Chapter 12

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@nolee3097

Hey all! I am back with another chapter! Happy Reading!

Chapter 12

——————At Hardik’s house————

Raavi is seen standing awkwardly looking at Shiva, expecting him to explode in anger at the sight he just witnessed. Shiva just looked at her as if he wasn’t sure how should he react. His mind was clouding with images of him punching the guy in the nose, but then he remembered the last time he had beaten up Raavi’s friends and how that had turned out. He couldn’t afford to lose her again, just because of his inability to see some guy stand and dance with her. Mustering up all the willpower that Shiva had in him, he walked down the stairs, trying his best not to let slip any reaction whatsoever, keeping the boxes aside and saying "Woh actually Krish ne kaha tha, usse college fest ke liye kuch khaane ke cheeze chahiye, woh laane ke liye, main—" trying to explain as to why he was there while maintaining his steely gaze on Raavi and the guy.

"Arrey Shiva, tu yahan? popped up Krish, interrupting mid way.

"Tune hi toh yeh saara samaan laane ko bola tha, mujhe laga tum log college mein rahoge iss time" said Shiva flaring up, wondering why are they not in college studying or doing something other than this, glancing at Raavi for a minute second as if trying to figure out what the hell was going on here.

"Haan woh humein fest ka prep karna tha, bas ek minute, main box leke aata hoon, yeh sab rakhne ke liye" said Krish and rushed off leaving the three of them to stand there awkwardly.

Raavi is puzzled to see Shiva acting oddly normal after catching them in such an awkward dance pose, thinking "Waise toh har choti badi baat pe, bhadak jaata hai, aur abhi itna shanth kaise khada hai yeh Bhoothnath". 

Before she could continue her train of thought, Shiva casually made his way towards them and as he inched closer, Raavi closed her eyes in anticipation of what he might do.

"Raavi?" she heard him say softly. "Humein introduce nahi karaogi? Chalo koi nahi main khud hi apne intro karta hoon" he said clearly looking like he’s upto something.

Holding his hand out to Sameer, he said "Hi I am Shiva, main Raavi kaa—" knowingly looking at Raavi’s horrified reaction.

"Yeh mera, mere mausapa ka bhanja hai", she interrupted, looking at him to gauge his reaction, "Krish ka bhai" she added.

"Hi I am Sameer, main Raavi ka partner, dance partner" added Sameer cordially offering his hand.

"Accha! Waise meri Chip— I mean, waise Raavi bohut hi accha dance karti hai, so lucky you" while holding his hand a little too hard than one would normally, trying his best to maintain a poker face.

"Wah re wah Shiva, yahan tu Sameer ke saath hath mila raha, mujhe toh laga tu uska haath tod—"

"Mera matlab hai, tu haath jodega, you know like Namaste" trying to cover up said Krish, mentally facepalming himself while both Raavi and Shiva glare at him. 

"Anyway, mujhe chalna chahiye hum next kab rehearse karenge, kal college main decide karte hai, Kirti tu bhi chalegi?" said Sameer unaware of the storm that seemed to have been brewing around him.

"Nahi main woh Raavi Di aur Krish ko yeh wrap up karne mein help kar deti hoon, phir Krish mujhe chod dega, you carry on, arrey haan kuch posters mein room mein bhool gayi, leke aati hoon" she rushed into the room.

"Main tumhe bahar tak chodke aata hoon" said Krish leading the way to Sameer while Shiva is still eyeing him suspiciously.

Meanwhile, Raavi is about to walk to get some posters and she doesn’t notice some pencils scattered on the floor and her foot slipped and she was about to fall when Shiva catches her in the nick of time and they share an eyelock. 

"Ehh Chipkali, aankhen hai ya button, dekhe nahi chal sakti" said Shiva with concern and a tinge of anger, steadying her back while she continued to look at him.

"Apne partner ko bolna tujhe dhyan se sambhaale dance karte waqt" he added scornfully, "humesha girti padti rehti hai, chot toh nahi lagi na, baith idhar" concern washing over the scorn. He was clearly annoyed but masked it well, dragging her to sofa, making her sit and checking her feet for any bruises.

"Woh partner nahi hai, dance partner hai, mera toh woh dost bhi nahi, Kirti aur baaki log ne insist kiya ki main duet bhi karoon, aur iss liye mujhe Sameer ke saath pair up kar diya, main toh usse jaanti bhi nahi—" desperately trying to explain to Shiva that there’s nothing between her and Sameer. 

Shiva looked at her innocent, cute little face and sighed at her attempt of clarifying. She didn’t have to say something, he was just angry with himself and trying hard not to make a scene and escalate things unnecessarily.

"Tu mujhe itna explanation kyun de rahi hai, tu apne college ke events mein participate kar rahi hai, yeh toh acchi baat hai na, aur tujhe dance karna bhi pasand hai, toh acche se enjoy kar" added Shiva giving her a smile, trying hard not to implode. 

He continued to smile at her saying "Waise, tujhe bohut din baad aise khush dekha dance kaarte hue, accha laga". 

She couldn’t believe her ears and says,

"Heyy Somnath, yeh Bhoothnath ko kya ho gaya hai, itni suljhi hui baatein karne laga hai, kal toh bada mere Dev ke saath jaane pe chid raha tha, aur aaj kuch bhi nahi" not realising she said it all loud.

"Main tere Dev ke saath jaane pe nahi chid raha tha, main tu mere saath naa jaane pe chid raha tha" said Shiva softly, looking at her earnestly. His intenze gaze lingering onto her awestruck face. 

On seeing Krish enter the premise back, she quickly broke off their eyelock and got up saying,

"Chalo Krish yeh sab sameth lete hai, kal college jaldi bhi jaana hai, aur posters bhi lagwaane hai"

starting to gather all the things scattered around.

"Tera pair theek hai Chipkali?" asked Shiva still concerned.

"Krish maine pakode banaye the, Dhara di ko pasand hai na, unke liye leke jaa" she said ignoring Shiva’s question, annoyed to see him be so normal and calm and not having any reaction to whatever just happened. She wondered shouldn’t she be happy, he didn’t react badly, but here she was, feeling bad that Shiva didn’t get upset or angry. Almost as if it didn’t matter to him, she glanced at him, he looked unfazed, as she headed out to get the pakodas packed, into the kitchen. 

The minute she was out of sight, Shiva dragged Krish by his neck and pulled him aside,

"Ehh half ticket, kidhar jaa raha hai, Pehle Yeh bata, yeh Somnath ka sasta Hrithik Roshan kaun hai, aur tune mujhe iske baare mein kyun nahi bataya" questioned Shiva back in his own rowdy avatar.

"Hrithik Roshan?" asked Krish clueless to what Shiva was blabbering about.

"Wahi Sameer, jo Chipkali ke saath aise chipak ke naach raha tha" Shiva said, looking like he was losing his patience any minute.

"Ooooh woh, ek min ek min kuch time pehle toh tu ek dum cool dude ki tarah behave kar raha tha, ab kya ho gaya, ab aaya naa line pe" said Krish smartly.

"Zyaada bola na, toh tujhe kue mein ulta latka doongi, ab bhonkega bhi, ki yeh kahan se tapak pada" persisted Shiva demanding for an answer, while holding his face and shaking him up.

"Mujhe kya pata, jab main yahan aaya mujhe bhi tabhi pata chala, aur tu toh aise pretend kar raha tha ki jaisi kuch hua hi nahi, but ab dekho kaise jealous ho raha" said Krish both scared and teasingly.

"Main jealous?" said Shiva all ready to contradict Krish but ends up admitting, "Haan toh kyun nahi honga, woh kisi anjaan ke saath chipak ke dance kar rahi thi, aur main kya party karoon, gadedha" surprising both himself and Krish.

"Agar tujhe itna hi bura laga toh Raavi bhabhi ko directly kyun nahi bolta ki tujhe problem hai unke dance partner ke saath" said Krish wisely.

"Dekh Krish, aaj bohut dino baad, Chipkali itna khush lag rahi thi, main uss moment ko kaise spoil kar sakta tha, aur mujhe Raavi ka uske saath dance karne se problem nahi hai, mujhe Raavi pe poora bharosa hai, par main bas yeh jaane ki koshish kar raha hoon, ki yeh Sameer pe bharosa kar sakte hai ki nahi, kyun ki agar iss ne meri Chipkali ko cheda, toh dekh main iska kya haal karta hoon" he stated angrily, unaware that somebody had listened to every word of what they spoke about and was in complete glee about it. Krish gulped, feeling fear for Sameer suddenly. 

"Tu iske baare mein pata laga aur mujhe bata, samjha? Gadhedha!" ordered Shiva to Krish, giving him a tapli on his head and letting him off.

Raavi was seen staring at Shiva in awe and all her inhibitions about him, his anger and what he must’ve thought of her and Sameer went flying out the window and his words "Mujhe Raavi pe poora bharosa hai" kept ringing in her head, making her heart flutter a little. All Raavi had wanted from Shiva was trust, something he had never seemed to have exhibited in the past due to various circumstances and people, mainly due to the fact that Raavi was related to Maami. And today, despite the odds and the equation that they shared, he had finally come through.

She thought about his words "kyun ki agar iss ne meri Chipkali ko cheda, toh dekh main iska kya haal karta hoon" and realised she was annoyed for no reason, he did care about her, he just didn’t wanna upset her by showing it. She thinks, "Lagta hai mera waala gunda wapas aa gaya hai" and smiles.

Bursting out of her bubble, she pretended like she didn’t hear anything, came calling out to Krish and handed him the tiffin and said loudly, "Iss mein ek dabbe mein maine baingan ke pakode nahi daale, agar koi aur bhi ghar mein khaana chahta ho toh" slyly indicating to Shiva and eyeing him from the corner of her eye.

Shiva wondered if he had heard it right and seen her point out that one dabba was for him.

"Shiva, Gaumbi ko bata dega, aap tension mat lo, aap yeh dabbe Shiva ko de do, mujhe pehle Kirti ko ghar chodna hai" said Krish innocently thinking Raavi meant it was for Gaumbi who hated baingan too.

"Chal Kirti" he called out to her as she came out with more posters and they both left.

Shiva also takes a cue to follow them but stops midway and turns back at Raavi who is looking at him expectantly. He says "Woh… woh… auditions ke liye all the best, dhyaan se rehearse karna, jab dekho girti padti rehti hai" and not expecting her to answer back, sets off to leave when she says,

"Rehearsal yaha ghar pe hi hone waale hai waise bhi, aur main apna dhyaan rakh loongi, agar nahi rakh paayi, toh log honge, mera dhyaan rakhne ke liye" she added cheekily with a smile on her face leaving him dazed and confused as always.

——————At Pandya Niwas————

As soon as he entered Pandya Niwas, he called out to Dhara, sounding very cheerful, "Bhabhi yeh lo, Raavi ne aap ke liye pakode bheje hai", handing her one dabba.

"Raavi ne bheje? Aur tujhe diye mujhe dene ke liye?" shocked, said Dhara.

"Nahi Bhabhi woh toh Krish ko de rahi thi, pann Krish woh Kir—, mera matlab hai, Krish ko kuch kaam tha, toh uss ne mujhe de diya" explained Shiva with a twinkle in his eye.

"Kya baat hai Shiva, aaj tu bohut dino baad, khush nazar aa raha hai, chal khaana laga deti hoon" said Dhara gently.

"Nahi bhabhi, mujhe bhook nahi, main baad mein bhook lagi toh khaa loonga" said Shiva, hiding the other dabba from her and running off to the terrace. 

Relishing the pakodas on the terrace, looking at the moon, he thinks how much he had missed eating the food she used to make. Savouring the last bits, he wonders if he should text her and tell her how much he enjoyed them. Making up his mind, he clicks on her contact about to message her and mistakenly video calls her.

To be continued…..

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Will Raavi pick up? Will Shiva manage to disconnect the call before she does?

Well it’s been all about Shiva and his will try and get a hold of his emotions, mostly his anger. I feel like his patience is being really tested and I often wonder how long would he able to sustain it  Let me know what you guys think! Cheers!