Chapter 50 - The Girl Next Door...
Change - The singlemost thing that is constant in one's life. And that's what took place in the lives of three of them who didn't have much control over the events in their life...
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"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else" ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
After the incident on the new years with Rohan, it was evident she had lost her chance with him. Although she was always conscious of this fact deep down in her heart, not knowing he was in love with anyone else gave her some relief. She had lost her chance with him...but after what happened, she finally got his friendship...something she had always craved for. And now that he had started to care about her, there was no way she was going to let go of it. From the exceptionally annoying, arrogant spoiled brat that she was, that one incident...and the many days that followed... transformed her into a sweet and caring girl, much to everyone's surprise.
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"Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, it must be accepted." ~ Unknown Author
It was not like he had any choice to make the changes he wanted...and so he had accepted what came to him. He hoped he could go back in time to change things between them; to change how he felt about her, to change the way she felt about him; and so many other things that he wanted to change around him...but he had eventually learned that if it cannot be changed, it has to be accepted. And accept he did. If she felt like chopping his lips and hands for touching her...he made sure he did not touch her...even accidentally. From the flirty charmer of a guy that he was, he had been reduced to a quiet and reserved guy. He talked less and socialized even lesser. He didn't meet many people nor answered the ten thousand phone calls he received from Keerti, Adi and Simi. He had practically cut himself from them. He would have drowned in distress if it wasn't for Naina...
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"Stop it Aditya...leave me alone!" she heard her shouting at him and rushed into her bedroom without thinking that she may be intruding in a private matter. And when the thought came to her..it was too late, for she was already in front of them. She saw that Simran was very angry and upset about something...so much that even Aditya had backed off. Keerti raised her eyebrows at Aditya in question.."Her dad is coming to "visit" her for a couple days while he is here on business. He wants to see how she is doing."
She was reminded of Simran's story and her punk of a father...but that was not the time to muse over a worthless man...it was time to cheer her up. She went and sat next to her on the bed...placed her hand on her shoulder before saying "It's okay Sims. He is only coming for a couple days. I'm sure you will manage just fine...and then hum log hain naa"
She removed her hand from her shoulder while saying "No it is not okay..you don't understand...I don't want to see him" and that was all the indication Keerti needed to know she was really...
really upset about it and she didn't blame her. She got up then and asked Aditya to come along with her before exiting her room taking Simran's laptop with her.
"Are you sure this will work?" he asked her a bit unsure of what he was getting into.
"Hundred and twenty percent it will work. Now just trust me and let's do it..." she said with a wide grin when she was done adorning his arms with her colorful scarves and made him wear one of her fancy berets. She had changed herself into trousers and a shirt and wore a bandana around her head.
Simran looked up when they entered the room...the sight of them both had shocked her and she now sat up straight curious to know what they were upto. As the music started, Aditya hesitantly started dancing when Keerti probed him...he wasn't convinced that it was going to work. In fact he feared this would upset her even more...but she had been insistent that that particular song always made her happy even when her blues were sky rocketed...so she was sure it was going to cheer her up as well...given the act they were going to play along with it.
Hoo, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, oh
Mehbooba ae mehboobaThe voice came over from Keerti who appeared to play guitar with a spatula in her hand. That's when she realized Keerti was acting as the banjo player Jalal Agha and Aditya, with all the adornments, was trying to dance like Helen.
Gulshan mein gul khilte hain
Jab sehra mein milte hain
Main aur tuIt was funny to see Keerti lip sync with the song with the elongated ooo and Simran almost broke into a smile then but controlled herself. As the song played on...Aditya himself had a good feeling about it and totally played along...moving his hips just like Helen in the song...he appeared funny when he did that...
Phool bahaaron se nikla, chaand sitaaron se nikla
Din doobaShe made to make passes at Aditya with those lines which was followed by a little bit of pulling and pushing between them as they danced away...
"Oh stop it! " There was complete silence in the room as both Aditya and Keerti froze when they heard her shout like that...Simran rose from her bed and said in a stern voice "Aise thodi karte hain..look at me.." and she threw her hips around on the beats with full energy. Aditya and Keerti gave a
hi-fi knowing the plan had worked...and thence the three danced like crazy banjaras...within minutes, the room had transformed into a madhouse...
Husnu ishq ki raahon mein, baahon mein nigaahon mein
Dil doobaAditya snailed on the ground to take one step at a time towards Simran...when he reached her, he jerked his chest in sync with the beats and made faces and moved as if trying to lure Simran...while Keerti laughed looking at them.
And this was the change brought about in Keerti...this was Kabir written all over her. Of all the people she had met after coming to Boston, Kabir had always been her favorite and whenever she was at Malhotra's, she was always around him. She awed his spirit and fun loving nature and immensely enjoyed being in his company...and he had a huge hand in this change in her. From the shy, quiet and reserved girl that she was...she had become the more outgoing and fun loving person...or rather what she was trying to be. She had convinced herself that being meek and shy was not going to fetch her anything in life..not at least in this country..or in any other for that matter.
"Just because everything is different doesn't mean anything has changed." ~Irene Peter
Although she was trying to be the happy-go-lucky and bubbly girl which totally changed people's outlook towards her, she was still a soft and shy girl whose heart would skip a beat even when she heard his name...
"Rohan should have been here...he would have rolled his eyes at our insanity" she heard Aditya say and paused a moment before asking "Where is he? I haven't seen him in weeks now.." She tried to sound as patient as she could...he had been MIA for the longest time...which only made her heart long for him.
"He must be home...go meet him." she said quite casually.
"Actually I don't know where he lives..." Aditya and Simran looked at her as if she had said she didn't know who Barack Obama was.
"Are you serious?" Simran asked in a deep voice stressing each word before adding..."Kits...he lives right next door..."
Her jaw dropped when she heard that. A little confused, a little nervous, a little excited and a little anxious...she turned around to exit the room wondering how many times he had dropped them off to their door even when he was only a couple steps away.
A couple steps away...knowing how near he was...she smiled at being his next door neighbor and hoped she wasn't
just The Girl Next Door ...
Edited by dolphinUSA - 12 years ago
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