Chapter 1

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@santiagosentyou

Dil Ka Hai Jo Haal

Dil ka hai jo haal
Kaise main bataaoon

The kid that she was in those random, rare moments, she usually had Disney Marathons. At 29, she was probably the only woman who watched cheesy shows like Kya Mast Hai Life and Ishaan. It was mostly when she was down, or when she wanted to feel like she has all the time in the world to get married. This time, it was because she was down. All because of that astrologer who couldn't even predict that she would find out, so much for failing at his own specialty. She was currently watching Ishaan with two bowls of popcorn and a bottle of coke which she wasn't letting me touch. As the dreaded song came on for the second time in an hour, I braced myself for its impact on her.

She sang the first two lines with fervor and then continued shouting kaise, kaise, kaise?' before replaying the scene and this went on until she was tired of shouting and wanted to drink her coke. Those few moments were the only ones of peace I got, until she began again.

After listening to it around 10 times, it struck me about how I felt before leaving Rishta. Confused, not able to tell anyone about it, because I didn't know what was happening. Or maybe because I'd never gone through it before, I never realized it. It was always me with the relationships and with ignoring Isha, but for the first time, she did this, and it hurt, so much that I left Rishta, my identity.

Getting frustrated at the kind of thoughts the song was putting in my head, I snatched the remote from Isha, earning a glare and smack from her.

"Mr. Rohan Mehra, what do you think you're doing?" she asked me, completely ignoring the song now.

"Miss. Isha Mirchandani, I'm trying to save you from hours of torture tomorrow morning. When you'll be meeting with the clients, all you'll think about is this song," I told her, hoping she'll catch the catch, so long as it distracts her.

"I'll be meeting with the clients? Where will you be Rohan?" she asked me, thankfully getting it.

"It'll be a late night Isha, I won't wake up early tomorrow," I told her. The song had thankfully ended but since she was used to my late nights, her attention was once again focused on the remote which was hid behind my back.

Teri tasveer aankhon mein kaise dikhaoon
Inn aankhon ke sapne lage hain ab muskuraane
Yeh dil ki dhadkan lagii hai ab gungunane

After an hour, these lines were a breath of fresh air. But as I thought about it, I thought about two months ago.

I didn't even know she was that important for me until she stopped talking to me as much as she used to. It was routine for the two of us to talk and for me to talk about the relationships, never the other way around. It had become so much a part of my life that I never realized how it felt when we didn't talk because it just never happened.

As the song stated, meri dil ki dhadkan actually started showing up then, however cheesy it sounded. I always smiled around her, and cried only in front of her. However close Huzaifa was, Miss. Mirchandani was my go-to person for any kind of advice.

Nighahein uthaa
Bataade zaraa
Ki dil mein hai kya,
Yeh ankahe kya hain phasaane,
Kya hain phasaane

I didn't even realize I was looking down. As I looked up with the lyrics, I saw her smiling that childish smile of hers which came on when she was drunk. Speaking of which, she was drinking coke but she still behaved like she was drunk. She went into the kitchen to get another glass of coke and I followed her to find her mixing whisky in the coke. I quickly snatched the bottle from her hand and asked her, "What is this?"

"Are you drunk as well? Yippee, we could repeat what we did on that day and you won't remember it once again. That will be so cool." She told me, pulling me by my arm, startling me. "Please idhar aao Rohan. I'm not strong enough to pull you."

"Wake up Isha Mirchandani, wake up. What are you even saying? Look up, will you?" I said, lifting her head by her chin, "You're drunk, you don't know what you're talking about."

"I know everything Rohan. I'm not so dumb," she said in an overly cheerful tone, laughing loudly.

"What do you mean Isha?" I asked her, afraid that she remembered our kiss that night. Praying to all the gods I knew, I waited with bated breath for her reply.

"I know that we kissed. I even remember that I counted for how long it lasts but I lost count after 20 seconds. Sorry." She said with a sad face, making me want to kiss her even more.

Jo pyaar ho gaya hai
Toh phir kaisa sharmaana... Sharmaana...
Dil ki maasoom chaahat ko kaise chupaana... Chupaana...

"Isha, why didn't you tell me earlier?" I asked her, puzzled. Isha wasn't one who could keep too many secrets, especially not something as big as this. The only time she hid something from him was when she was in a relationship and that didn't end too well either.

"I didn't want our friendship to break Rohan because I knew you'll be all awkward around me if I told you that I remember which is why I refrained from telling you. See, now you won't be my friend anymore. I'm so stupid. I shouldn't have drunk so much. If I hadn't, then we would still be best friends like before but now because of stupid, stupid me, we'll not talk to each other and then you'll leave the office but I don't want you to because I love you Rohan, I love you," she said. After finishing her long speech, Isha crashed onto me, knocking the daylights out of me murmuring I love you' again and again.

"You are stupid Ms. Mirchandani, you are very stupid. You didn't realize that I love you too. And then you pretend to be an amazing matchmaker," I whispered and put her to bed, still smiling at the thought that she loved me.