Chapter 2
Viren watched the girl's scarf disappear behind her and felt a sudden urge to follow her and ask what she was playing at walking around with her eyes practically closed! She was lucky he'd been able to swerve out of the way or she'd have been...he couldn't even bear to think it for some reason and with great difficulty he turned himself and the bike around and decided to carry on home. The girl was obviously fine so why should he waste his time? He put his helmet back on and drove off, going a little slower this time, keeping his eyes open for any other suicidal girls that might be walking along the road.
Nivi was shaking as she walked around the corner and she stopped when she was out of view of the bike and its driver. She bent over for a second and closed her eyes, trying to calm her breathing but when she closed her eyes all she could see was the motorbike coming straight at her and the feeling that there was nothing she could do to stop it. She hadn't seen the drivers face but he'd been dressed all in black, leather jacket and jeans and although she was angry that he'd come round the corner at such speed, her anger calmed down as she remembered how he'd swerved out of the way to avoid her and almost lost control of the bike in the process. I should have stayed and said thanks, she thought but she'd been dazed and hadn't been able to think clearly. Now she went back around the corner only to see the bike speeding off in the distance. She sighed and carried on walking to the bus stop, thinking this was the worst day to be having a job interview! As she walked she made sure she watched where she was going thinking that she didn't want to run into any other crazy motorists.
Vandana was waiting for Viren when he reached home and he was so happy to see her, he ignored the pooja taali in her hand and gave her a long hug and said 'Meri pyaari Tayiji! Aap ko kaise pata ke mein isi waqt pohnchoonga?!' Vandana laughed and pulled out of the hug saying 'Viren, aarti toh kar ne de!' and Viren sighed as Vandana did her thing and put a tika on his forehead; after a few seconds he looked up at the sky and said 'Hai bagwaan, mujhe jaldi kuch khaane ko de de varna main yahaan hi dum thod doonga!' in a dramatic voice. Vandana shook her head and said 'Tu toh bilkul nahi badlaa Viren, accha hai, maine tere liye khaana already laga diya hai!' Viren hugged her again and kissed her on the cheek saying 'I love you Tayiji!' and they went in laughing.
Viren asked Vandana where everyone else was and she told him Chanchal was out and would be back soon but Dadaji and Dadiji were in their room. He looked at all the food laid out for him and felt his tummy rumble at the sight but he couldn't eat yet so he told Vandana he would go and see Dadaji and Dadiji before freshening up and then would eat. Vandana raised her eyebrows at his sudden self control and asked how he managed to stop himself when suddenly Viren gave her a cheeky grin. He quickly grabbed a few little samosas off a plate and popped one in his mouth whole, saying 'Aise!' around it before running away while Vandana laughed and shook her head saying 'Badmaash!' She was so happy to see him back and hoped he would decide to stay here long term this time, rather than leaving after a few days as he had when he was younger.
***
It was almost evening, the sun hadn't set yet and Viren was feeling full and lazy as he walked out onto the roof with his flute, thinking he would maybe play something. He held his face up to the sky and closed his eyes taking in a deep breath feeling the sun on his face; he loved Shimla and wondered if this time he would stay...he didn't know and hadn't decided either way. As his eyes closed, suddenly he remembered the eyes of the girl he'd almost hit with his bike today. They'd been so big and scared looking...he hoped she was ok and wondered what he would have done if he'd hit her. He opened his eyes thinking there was no point in thinking about her and his eyes fell on the Sharma house to the side of him.
Viren smiled remembering running in and out of those open doors as a child, or waiting at them for Nivi or Divya to come out and play, He suddenly wondered if they were inside and what they would think if he just turned up out of the blue; he hadn't seen them in years, the last time he'd come they had been out of the city, somewhere on a school outing for the weekend if he remembered right.
As he was thinking he saw a girl come out of the house with a watering can. She was wearing a simple plain yellow churidar suit and her long hair was being tossed around by the wind. She was looking down and he was just thinking she looked simple and pretty even without being able to see her eyes, when he realized either she was annoyed about something or was talking to the plants she was watering because he could see her muttering something to herself as she watered them. He smiled and narrowed his eyes in concentration as he tried to decide if it was Nivi or Divya he was looking at; he knew it was one of them, there was something so familiar about the girl and they had all been close as kids so part of him must remember her? After a few minutes of watching her, Viren decided it was enough wondering and went to find out who she was.
Edited by anjaani07 - 12 years ago
comment:
p_commentcount