Ranbir sat thoughtfully in the car, impatiently drumming his fingers on the steering wheel whilst recalling his phone conversation with prachi, contemplating whether a drop-in to her house would be sound action given even with a headache, she was still very much capable of giving him a headache with her repetitious nagging.
Ranbir sat weighing the pros and cons out in his head for some seconds, till he shrugged his shoulders saying "Aaaah, what the heck!"
Prachi sat holding her head after shoving her phone away in annoyance. "This paagal ranbir just made my headache worse. Fantastic!" , she said with irritable sarcasm. Prachi with caution got up from the bed, feeling her head getting heavier and headed to look for the oil. As she made her way into the living room to go to her mother's room, the doorbell rang, followed by sharp and rapid knocks at the door. Prachi became alert, finding the urgency in this visitor's knocking suspicious. She went to the kitchen, attending to the door whilst discretely wielding a weighty rolling pin tucked behind her left side. She slowly opened the door to take sight of who was there. Seeing ranbir, she squint her eyes, both in confusion and strain caused by the increasing pain in her head having migrated to her temples.
As prachi opened up the door completely, Ranbir, whose jovial expressions at seeing Prachi quickly turned to concern, as he took in the sight of her strained and blood-shot eyes, her head tilted to the side towards her shoulder as if she wasn't even able to carry the weight of her own head.
"Wow, you really aren't well." Ranbir said, with his voice laced with concern. Without thinking he stepped forward towards her to take her arm to provide support, then stopped in his track when she spoke... "Did you really just come here to check whether I really did have a headache because you thought I was looking for excuses to skip college today?" She said with annoyance. Ranbir felt dumbfounded. His concern turned to irritation.
"Ummm, no! Why do you always feel the need to think negatively about me? I'll have you know I came here because you said you were home alone and had a headache. I only wanted to come to check on you to see if you were maybe more sick than you were saying, but instead you think I'm here to confirm whether you are feeling unwell for real. Ugggh, stop thinking of me as a villain all the time. I am a nice person you know". Ranbir frowned, upset and offended that Prachi never seems to view anything he does in a positive light.
Prachi stopped and thought for a second. "You came here because you were worried about my health? Why?" Her mouth dropped slightly open. She looked at him with both surprise and skepticism.
Ranbir gulped down a breath in nervousness. That's a question Ranbir had been asking himself on the drive here. Why was he so concerned about prachi's health? Why was he disappointed when he went to college and couldn't find her anywhere, or when he asked college mates about her attendance and everyone failed to give him any information on prachi? Why had he been looking for her at all in the first place?
"Because that's what nice people do? They show concern for people. My parents taught me well." Ranbir said with pride. He slightly released a small sigh of relief at his own reasoning.
Prachi stood silently and thought about it, but then felt a sharp pain in her head, dropping the rolling pin out of her hand. Suddenly prachi felt one hand on her back and another under her elbow. It was Ranbir, who had caught hold of her. She hadn't realised that she had stumbled backwards. She looked up at his eyes. His eyes were fixated on her. Worry lines painting his forehead.
"Ok please no more arguing with me. Look at you, you're not even able to stand properly. Here come sit down". Prachi was about to say something, but stopped at ranbir's concerned expressions. She let him lead her to the sofa after he closed the door with the one hand that had just been cupping her elbow.
Ranbir was conscious of the fact that his hand was now cupping her hip. He put her down to sit on the sofa and gulped, overwhelmed by the proximity and touch to her. Ranbir realised he never felt this physically conscious around any girl apart from prachi. And it was not the first time he had felt this sensation. He recalled the time he dropped prachi off home and he caught her as she almost fell on the steps of her house. He felt an odd tingling sensation across his chest, arms, shoulders and in his hands even then and now when prachi was so close to him, as if her proximity felt pleasurable to him. Prachi looked up at him through her hair, confused and slightly delighted by his concern for her.
Prachi's voice snapped ranbir out of his thoughts. "Ummm, thanks. I guess my headache is only getting worse".
Ranbir shook his head, bringing himself back to the present. He took his place beside her on the sofa. "Should I get you painkillers and water?" Ranbir, now very much conscience yet comfortable with the physical proximity to her, yet not caring stretched his arm behind her back and cupped her other shoulder to comfort her. Prachi looked at his hand on her shoulder, which ranbir noticed and ignored, as her complaints calling him a flirt and everything would be secondary right now to her health.
"Uhhhh, no thanks. That usually doesn't help me. If my mother was here, usually she gives me head massages with oil until the headache lessened, and only then would give me painkillers, but she isn't here....", prachi said glumly.
Ranbir couldn't help but smile, seeing prachi pout like a little child. "Mumma's girl!", he thought, enjoying prachi's pouting. Ranbir looked at her face intently, thinking she looked so cute and innocent in this moment. Ranbir found prachi's love and adulation for her mother very heart-warming. One thing he gathered of prachi was that her whole world revolved around her mother, that the softness and warmth in her voice and face when she spoke of her mother made him sense that the love and respect prachi has for her mother was something other people do not have for their parents. This was one thing he felt was very admirable about prachi, that she has a high amount of respect for elders. No wonder, he thought, that prachi was so well-loved and respected by all the elders he knew, and was even trusted by the likes of his parents and his chucks more than they did their own children.
Ranbir gently rubbed prachi's shoulders, but stopped when he saw the look on prachi's face. Don't over-step your limits Ranbir.... She'll have your head off, he thought to himself. Ranbir removed him hands and arms from prachi. As he was about to speak, his eyes caught the rolling pin on the floor. He recalled it dropping out of prachi's hands when she started getting dizzy. He looked back at prachi disapprovingly.
"Are you serious? You have a headache so can't go to college, yet you have enough energy to make rotis?" Ranbir rolled his eyes at prachi.
Prachi, at first confused, saw ranbir eyeing the rolling pin on the floor. Realising what he meant, prachi began laughing. Ranbir smiled, one eyebrow cocked up in confusion at prachi's giggling. "No! You scared me with how you were knocking like a madman at the door, so just in case I took the rolling pin with me to open the door". Prachi continued laughing in amusement. Ranbir laughed nervously, thinking of how he was so urgently wanting to see prachi today.
"Magar tumse kya khatra ho sakta hai mujhe? Tumhe dekh ke nahi lagta ke tum ek makki kho bhi maar sakte ho." As prachi continued giggling, Ranbir looked at her smugly, recalling the incident he blindfolded prachi and beat the goons who were teasing prachi, only to let prachi believe she beat the goons. She hasn't got a clue what I'm capable of, he thought bemusedly.
"Anyways, now that you know there's no dangerous dacoit at your door, and instead your one and only handsome college ka muda Ranbir, relax and lets deal with this headache of yours, OK?"
"You mean you're going to look after me today?" Prachi asked with surprise mixed with a little gratitude at his genuine concern.
"Well I don't see anybody else here, and neither your mother. So you can't just sit at home all dizzy when there's nobody here with you. What if you fell dizzy and injured yourself with nobody around to help you?", Ranbir shook his head in concern.
"Ok, but you're not a doctor so I don't see how you could help me. Only my mother can". Prachi again went back to her pouting.
Ranbir felt awkward, thinking about prachi's reaction to his forthcoming suggestion. "Well I'm not a doctor, but since I was a kid, whenever my grandmother had headaches she would ask me sweetly to give her a head massage. At first I used to squeeze too hard and she would scold me, but I learnt, and now I give good head massages to her all the time. Soooo, I guess if you let me I could give you a head massage, and that too with oil if it makes you better then later you can have the painkiller?"
Ranbir inspected Prachi's face for any signs of anger. You never know with prachi, if she got angry at him for even him asking to help her, but he also thought why he wanted prachi so badly to permit him. She fell silent and awkward, at first, but then nodded her head in agreement. Ranbir tried to hide his surprise at her agreement. He was just happy she agreed. Again. He wondered why?
Prachi directed and instructed him where to find the oil. As he came back with the bottle of oil, he went and stood behind the sofa, taking oil in his hand to spread along his fingers, then began rubbing her head. Things were incredibly silent, but Ranbir liked it in an odd way. It was the opposite to how things usually were with him and prachi. There was never this much peace and silence around him and Prachi given the amount of bickering they always did when they were together. This was nice, he thought.
As he looked up, he saw a mirror on the opposite wall. Ranbir, after seeing what he saw in the mirror felt almost breathless. Prachi, sat peacefully with her eyes shut, enjoying his touch. A slight smile on her face. She was at complete peace and comfort with his touch. And that made him feel a joy he had never felt. Her face, now painted with serenity and bliss with each touch of his filled his body with warmth. As he massaged her head, he kept his eyes fixated on the image of her in the wall mirror, looking at her reaction to each touch of his. She was enjoying his touch. It was undeniable. He had never seen prachi this comfortable with him, and it gave him a pleasure that flirting with any girl had never given him. All of a sudden "Ow!", she exclaimed, and her hand flew to his hand that was on her head. That bizarrely felt so good to him, to feel her hand touch his. What was happening to him, he thought with awkwardness.
"Ranbir you pulled my hair." Ranbir looked at her face in the mirror, disappointed to see the pleasure on her face disappeared.
"Sorry Prachi!" He quickly tried to go back to massaging her head gently, wanting desperately to see that look of peace and pleasure his touch was giving her back on to her face. He smiled in victory, as the smile reappeared. Confident, he decided to tease her a little. He ducked down, close to her ears, breathing lightly on her earlobe, sending a pleasurable chill down her neck.
"Does that feel good now?" He smiled devilishly and cutely.
"Yeah!" She said mindlessly. He looked back up at the mirror on the opposite wall to see her expressions. She looked so beautiful! Ranbir also spotted his own face in the mirror turning pink. I'm blushing? he thought. Ranbir realised that more than prachi getting the massage, he was enjoying giving her a massage. He was actually enjoying touching her and being close to her. Ranbir was shocked by this realisation. Suddenly there was a noise at the door.
It was shahana, as she came in through the door, her eyes opened wide in surpise seeing what clearly looked like ranbir giving prachi a head massage. Ranbir saw a small glimpse in the mirror momentarily, prachi was fine, but it was he who looked self-conscious and awkward.
Shahana's mouth dropped open in surprise, then turned into a smug grin as her eyebrows danced questionably in his and prachi's direction at their visible proximity.
Prachi began to get up, ranbir's hands sliding off the back of her head. Ranbir felt disappointed and awkward altogether, as prachi went to shahana, but then shanana's eyes were fixated teasingly at him.
"Ranbir??? What are you doing here? And were you just massaging prachi's head?"
Ranbir was awkward and dumbfounded, he didn't know what to say. He looked towards prachi to see her reaction. And then she spoke, "I had a bad headache. Ranbir called me to ask me why I wasn't in college and I told him I had a headache. He showed up here later, and thankfully at the right time, as I became dizzy and lost balance".
Ranbir was surprised and happy to hear prachi voicing gratitude at ranbir's arrival. She then turned around to him and told him thanks.
"I guess I'm no longer home alone so you don't need to bother yourself with looking after me. Thanks for this. Really, it was nice and unexpected of you. If the situation ever arises, I'll repay you with a head massage". Prachi smiled the cutest smile at ranbir. A smile that knocked the breath out of him. He then awkwardly looked away when he spotted shahana looking at his expressions.
"Ummm no problem. I guess I'll be on my way out. Hey shahana, look after your sister properly. I think she might still be dizzy". He quickly and awkwardly rushed out, only briefly stopping on the way out to smile at prachi, to get one good glimpse of her.
As Ranbir finally got in his car, the entire scene flashed back in his mind. Then he said loudly in the confinement of his car to himself "What was THAT?" He then sat back, breathing heavily as he smiled at the situation.
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