Chapter 10

Ananya Banerjee

@ananya269

Part 9

Raavi couldn’t sleep the whole night. She kept tossing and turning thinking about why Shiva had cut the call. Was his phone dead? He should have charged his phone and called her back again then. Or was he mad when she said she wouldn’t go to Pandya house? Or was he annoyed by her? He couldn’t be annoyed of her. It had to be the second one. 

It’s not like she didn’t want to go to Pandya house to see him. She was just scared. It was her dream to become a Pandya and move into that house. Now that her dream was broken, she was scared that she might again go into depression stepping inside the house. Maybe seeing Dev could be a trigger too. These last two days had been kinda perfect for her and she didn’t want anything to ruin it. But her days were perfect only because of Shiva. Not seeing him would be worse than anything else. She was too used to Shiva now because they spend their days together. Raavi called Dhara twice more that night asking about Shiva’s leg. She said Shiva was sleeping and Raavi was relieved. 

The next day Raavi got up really early. She tried calling Shiva again but his phone was switched off. Why did he have to be such a bhootnath? She was pacing around the room, restless. Raavi called Dhara again to see how Shiva was doing. She told her he was sleeping. That’s when she lost her temper. She was going crazy worrying about him, and he was sleeping peacefully. 

Raavi quickly got into the shower, changed into a red dress and left for Pandya house. When she reached, she stood in front of the house for ten minutes. It felt as if she hadn’t visited it for an eternity. If only Shiva was here, she could have held his hand and entered. Where was her support when she needed him? He was inside. If anything happened to her, she knew he would be there for her. She could easily hug him and all the troubles would disappear. She needed to be with him. He was in pain. 

Raavi took a long breath, mustering all her courage and she stepped inside. The first people she saw inside were Dev and Dhara. Raavi waiting for her old feelings to come bubbling up, the resentment, the anger, the embarrassment, but nothing came. She only wanted to see Shiva. Dev didn’t even cross her mind once. Dhara looked worried about Raavi and Dev coming face to face. Dev had the same guilty look on his face as he had the day he came to apologise to her. 

“Raavi tu-“ Dhara was scared to imagine what Raavi might do. 

“Dhara di main Shiva se milne aayi hu.”

Dhara looked shocked for a minute. Then her expression changed to relief and she smiled. She told him Shiva was in bed. Raavi smiled at both Dhara and Dev and left to check on Shiva. She wanted to jump in joy because she didn’t feel sad or embarrassed. After all this pain, she was feeling fine once again. She was proud of herself. It was all because of Shiva. Raavi found him sleeping on his cot peacefully. She went and hugged him tightly. Shiva woke up with a start and found Raavi hugging him. 

“Ae chipkali, kya kar rahi hai? Koi dekh lega.”

“Dekhne de.”

Raavi planted a kiss on his cheek. Shiva was looking at her shocked but she chucked. She had finally healed because of him. Shiva finally sat up. Raavi remembered why she was here and checked his bruise. The swelling had reduced but only a little. It would take time to heal completely, and now that she was fine, she could play nurse for him. 

“Tu toh bol rahi thi tu nahi aayegi.”

This reminded her of last night when he’d cut her call. “Tu meri chorr, tune mera phone kaise kata? Itna gussa kyu? Ek baar pyaar se bolta ‘Raavi aa jaa. Main tujhe bohot miss kar raha hu.’ Main chali aati.” Raavi said. 

“Ae maami ki behen ki beti, sapne dekhna chorr de. Main tujhe koi miss wiss nahi kar raha tha.”

“Par main toh aa gayi. Ab saradin tera khyaal rakhungi. Jaa jaake fresh hoke aa, main breakfast le aati hu.” Raavi was about to leave but Shiva held her hand. 

“Dev ka kya?” Shiva asked. 

“Dev ka kuch nahi. Ab mujhe usse koi farak nahi padhta.”

Raavi didn’t expect to be pulled into Shiva’s arms. She was caught off guard. It was a strange hug, extremely close. She could feel his breath on her neck and his stubble rubbing on her shoulder. He was holding her very close. Raavi felt warm and fuzzy all over. She held his back just as tightly and felt his body completely flushed with her. They sat like that for some time. 

“Main apne books le sakta hu ya phir aap dono ko aur privacy chahiye? Agar chahiye toh store room khaali hai.” Krish said. 

Raavi and Shiva broke the hug. She was completely embarrassed, so she rushed to the kitchen. Why did she feel so amazing when he hugged her? Were they really that close that Krish suggested that they go to the store room? Raavi felt like pulse quicken and her cheeks growing hot as she thought that. Raavi had to take her moment to calm her heart which was thumping loudly. 

“Raavi? Tu yaha kya kar rahi hai?” Dhara asked. 

Raavi immediately turned away to hide her face and pretended to search for something in the fridge. “Main woh.. Shiva ke liye breakfast banane aayi thi.”

“Waise main noodles banane waali thi. Par agar tu chahe toh bana sakti hain. Main teri help kar deti du.”

Dhara and Raavi both started cooking noodles. Dhara helped her cut the vegetables while Raavi cooked. They worked in sync. Raavi suddenly remembered about her dream of becoming a Pandya bahu. Dhara and her would’ve worked like this together every day. It just made her a little bit sad thinking that it would never happen. Dhara and her could have been the coolest Jethani and devrani in the whole of Somnath. 

“Kya soch rahi hai Raavi?” Dhara asked. 

“Dhara di, agar main sachhi iss ghar ki bahu hoti toh hum roz aise ek saath cooking kar paate.” Raavi said. 

“Tu pehli ladki hai jo ghar ke kaam karne ke liye taras rahi hai.” Dhara laughed. “Waise... ek baat batau? Bura mat maanna.” 

“Of course not Dhara di. Aap toh mujhe gaali bhi do toh mujhe bura nahi lagega.”

“Tu chahe toh Pandya bahu ban sakti hai. Mera ek aur devar hai.” Dhara teased. 

“Chhiii Dhara di. Krish bachha hain.” Raavi said. 

“Dhara hit her own forehead with her palm. Raavi could be extremely stupid at times. “Mera ek aur bhi devar hai. Krish se bada, Dev aur Gaumbi se chhota.”

Raavi felt like cheeks burning up again. Dhara suggested the same thing Krish teased her with just now? Were they thinking that something was going on between her and Shiva? They were just friends. Actually no, the relationship they had couldn’t be called just friendship. He was more to her, more than anybody else in this world. Raavi felt her heart thumping at that thought. What was happening to her? And why couldn’t she define their relationship?