"Yaar, yeh ab kyun phone kar rahi hai?" Shravan groaned rolling over in bed and grabbing his phone, he knew who it was before even looking at the screen, with his eyes still closed he picked up the phone. "Ab kya hua Suman madam?" He mumbled the sleep evident in his voice.
"SHRAVAN! HELP! ABHI WAAPIS AAO PLEASE!" She screamed frantically over the phone, he could hear the fear in her voice and it caused him to shoot up in bed, the sleep evaporated in a millisecond as his eyes grew wide and the hair at the back of his neck stood up at the sheer fright in her voice.
"Sumo, kya hua? Tum theek ho?" He said into the phone as he got up and put on his slippers, already walking towards the door to leave his bedroom before she had the chance to even answer.
"Sawaal maat pucho, please, jaldi aao!" She exclaimed, although she was not screaming anymore, her voice still sounded scared. Shravan ran out of his house and to the car, his heart beating fast, he knew that the rest of the Tiwaris were gone to a wedding and Sumo was home alone, he was there earlier keeping her company, he had only left a few hours ago.
"Sumo, kya hua? Tum theek ho?" He asked as he got into the car and put it into drive and hit the race, his tires screeched as his car lurched forward.
"Nahi, Shravan jaldi aao please!" She said before letting out a piercing scream, the phone disconnected as if she'd dropped it on the floor. Shravan hit the race pedal faster speeding through the empty streets, thankfully, if there was more traffic he would have hit a few cars at the speed he was going at, twice the legal limit.
He ran his hand through his hair, his heart was pumping fast and millions of thoughts raced through his head, he just prayed that Sumo was safe. He didn't know what was wrong, but had an inkling that someone may be in the house or something must have gone wrong, the blood curling scream that she let out indicated as such, it made his stomach clench painfully.
His car reached the Tiwari villa in record time, he turned the car off and ran towards the house but the door was locked. He rang the front door bell frantically and called out Sumo's name while knocking on the door loudly.
"SHRAVANNN!" He heard her scream from her room, hearing her voice made him feel a bit better, only a bit.
"Sumo darvaja kholo!" He yelled.
"Mein nahi khol sakti!" She yelled back. Shravan let out an exasperated scream and hit the door before he remembered the secret passageway.
He ran to the side of the house and climbed up the ladder, which was always there, it now creaked under his weight and felt impossibly small, like it was part of a child's play set. He jumped onto the terrace before maneuvering himself through the store-room and into the house. He frantically ran down the stairs and towards Sumo's room, his long legs moving faster than he thought possible.
He threw the door to her room open and his eyes met hers. She was standing on top of her bed, a look of sheer terror on her face. Shravan stood there for a second just staring at her, thanking God that she was safe, and then his mind kicked in, he scanned the room for danger, he hadn't seen anyone or heard anyone as of yet, the house wasn't on fire, she looked fine apart from the look on her face and her place on her bed.
"SHRAVAN!" Sumo gasped in relief when she saw him burst into the room and come to a standstill.
"Kya hua? Tum theek ho? Ghar mein koi hai kya?" He fired off walking towards her and stood in front of the bed staring up at her.
Sumo nodded and pointed to the cupboard, Shravan didn't give her the time to speak as he rapidly turned and took steps across her room, he threw her cupboard open...and found nothing but her clothes.
"Sumo? Yeh-"
"Chua!" She screamed. "Cupboard ke neeche hai!"
Shravan froze where he was standing, his eyes turning back to Sumo. He looked at her in disbelief. "Tumne mujhe ek chue ke liye raat ke ek baje bulaya, chua-"
"Haan! Woh mere bed par chadne ki koshish-"
"TUM PAGAL HO KYA SUMO?" Shravan gasped. "YAHAN MERI JAAN JAA RAHI THI, MUJHE LAGA GHAR MEIN KOI GHUS GAYA AUR TUM- PHONE PAI NAHI KEH SAKTI THI KI CHUA HAI-AUR PHONE KYUN KAATA WOH BHI ITNI ZOR SAI CHILAKAR?! TUM-"
"Woh chua mere bed par aane ki koshish kar raha tha...mein itna daar gayi thi ki..."
"Chue sai? The Sumo? Ab bhi." He said rolling his eyes.
"Shut up aur usse pakdo Lambu!" She screamed.
"Cupboard ke niche?" He asked taking a deep breath, he felt like he had just run a marathon in the past twenty minutes with how much she had scared him, he wouldn't be surprised if he had grey hair all of a sudden. He wanted to be angry at her, but he couldn't because he knew how scared she was of mice...anything small that could crawl actually.
Sumo nodded answering his question and Shravan bent down and looked under the cupboard. Sumo let out a shriek as a white ball emerged from under the cupboard and sped across the room. "AHHH!"
"Sumo! Shut up! Chua hai, sher nahi. Tumhe khaa nahi jayega!"
"Yeh court nahi hai, baatein karke villain nahi faase ga Lambu!"
"Villain?" Shravan laughs. "Sumo, itna chota saa, cute saa toh hai."
"Haan, tumhe toh lagega naa, Qutub Minar kahin ke!"
"Uske aage tum bhi Qutub Minar hi ho." He retorted.
"Toh phir tum Burj Khalifa ho! Baatein kaam, usse pakdo Shravan! Dresser ke neeche!"
"Mein toh tumhara naukar hoon jaise..." He mumbled walking across the room to where the mouse had disappeared under her dresser.
"Baatein toh bahut badi badi karte ho, chua taak toh pakda nahi jaata tumse." Sumo snapped.
"Oh hello madam, aap pakde dikhaya naa." He said looking back at her and making an annoyed face at her.
"SHRAVAN!" She let out another scream as she saw the mouse whiz out from under the dresser and run for her bed. Shravan leaped at it but missed it, he fell flat on the floor, as the mouse went under Sumo's bed. "BAHAR NIKALO ISSE!" She screamed jumping on the bed.
"Yaar, yeh ladki bhi naa." He mumbled getting off the ground. "Tumhare paas daanda hai?"
"NAHI! Marna nahi hai usse, uske biwi-bache kya karenge?!"
"Sumo." Shravan takes a deep breath of disbelief at her words. "Pehle toh tum aise act kar rahi thi ki yeh tumhara murder kardega, ab tumhe iski family ke chinta hai. TUMHARA DIMAAG THEEK HAI KYA?"
"Meri isse kya dushmani hai, bas isse bahar nikalo aur iske biwi-bachon ke paas chodkar aao!" She answered shivering.
"Yeh ladki ek din mujhe pagal kardegi." He mumbled walking out of the room.
"SHRAVAN! KAHAN JAA RAHE HO?" Sumo screamed after him.
"GHAR." He yelled back walking towards the kitchen. "Pagal ladki."
"SHRAVAN MEIN TUMHE MAAR DALOONGI."
"CHUA TUMKO PEHLE MAAR DAALEGA!" He yelled opening the fridge and grabbing a piece of bread and an empty plastic container.
"SHRAVANNN!" He heard her whine. He shook his head, a smile on his face as he walked back to the room, this would only happen to Sumo, he thought.
"Kahin nahi gaya mein." He said walking into her room again and falling stomach down on her bed so he was sideways, he was too tall to fit so his feet and upper body hung off the bed.
"Yeh tum kya kar rahe ho?"
"Tumhari imaginary chue ki patni kaa suhaag bacha raha hoon." He said scooting so his torso was hanging off the side of the bed, he put the bread right on the floor in front of the bed as Sumo lay down beside him, stomach down trying to see what he was doing.
"Tum mera majak udaa rahe ho?" She snapped.
"Naaahiii toh." He said the sarcasm dripping from his voice. "Ow Sumo!" He yelled when she hit his arm.
"Mard ko dard nahi hota naa?" She retorted.
"Ek toh mein raat ke doh baje tumhare liye chua pakad raha hoon aur tum mujhe thank you kehne ki jaaga taane maar rahi ho." He says looking at her, but stops short because of her proximity, she's literally a couple of centimeters away from him and his body can suddenly feel warmth emanating from her body.
"Sorry, thank you." She mumbles under his intense gaze, her words break him out of it.
"Ab chup rehna okay, mujhe pata hai ki yeh tumhare liye almost impossible hai lekin please."
Sumo was about to retort but he gave her a "see" look causing her to keep her mouth shut, her eyes narrowed at him but he just smiled and reached out over the bread with open plastic container, ready to catch the villainous mouse.
Sumo rested her head on her hands and waited, and waited, and waited. "Yeh idea bahut stupid hai." She whispered.
"Tumhare paas koi better idea hai kya?" He asked causing her to sigh.
She looked up at his face and smiled at the look of concentration on his face. Now that he was here and she had calmed down a bit, she realized that this would make an epic story one day. She was glad that he was back, if this had happened a few months ago she didn't know who she would call - maybe Preeta - but today he was the first person she thought of. She realized that he was in his pajamas and slippers when he burst into the room and she knew he had probably rushed out of the house in a hurry and sped all the way here for her.
Shravan's eyes met Sumo's and he put his finger up to his lips telling her to not make a sound, Sumo's attention went back to the bread and she held back a scream as the mouse got closer and closer to the bread, her heart was thumping harder again and it had little to do with the fact that his body was literally against hers as they lay stomach down on her bed.
Shravan let the mouse sniff its way to the bread and take a bite before he slammed the plastic container over the mouse, the mouse wiggled and tried to get out of the tight space but Shravan held the container down tight.
"DON'T LET IT GET AWAY!" Sumo screamed.
"Yaar! Stop screaming." He groaned maneuvering himself off the bed, one hand still firmly holding the container, and grabbed the snap-on-lid for the container in the other hand.
"What are you doing?" Sumo asked as he sat cross-legged on the floor by the container.
"Dabba baand bhi karna padega naa Sumo." He answered.
"Be careful!" She instructed as Shravan brought the lid to the side of the container. In a move too fast for her to process, he lifted the container and slid the lid on, she let out another scream during the process because for a second she thought that the mouse was getting away.
"Yaar, mere kaan." Shravan groaned getting up off the floor, the container in his hand. He held it up to Sumo who jumped back and let out another scream.
"Isko bahar lekar jaao!" She said.
"Sumo, chill, container mein baand hai." He rolled his eyes and motioned for her to get off the bed, she did so slowly. "Let's go."
"Kahan?"
"Isko apni biwi-bacho ke paas chodne." Shravan teased.
"Tum phir se mera majaak uda rahe ho!" She said whacking his arm lightly.
"Tumse badi darpok maine kabhi nahi dekhi." He said as they walked out of her room and out into the veranda.
"Shut up."
"Seriously Sumo, isse dekho." He said holding the container up to her face, the mouse was trying to get out and squirming in the container.
"SHRAVAN STOP!" Sumo yelled jumping away from him as they walked out the front door of the Tiwari mansion. Shravan laughed and shook his head at the look of sheer terror on her face.
"Gundo sai bilkul nahi darti, Varma ko dhamkiyaan deti ho, Khosla sai paise nikalwati ho, par ek chua..."
"Oh hello, pravachan baand karo."
"Phir sai tumhare kamre mein chodoonga." He threatened.
"Phir tumhe hi pakdna padega." She said.
"Mujhe toh aur koi kaam hi nahi hai naa?"
"Meri help karna tumhari job hai, mere dost jo ho." She stressed the word dost like she always did, and he wondered again why she always seemed to do that.
"Thank you nahi bologi naa?" He said as they got further and further from the Tiwari villa.
"Hum dono ko thank you naa bolne ki problem hai, yaad nahi?" She teased with a smile. "Thank you Shravan."
"You're welcome." He smiled back. "Yaha chod doon tumhare chue ko?" He asked.
"Wahan chodkar aao!" She said pointing down the street towards the park.
"Chalo." He said when he noticed that she stopped walking.
"Tum chodkar aao! Agar meri taraf aaya toh mein yaha sai bhaag toh sakti hoon naa." She answered causing Shravan to shake his head before he walked further down the street. Sumo stood in her spot and wrapped her arms around her with a smile on her face as she watched him murmur something to the mouse.
"Sorry Mr. Chue...yaa Miss Chue, yeh ladki thodi si pagal hai." He said to the container as if the mouse could hear him, but he had a fond smile on his face as he whispered to the mouse. He opened the container and let the mouse go, the mouse bolted further down the street as Shravan turned around and threw the container in a nearby garbage, knowing that Sumo would refuse to take it back.
"Tumhara villain apni patni aur bacho ke paas waapis chala gaya." He teased as he walked towards her, causing her to roll her eyes with a smile.
"Coffee?" She asked as he approached her.
"Itni raat ko?"
"Subah ke 4 baj chuke hai." She answered as he came to stand next to her.
"Chalo Miss. Darpok, meri neend toh kharab kaar hi di, ab coffee bhi peeletai hai." He smiled taking her hand and walking back to the Tiwari Villa.
"Neend toh kharab hui, lekin yeh story sunane mein kitni funny lagegi naa?" She laughed as her heart fluttered in her chest due to the feel of her hand in his.
"Haan, Miss Darpok aur uska villainous shaadi-shuda chua." He teased with a laugh.
"Shut up Shravan!"
X-X-X-X-X
Tadaaa! Let me know what you think, and of course, I need to shamelessly plug my other stories here, so check out my EDKV Writing Index here.
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