Chapter 5

a_happy_2000

@a_happy_2000

Chapter 5A

It had been more than 3 weeks since Kria joined the team .. and within days she had become an integral part of the whole group .. not just because of her cute looks , funny antics , amazing clothes ,accessories designs or non-stop banters which made Rey sometimes feel that he wanted to shut her mouth with a cello tape and even then he was sure her hands , eyes would speak ... but because of her nature ..

Rey had never seen a girl who was so carefree .. down to earth , polite and incredibly fun to be .. she not only did her work but helped almost everyone who needed it .. and that too with a smile .. it was not that she was perfect in everything .. but she never took any offence if she was the topic of the joke ..

He had never seen her frown once also in these days .. or bad mouth someone or be rude to anyone ..

If there was a loud laughter heard from some corner , Rey could anytime bet that Kria was around there .. she flirted with the other guys in her own filmy and healthy and light way ..

Another thing which was amazing about her was that ,she was a walking €"talking encyclopedia of Bollywood movies .. Rey guessed , she had seen every movie from the classic black n whites to the latest at least 5 times .. she could re-collect in minutes scenes ,the dialogues and songs .. and was never shy to deliver those dialogues in her own inimitable way ..

One word that came to him whenever he saw her was that .. she was hilarious .. just one of her own kind in the whole universe ..

Yes ,she was unlike other designers or for that matter even other girls .. Rey sometimes even wondered if she really was a dress designer .. because he could never see an inch of that creativeness on her own self .. she moved around in office almost every day in shorts with some weird tang top .. her hair mostly messed .. some days she would match her attire with a huge number of bangles on one hand or a few bead necklaces running down her neck .. other days she would be totally devoid of any accessory .. She was a total contrast to what she designed for the females in his show ,who were suddenly being praised for their new fashion sense by the fans and the critics ...

But , there was something about her .. everywhere Rey went , he heard people talking about Kria .. or talking to Kria ..

Suddenly the atmosphere was filled with Kria .. and yes some of her joy and optimism brushed onto him too .. He himself smiled a lot than he had done in last 8 months or more ..

He and Kria were not required to interact much due to their different work .. but he always noticed that she never failed to greet him with her ever stunning smile every time they came across ..

******

€œHey Ajay €œ came the chirpy greeting from the one and only Kria Ghai as she came skating in the office .. . Who the hell comes on roller skates to office ??? Rey had wondered.. yes Kria .. Only she could wear roller skates to office and her reason that she had to be at multiple places at the same time .. so it was quicker than walking ..

Rey was amused by her bizarre logic .. but of course she was herself so peculiar ..

€œHi Kria .. where is my Dhaano flying to ? Need any help ? € he joked as he saw her carrying a few dresses as she went about skating from one place to another ..

She came and stopped next to him .. €œOye Thakur .. I had got the delivery of the dresses which the female lead has to wear today .. €œ she than paused and then sat on the chair next to him .. €œActually I would have asked you but you don€™t have your hands na .. €œ and they both burst out laughing at their silly jokes .. oblivious that Rey was sitting around too ..

Ajay and Kria had become very good friends in a very short time .. he called her Dhanno the name of the horse from the movie Sholay ..and she called him Thakur ,from the same movie .. It was fun to see them pull each other€™s leg the whole day .. Ajay considered her as his little sister and she sure took full advantage of that .. She kept extracting treat from him on the pretext that he was her older brother .. Poor Ajay ..

€œHello Rey .. how are you .. ?€ came her sweet voice with a small smile .. it was different .. it was mixed with a hint of shyness .. not like when she greeted Ajay or everyone else .. at least Rey always liked to believe this ..

He smiled at her .. €œI am good .. how are you ?€œ

€œI am always great !!! €œ she answered immediately wiggling her brows and her eyes dancing with happiness ..

€œSo the heroine is wearing these .. €œ Ajay asked pointing to the clothes Kria was carrying ..

Kria just needed that one trigger and her trap would open .. she beamed .. €œYes .. I have designed them .. great na .. look .. €œ

She showed Ajay .. Rey had already buried himself in some files he was working on .. he had to change some dialogues for the male lead .. so he busied himself on that .. because he knew now Kria would forget all the world and keep on chattering away to glory ..

Ajay smiled and wanted to compliment her .. before that she continued.. €œI know they are beautiful .. the heroine would look great .. Its one of the important scenes ..right ?€

€œYes. .its Diwali .. €œ but before he could complete .. she interrupted .. €œYes .. and such an intimate scene is going to be there .. €œ she laughed to herself .. €œ The hero will be smitten by this red saree .. I have designed it ..€œ She went on and on ..

Rey looked at Ajay from the corner of the eye .. Ajay had to leave but he couldn€™t be rude to her .. so he kept smiling and listening to her .. Rey couldn€™t help but smile .. as some more folks joined with coffee ..

Kria was saying €œ I am so happy the heroine is going to wear my clothes .. €œ

Out of nowhere Rey blurted out .. €œThen what will you wear ?€

There was pin drop silence .. Rey actually felt nervous as all the eyes were staring at him ..

€œI mean .. if the heroine will wear her clothes then what will she wear .. €œ he looked around a bit uneasily and said ..

Suddenly the whole place burst out into laughter..

The hilarious part was not that , the joke was on Kria .. but the crowd around was more shocked and surprised that Rey had cracked a joke and was laughing .. which they had never seen before ..

But there was just one person who took a few more moments and eye blinks to understand what the joke was ..

€œYOU €œ she screamed as she held Rey€™s collar .. he couldn€™t help but smirk at her .. he quickly shoved her hands off him and ran ..

In order to catch him she hurriedly got up and ran only to stumble as she had forgotten she was wearing skates ..

€œCareful €œ he said chuckling while running towards the staircase area .. he never thought she would follow him there ..

She actually took off her skates and sprinted towards him past the amused looks and the helpless giggles around them ... €œI won€™t leave you .. €œ

He had not thought she would be so quick ..

She cornered him on the steps and actually smacked him hard with one of the skates which she was holding in her hands ,on his head .. €œAah .. that hurts .. €œ he let out a yelp in pain ..

€œServes you right .. €œStill punching him with her hands ..

€œOk .. Ok .. I am sorry .. €œ he held her struggling wrists .. trying to stop her ..

€œHow dare you make fun of me .. ?€ she shrieked on his face ..

€œIt€™s so easy to crack a joke on you and the best part is that you don€™t even get it quickly .. €œ and he just couldn€™t help laughing at his own joke again .. his head was shaking helplessly and eyes closed with laughter ..

He found that she had stopped struggling and was still .. he stopped laughing and sobered €œHey .. I am really sorry .. €œ he looked at her as she didn€™t respond .. €œ What happened ?€ he left her hands ..

€œKria ka jaadu chal hi gaya .. €œ she lifted her invisible collars .. €œSmile and Kria is synonymous .. I am so happy to see you laugh like this € she said genuinely ..

Rey smiled from his heart at her comment .. this girl was seriously different ..

******

And that little joke marked the beginning of their friendship ..

It was not difficult at all to not like Kria .. It was very easy to be with Kria .. to be comfortable with her .. because she was the one who always took the initiative .. she was the one who would keep talking and joking .. and Rey found himself opening up to her .. he even told her about her Dad .. his illness , keeping aside all the other details of his life ..

They both started meeting even after office .. mostly at Kria€™s place .. Rey had never narrated his stories or scripts even to Ajay .. but now he found himself discussing it with her .. and he found it so motivating when Kria loved his works ..

Work was just an excuse which they used to start off their conversations .. which later led to mostly leg pulling .. teasing .. watching movies and spending time with each other ..

Rey found himself being happy and smiling non-stop not only in her company .. but also when she was not around , her thoughts were enough to bring a happy curve on his lips ..

******

€œLet€™s do something different guys for the party €œ Ajay spoke as the whole team gathered around him for the discussion about the party which they were giving to the newlywed couple , Vicky and Neha ..

They had resumed office after a month long holiday for marriage and then honeymoon ..

Ajay was in charge of all the arrangement ..

€œWhat do you mean ?€ somebody asked ..

€œSee leaving aside the married folks and the other committed couples , we will make chits with names of all the guys and gals who are single .. €œ

€œOk .. then €œ someone urged him to go on ..

€œThen someone will pick the chits and each guy would be paired with some girl randomly .. then the guy must tell the girl what attire to wear , the color etc and vice versa .. and they have to make a couple entry for the party .. it would be fun .. what say ?€

€œYeah .. that€™s great .. €œ many agreed immediately ..

€œI think it€™s a stupid idea .. €œ Rey pulled Ajay to himself and whispered ..

€œYou just shut up €œ he glared at him ..

€œI am not .. €œ before even he could finish .. Ajay gritted his teeth .. €œDon€™t you even think of not coming .. €œ

Ignoring him , Ajay stood and addressed the crowd .. €œHere I have already made 2 sets of chits .. these are the guys names and these are the girls .. €œ

One by one Ajay started picking up a girl€™s name and then a guy€™s name ..

And here Rey€™s heart beat was increasing second by second .. he was not sure why he suddenly didn€™t want to attend the party .. he didn€™t have any other commitments .. he wanted to give some excuse and run away ..

Why ???

Because he doesn€™t like parties .. nah .. what a lame excuse .. or maybe .. maybe a small voice spoke in his mind .. he didn€™t want to see Kria enter with some guy .. NO .. he almost screamed in his mind ..

€œKria €œ Rey€™s heartbeat almost stopped when he heard Ajay call out Kria€™s name ..

His body stiffened .. He held his breath and his hand clenched into a fist as he just stared intently at the bowl which contained the names of the guys .. he was staring at it with so much concentration that he felt the bowl would break with his power ..

€œRey €œ he heard Ajay say .. he closed his eyes and hung his head and slowly blew out his long held breath .. he didn€™t know how relieved he felt ..

Suddenly he felt a pat on his shoulder .. €œHum saath .. saath hai € €œ and heard that ever sweet voice .. singing that jingle ..

€œHuh €œ he looked with confusion at a smiling Kria ..

€œIdiot , We are going to the party together .. €œ she smacked his head for being such a duffer ..

******

Rey knew he had made Kria really angry with the attire he had chosen for her .. From the last 3 days she had not been talking to him .. every time they met .. he just received her angry glares ..

It amused him a lot seeing her so restless and furious but he kept doing stuff to irk her more ..

He had picked her up for the party from her home and they hadn€™t spoken a word .. Now also at the party he went and sat on drinks counter ignoring her , but from the corner of his eye he was carefully watching her every move ..

She had chosen a formal , classic navy blue suit for him and was expecting that he would choose an evening gown for her .. she almost had designed one for herself ..

But , he had gone beyond her expectations and had chosen a red saree for her and that too designed by one of her competitors ..

She had literally walked out of the store when they had gone shopping ..

But , when he went to pick her up , he was mesmerized by her looks .. he stood frozen at his place .. she had curled her hair and left them loose .. eyes highlighted with a black liner and lips glowing with red lip gloss .. she had complemented her red saree with matching delicate earrings and a choker necklace around her neck .. her swan like neck met the one-side bare shoulder with just one strap holding her blouse and the other-side pinned to hold her perfect pleats prominently exhibiting the beautiful border of her saree ,displaying her long and flawless arm and ending with a simple bracelet on her wrist .. her bare mid-riff teasing him as it was half hidden behind the translucent material .. and the saree completely hugged her immaculately showing her hour glass figure ..

He had never imagined that she would be able to carry this so well ..

She approached him smiling and swaying her hips casually .. she took a seat next to him at the drinks counter .. He knew she was in good mood as from the time she had entered the party , she had not stopped receiving compliments for her saree ..

She looked at him directly .. €œSo ?€ she asked ..looking down at herself once and then back to him ..

€œSo ?€ Rey asked uninterestedly..

Her impatience wearing out as Rey had not spoken a word till now to her .. €œSo how do I look ?€

€œStunning .. €œ Rey replied with a straight face .. and her face lit up with a glittering smile only to be replaced with a frown .. €œThe saree is stunning and makes you look beautiful .. €œ he commented ..

€œWhat .. €œ with a pout on her lips and a bit of confusion and irritation in her eyes .. €œWhat the heck can€™t he just compliment me just like how everyone has been doing it .. he is such an useless writer .. I can myself give him so many dialogues of heroes who praise their heroines in movies .. €œ she murmured irately under her breath but he heard it .. he sat devoid of any expression on his face ,trying to hide his smile ..

She shook her head .. €œNever mind €œ she was in a very good mood and didn€™t want to spoil it .. €œCome , lets dance .. €œ

€œWith whom ?€ he asked again nonchalantly..

He could almost see her jaw almost touch the ground with the shock she received ..

But , somehow she controlled her irritation .. €œCan€™t you see a beautiful girl in front of you ?€ she gave him her best smile ..

€œYes .. I can see .. but she hasn€™t asked me to dance .. €œ

She was totally confused .. and then she looked where he was looking .. he was looking past her .. she turned and saw the show€™s main female lead .. €œSanaya , isn€™t she beautiful .. €œ came his low dreamy whisper in her ears ..

She turned abruptly and punched him hard on his chest .. €œOuch €œ ..

He knew she was cute .. but today she was definitely beyond that .. He couldn€™t help but notice the small expressions of happiness , confusion , irritation , anger , sadness fleeting so easily and so clearly on her face .. making her more beautiful than he had words to describe her ever ..

He came out of his thoughts when another of her punch landed on him .. €œHow dare you ?€ she was really mad at him ..

He caught her hand in mid-air astonishing her and then pulled her to her feet and then twirled her and held her waist by his left hand and gave a dip and bent over her .. €œ You are not a beautiful girl .. €œ he said in his low and husky voice taking her by a surprise .. he paused .. €œYou are the most beautiful girl .. €œ stressing perfectly on the word €œthe€ and looking deeply in her eyes .. €œLets dance .. €œ

Kria was still in a state of shock ... he was only holding her by her waist and in the literal sense making her dance .. she was just following his moves by being in his arms ,with her hands curled around his neck and eyes on his shoulders but mind somewhere else ..

He looked at her confused face .. and smiled ..

€œKria .. you may have got loads of compliments today as you wore this saree .. But .. I don€™t think you require any embellishment to enhance your beauty .. €œ he spoke tenderly in her ears ..

She looked at him trying to understand the meaning behind his words ..

He took a deep breadth ..

€œYou are pretty because of who you are ..

You are beautiful because of the joy you bring in with you .. and it reflects on your face ..

And you are perfect because you are just natural.. €œ he slowly brought a tendril of her hair which was tucked behind her ear , curled it around his index finger and left it to play with her soft cheeks ..

She frowned .. and that was not a response he had expected from her..

€œWhat happened .. ?€ he asked gently ..

€œIs this a dialogue from some Hollywood movie which I have not seen .. I can€™t seem to recollect .. €œ

He stared at her disbelievingly .. €œKria .. you are impossible .. €œmuttered with fake anger and he pulled her ears ..

She burst out in her sweet giggles and taking him along as he just couldn€™t help but laugh .. yes could there be any more perfect reaction from Kria Ghai than this ? ..

Oblivious to them , there was a pair of eyes who was constantly watching them with a small satisfied smile on the lips ..

******

€œRey .. I am happy you are giving yourself a chance €œ Ajay spoke as he kept the coffee mug in front of Rey as he settled on the sofa after dropping Kria home from the party ..

He simply took the mug and sipped .. avoiding his eyes ..

€œI am now seeing the Rey , whom I knew years back .. she is the one who has knocked on the door and forced you to open it which you had shut .. €œ he continued ..

Rey simply laid back and closed his eyes .. €œAjay .. there is nothing .. €œ but Ajay interjected .. €œShe is a nice girl .. €œDon€™t lose her .. don€™t lose her ever ..€œ he kept his hand on his shoulder ..

******

Rey dwelled alone in his thoughts long after Ajay had left ..

Rey knew this conversation would be coming from Ajay .. he was the one who knew him so well .. how much ever he tried to hide from himself or lie to himself .. he couldn€™t deny the fact that he was getting attracted to Kria .. and somewhere deep down he knew that this was not a mere attraction which would fade away in a days€™ or months€™ time .. it was something growing day by day and would last forever ..

Her smile , her talks , her simple touch , her thoughts , her funny ways , her frank and honest feelings .. everything seems to be affecting him and lingering on his mind and heart ..

He knew he had no right .. but he had started building a hope with her and him together ..

And he was scared of his thoughts ..

No .. he can€™t .. he shouldn€™t .. Even though he felt she was the one for him .. but did she deserve him .. she is so pure .. so true .. did she deserve someone who is not ?

Am I even worthy to be her friend , he wondered .. and here I am thinking of a future with her ..
Am sure when she comes to know about my truth she would never even see me, forget talking to me ...
He wanted her by his side but at the same time he didn't want her to be hurt ..
He was so confused ..
He felt so selfish for wanting things for himself ..
For wanting himself to be happy ..
Does he have the right to be happy .. Does he have the right to be not guilty of what he is doing ..
He didn't know what to do..

Even though Ajay tried his best to persuade him to go ahead but he couldn't convince his heart ..

*******