"Piddi main tereko paise deta hu... Tu mujhe jaane de!" KD rolled his eyes as he tried to pry his arm out of Piddi's grasp, who was bundle of nerves.
"KD bhai, dost ki help nahi karoge!" Piddi said as he bit on his nails standing outside the sports equipment shop in the mall.
"Piddi teri date hai Bobby ke saath. Mujhe kabaab mein haddi kyu bana raha hai!" KD almost screamed.
"Bhai vo... vo..." Piddi said looking everywhere but at his friend.
"Ab kya gadbad ki tune?" KD rolled his eyes.
"Vo Bobby bas mujhe football equipment ki shopping mein help karne aa rahi hai. Maine use bola main Football Coaching join kar raha hu." Piddi looked away and KD so desperately wanted to bang his head in the glass that he stood resting his back at. It had taken him a lot of control to handle the unnecessarily hyperactive Junior Punj next to him. He reminded himself once again why he was doing it. Piddi was one guy who had treated him more like a friend than as a dealer, which far less people wished to do. Before he could answer they saw her riding up the escalator surprisingly with a white iPad in hand instead of the white football, guess there are certain places you can't just act or be a jock.
"List le ke aaya?" Bobby asked without looking up from the screen and the two wondered how she even knew where they were while she hadn't even laid eyes on them yet. From the corner of her eyes she saw KD's raised brows and chuckled looking up at them. She passed her iPad to KD to give him the answer while Piddi looked between the two like the third wheel, which originally had to be his friend's position. "Kya? I'm not just interested in sports, gadgets mein bhi kabhi kabhi interest le leti hu." Bobby commented folding her arms seriously, making Piddi gulp. While the two very non-metaphorically Ying-Yang and not-completely-in-love-birds were in a biased match of stare, KD was busy staring at something even more bizarre. He looked up at Bobby who crossed her brows as she snatched her "flat screen" from his hands and her expression suddenly mirrored the one on the usually pokerfaced guy. Piddi suddenly realized how bad it was an idea to not let KD go.
While the two people talked as dumb, using only the action of their brows and frown lines. The sudden silence on the corner booth of the caf had begun to get unnerving.
"So who is this guy..." Anya finally managed to ask. She fiddled with the mug holding her decaffeinated un-sugared coffee as Kiya looked onto Juhi who passed the look onto Samar and the buck finally landed on Panchi's lap.
"He's our batchmate... and my best friend." The pride in her voice defied the sudden urge to hide under the table that Anya had detected on their faces soon after the call. Somehow it amused her how those half dozen words strung into a sentence told her a novella sized story. She nodded, having weighed in her mind over a handful of questions she wanted to ask, she decided on the mute gesture. She wanted to talk to this girl in front of her, talk to her freely without her bothering. Looking down at her red summer dress she weighed her desire over the loss of that piece of clothing and decided in the former's favor. Whilst the other four were lost in their own Wonder-and-Under-Lands, she stealthily pulled the cup to the edge towards her which tipped over, coloring the red a very murky brown.
"Damn... Panchi could you come and help me with it?" She ordered instead of asking as she snuck out of the booth not waiting for her to answer, who after a confused daze of a moment followed her diligently. The two girls left back stared at each other for a little time and somehow unanimously decided to follow. Samar having been left alone went through a volley of expressions, first at the amazement on the herding abilities of women a very pronounced eye roll, then at their desertion a sorrowful sigh, then at the dramatic entry of his very hyper looking friend a micro-second of happiness before he surprisingly lunged for the Nawaab's collar.
"Aapko bhi aadab. (Hello to you too.)" Samar rolled his eyes. Ranveer looked closer at him, his one eye seemingly bulging more than the other in a funny way making Samar chuckle.
"Dude I know tu kya kar raha hai..." Ranveer said trying to glare harder.
"Hum hans rahe hai. Aur jahan tak humare zehen mein aata hai, us par toh kanoonan bhi koi pabandi nahi hai. (I'm just laughing. And as far as I can remember, it's not even restricted under law.)" Samar said forcefully grabbing his collar out of Ranveer hand and straightening his clothes as he sat down.
"Tu meri best friend ke saath aisa nahi kar sakta." Ranveer said pointing a finger at him.
"Aap kehte hain toh nahi karte. Lekin behtar hoga aap ye bhi farmayein ki hum aakhir kar kya rahe hai. (If you say, I won't do it. But it'll be better if you'd tell me what I'm doing that you're referring to.)"
"I know ki you're getting bugged of Juhi, and sooner rather than later, tu use ditch karne wala hai." Samar hurriedly glanced ahead at the door of the ladies room hoping his girlfriend was not within earshot.
"Hum Juhi ke saath rahenge ya nahi, uska Panchi mohtarma se kya lena dena? (Whether I stay with Juhi or not, what's Panchi got to do with it?)"
"Don't make advances towards her, I'm warning you." Samar now knew what the feeling of "boiling blood" really was as he stared at the Shergill brat.
"Mr. Ranveer Shergill, I might be one of the most consciously lacking person you think you know, though nothing more than you. I'm a royal blood and I have values imbedded in me more than they can be in your little head. And I do not, mark my words, do not cross my lines in friendship. What you just uttered was the most distrustful and disrespectful thing you could ever say to someone like me..." Samar towered over him, his eyes suddenly blazing with the betrayal.
"Whoa, chill dude..." Ranveer kept a hand on his shoulder.
"Ranveer, aap beshak Panchi ke best friend hain, lekin ek cheez yaad rakhein, hum bhi beghairat nahi hai. Humare liye bhi Panchi mohtarma ek dost hai, aur hum dosti ki kadr karte hai. (RV, you might be Panchi's bestfriend, but remember one thing, I'm not pride-less. Even for me, Panchi is a friend and I value/respect my friendship.)" Samar said cooling down. "Aapke saath humari dosti ki bhi, aur unke saath humari dosti ki bhi. (My friendship with you, and also with Panchi.)"
"Ranveer yahan kyu aaye ho?" Panchi said as she stood there with her arms crossed, Kiya and Anya managing her flanks while Juhi still pondered over WHAT had just happened in the washroom.
"So this Mr. Ranveer is your best friend, if I'm not wrong?" Anya didn't take even a second to begin when they entered the ladies room, if she was quick to calculate it won't be long before Kiya and Juhi came along. While she approached the basins and ran a towel under the water, she saw Panchi reluctantly nod in the mirror. To Panchi this was the most confusing and uncomfortable situation ever. A popstar had ordered her to the bathroom and was now interrogating her about her best friend. Why she didn't escape out, was a mystery. "Then why so tensed?" Anya looked pointedly at Panchi's hands that she was constantly clenching and unclenching.
"He... He seemed angry when he said he's coming..."
"And...?"
"And Kiya and Non... Ranveer are not really good pals." Panchi rolled her eyes.
"So..." Anya said as she faced her, folding her arms, the wet towel and the almost dried coffee on her dress were forgotten.
"He'll be upset that I'm hanging out with her."
"Do you regret that you're here?"
"Ummm..." Panchi didn't know what to say, but looking at Anya Gujral who seemed like just Anya to her, she realized there was nothing to regret. "No."
"Then darling, why so tensed? That guy cannot just rule your life unless you let him."
"I don't..." Panchi quickly retorted while Anya replied with a raised brow, right at the moment when the door opened and the other two entered.
"An..." Kiya cautiously began looking between the two of them. She extended her hand that held one of the many paper bags which held their day's spoils. Anya peeked in and saw one of the dresses that she had bought and smiled.
"Thanks K." The older humbler sister said and quickly snuck into one of the cubicles to change.
"Aww... So sweet." Juhi mused as Kiya rolled her eyes albeit with a smile on her lips and went to the mirror to check herself.
"Panchi you might like this guy. But that doesn't make it sensible for you to give him the right to rule your life. Not even as a best friend." Anya, The Hermit, said from beyond the wood wall while Panchi stood wide eyes looking at both Kiya and Juhi who seemed unperturbed.
"Don't look so alarmed." Kiya chuckled as she saw Panchi's expression reflected in the wall-mirror. "It ain't really a cozy little secret. You know Royal keeps secrets but nothing a secret from the Royals." Kiya pressed her lips together to even out the gloss while Panchi pulled up an eyebrow. "Well apart from some exceptions like your pea-head best friend."
"And KD." Panchi said with a sweet ringing laughter. Kiya whipped back with bulging eyes and red cheeks. She quickly disguised them with another look as Anya walked out, now wearing a dress in aubergine.
"You know An is not wrong. Ranveer cannot really rule your life till you let him." Kiya said packing the contents of her clutch. Panchi nodded and came ahead to give Anya a brief hug.
"Thanks Anya."
"I was just speaking your mind sweetie." Anya hugged back. While Juhi was still wondering about the touchy-ness between the girls in the bathroom they walked out in time to hear Samar's Urdu versioned monologue. That was enough to indicate to Panchi that the glaring daggers between them had, not just something, but a lot, to do with her. And it was also enough to blow her calm.
...to be continued.
**
The next post will be soon.
I have another KiSha OS to post, from which I have a lot of expectations and is a lot closer to me than any, though it's experimental and a lot of you will not like it I'm sure. However before that is posted, I'll end this. So expect the end soon, since that one's already written and re-read.
Luv,
Pree.
P.S. PMs are only going to those who have commented on this so far.
P.P.S. The italicized portions in a different color in the brackets is the translation of Samar's Urdu dialogues because some of the readers were finding them tough to understand.
