she was. Only then she realized that Randhir's head was resting on her shoulder. Memories of yesterday came rushing back to her mind. She adjusted his head in a more comfortable position but suddenly he opened his eyes. She immediately stood up. He looked confused for a second and then, he stood up too.
"What are you doing here?" he said, rubbing his eyes.
"WO... WO Randhir I..." she stammered.
"Wasn't that enough what you said in the evening?" he said.
"I'm sorry Randhir..I..."
"I don't need your sorry. Get lost!" he said, rudely.
She didn't move an inch. How could she leave him alone?
"Can't you hear? GET LOST! GET AWAY FROM ME!!" he screamed.
Though she didn't want to leave him alone, still she walked towards the door. Her heart felt heavy. She wheeled around to look at him and saw him again standing against the railing, staring into nothing.
"Randhir..." she whispered.
He turned to look at her and before she could think of anything else, she ran towards him and hugged him as tightly as she could. Randhir was taken aback by this sudden act of hers but minutes passed and she didn't leave him. He too, wrapped his arms around her as he could feel her crying.
"Sanyukta?" he said slowly, his voice concerned.
"I'm so sorry Randhir!" she said in a heavy voice as she wasn't able to hold back her tears.
"I never meant to hurt you. Please forgive me." She was crying badly and now Randhir felt bad for her. She didn't even know about his mom. He knew she didn't say those words intentionally.
"Sanyukta it's..." He said but she cut him short.
"I know it's about your mom Randhir." she said as she broke the hug. Randhir looked at her, shocked.
"I don't know what you've been through and neither am I forcing u to tell me what it is. I just want you to know that your whole life should not be dominated because of your past. It's not the right thing Randhir. I'll wait for the day till you find me trustworthy enough to share your story. I just want to say that you're not alone." She spoke in a breath.
Randhir looked at her face. No one ever before cried because he cried, but this girl here, he considered her as his biggest enemy. She was crying because she had hurt him. It touched his heart. He couldn't tell her that the burden he was feeling since ages has suddenly receded a bit.
Sanyukta stood there, hoping him to say something. He didn't. Instead, he kept looking at her face blankly. She wondered if he found all this to be a drama.
"I need to go. I have a bus in an hour. Have to go home." she said and went to the door, hoping that he will at least say something now. Each step she took forward, made her even more anxious. She reached the door and now she knew, he won't say anything.
"Hey Farzi!" he said.
She turned. A smile was playing on his lips.
"Come back soon!" Randhir said.
A smile broke out at her lips too and she went downstairs. She knew she was going to miss him and if she wasn't wrong, he was going to miss her too.
Randhir stood at the terrace, feeling miraculously relaxed. He didn't feel lonely today. And about Sanyukta, he knew one thing. They weren't enemies anymore...
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