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My only intention is to make all ROSIDIANS happy by posting it here...hope u dont mind dear archana
BROKEN PROMISES, BROKEN DOORS
An original short story by Archana (Roli Siddhant)
ROSID'S BEDROOM - LATE EVENING
Roli is frustrated as she stares longingly at the clock on the wall. It's 9:30 PM already. Where the hell is Siddhantji? He promised! That no matter what happens, they're going out tonight! That they would have a nice dinner out in a fancy restaurant; watch that Salman Khan movie which she is dying to watch... But... It seems like Siddhantji has forgotten again!
Roli feels like crying. It has been a really long time since they've been out, spent some quality time together. REALLY LONG! She wants to understand that Siddhant is busy. That he is always under pressure at work. That he is always tired and all what he wants to do is just relax at home in his spare time. She wants to understand. But right now, she doesn't want to! Because last week he managed to find the spare time to go out with his friends! And his excuse? That they were his childhood friends... they were in the US all this while... they're meeting each other after such a long time... blah blah blah... And he came home after a couple of beers! Grrr!!! Oh! Excuses! Roli is frustrated. She feels that Siddhant is drifting away from her day by day. She feels disconnected... that she's losing him. She hardly gets to talk to him nowadays. He leaves early in the day, comes late at night, is busy even in the weekends and even at home he is glued to his laptop and phone 24/7... Roli wants to understand, but, the little spare time he gets, he prefers to spend it with someone else! Isn't she important to him anymore? What's happening to him? She wants to tell him how she feels. Maybe then, he will understand.
Roli picks up her cellphone and dials Siddhant's number. She waits for him to answer the call.
AT SIDDHANT'S OFFICE...
Siddhant is super busy on some complicated spreadsheets at his laptop. His cellphone rings. It's Roli.
"Hey Roli," he answers, the phone in between his shoulder and ear as he continues to tap away at the keyboard.
"Where are you?" she asks glumly.
"Office," he responds. "I'll be a little late yaar. I got trapped with some last minute reports. Need to send this out in the next half an hour; I have no clue how this is even possible. This is crazy!"
"How late?" she asks quietly.
"I don't know baba. Probably past midnight." He replies. Roli's heart sinks when she hears that. "After preparing these reports I have a meeting with the boss. So it's going to take some time."
"Oh..." Roli sounds like down in the dumps.
"Everything alright?" he asks, half his attention on Roli, half on the spreadsheet.
"Nothing. It's just that I was all dressed up and waiting since 7.30 this evening," she says quietly.
"Dressed up? For what?" he asks.
Roli feels sad now. Really sad! Great! He even forgot about it. Completely! "You promised we would go out today," she replies.
Then... it dawns on Siddhant. The promise he made. The other promise he had to break last week just to go out with his friends. Siddhant slaps his hand onto his forehead. "Ohhh shit!" he whispers under his breath. How is he going to make up for this one? What excuse will he give her this time?
"Roli," he begins quietly, thinking of what to say, "this weekend. I promise! We'll do everything we planned to do."
"I'm used to hearing this now," interrupts Roli, the sadness ever obvious in her voice. "I don't have any more faith in your promises."
"Please don't say like that yaar," begs Siddhant. "It's not on purpose. You know that, na? I'm really under a lot of pressure at work. What to do? Please try to understand."
"I want to Siddhantji, but what about last week?" she questions him, as she decides to open up her feelings to him. "Last week you made a promise and broke it. In the last moment! I was really looking forward to spending some time with you."
"But I told you," Siddhant protests, "those were my childhood friends! They came to meet me after a very long time! And that too from the US! How can I send them back then? Try to understand!"
"Even I had friends Siddhantji!" Roli snaps back, "I left them all to be with you! Tomorrow if they show up at my doorstep and invite me for a party, what do you want me to do? Bounce out of the door with them?"
Siddhant feels his temper flaring now. The pressure at work, Roli's nagging judgements... Grrr!!!
"You know what Roli? If you want to bounce out of the door' with them, you're free to do it! Who's stopping you? Did I stop you?" Siddhant's voice gets higher.
Siddhant's reaction wasn't something Roli was expecting. It puts her off guard. For a moment, she doesn't know what to say. "Yes, I'm going to do that," she blurts out, "only then you'll understand how I feel!"
"Yes, go and do it! Fly out of the door if you must!" Siddhant growls back. "And you know what? Once you fly out of that door, you'll stay out."
Roli is very hurt now. And furious! "Yes! I'll go!" she spits out, her voice shaking.
"Go and do it! And one more thing, Roli! Don't tell me what to do and what not to do! You're not earning bread for me! I am! Get it?" he scolds. "I slog every single day out here trying to make ends meet and all what you're concerned about is going out and freaking out!"
Roli is in shock now. Siddhant has never spoken to her like that before. Ever! What's going on?
"Look! I have a ton to finish before I get the hell out of here! I don't have the time for this. Hanging up now." Saying this, he hangs up. Abruptly.
Roli quietly keeps the phone away. She looks spaced out. Lost. Confused. Empty. Was that really Siddhantji? She wonders. He has never spoken like that to me before. I shouldn't have said all those things either. I was being selfish.
Siddhant's angry voice still rings in her head. She slowly gets up and locks the bedroom door. She prepares to change. All what he said echoes in her head... The caring, loving, soft and sensitive Siddhant was not at all talking to her today. He asked her to bounce out of the door. Walk out. Stay out. Get lost... He had no concern for their relationship. He didn't seem to notice that they were hardly talking nowadays. Her eyes well with painful tears. No, he can't talk like that to me, she cries to herself bitterly. The tears spill over as she sits down on the bed and breaks down into quiet sobs.
BACK AT SIDDHANT'S OFFICE - MUCH LATER
Siddhant steps out of the conference room looking much relaxed and cheerful. He talks with his boss as they walk to his cabin. "See you Sid, enjoy yourself," his boss waves. Sid gives him a thumbs up' sign and gets behind his table. He starts to pack up, but pauses as he notices his mobile phone on the table.
Roli! He remembers. He takes a quick glance at his watch. It's 10:45 PM. He gets really worried as he recollects all the shit he told her some time back. Oh God! What did I do? What's wrong with you Siddhant? He leans back onto his chair and takes a deep breath. Maybe I was possessed, he jokes to himself. Maybe Roli is right. We are very far away from each other nowadays. It has been days since I've spoken to her properly. Anyways... good thing he signed up for a couple of days off from work. This is the best time to patch things up.
ROSID'S BEDROOM
Roli still hasn't changed. She is lying face down on the bed as she recovers from the virtual slap'. Her mobile phone rings. Let it ring, she thinks. I don't care whoever it is. But the ringing phone is too tempting to ignore. She slowly gets up and picks up the phone. It's Siddhantji. Why's he calling me now? She wonders sadly. To apologize, maybe? I don't want to listen to anything anymore.
She answers the call. An excited Siddhant begins to talk from the other end.
"Hey Roli, you know what? I just had a word with that idiot boss of mine," he pauses to make sure she's listening, "I told him clear cut! Straight forward! That I can't take anymore of his shit! That I need time for my wife! That she's more important to me than his stupid spreadsheets and senseless reports! I told him that I can't work weekends anymore. Arrey! What the hell yaar! Bloody nonsense! There's a limit for all this! Na?"
Roli listens silently. Without a word. Yes, she thinks, he's just pulling out one of his tactics. His sorry wala' stories. Should I forgive him...? I don't know. He was stressed out too, but... Her eyes become moist again.
Siddhant is out of his office now, he walks towards the parking lot, his laptop bag over his shoulder. It's quite dark with some of the street lamps fused out.
"So you know what he told me?" he continues relentlessly, "He was apparently frightened after seeing me like this. He has never seen me so aggressive before. So he said, Ok Siddhant. Why don't you take a few days off work?' Ten days!' I argued! And he said, done'!"
"So once I get back home we'll decide a great holiday spot. How about Vadodara? I've heard that the museum and monuments there are awesome. What do you say?"
Roli is silent.
"Roli? Are you sleeping or what?" he asks.
"I don't want to go anywhere," she replies quietly, her voice shaking slightly.
"What do you mean? We'll go elsewhere then. Where do you want to go?"
"Told you na, I'm not coming anywhere," she says, almost in tears.
"But why? Are you having some dance competition there or what?" Siddhant laughs.
"Just leave me. You go wherever you want. With your friends and all." Roli says bitterly.
"Oh ho. So that's the problem, eh? My friends! Actually... I told them to get lost." He replies with a smirk.
"Very good. Then go skiing in Kashmir with your secretary." Snaps Roli, the tears sinking down into her throat.
"What?" laughs Siddhant.
"Bye," she blurts out.
"No! Wait!"
The line goes dead. Roli has hung up. "Awww damn!" cusses Siddhant. God! She's really angry with me! Suddenly, he spots a small shop across the street about to close. "Oye! Oh bhai saab! Wait!"
The man pauses, the shutter already half way down. "I'm going to close now Sir", he says.
"Please, I'll only take 2 minutes. I just need those two slabs of chocolate."
The shopkeeper smiles. "Ok," he says and pulls it out. Siddhant pays him. "Keep the change," he says.
The shopkeeper looks grateful. "For your daughter?" he asks casually.
Siddhant is embarrassed for a moment, but smiles, "no, for a little kid," he winks.
BACK IN ROSID'S BEDROOM
It's past 11:45 PM now.
Roli is still awake. Almost... She plugs earphones into her mp3 player and listens to some soothing songs as she tries to drown her sorrows in the music. She turns up the volume, closes her eyes and lies down on the bed as she tries to calm down. She can't forget the words Siddhant screamed into her ears today. It was unnatural. Rude... Painful. She feels like crying again. No, I won't, she decides and concentrates on the darkness behind her closed eyelids. Slowly, she relaxes... Her breathing slows down... and she drifts off to sleep... with the door still locked!
A while later, Siddhant pulls into the driveway of Bhardwaj House. The door is answered by Simar.
"Where's Roli?" he enquires the moment he steps in.
"I believe she's asleep," Simar replies.
Siddhant hurries upstairs to their bedroom and tries to walk in. He turns the doorknob, but it is... LOCKED!
"What the...?" He's stunned. "Why is this door locked?" He knocks on the door. "Roli?" No answer.
"Roli! Open the door!" He raps on.
Simar comes upstairs. "Siddhantji, what happened?"
Prem comes out of his room too.
"The door is locked," replies Siddhant, tensed, "Roli's not answering!"
"What?" asks a worried Prem. "She doesn't usually lock the door like that!"
"This evening, it seems she was having a stomach ache," chips in Simar.
Siddhant is more worried now. Oh no! Is something wrong? Worse... did she do something stupid??!!!
"ROLI!" he yells and bangs on the door. Not a sound. If she tried to harm herself I will never forgive myself, Siddhant thinks, the guilt piling onto him by the second.
"Roli!" Prem and Simar join in too.
The rest of the family comes out of their room on hearing the commotion.
"Prem! Siddhant! Simar! What's wrong?" asks Mataji, stunned.
"Mataji! Roli has locked herself inside! We tried calling her but she isn't responding!" trembles Simar.
"What?" They all hurry upstairs to Rosid's room.
"Roli! Beta! Open the door!" they call out. But no response.
"Move aside!" yells Siddhant. He kicks furiously at the door, trying to pry it open. It doesn't budge.
He KICKS AGAIN.
AND AGAIN.
AGAIN!
The door is BLASTED open. BANNNGG!!!
All of them rush inside.
The noise startles a sleeping Roli. She wakes up with a start to see the entire family around the bed. Staring at her... as if they've seen a ghost!
She spots Siddhant glaring at her, breathless, sweaty... And angry.
Wait. The door was locked, Roli recollects. "Siddhantji? Jeeju! Didi! How did you all come inside..." her voice trails away as she realizes what must have happened.
Siddhant grabs the earphones and mp3 player from her and flings it aside in a fit of rage. He prepares to strike her, furious. Roli flinches.
"Siddhant! No!" the family yells.
Siddhant stops midway. He is still breathless from anger. "I swear I wanna kill you now!" he growls furiously and storms out of the bedroom.
Roli looks around at the entire family sheepishly. All of them have their eyes on her, shocked.
Suddenly, Prem bursts out laughing.
"Premji!" Simar protests, stunned at his reaction. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry. I have this problem of laughing when I get too tensed," he snorts. "Okay, everyone, just chill! Problem solved!" The entire family is still in shock. "Arrey! Smile please, everyone!" he coaxes.
Prem is right, they think. They all heave in relief. Thank God nothing's wrong. For a moment, they thought... "Okay, come on, back to bed," Prem says, "Simar. Let's go."
All of them leave Rosid's room one by one and retreat to their chambers. Prem and Simar find Siddhant in the corridor, leaning onto a railing and looking away into the distance, still pissed off. Prem nods to Simar, I'll handle this. Simar nods back and leaves Prem to take care of the situation.
Prem grabs Siddhant by the shoulders and shakes him gently. "Siddhant! Just relax. Take it easy. See, now even Roli's tensed."
"Prem," he begins, "you have no clue. When she wasn't answering the door and Simar told that she wasn't well, I almost died back there."
Prem has no idea what to say. He knows how his brother feels. "Just calm down now, get some rest. I'll see you in the morning. Go on!" Maybe Prem is right, thinks Siddhant. He slowly returns to their bedroom.
ROSID'S BEDROOM
Roli is still sitting hunched up on the bed, knees drawn up to her chest. Siddhant walks in, puts his laptop aside and opens the wardrobe. He fishes for a T-shirt and track pants to wear for the night. Roli watches him intently. She feels kind of embarrassed at this awkward situation. How will she live this down? Now Siddhant is angry as well. Now he won't even talk to her. What will she do?
"Siddhantji," she begins quietly. But Siddhant swerves around and waves his finger at her threateningly. "Chup! Not a single word!"
"Siddhantji, let me just""
But he cuts her off, "I said shut up! Understand? Not a word! I'll slap you!"
"Then slap me na," she says in a childish voice.
Siddhant ignores her and digs around in the wardrobe for nothing.
She gets up, takes Siddhant's hand and places it over her face. "Come on slap me..."
"Roli, stop it" he retorts.
"No. You want to slap me na? Come on slap me. I deserve it. For being so stupid and locking myself inside..."
Siddhant's anger begins to dissolve before her innocence. "Why did you do that?" he asks quietly, "don't do that again! You scared the living life out of me."
She leans onto Siddhant. "I didn't do it purposefully. After we spoke this evening, I just locked the door to change and forgot about it..."
That awful feeling of dread returns once again as Siddhant realizes that Roli must have been really upset at his outburst this evening. "Hey, I wasn't kidding when I told you that I'm off work for ten days. I was serious."
"That's okay; I don't feel like going anywhere anyway." She says, not really meaning what she just said. She is of course, still hurt at Siddhant's distance over the months that he feels a lot different now.
"Please don't say that. Who will come with me then?"
"Your friends..." she replies, as if it's very obvious. "And of course, your secretary."
"Nah, she's not as sexy," Siddhant smirks. "I need someone glamorous by my side to click selfies with." Oof! Siddhantji always manages to catch me off guard, thinks Roli. She smiles into his chest hoping that he doesn't see her smiling. She doesn't want him to get the satisfaction of having made her smile. But he gets her red handed and pulls her face off him. "Oye! Why are you smiling? I wasn't talking about you," he teases. Roli pushes him off and begins to stomp away, but Siddhant grabs her and yanks her towards him. "I was talking about this little kid who loves chocolates..." He pulls out the chocolate slabs and waves it in front of her. She tries not to smile. But she can't resist. That funny look on his face is irresistible. She breaks into a broad grin and hugs him.
"So you forgive me, na?" he giggles.
"Well, we'll think about that," she laughs.
An original short story by Archana (Roli Siddhant)
ROSID'S BEDROOM - LATE EVENING
Roli is frustrated as she stares longingly at the clock on the wall. It's 9:30 PM already. Where the hell is Siddhantji? He promised! That no matter what happens, they're going out tonight! That they would have a nice dinner out in a fancy restaurant; watch that Salman Khan movie which she is dying to watch... But... It seems like Siddhantji has forgotten again!
Roli feels like crying. It has been a really long time since they've been out, spent some quality time together. REALLY LONG! She wants to understand that Siddhant is busy. That he is always under pressure at work. That he is always tired and all what he wants to do is just relax at home in his spare time. She wants to understand. But right now, she doesn't want to! Because last week he managed to find the spare time to go out with his friends! And his excuse? That they were his childhood friends... they were in the US all this while... they're meeting each other after such a long time... blah blah blah... And he came home after a couple of beers! Grrr!!! Oh! Excuses! Roli is frustrated. She feels that Siddhant is drifting away from her day by day. She feels disconnected... that she's losing him. She hardly gets to talk to him nowadays. He leaves early in the day, comes late at night, is busy even in the weekends and even at home he is glued to his laptop and phone 24/7... Roli wants to understand, but, the little spare time he gets, he prefers to spend it with someone else! Isn't she important to him anymore? What's happening to him? She wants to tell him how she feels. Maybe then, he will understand.
Roli picks up her cellphone and dials Siddhant's number. She waits for him to answer the call.
AT SIDDHANT'S OFFICE...
Siddhant is super busy on some complicated spreadsheets at his laptop. His cellphone rings. It's Roli.
"Hey Roli," he answers, the phone in between his shoulder and ear as he continues to tap away at the keyboard.
"Where are you?" she asks glumly.
"Office," he responds. "I'll be a little late yaar. I got trapped with some last minute reports. Need to send this out in the next half an hour; I have no clue how this is even possible. This is crazy!"
"How late?" she asks quietly.
"I don't know baba. Probably past midnight." He replies. Roli's heart sinks when she hears that. "After preparing these reports I have a meeting with the boss. So it's going to take some time."
"Oh..." Roli sounds like down in the dumps.
"Everything alright?" he asks, half his attention on Roli, half on the spreadsheet.
"Nothing. It's just that I was all dressed up and waiting since 7.30 this evening," she says quietly.
"Dressed up? For what?" he asks.
Roli feels sad now. Really sad! Great! He even forgot about it. Completely! "You promised we would go out today," she replies.
Then... it dawns on Siddhant. The promise he made. The other promise he had to break last week just to go out with his friends. Siddhant slaps his hand onto his forehead. "Ohhh shit!" he whispers under his breath. How is he going to make up for this one? What excuse will he give her this time?
"Roli," he begins quietly, thinking of what to say, "this weekend. I promise! We'll do everything we planned to do."
"I'm used to hearing this now," interrupts Roli, the sadness ever obvious in her voice. "I don't have any more faith in your promises."
"Please don't say like that yaar," begs Siddhant. "It's not on purpose. You know that, na? I'm really under a lot of pressure at work. What to do? Please try to understand."
"I want to Siddhantji, but what about last week?" she questions him, as she decides to open up her feelings to him. "Last week you made a promise and broke it. In the last moment! I was really looking forward to spending some time with you."
"But I told you," Siddhant protests, "those were my childhood friends! They came to meet me after a very long time! And that too from the US! How can I send them back then? Try to understand!"
"Even I had friends Siddhantji!" Roli snaps back, "I left them all to be with you! Tomorrow if they show up at my doorstep and invite me for a party, what do you want me to do? Bounce out of the door with them?"
Siddhant feels his temper flaring now. The pressure at work, Roli's nagging judgements... Grrr!!!
"You know what Roli? If you want to bounce out of the door' with them, you're free to do it! Who's stopping you? Did I stop you?" Siddhant's voice gets higher.
Siddhant's reaction wasn't something Roli was expecting. It puts her off guard. For a moment, she doesn't know what to say. "Yes, I'm going to do that," she blurts out, "only then you'll understand how I feel!"
"Yes, go and do it! Fly out of the door if you must!" Siddhant growls back. "And you know what? Once you fly out of that door, you'll stay out."
Roli is very hurt now. And furious! "Yes! I'll go!" she spits out, her voice shaking.
"Go and do it! And one more thing, Roli! Don't tell me what to do and what not to do! You're not earning bread for me! I am! Get it?" he scolds. "I slog every single day out here trying to make ends meet and all what you're concerned about is going out and freaking out!"
Roli is in shock now. Siddhant has never spoken to her like that before. Ever! What's going on?
"Look! I have a ton to finish before I get the hell out of here! I don't have the time for this. Hanging up now." Saying this, he hangs up. Abruptly.
Roli quietly keeps the phone away. She looks spaced out. Lost. Confused. Empty. Was that really Siddhantji? She wonders. He has never spoken like that to me before. I shouldn't have said all those things either. I was being selfish.
Siddhant's angry voice still rings in her head. She slowly gets up and locks the bedroom door. She prepares to change. All what he said echoes in her head... The caring, loving, soft and sensitive Siddhant was not at all talking to her today. He asked her to bounce out of the door. Walk out. Stay out. Get lost... He had no concern for their relationship. He didn't seem to notice that they were hardly talking nowadays. Her eyes well with painful tears. No, he can't talk like that to me, she cries to herself bitterly. The tears spill over as she sits down on the bed and breaks down into quiet sobs.
BACK AT SIDDHANT'S OFFICE - MUCH LATER
Siddhant steps out of the conference room looking much relaxed and cheerful. He talks with his boss as they walk to his cabin. "See you Sid, enjoy yourself," his boss waves. Sid gives him a thumbs up' sign and gets behind his table. He starts to pack up, but pauses as he notices his mobile phone on the table.
Roli! He remembers. He takes a quick glance at his watch. It's 10:45 PM. He gets really worried as he recollects all the shit he told her some time back. Oh God! What did I do? What's wrong with you Siddhant? He leans back onto his chair and takes a deep breath. Maybe I was possessed, he jokes to himself. Maybe Roli is right. We are very far away from each other nowadays. It has been days since I've spoken to her properly. Anyways... good thing he signed up for a couple of days off from work. This is the best time to patch things up.
ROSID'S BEDROOM
Roli still hasn't changed. She is lying face down on the bed as she recovers from the virtual slap'. Her mobile phone rings. Let it ring, she thinks. I don't care whoever it is. But the ringing phone is too tempting to ignore. She slowly gets up and picks up the phone. It's Siddhantji. Why's he calling me now? She wonders sadly. To apologize, maybe? I don't want to listen to anything anymore.
She answers the call. An excited Siddhant begins to talk from the other end.
"Hey Roli, you know what? I just had a word with that idiot boss of mine," he pauses to make sure she's listening, "I told him clear cut! Straight forward! That I can't take anymore of his shit! That I need time for my wife! That she's more important to me than his stupid spreadsheets and senseless reports! I told him that I can't work weekends anymore. Arrey! What the hell yaar! Bloody nonsense! There's a limit for all this! Na?"
Roli listens silently. Without a word. Yes, she thinks, he's just pulling out one of his tactics. His sorry wala' stories. Should I forgive him...? I don't know. He was stressed out too, but... Her eyes become moist again.
Siddhant is out of his office now, he walks towards the parking lot, his laptop bag over his shoulder. It's quite dark with some of the street lamps fused out.
"So you know what he told me?" he continues relentlessly, "He was apparently frightened after seeing me like this. He has never seen me so aggressive before. So he said, Ok Siddhant. Why don't you take a few days off work?' Ten days!' I argued! And he said, done'!"
"So once I get back home we'll decide a great holiday spot. How about Vadodara? I've heard that the museum and monuments there are awesome. What do you say?"
Roli is silent.
"Roli? Are you sleeping or what?" he asks.
"I don't want to go anywhere," she replies quietly, her voice shaking slightly.
"What do you mean? We'll go elsewhere then. Where do you want to go?"
"Told you na, I'm not coming anywhere," she says, almost in tears.
"But why? Are you having some dance competition there or what?" Siddhant laughs.
"Just leave me. You go wherever you want. With your friends and all." Roli says bitterly.
"Oh ho. So that's the problem, eh? My friends! Actually... I told them to get lost." He replies with a smirk.
"Very good. Then go skiing in Kashmir with your secretary." Snaps Roli, the tears sinking down into her throat.
"What?" laughs Siddhant.
"Bye," she blurts out.
"No! Wait!"
The line goes dead. Roli has hung up. "Awww damn!" cusses Siddhant. God! She's really angry with me! Suddenly, he spots a small shop across the street about to close. "Oye! Oh bhai saab! Wait!"
The man pauses, the shutter already half way down. "I'm going to close now Sir", he says.
"Please, I'll only take 2 minutes. I just need those two slabs of chocolate."
The shopkeeper smiles. "Ok," he says and pulls it out. Siddhant pays him. "Keep the change," he says.
The shopkeeper looks grateful. "For your daughter?" he asks casually.
Siddhant is embarrassed for a moment, but smiles, "no, for a little kid," he winks.
BACK IN ROSID'S BEDROOM
It's past 11:45 PM now.
Roli is still awake. Almost... She plugs earphones into her mp3 player and listens to some soothing songs as she tries to drown her sorrows in the music. She turns up the volume, closes her eyes and lies down on the bed as she tries to calm down. She can't forget the words Siddhant screamed into her ears today. It was unnatural. Rude... Painful. She feels like crying again. No, I won't, she decides and concentrates on the darkness behind her closed eyelids. Slowly, she relaxes... Her breathing slows down... and she drifts off to sleep... with the door still locked!
A while later, Siddhant pulls into the driveway of Bhardwaj House. The door is answered by Simar.
"Where's Roli?" he enquires the moment he steps in.
"I believe she's asleep," Simar replies.
Siddhant hurries upstairs to their bedroom and tries to walk in. He turns the doorknob, but it is... LOCKED!
"What the...?" He's stunned. "Why is this door locked?" He knocks on the door. "Roli?" No answer.
"Roli! Open the door!" He raps on.
Simar comes upstairs. "Siddhantji, what happened?"
Prem comes out of his room too.
"The door is locked," replies Siddhant, tensed, "Roli's not answering!"
"What?" asks a worried Prem. "She doesn't usually lock the door like that!"
"This evening, it seems she was having a stomach ache," chips in Simar.
Siddhant is more worried now. Oh no! Is something wrong? Worse... did she do something stupid??!!!
"ROLI!" he yells and bangs on the door. Not a sound. If she tried to harm herself I will never forgive myself, Siddhant thinks, the guilt piling onto him by the second.
"Roli!" Prem and Simar join in too.
The rest of the family comes out of their room on hearing the commotion.
"Prem! Siddhant! Simar! What's wrong?" asks Mataji, stunned.
"Mataji! Roli has locked herself inside! We tried calling her but she isn't responding!" trembles Simar.
"What?" They all hurry upstairs to Rosid's room.
"Roli! Beta! Open the door!" they call out. But no response.
"Move aside!" yells Siddhant. He kicks furiously at the door, trying to pry it open. It doesn't budge.
He KICKS AGAIN.
AND AGAIN.
AGAIN!
The door is BLASTED open. BANNNGG!!!
All of them rush inside.
The noise startles a sleeping Roli. She wakes up with a start to see the entire family around the bed. Staring at her... as if they've seen a ghost!
She spots Siddhant glaring at her, breathless, sweaty... And angry.
Wait. The door was locked, Roli recollects. "Siddhantji? Jeeju! Didi! How did you all come inside..." her voice trails away as she realizes what must have happened.
Siddhant grabs the earphones and mp3 player from her and flings it aside in a fit of rage. He prepares to strike her, furious. Roli flinches.
"Siddhant! No!" the family yells.
Siddhant stops midway. He is still breathless from anger. "I swear I wanna kill you now!" he growls furiously and storms out of the bedroom.
Roli looks around at the entire family sheepishly. All of them have their eyes on her, shocked.
Suddenly, Prem bursts out laughing.
"Premji!" Simar protests, stunned at his reaction. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry. I have this problem of laughing when I get too tensed," he snorts. "Okay, everyone, just chill! Problem solved!" The entire family is still in shock. "Arrey! Smile please, everyone!" he coaxes.
Prem is right, they think. They all heave in relief. Thank God nothing's wrong. For a moment, they thought... "Okay, come on, back to bed," Prem says, "Simar. Let's go."
All of them leave Rosid's room one by one and retreat to their chambers. Prem and Simar find Siddhant in the corridor, leaning onto a railing and looking away into the distance, still pissed off. Prem nods to Simar, I'll handle this. Simar nods back and leaves Prem to take care of the situation.
Prem grabs Siddhant by the shoulders and shakes him gently. "Siddhant! Just relax. Take it easy. See, now even Roli's tensed."
"Prem," he begins, "you have no clue. When she wasn't answering the door and Simar told that she wasn't well, I almost died back there."
Prem has no idea what to say. He knows how his brother feels. "Just calm down now, get some rest. I'll see you in the morning. Go on!" Maybe Prem is right, thinks Siddhant. He slowly returns to their bedroom.
ROSID'S BEDROOM
Roli is still sitting hunched up on the bed, knees drawn up to her chest. Siddhant walks in, puts his laptop aside and opens the wardrobe. He fishes for a T-shirt and track pants to wear for the night. Roli watches him intently. She feels kind of embarrassed at this awkward situation. How will she live this down? Now Siddhant is angry as well. Now he won't even talk to her. What will she do?
"Siddhantji," she begins quietly. But Siddhant swerves around and waves his finger at her threateningly. "Chup! Not a single word!"
"Siddhantji, let me just""
But he cuts her off, "I said shut up! Understand? Not a word! I'll slap you!"
"Then slap me na," she says in a childish voice.
Siddhant ignores her and digs around in the wardrobe for nothing.
She gets up, takes Siddhant's hand and places it over her face. "Come on slap me..."
"Roli, stop it" he retorts.
"No. You want to slap me na? Come on slap me. I deserve it. For being so stupid and locking myself inside..."
Siddhant's anger begins to dissolve before her innocence. "Why did you do that?" he asks quietly, "don't do that again! You scared the living life out of me."
She leans onto Siddhant. "I didn't do it purposefully. After we spoke this evening, I just locked the door to change and forgot about it..."
That awful feeling of dread returns once again as Siddhant realizes that Roli must have been really upset at his outburst this evening. "Hey, I wasn't kidding when I told you that I'm off work for ten days. I was serious."
"That's okay; I don't feel like going anywhere anyway." She says, not really meaning what she just said. She is of course, still hurt at Siddhant's distance over the months that he feels a lot different now.
"Please don't say that. Who will come with me then?"
"Your friends..." she replies, as if it's very obvious. "And of course, your secretary."
"Nah, she's not as sexy," Siddhant smirks. "I need someone glamorous by my side to click selfies with." Oof! Siddhantji always manages to catch me off guard, thinks Roli. She smiles into his chest hoping that he doesn't see her smiling. She doesn't want him to get the satisfaction of having made her smile. But he gets her red handed and pulls her face off him. "Oye! Why are you smiling? I wasn't talking about you," he teases. Roli pushes him off and begins to stomp away, but Siddhant grabs her and yanks her towards him. "I was talking about this little kid who loves chocolates..." He pulls out the chocolate slabs and waves it in front of her. She tries not to smile. But she can't resist. That funny look on his face is irresistible. She breaks into a broad grin and hugs him.
"So you forgive me, na?" he giggles.
"Well, we'll think about that," she laughs.
