Chapter 2:
"I will be home little late Di," he spoke in soft whisper his head lolling in rhythm with the speeding train. He looked out of the window seeing the city lit with neon lamps and wondered how long it had been since he took a stroll on a cool evening.
"I am sorry to miss that precious serial too Di and I am doing dandy by the way and thanks for asking," he hoped the sarcasm wasn't obvious but his sister was too enthralled about her favorite couple getting a 'moment' on air so she let it slide.
"Yes Di, I will see you soon," he replied in sheer resignation as his sister promised to update him about that 'moment' frame by frame as soon as he was home. 'Yay me!' he thought waspishly.
*****
"Will you and Akash stop making those googly eyes and just get on it with already?" Khushi said with her hands on her hips. "Really, it's worrisome," she added when Payal didn't bother offering a response.
"How many do you want?" Payal asked her blatantly ignoring her roommate's question.
"Three. But seriously Payal, you like the guy and he likes you. What am I missing here?" Khushi asked taking a plate.
"Romance," Payal replied and giggled. Khushi scratched her head and stared at her.
"Don't tell me you are like one of those cliched women who knows everything except for romance," Payal asked flipping Rotis on burner. Khushi rolled her eyes. "Besides these things take time to...brew," Payal winked.
"Whatever," Khushi simply sighed.
"I heard you and Arnav shouting today," Payal broached the subject carefully. She and Khushi may be the best of friends but Arnav was a touchy subject. Khushi's fairly easy going temperament turned sour whenever Arnav was involved; be it in literal sense or for namesake.
"He was being an ass as usual," Khushi didn't elaborate further. But Payal wasn't satisfied.
"And?" She prodded.
"I don't know," Khushi said exasperated at the onslaught of evening memories. She and Arnav never met eye to eye for reasons unknown to her. Well the reasons weren't entirely unknown but why it rock bottom was definitely something she didn't know.
"I see," Payal hummed and concentrated on food. She didn't feel like prodding her friend who was concentrating on her plate, food and elsewhere; probably her memories.
"Khushi?" Payal called out when Khushi went quiet and didn't speak for a lengthy period of time.
"Rotis are really fluffy today," Khushi said finally looking up from her plate. Payal searched her eyes for hint of truth waiting to be revealed but nothing came out.
"Thank you," Payal said softly and let the moment slide.
Khushi and Arnav had history that much she was sure of. But she didn't know if she had enough tools to dig it up and hung out to dry.
******
"Di please can't this wait for few minutes?" Arnav begged his sister.
"But...but...they had their most awesome moment I have ever seen! And you totally missed it!!" Anjali, Arnav's older sister yelled from other side of the bathroom door. He sighed.
"How about you warm dinner and then you can tell me all about it?" He tried negotiating with his drama-obsessed sister.
"You have two minutes mister," she dealt with her own terms and moved away from bathroom door.
"How come you don't deal with all this?" Arnav asked his brother-in-law, Shyam, who was slouching on couch and reading a novel.
"She loves you so much that I am jealous of the 'our' time you two have. Really," he grinned happily not even remotely jealous about it.
"You are her husband for God's sake, can't you...I don't know...emotionally blackmail her into not watching that stuff?" Arnav asked flopping on sofa next to Shyam.
"I tried you know? I swear I did but in the process she started looking at me by making her eyes huge, biting lips and dropped few tears. I lost all confidence in my blackmailing prowess and got reverse blackmailed by her," Shyam said in a whisper craning his neck ensuring that his darling wife with tears as weapon was away from earshot.
"You are useless and totally pathetic," Arnav admonished Shyam. Shyam simply shrugged.
"Here is your dinner," Anjali came in with a tray. "And as I promised, I will tell you everything that happened in today's episode." She smiled brightly ignoring collective groan from the two men and immediately unleashed the fangirl inside her.
*****
It was quarter to midnight when he finally retired to his room after watching the missed show on YouTube with his sister, and opened his laptop. He was itching to respond to the thoughtless comment he had received on his story but hadn't gotten a moment for himself till then. The comment had hit home in the way the man's perspective was subtly accepted and the woman was blatantly disregarded as immoral. The bias was laughable.
His thoughts flew to his sister who was leading a happy married life with her husband now. She, at one point of time was a victim of domestic violence which left scars both mental and physical for her to carry for the rest of her life. If a married woman under that circumstance gravitate towards another man who shows her respect that she rightfully deserves and loves her for everything she is, then was that immoral too?
Memories of past hit him hard when he the images of his sister bruised and bleeding, played on his mind like a broken tape. Rationality flew out of the window as he started to type out a response. Anger and hurt took reins as he posted the response to his comment. Satisfied with the outcome, he shut his laptop and immediately fell into a dreamless sleep.
Of late he realized that he didn't like the concept of sleeping very much. Only those who were naive and believed in optimism bullshit could think that sleep brought dreams because for him, sleep always brought nightmares.
So a black out sort of sleep was definitely a blessing in disguise.
*****
"Why aren't you sleeping yet?" Payal asked seeing Khushi sitting on couch and typing seriously.
"I am writing," Khushi responded with a hint of smile. Payal, who had woken up at wee hours in morning to drink a glass of water felt sleep leave her eyes.
"You started writing again?" She exclaimed.
"Yes," Khushi quipped.
"What is it about?" Payal wasn't letting go.
"It's about a woman who makes a choice; a woman who above all else withholds principles and doesn't sidetrack with silly distractions," Khushi breathed fast. Payal didn't understand from where the underlying tension and subtle anger in her words were coming.
"I will link it when it's online," Khushi added and went back to typing.
Payal simply nodded and looked on.
What brought in this change in her roommate? Khushi who had aspired to become writer when young had switched careers to science and Engineering during college. She had dabbled in writing for some time after giving it all up and concentrating on her work.
It was indeed an interesting development to look for.
To be continued.
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