Chapter 9

nolee3097

@nolee3097

Haven't proof read. Happy reading! 

Chapter 9

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But before she gives it another thought, her phone starts to ring. And it’s her classmate from college, Riddhi.

"Haan, Riddhi, bol, kaise yaad kiya" answered Raavi.

"Humara college ek fest host karne waala hai, aur kal se organisers and volunteers ke calls start honge, maine socha tujhe bata doon, tu toh pehle bhi Cultural Secretary reh chuke hai, iss baar bhi koi team lead kar le" replied Riddhi.

"Oh wow, kitna mazaa aayega, main definitely isse consider karoongi, kal milte hai, bye" ending the call, feeling upbeat in that moment, but coming back to the current quickly too.

"Chaley Dev?" asked Raavi awkwardly as he was waiting for her to finish the call. 

They are walking back home in silence and Raavi is already regretting refusing Shiva, although they would probably end up bickering about something on their way, but at least it wouldn’t be weird like, it was right now. 

"I know, tum Shiva ko mana kar ke regret kar rahi hai ho, kahan tumhe mere saath yeh awkward silence share karna padh raha" said Dev trying to break the ice.

"Aisi koi baat nahi, Dev" covered up Raavi quickly with a faint smile.

"Waise Raavi, tumhe ek baat bolu, please mujhe galat mat samajhna, ghar pe sab hi tere side pe hai, Shiva ne tere saath bohut galat kiya, yeh baat koi deny nahi kar raha, par mera bhai koshish kar raha hai apni galti sudhaar ne ka, khud ko badalne ka, pichle kuch dino maine yeh dekha hai, aur Shiva na kabhi bhi kisi ke liye badla nahi hai, aur mujhe nahi pata ki tum usse kabhi maaf kar paaogi yaa nahi, but at least usse apni galti sudhaarne ka mauka toh do, main tumhe force nahi karna chahta, tum jo bhi decision lo, woh tumhara apna hoga aur Shiva ko uski respect karni hogi, but mujhe laga as a friend mujhe tumhe yeh bolna chahiye, but maine jo bhi bola uske baare mein sochna zaroor, baaki tumhari marzi" said Dev cautiously trying to understand her reaction. When she didn’t respond to him, he sighed and decided he did his part for his brother.

"Aur haan agli baar Shiva ko leke aana yeh samaan rakhne ke liye, kyun ki mere toh haath dukhne lag gayi, itna bhaari bhoj asaani se sirf Shiva hi uthaa sakta hai" added Dev lightly, indirectly implying to her not to refuse Shiva the next time around.

She nodded that she would think about it and muttered a quick "thank you" to Dev and went inside.

——————At Hardik’s house—————

Raavi is busy cooking dinner for herself and Hardik Bhai, deep in thought about what Dev said. 

She thinks about Shiva in the last few days, he had not once asked her to return back home or told her to come back to him, instead he was just trying to help her out in numerous ways he could think of, giving her, her space, yet being there for her whenever he thought, she needs him. 

Shiva had always been someone who was very protective of his loved ones. He would die or kill for them if needed. Everything for him when it comes to his family was extreme. Raavi had always craved for someone to love her to the extreme and she always felt, she fell short of making that place in his life as he had chosen to blame her for everything that went wrong that dreaded day. He did not trust her enough and decided that she would do such an evil thing with his family. And that was the last straw for her. She had always thought, despite their fights and misunderstanding, their love for Pandya Pariwar was the constant. Shiva and her both loved his Bhabhi and looked upto her. But his blinded rage, at the time, did not let him see that. So, she had decided that she would never let anybody treat her that way, she would be independent for herself. Although, the last few days had totally put her decision into a complete dilemma, because of her Bhoothnath’s efforts. 

After an hour of pondering, she concluded she would give herself more time before thinking further. 

She conveniently distracted her mind to think about the fest about to happen in her college and started making plans for it.

—————————At Pandya Niwas—————

Shiva is sitting in the angaan thinking about all that happened today. How Raavi came rushing to him seeing him hurt, but at the same time, she refused to take his help. He is wondering about how to get through to Raavi, because he feels like she’s slowly stepping away.

He feels a hand on his shoulder and looks up to find Rishita.

"Kya baat hai Shiva, Raavi ke baare mein soch raha" she asked kindly.

"Bhabhi, woh mujhe samjah nahi aa raha, main koshish kar raha hoon, but woh har daur par mujhe apne se door kar rahi hai" holding his head, eyes closed, trying not to show his face.

"Dekh Shiva, simple hai, pehle jab tune Raavi ko divorce bheja tha, tune iss rishte se haar maan li thi, woh humesha khadi rahi datt ke, tum dono rishte ke liye, uss ne kabhi haar nahi maani, aur ab tum kaise haar maan sakte ho? 

Suno, jab pehle tumhe lagta tha Raavi ko gentleman type ke ladke pasand hai, jab woh tujhe jangli, janwar bulaati thi, tumhe bura lagta tha na, phir baad mein uss ne kahan ki tu jaisa hai waisa hi rahe, tab tune uski taraf kadam badana shuru kiya right?, waise hi tune bhi toh usse kitna kuch keh diya gusse mein, usse bhi toh yakeen hona chahiye na, ki tu uss pe bharosa karta hai, aur tu uss pe aage jaake koi ilzaam nahi lagayega, usse time chahiye Shiva, yeh yakeen hone ke liye” said Rishita maturely. 

"Pann bhabhi, uske liye Chipkali ko thoda toh meri taraf kadam badaane honge na, meri koshish ko dekhni padegi” said a subdued Shiva.

"Simple hai, jinse hum pyaar karte hai, sabse zyaada hum unse hi naraaz hote hai, sabse zyaada unki baaton se hurt hote hai, aur Raavi abhi bohut takleef main hai, usse bohut dukh hua hai yeh sab se, aur usse darr hai ki kahin woh phirse toot ke bhikar na jaaye, aur kya galat hai uss mein agar woh apne life pe, apne studies pe focus karna chahti hai toh, tumhe toh usse support karna chahiye na” countered Rishita.

"Mujhe toh lagta hai, woh bohut koshish kar rahi hai, ki woh apne life ko sudhaare, independent bane, kuch achieve kare, aur iss sab mein kuch bura toh nahi hai na” continued Rishita.

"Main maanta hoon Bhabhi, aur main uske iss decision se sehmat bhi hoon, par inn sab mein main kahan fit aata hoon” said a clearly frustrated Shiva.

"Of course tum fit aate hoon, agar fit nahi bhi aate ho, toh apne aap ko fit kar lo, ab mujhe hi dekhlo, maine apne pyaar ke khatir sab kuch chod ke aa gayi, ab main bhi toh iss pariwar mein fit aa gayi, haan uss ke liye maine bohut jhadge kiya, logon ko thoda bohut sunaya bhi, but ab permanently fit ho gayi na, apne haq ke liye ladna koi buri baat nahi hai, Shiva” said Rishita with a twinkle in her eye, seeming quite pleased with herself.

"Par Bhabhi, ab main kis haq se ladu, ab toh Raavi aur mera talaak bhi ho gaya hai, humara rishta khatam ho gaya hai” questioned Shiva feeling worse saying it out loud.

"Haan toh usse kya farak padta hai, rishta khatam hua hai, pyaar thodi na, uss haq se ladh lo” said Rishita cheerfully.

"Bohut kuch pehli baar karna padta hai Shiva, I know yeh tumhare liye difficult hai, yeh situation bohut alag hai, but sacche pyaar ke liye, pagalpan hona bohut zaroori hai, but tumhe usse apna space bhi dena hoga, along with it, uska saath bhi dena hoga, samjhe?” eyeing Shiva who was now looking a little less morose than before.

"Waise Bhabhi aap kabhi kabhi acchi advice de dete ho" teasingly said Shiva but grateful for her.

"Eh Main humesha accha advice hi deti hoon samjha? Mere baat samajh kar toh dekho, tumhaari life sort ho jaayegi" said Rishita hitting him in his arm playfully.

“Ek baat toh hai, tu aur main itne bhi alag nahi hai, hum thode impulsively cheezein karte hai, kabhi kabhi bina soche samjhe bolte hai, haaina?” she asked.

“Shayad issi liye aap jo bol rahe ho woh mujhe samjah aa raha hai, kyunki Dev mujhe kabhi samjha nahi pata yeh sab” said Shiva casually.

“Dev!? Dev toh mujhe nahi samjhta tumhe kya samjhaayega” rolling her eyes, Rishita said making Shiva laugh.

“Thank you Bhabhi, mann thoda halka feel ho raha” said Shiva, thankful for her.

“Chal good night, don’t worry, kuch sochenge hum iss baare mein” reassured Rishita.

To be continued…..

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No cliff hangers, because I don’t know which way am going in the next chapter :D

I also thought Shiva-Rishita bond had a lot of potential which the show never really explored. They are so different, yet so similar as characters which is why it’s fun to play around with them. Let me know what you guys think.