Chapter 16

nolee3097

@nolee3097

Well, a slightly serious chapter! Haven’t proofread!

===================================================

Chapter 16

—————-At Hardik’s house————-

Raavi had woken up very early and had gotten all dressed up in black and was constantly looking at the clock since 7 am in the morning. She had been fidgeting with her pen and looking at her textbook, trying to get through her assignments for college. As the clock was coming close to striking 8, she was up and about, pacing through the house glancing towards the main door. 

She started playing with the ends of her hair, trying to see if Shiva was here wondering,

"Kaha reh gaya yeh Bhoothnath, uss ne kaha toh tha kal ki aaj aayega 8 baje, aur abhi tak dikh hi nahi raha, kahin bhool toh nahi gaya". Dismissing that thought instantly she said, 

"Nahi nahi aise kaise bhool gaya hoga, par ab aur wait nahi ho raha, kaha reh gaya"

Hardik Bhai had come to the hall, all dressed up and told Raavi he would make breakfast today and asked her to rest, despite her constant refusal. And just as he was about to go to the kitchen, Dhara made an entrance into the house calling out to Raavi.

"Raavi, tu theek toh hai, jab se maine suna tujhe chot lagi hai, main kitni gabra gayi thi" came Dhara rushing to her.

"Haan Dhara Di, main bilkul theek hoon, aap tension mat lo, par aap yahan?" asked Raavi.

"Bhai, main aap dono ke liye nashta aur lunch dono leke aayi hoon" said Dhara hugging Raavi and then proceeding to hug Hardik.

Hardik refused to have breakfast, as he was extremely late to work and asked Dhara to pack some for him. 

Raavi was slightly disappointed thinking Shiva wasn’t gonna be there when, "Yeh Shiva kahan reh gaya" exclaimed Dhara looking out to see where he’s at, making Raavi’s mood uplift significantly.

"Yahan hoon Bhabhi" called out Shiva entering, just as Hardik was about to leave. 

Hardik looks at Shiva with a stoic expression, then looks back at Dhara and Raavi who are chatting away happily and decides against saying anything and leaves quietly. 

"Chal main paros ke liye aati hoon, tu khaale, Shiva tu bhi aa jaa tune bhi toh nashta nahi kiya aaj"

Both Raavi and Shiva exchange looks with each other while Shiva coyly comes and sits beside Raavi. Raavi whispers to Shiva asking what’s all this and Shiva replies, "Dekh maine bola tha main 8 baje aa jaaonga, main yeh nahi bola ki main akele aaonga". 

Just as Raavi is about to retort back to him he says, "Waise Bhabhi, pohe ke saath Chai bhi pee le, toh kitna accha rahega na" watching Dhara serve some poha into their plates.

"Baat toh sahi hai, main bana leti hoon" says Dhara getting up.

"Nahi bhabhi, aap kyun takleef kar rahe ho, main banata hoon na, aap baithke baatein karo, main abhi aaya" said Shiva, giving Raavi a look slyly. 

"Haan theek hai bana de, waise Raavi tujhe Shiva ki haath ki Chai peeni chahiye, bohut hi acchi chai bana leta hai" added Dhara proudly.

"Suna Chipkali, bhabhi ko ab mere haath ki Chai pasand aane lagi hai" added Shiva teasingly.

"Par Mere haath ki Chai unki sabse favorite hai, haina Dhara Di" said Raavi, sticking out a tongue at him when Dhara nodded in agreement.

Shiva shook his head, pretending to be upset and went to the kitchen to make some tea.

He came back and offered one cup to his Bhabhi and the other to Raavi, signaling to her that he made it happen.

Dhara gets a call from Gaumbi and she is in conversation with him and finally says, "Accha Gaumbi, main ghar aa rahi hoon, bas 5 min" and gets up to leave. 

"Shiva, tu idhar hi reh Raavi ke saath, abhi dukaan jaane ki zaroorat nahi, main thodi der mein wapas aaongi, phir tu chale jaane, iss ghar mein aise akela chodna theek nahi hoga, Raavi main bas thodi der main aa jaaongi" told Dhara and set out to leave.

Shiva half expected Raavi to protest with his Bhabhi, but she just nodded in agreement, much to his surprise. As soon as Dhara left, Raavi took a sip of tea and looked up to see Shiva looking expectantly at her for her review, she says "Theek hi bana hai", trying to tease him. His face fell when she said so and he looked upset at himself that she had to pacify him saying, "Mazak kar rahi thi, bohut hi accha bana hai, mujhse bhi accha, chal tu bhi pi le" handing him her cup, he took it from her, his face lighting up at her praise.

Shiva’s smile suddenly faded and he turned to Raavi with a serious expression saying, "Waise Raavi, ek baat poochu, kya tu mujhe kabhi maaf kar paayegi, matlab main nahi chahta ki main tere tere peeche peeche aake tujhe pareshaan karoon, agar tujhe yeh sab se problem hai toh tu seedha seedha mujhse keh de, main nahi aaonga, pakka" in all honesty. 

He fidgeted around with his cup, trying his best not to falter in his voice and continued,

"Kal woh Hardik bhai ne jo kahan, phir tune bhi kal mujhe jaane ko bola, par main idhar hi baitha raha, toh main tujhe aur takleef nahi dena chahta, iss liye tu jo bhi hai saaf saaf bol de, main wahi karoonga jaisa tu chahe, mujhe bura bhi nahi lagega, sacchi". As he finished, he finally looked up and back at her, trying to gauge her thoughts. 

"Dekh Shiva, mujhe galat mat samajh, par ab main thak gayi hoon, yeh dard, yeh takleef ka bhoj uthaate uthaate, mujhe yeh sab apne peeche chodna hai, jo kuch bhi humaare beech hua usse hum badal toh nahi sakte, par bhulaane ki koshish toh kar sakte hai, iss liye tu bhi bhool jaa, main bhi bhoolne ki koshish karoongi, abhi main apne college pe dhyaan dena chahti hoon, bohut kuch khone ke baat realize kiya maine ki mujhe khud ke liye khada hona seekhna padega, har baar mein yeh umeed nahi kar sakti ki koi mere saath humesha khada rahega" added Raavi wisely.

Her words kept pricking his heart, as she continued to express them. He wanted to stop her, he wanted to hold her close, hug her and tell her that he would always stand by her and be with her no matter what. But would she believe him, after everything he had done before? Probably not, he thought. He decided this wouldn’t be the right time to assure her. He would wait for the moment to tell her all this. 

"Aur rahi baat maafi ki, toh maine maaf kiya tujhe, par isse aage mujhse koi umeed mat rakhna, kyun ki main khud yeh jaanti ki mujhe kya chahiye zindagi se, ab main pehle jaise nahi rehna chahti, mujhe abhi apni life ke saath bohut kuch karna hai"

Hearing her say these things, Shiva was sad yet proud. Sad, that she wasn’t going to come back home, but proud that she wanted to learn and lead a life on her own terms. He didn’t know what more could he say to her, he didn’t know what he could do to help, did she even want his help? did she want him in her life? Where did he fit in the scheme of things? His mind was bombarded with questions he wasn’t sure he could ask her. He was dejected by the thought of her not being a part of his life or him not being a part of hers.

Raavi looked at him and could tell that he was hurt. He looked like he was in pain, she wanted nothing more than to relieve him of his pain. At this point, she knew she had to be firm on her decisions, she couldn’t go back to being the Raavi she was. She didn’t want to give in easily this time until she was sure. Sure of her self. Sure of Shiva and her. 

But one look at Shiva’s hurt in his eyes, she couldn’t help saying,

"Par haan ek baat toh hai, agar mujhe kabhi masala Chai peene ka mann karega toh main tujhe hi bhulaaongi, tu banayega na mere liye?". Hoping he’d understand, that she didn’t want him to go away completely. She just wanted some time.

He gave her a small smile hearing it and nodding that he would, while they continued to drink tea in silence.

“Mujhe college jaana hoga abhi, fest ke liye sirf kuch hi din bache hai aur itna saara kaam hai, tujhe bhi dukaan ke liye nikalna hoga na, chal chalte hai” she said, setting her cup aside, getting up and picking her bag.

To be continued….

=====================================

I think as a character Raavi is conflicted, she wants to badly go back running to Shiva, but also doesn’t. Does that seem to make sense? Let me know what you guys think.