Harley Hudugi
"I am not buying you rapper clothes or biker clothes, Mom said she wanted to go to Mysore to see Ajji, Ajji will kick the can
"Who made u my boss? Shiv kicked a imaginary can sulking
They walked the GK I market
He had showed up for a surprise visit
"Well my sweet stupid brother... NATURE DID she paused and spread her arms like Jesus the giant paper shopping bags dangling off it she waved her arms
"Can we atleast go look at the leather bracelets?
"We can LOOK "Sure why not... But NO buying "Nanu tondarage olagagalu bayasuvudilla (I don't want to get into trouble)
"Nama tande kalajiyila (Dad does not care)
She walked ahead not realizing he had frozen on track
She turned "Yenu "Yen aayithu?
"Samidha Pleease...
"Adara drugs kudiyalu sadhyavilla (its not drugs no or alcohol)
She relented... turning back to walk with him towards a street hawker selling biker accessories like leather wrist bands and leather necklaces
"U are not tough, u look like a baby (Why do u need biker gang stuff?)
"Look who is talking Shiv cackled
"I LIVE BY MYSELF in Delhi she shouted and did a "Ooops and shut her mouth because she declared it loudly
"Yeah I am shocked too, I thought you would come running home he paused sifting through a tray of bracelets
She rubbed his back with her fingertips
"It reminds me of Bik she said softly
"U can come back... We are all there Shiv was not happy
"I know that... Benson Town, my house she mumbled
"Madam kaunsa lengi, fatafat the boy yelled
Shiv picked out a bunch
"I wore the leather jacket he gave me for the job interview Shiv mumbled
Their Dad had found him a job using his contacts
"Nice she smiled imagining him in the jacket
He snatched a tan one she wore and wore it and tried to look tough
"It suits me "Can I keep it? she looked at it
"Eeuu... its not girlie stuff he growled
"Girls wear boys things too, I wore Bik's shirts
"Yes and looked like a clown... Shiv rolled his eyes
Shiv had gotten 14 bracelets, well over Rs. 1,000 she returned half and they began a giant fight in kannada and Shiv was sulking again
"I pity your kids Shiv said
"Too late... I aint havin any she shrugged coolly
They had tried starting the month they were married, it never happened much to Samidha's grief
For her, now, something even more catastrophic had taken away that minor grief with Bik's passing
"I hope u have many and they all run away Shiv wished
"I hope they all become their uncle's free loaders she cursed back
Her eyes thought they had spotted someone she knew
It was Puneet Bawa and Avyaan
His eyes flashed with the knowledge of recognition also
"Hi!! she waved cheerfully
Shiv looked up "Mervyn? Mervyn?
"No... silly... someone I work with
She was wearing red denim shorts and a white floral tee her hair in a high ponytail not at all looking like the almost 30 year old
"SAMIR? Shiv asked knowingly
"Not at the sweatshop dude, a CLIENT she whispered as Avyaan closed the gap
Shiv was nearly 6 feet tall and skinny like a stick like her,
"Hi! Samidha waved
"Hello Avyaan paused
In a blue jeans and offwhite V neck tee he looked good enough to be savored slowly on this hot summer evening
He pulled his sun glasses off and extended his hand to Shiv
"Hi! Avyaan Singh he said and introduced Puneet
"Shiv he extended his hand sulking with 10 bracelets on it
"Niice Avyaan chuckled
"Shivvv Samidha hissed
"U paid no? Shiv accused her
"Take it off u brat
"I like it Avyaan teased
"Women are thic Shiv said smugly
"Ouch Avyaan was shocked her boy friend wud actually say that
"Avyaan, this is my brother... Shiv Rao she said accidentally revealing the last name
"Hello Shiv Avyaan nodded
Puneet asked the hawker for some keychains
Conversation steered toward Shiv
"Do u know where I can find custom denim motorcycle vest? Shiv asked eagerly
Avyaan looked at Samidha perplexed shaking her head "No don't tell him
Shiv turned to her "DOOD he yelled
"Have u tried near Rajghat, Tibetan Market? Avyaan said casually
She had no idea where it was and she wanted that convo to end
"I am from Bangalore... she wont take me
"Oh? Avyaan looked at her deeply
"Umm... He has a new bike, he thinks he is a Harley Davidson model "Pfftt she mocked
"I am taller and tougher than YOU Shiv argued
"How old is he? Avyaan was amused
"NINETEEN she said
"She is acting like she is FIFTY he said
"SHIVU
Shiv & Avyaan & Puneet talked about every bike brand on earth, speed torque RPM and wheel and brakes
"Umm... I can email ur sister some names he promised
"No no no Samidha shook her head
"Thank u thank u
"Samidha Rao Avyaan said as they parted his eyes focused on her.
Her refusal to speak much Hindi made complete sense to him now
And her fear of driving in the city
Shiv was admiring his bracelets he looked up confused "Oh yeah, that's HER he said "Bangaloor hudugi (girl)
"Genius Samidha hissed pinching her brother, for blurting out his home town
and smiled weakly at Avyaan
"
Too old...
He drove home thinking about her
"Why was it easy for some not is for others? Or why did she appear fine? Did it not hurt her like it did him? Did she become physically sick like he had at losing Charu? Is it better for people when their lover dies then? Is it harder to know they are somewhere around but not with you?
She looked like she was enjoying herself arguing with her brother
Avyaan found himself smiling involuntarily
Rao... So she is from Karnataka then.
She was not heartbroken, she looked like she was single and enjoying an afternoon of street shopping... his mind went back to analyzing her psyche
Make up free, embellishment free simple and understated she didn't seem like she took herself too seriously at all
So is THAT what it is?
Emotional people are a wreck? Resilient ones are not?
How can she even recover from such a giant loss
She didn't cry at the drop of a hat, she didn't alk around like the world owed her something like HE DID
He wanted to know if she ever resorted to smoking
He had, the first couple of years, his mother Niru's heart attack had made him quit cold turkey
He felt an urge now and then even now but was too afraid
Open, enthusiastic and cheerful, she was not someone who he would have ever guessed to have lost a spouse.
I am probably just too old for her anyway Avyaan concluded as he checked his greying temples with despair getting to park where he wanted in the narrow dirt lot outside the compound wall
He parked his car and walked up the 5 steps on to the lobby of his building he could hear Toast bark in excitement
He opened the door and smiled
Toast scampered out and panted looking over the entryway, he could sense Samidha's scent on him. He thought she was here too
"What do u want? he asked absentmindedly walking into his apartment
The dog had gone to the edge of the lobby and was staring out
"Hey dude... he whistled
The dog walked back over to him
"Lets go for a run? he asked as the wind began whipping up, the trees in Lodi Garden swaying wildly indicating Delhi's famous dust storm or aandhi
The dog whined...
"Too windy? he asked hitting his apartment lights
They were staying over at Kunal Aihlawat's quarters at Cantt. Mrs Mitra absolutely did not allow any visitors or guests to stay over, especially of the male kind
She needed to be told when a PG was returning and that's about it
Shiv slept on Kunal's couch and she took Kunal's second bedroom, Kunal was married and she really liked his wife, she was out of town for work so Kunal worked late, he was working at Army HQ for a year on some training content
She changed into lounge pants and a cami and a shirt over it and applied moisturizer and thought to herself
"How must it be? To be SO MUCH in love that you hurt for 7 freaking years " Avyaan sounds like she has paralyzed him permanently... what is that kind of love? How is it different from my own for Bik?
Avyaan definitely had a swagger she realized
Bik never wore casual clothing, like he was obsessed with his uniform and formal clothes, she couldn't get him to wear the one pair of jeans he had
After work he usually wore Kurta pyjama, never shorts or tees
Her favorite combination on a man EVER was blue jeans and white teeshirt and Bik never wore it except once
"Hamey tum bematlab Bollywood actor bana rahi ho he complained
A self conscious heat spread all over her face as she visualized his legs in shorts that afternoon
Avyaan seemed like someone who had quit caring how he looked after the break up or he had an air of careless elegance
Sounded like he ran a lot, whenever she had connected in the last couple weeks she learned he had been "out for a run
He probably thinks about his ex when he runs, uninterrupted unobstructed, alone in charge
"I will be 30 soon I am too old for him anyway she concluded
Powerless😳
She unintentionally spent longer in front of the mirror Monday morning. Changed out of a kurta she was originally wearing into a peacock blue with pink embroidery, with a pink chudidar
"Uh...hmmm she sighed her shoulders slumping when she noticed she didn't have any curves up front
She turned sideways on the door mirror in Kunal's bathroom
"M...mmm nope "None in this view either
She applied eyeliner and glossed her lip with pink
"Ughhh that's an ugly color Shiv grumbled laying on his belly on HER bed the newspaper spread on the floor
"Oh good then... that means I look lovely she threw her wet towel on him
"Arent you goingt o work? he asked accusingly
"No... u clueless child I am dressing up to just stay home she mocked
"You are going to WORK? WHY did I come then? he sat up ready to fight
"WHY did u? "Why did you Shiv? "I mean my dear Shivooo"Lets talk about that she teased him as she sat in front of him wearing her new earrings she got on Sunday from GK
"Sam...
"I mean... u are jobless and college less and u will be sisterless today she laughed throatily
"SAMMM he was sulking
"Yenu
"Please hogabedi he said softly
"Ohhh nanna magoo she scooted forward and hugged him tight and smoothed his hair and inhaled his scent
"Sam... navu bangalurage hintirulagi (lets go back)
"Adu nanage kashta magoo (its hard baby)
"Ellavu badalagide (everything has changed) he wept
She struggled to hold back tears
She drove to work after dropping him off at the cant rec area, it had a bunch of choices, video games, pool, swimming pool, tennis courts and a giant theater
By noon she had racked her brains to find enough reasons to go back and see Avyaan
She wanted to... unexplainably
She dialed Shivu's number 5 times and disconnected, not knowing what she would say for why she was going to be late
Changing her mind and then changing it back again
"He probably wont care or mind because he is so in love with his ex, I am working on his restructuring so I am not lying, I DO ACTUALLY WANT that... that... Umm... that document
She sifted through the ten binders hoping she didn't have SOMETHING
She texted Shivu at 5 and took an auto to his house after emailing him "I wanted to see if you still had the Duty Exemption Plan document "I know some measures changed two years ago, but I wanted to see what was agreed upon when u began operations 7 years ago
She showed up in Jor Bagh at 6:37 PM
The guard refused to let her in because he "he wasn't informed of her arrival by the home owner
She paced the sidewalk a few minutes and decided to take an auto back to the Metro station
Headlights blinded her as his car slid to a stop
"Samidha? he was shocked
"Did u see my email? she asked
"umm.. NNNOO? he was more confused
"Its OK I wanted the Duty Exemption docs she couldn't sound even a wee bit convincing
He stepped out of the car
"Umm... OK... sure he let her lead the way
He hit the lights there was no power
Toast was delighted to see her he licked her forehand like crazy
"I am sorry about the power Avyaan tried to fish out a flashlight "I took it running last week and must have left it in my car
"We are supposed to have 24 hour back up power he laughed ironically
She inhaled the dark cool apartment and closed her eyes
"I can come back she offered politely
"No... hang on he promised wondering where he put his phone down so he could check with the guard
"Let me ask he said
"Don't leave me here she shrieked as Toast took ownership
"The guy is right outside Avyaan reassured confused as to why she was so terrified
"I don't want to be here with the dog she wailed
"Come here bud he called
Toast wouldn't budge
"I will leave... I can come back she inched backwards
"Samidhaaa he was impatient
He dragged the dog by his collar and left her in the apartment she realized he was disorganized and laid back, Bik would never be this way he would never misplace his keys or flashlight... but Bik never went running either... a whimper escaped her lips as she debated the foolishness of coming out to see him on the fly
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