Preeta walked out of dadi's room, still in a bad mood from
that morning. Karan had had a fight with her the day before,when he was dropping
Preeta home. Something that Preeta was used to. After all, their weird sort of
unnamed relationship was primarily built on their fights. However, when she had
tried to talk to him this morning, he had completely ignored her rather than
bickering with her. Preeta shook her head, she sounded insane even to herself. She wanted Karan to bicker with her.
Waise toh Karan bin kuch bole yahan se wahan bi nahi jahte. Jab dekho tab chapar chapar karte
rehte. Aur kehte hain main bohot zaada bolti hoon toh aaj kya huya? Nahi, usse
toh silent mode mein jaane tha. To irritate me even more. Mein kyun itna bhav
kah rahi hoon? Acche hain na? Mann bhuddi aatma chupp hain. Lekin, what if he
took the fight to heart. Pata nahi mein kaise ban jaati hoon uske samne. Main
bhi nah, kuch zaada kahe deti hoon usko. Aur woh hamesha meri help karta hain.
Mujhe maafi mangni chaahiye.
As Preeta mustered up her courage to walk up to Karan's
room, she saw him engrossed in his phone. She didn't even know if he had realized
that she was standing right beside his bed.
"Karan?" Preeta started. She watched him hum in response. Akru kahin ka.
"Karan?" Preeta repeated, trying to gain his attention.
"Bolo," Karan replied, not leaving his eyes from his phone.
Preeta sighed. She pondered whether to snatch his phone from his hand or not,
but then decided against it. She had to apologize to him after all.
"Karan, suno. I know maine kuch zaada hi bol diya yesterday.
I'm sorry," Preeta articulated softly, yet firmly. Karan finally spared a look,
even if it was for a second, before looking down on his phone again.
Preeta waited for a response, yet Karan didn't budge. Too
tired to fight with Karan, Preeta left for downstairs, running into Rishabh on
the bottom of the stairs.
"Aare Preetaji, aap abhi tak yahin hain.? Rishabh asked.
"Haan Rishabhji, aaj dadi ke pair main bohot takleef thi, issliye. Par
who abh theek hain," Preeta answered, indicating that Rishabh need not worry
about his grandmother.
"Kya main aapko ghar drop kar sakta hoon? Waise bhi itni
raat hogi hain. Mujhe hi sukoon mil jayega if I know you got home safe," Rishabh expressed.
For some reason, Preeta felt uneasy. She couldn't comprehend
why. Rishabhji was her friend and a good man and he wouldn't fight with her as he
dropped Preeta home. Preeta shook her head, telling herself not to think about
Karan. As Preeta fumbled into accepting Rishabh's offer, Karan came downstairs,
his feet clapping onto a rhythm in her ears.
"Preeta, aacha hain tum nikali nahi. Mujhe Shrishti se koi
kam hai, I'll drop you home too," Karan stated. Preeta let out the breath she
didn't even realize she was holding. Preeta didn't know why she felt slightly relieved.
Maybe it was the fact that Karan had always been the one to drop her home. She
was habituated to Karan dropping her home, even despite their regular fights,
and bickering all the way in the car ride home, before Karan stopping and running
across to her side to open the door for her, and make sure he doesn't get her
dupatta stuck in the door to prove his chivalry. It always brought a small
smile onto her face, and she lowkey enjoyed ending her day that way. Not that
she would ever mention this to Karan. He would never stop teasing her...Or maybe
it was the fact that Karan had finally spoken to her that put Preeta's mind at
ease. She looked down and smiled secretly, realizing that he had forgiven her, and this was
Karan's akru way of making amends.
"Tumhe kya kaam hai Shrishti se, itni raat ko?" Rishabh
enquired, with a tone Preeta couldn't decipher. Preeta felt herself tense up.
She was unsure if Karan really had work with Shrishti or not. And if he did,
why wasn't she aware of it? She could have helped him too, if needed be.
"Woh bhai, Shrishti maa aur papa ki anniversary ko plan kar
rahi hain. Usse ek plan discuss karne tha. If she can help me execute the
preparation for my performance for them?" Karan countered wholeheartedly, his gaze lingering at her before he turned his attention to his older brother.
Preeta wasn't sure if Karan was lying or not.
After asking Karan a bit more questions, Rishabh smiled at Preeta
and bid goodnight, before stalking off to his room.
Karan ushered Preeta to follow him into his car. Opening her
door for her, he signaled her to sit down. He closed her door, and hopped into his seat,
giving Preeta a chance to hide her smile at things returning back to normal between them.
The car ride was full of stolen glances and silence. A silence that had fallen upon them as neither of them knew how to start the conversation. Yet in some way it was comforting. It matched Preeta's relief and Karan's contentment.
"Accha hain, tum pakare nahi gaye, " Preeta smiled, after he
parked in front of her house, breaking the comfortable silence.
"Matlab?" asked Karan.
"Woh Shrishti ka
bahana. Mujhe bhi lage kuch der ke liye, ki tumhe Shrishti se kaam hain," Preeta voiced.
"Miss Kareli, mujhe sachi mein Shrishti se kaam hain. Tumhe
kya lage, main yahan sirf tumhare liye aaye hoon?" Karan responded stoically.
He looked at her quizzically, as her smile dropped. He finally let go of his
nonchalant faade and began laughing.
"Aare mental, tum bina koi chapar chapar kiye mujhse maafi
maangi, aur phir mera no response ke baad bhi tumne kuch nahi kaha. Main itna
bhi behrahem nahi hoon. Mujhe toh aahna hi tha. Meri sabse badi fan ke liya," Karan laughed. Preeta looked at Karan with anger calling her his fan yet again,
before finally melting into a smile at hearing his laughter. Even though Karan's
silent treatment lasted a total of 24 hrs only, she still had missed this.
"Maine bhi," Karan stated. Preeta looked at him, watching
her. Had she voiced her thoughts out loud? Karan winked at her perplexion.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry if there's any mistakes in the hindi. Dont really speak the language. Hope you guys like it. Please leave a review. It'll help me for the next chapter😊
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