Part 1
Anubhav paced the length of the hall for the umpteenth time. His eyes fixed on the door, he let out an exasperated sigh. His gaze momentarily floated to the wall clock behind him. It was now 9 o’clock - 4 hours past the time she was supposed to be home.
“Maine kaha tha aap se bade papa, yeh ladki sar dard hai sar dard!” He repeated, annoyed at his wife’s ever growing capacity to be careless.
“Gair Zimmedari ki bhi hadd hoti hai!” he continued
The entire family was gathered in the hall. All gazing at the door expectantly, as if by their sheer will they could get Gungun to waltz into the house. At first, they thought she had simply been delayed. She had been working extremely hard for her exams and it was her day off, so she must have gotten carried away enjoying. But soon, 30 minutes had turned into an hour, and an hour into 4, and she still hadn’t shown up.
“Anu, usse phirse phone laga na” His father urged
“Kya fayda papa? Jo pichle 4 ghante se aaraha wahi aayega… not reachable!” Anubhav huffed
“Mujhe toh ab chinta hone lagi hai uski, kahi kuch bu-” But before Goli bua could complete her sentence she was interrupted by Anubhav.
“Kuch nahi hua hoga, bas laparvah hai woh. Phone band karke kar rahi hogi apne ajeeb doston ke saath mattar gashti” Anubhav retorted.
However, what everyone missed was the soft mutter that followed his bitter retort “kuch nahi hua hoga, theek hogi woh” Anubhav had repeated under his breath as a form of consolation.
“Bas karo Anu, itna gussa thik nahi hai!” His mother reasoned as she placed a hand on his shoulder, effectively halting his restless pacing.
Anubhav looked at his mother rather defeated. His entire angry demeanour seemed to shatter under her touch. Why did his wife have to be such a task? Was a phone call too much to ask for? He has been worried sick for the last four hours, his mind plagued with terrible possibilities, and gut wrenching conclusions. Why couldn’t she at the very least leave a message?
Anubhav’s gaze left the door and lingered on his phone that lay silent on the dining table. He bore holes into his phone screen, as if by will it would ring.
Fortunately for him, it seemed like the universe finally took some pity, and decided to put an end to his misery. His phone rang alive, Gungun’s name, or rather the nickname he had given her flashing on his phone screen.
Anubhav was quick to lunge for his phone, hastily answering it. He was going to give ‘Ms talk to my hand’ a piece of his mind today!
“Hello? Kahan ho tum? Hum sab kab se tumhare liye pareshan hai? Tumhe koi idea bhi-” His lecture was cut short by Gungun’s voice on the other end.
“An..Anubh..Anubhav”
Anubhav instantly frowned.
Something about her voice did not sit right with him. He could hear heavy breathing on the other side, she was panting - breathless, like she had run a marathon. And what had she called him? Anubhav? She never called him by his name, it was always some weird nickname… something was definitely wrong.
“Gungun, tum theek ho?”
His frown only deepened when he was greeted with silence as an answer. Anubhav’s heart plummeted as the plaguing thoughts came rushing back, flooding his mind and resuming their torment.
“Hello? Gungun? Kya tumhe meri awaaz sunai de rahi hai?” Anubhav asked frantically.
He could hear shuffling, or was that a muffled sob? Was she crying?
“Gungun? Gungun, can you hear me?” The world seemed to stop around him as he waited for an answer. He begged internally, for her to say something, say anything. Instead, the line went dead.
It was like all the air had been knocked out from his chest. Anubhav felt suffocated, it was like he couldn’t breathe anymore. The world around him seemed to spin, a mix of voices filling the air, but the only one that swirled in his head was hers. It was not only the fact that she had taken his name, but it was the way she had taken it that made his heart go wild with worry.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see badi ma looking at him concerned. She seemed to be saying something but he couldn’t really hear her. His gaze drifted to Chavvi who stared back at him with worry, her lips too were moving, like she was talking, but nothing reached his ears.
He was finally snapped out of his stupor by the vigorous shaking of his arm by his Chacha.
“Huh..ha” Anubhav said finally coming out his thoughts
“Arey kya hua? Hum kab se puche jaa rahe hai!” Badi ma said
But Anubhav was in no state to answer, the only thing he kept hearing was her voice, and he knew he had to find her. He had to reach her. He didn’t know where to go, or how he would find her. But he knew he had to… and so he ran.
***
I'm not much of a writer, but I hope you guys liked this! Would love to hear your views, good and bad, so please do comment!
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