Chapter 7
Nivi walked into the living room with Virens' halwa to see that Divya had joined them and they were all chatting like old friends. She stood there for a few minutes and smiled at the scene and watched as Viren laughed at something Dadi said; he had a nice laugh, one of those open hearted, care free laughs that made you want to join in. She could see how happy Dadi looked and was glad because she knew she'd been worrying about Keshav a lot lately as he worked so many long hours. She hoped that her getting a job would help things but it wasn't happening for her at the moment. She sighed, feeling a little sad at the thought and came forward with the tray when she realised they'd been talking about her interview.
Viren looked up as she came in and smiled up at her as she handed him the bowl of halwa. He said thanks and Nivi felt her sad mood slip away as she looked at his smile; he looked like the happiest guy on earth with that bowl and Nivi couldn't help smile back. He took a bite of the halwa and closed his eyes in appreciation saying 'Wow Dadi, aap ki halwa ko maine kitna miss kiya, pata hai?!' before he carried on eating happily. Dadi opened her mouth to say that actually Nivi had made it but Nivi shook her head so she stopped and just said 'Jee bhar ke kha le beta, aur jab bhi mann kare khaane ko, yahaan aa jana.' Dadi had already told him that Nivi had made the halwa at the door but Viren had either forgotten or not heard and Nivi thought he looked so happy, let him think it was the same halwa he ate as a kid.
After a few moments, Dadi got up and moved around the room and Nivi could see she was putting a pooja thaali together. Nivi went and sat by Divya who elbowed her and looked over to make sure Viren was still busy eating before she motioned with her eyes that she wanted to have a word with her. When Nivi looked confused, Divya mouthed 'Baad mein' and then went back to looking innocent as Dadi came back. 'Mujhe ab mandir jaana hai, tum log bet ke baatein karo.' Dadi touched Viren on the shoulder saying 'Chal thi hoon beta, aaj bohth accha laga, phir zaroor aana' and he said he would with a smile, setting down his empty bowl on the table. She looked at Nivi and said 'Nivi, Viren ko chai bana ke bhi dena' and then left.
After Dadi had gone, Viren looked at Nivi and said 'You make tea?!' in a disbelieving tone and when Nivi frowned he quickly said 'No I just meant, I can't imagine little Nivi making tea for real!' He looked at Divya for support, who started laughing and said, 'That was years ago Viren, remember whenever we used to play house, Nivi used to always make 'tea'...' Viren gave a little laugh and finished off Divya's sentence, '...and then she used to force us to say it tasted nice and if we didn't she used to get mad and throw the whole tea set at us with the water and everything!!'
They both laughed hard and Nivi felt annoyed but at the same time she wanted to laugh at the image their words brought up. Instead she shook her head at them and said, 'My water-tea was the best tea ever, you all just have really bad taste!' Viren just carried on laughing and Nivi rolled her eyes when they finally stopped and asked Viren if he really did want tea or not. He smiled and said 'I better not risk it, kya pata, I might not like it and get real tea thrown over me!' He winked at Nivi as Divya started laughing again but then he stood up quickly holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender as she started to argue.
'Sorry Nivi, actually I didn't even mean to stay this long! I came to ask you for a favour, not to fight...' Viren smiled his best smile hopefully at both Divya and Nivi and when Nivi still looked annoyed he sighed and said 'Fine! Your water-tea was the best tea ever...and also the halwa you made was delicious, can I have some to take home?!' He smiled again and watched as Nivi first looked surprised that he'd known all along and then blushed a little at the compliment. She looked so sweet and innocent when she blushed that it made Viren forget what he had come for again when she asked him what favour he wanted exactly.
After recovering from his blank moment, Viren told them about the pooja that they were having at home that evening and how he had somehow ended up having to sort out the flowers but really had no clue where to get anything and could they help?! He must have sounded desperate enough because Nivi finally took pity on him and said they were all invited to the pooja anyway and she knew where they sold nice flowers so would help. Divya had sat and watched Nivi and Viren quietly for a bit with a small smile on her face but now she stood up and said she could maybe help a little later but had to go out for a bit so would meet them later if she could and left after saying bye to them and telling Viren it had been nice catching up.
'Ok chal Moti, let's go now to get the flowers!' Viren looked at Nivi impatiently and Nivi held up a finger, 'Ek minute, I have a few things to do first and then we can go, but only on one condition...stop calling me Moti!!' Viren tried not to laugh at her stubborn expression and said 'Teek hai...Nivedita!' He tilted his head to one side and stretched out the syllables of her name softly and was expecting some sort of response so was surprised when she just stared for a few seconds and then looked down.
Nivi listened to Viren say her name and felt an odd flutter in her chest as he said it... It was just her name and she was sure he'd said it before so she didn't know why she felt strange. Maybe she should just let him keep calling her Moti... she looked down and told herself to get a grip before taking a deep breath and telling Viren she had a few chores to do so he could pick her up in an hour to go and get the flowers.
Viren watched Nivi and thought she was much harder to figure out now; as she looked down, he suddenly wished he could see into her mind... She was definitely different to the Nivi he remembered but not in a bad way. She told him to pick her up in an hour so he said ok and thanked her for agreeing to help. He turned to leave and was just going out of the front doors when he heard Nivi call out. 'Viren! Tum kuch bhool nahi gaye?!' He turned around and gave her a questioning look and she motioned for him to wait and disappeared.
Nivi came out a couple of minutes later with a little tub of halwa in her hand and she watched Virens' face light up as he took it and realised what it was. 'Thanks Mo...Nivedita!' He gave her a big smile and said 'See you in a bit, bye!' cheerfully and jumped down the few stairs before heading home. Nivi watched him go with a smile thinking he looked like a kid when he was excited. As she went back into the house, she suddenly remembered she'd forgotten to give him his flute back.
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