Anushka:
It is quite late in the evening. I have been working in Sidhanth's house the whole day, with Prabhakar Uncle. In between, I go to the washroom in Sidhanth's room to freshen up. I come out and is drawn to his room, his belongings. Every single thing there screams a story about him. I touch one carelessly kept mug and gently place it away from harm's way. I stare at his motivation wall. And there in the corner I see the sandook- the Treasure Chest that holds a lot of memories from our past. He had always kept it out of bounds for me. I am all excited to know what I would find there now.
From behind I hear his voice announcing that I have been caught in the act. He declares the sandook would have nothing of mine and he would never keep anything of mine. Ouch! And here I had been cherishing our memories. I walk away, only to remember in a while that I have left my ring in his washroom.
I return to search for my ring. It is nowhere to be found!
I face him, and see him clenching his hands. Most certainly, the ring is there. And I remember him telling me once before, if I kept losing my stuff, one day he would stop picking after me and keep my things to himself. I had managed to snatch it away back then. Today, I don't want to. It slowly dawns on me that I badly want him to have a piece of me...though it surprises me pleasantly that he would want to. He must feel it too. Deep down, we are still attracted to each other. He seemed to acknowledge it silently.
I leave...with hope for a future to our friendship.
The next morning, I am seeing my parents off to the temple when Amma comments on my missing ring. She points out I haven't lost it in the six years I was at US, but the moment I returned to India...
What do I tell you, Maa? Why would my ring get lost when the one who would find it and keep it for me is not around? It is a good feeling. A little unnerving too... Where's this going? Fact is, while I had learned to be on my guard every moment out there when I was alone, I am beginning to loosen up these days. Forget ignoring someone, some corner of me seems to be constantly searching for him!
And why search, when he has uploaded a promised picture on his FB? This must be a sign.
It is a beautiful morning.
...With a twist... I walk into the office, and there on my table sits my ring... like a little orphan. Apparently, someone was not interested in keep-sakes.
I muse about this for a while, I look for him and catch him having a conversation with Kartik. Well, since he is obviously not interested in me much, I decide to shift my energies elsewhere.
I catch him sneaking into my room and question him about the ring. He is evasive, I leave it at that.
As I keep repeating and forgetting...It is not meant to be.
Sidhanth:
A long day at the office, I come home to see my old man at work, offer him help, get refused and retire to my sanctuary and whom do I catch there?
Unbelievable!
She is there...going through my things. She goes about discovering things about me, like a little girl on an exploration. I enjoy watching her...until she moves towards my sandook. Now, that is a very private corner. It holds a lot many of my secrets and she would always want a sneak peek at it. I call out to her and she is obviously embarrassed and scoots off!
A while later, I am in the washroom- clutching one forgotten ring, remembering another precious moment. She is back to retrieve it, but by now I want her to play. I badly want us to be the old Sidhanth and Anushka.
She must know I have it, and that I am daring her to come and get it. It is like old times suddenly, but she stops. She simply seems bewildered. Perhaps she doesn't remember or she doesn't care. I should be elated that I won...
The next morning, I am haunted by her memories again. The ring tempts me- I toss it in my treasure chest as a trophy and her keep-sake and also because the sight of it tortures me. I try to focus my thoughts when accidentally my cup falls and breaks. I am suddenly reminded of how carefully she had moved it back the previous night, as if she knew I would end up breaking it in my carelessness. Too much of Anushka for one morning, for sure!
I have this uneasy feeling in my chest, I know I am getting involved too much. The ring has to go. She cannot fill my thoughts like this!
I do manage to get it back to her, dropping it at her desk. I try to avoid her as much as possible, since I expect an interrogation. Finally, I get caught in her cabin. She mocks at me, but I manage to wiggle out.
That's it. I cannot afford to let her affect me like this.
PS: The Security at the Reddy Corporation doesn't seem to give up. He is so sincere about his work, even Sid has to oblige. Would he be able to put the excellent record keeping habit to good use to crack the airlines case? I wonder if very soon we'll see the couple getting together, to solve the case.
Itti Si Khushi Sab TV
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
