Chapter 18
Viren skidded the bike to a stop outside Nivi's house and breathed a sigh of relief that they'd made it home in one piece; the rain was still falling heavily and the winds had picked up as they drove and at times it had been so strong it felt like it might knock them over. He took his helmet off and shook his hair and water out of his eyes as he turned in his seat to look at Nivi, moving her arms from around him. She'd been holding onto him tightly and it had felt almost too comfortable for him; now there seemed to be an empty space behind him as he got off the bike and tugged on her hands. It looked like she was in a daze and her hands were freezing. 'Nivi? We're home!' He pulled on her hands lightly again and watched as she blinked and looked around.
Nivi heard Viren say they were home and realised they were outside her house. She shook herself and got off the bike unsteadily with Viren's help. As she moved she started to shiver again but her hands were warmer somehow and she looked down to see Viren was rubbing them in his as he said 'Come on Nivi, we have to get inside, you're frozen!' It felt like her body wasn't answering her but Viren pulled her up the stairs and into the house and then pushed closed the heavy doors against the rain and wind and suddenly it was too silent after the sounds of the storm.
There was an odd silence for a few moments as they both stood there dripping water, looking at each other and catching their breaths but then Viren started shivering as well and Nivi suddenly remembered she had his jacket so he must be even colder than she was. This thought pushed Nivi into action and as Viren leaned back against the doors with his eyes closed, she hurried to get some towels, pulling off his wet jacket as she went. She came back a few minutes later to see Viren in the living room drying his phone. 'I don't know if we'll have reception to call anyone' he said as she came in. Nivi took the phone off him and gave him a towel, 'First get dry and warm Viren, aur sab kuch baad mein ho jayega!'
He took the towel and dried his face half-heartedly telling her to get changed and then looked down at his own wet clothes which were stuck to him. 'I'll have to go home and change Nivi...' They both looked towards the door thinking about him going back out in that and Nivi told him to wait there before bringing him a huge umbrella that looked like it could cover 3 people. Viren looked down at his wet clothes again; he was already soaked to the skin so he didn't see why he needed an umbrella now... 'Don't bother arguing Viren; just take it for my sake!' Viren felt a smile crack his face at her tone and the way she shoved the umbrella at him, feeling some normalcy returning after the crazy day they'd had so far.
Nivi suddenly wanted to ask if he was coming back or not but she felt a little awkward; she didn't want to be alone in this storm but it felt like he'd already done so much, she couldn't ask... So she was relieved when he saved her from asking by saying, 'Teek hai Moti; I'll take your giant umbrella; but I want to come back and find you dry and warm, agreed?!' Nivi could feel a big relieved smile on her face as she nodded and he left, pulling the doors shut behind him.
After Viren left Nivi took a quick shower and then changed into a soft pale green churidar suit, finally feeling warm as she dried her hair in her room. The shower had helped and now that she was fully dry she almost felt as good as new apart from feeling tired; if it wasn't for the sound of the storm raging outside, she would have thought it was a normal every day evening. Except it wasn't; she had to really think to remember her interview now after everything that had happened and it was hard to believe it was only that morning she'd had it. The storm had pretty much turned everything into chaos. Viren had been amazing through it all whereas she'd just been a mess. She didn't know what she would have done without him; she felt her face go red as she suddenly remembered holding on to him while he drove them home.
She'd been so scared she hadn't had time to think about it but now it felt like she could remember every second of it somehow; it seemed like she could still hear his heartbeat if she just closed her eyes...she shook her head, what was she thinking? This was Viren who still called her Moti whenever he could get away with it! She was just thinking she was mad to be thinking these things when really she should be worried about contacting their families, when she heard someone talking outside in the living room.
Nivi hurried out of the room and saw Viren sitting on the arm of one of the sofa's talking on his phone with one hand and towel-drying his hair with the other. He was wearing a yellow full sleeved tee and dark blue jeans and when he saw Nivi he jumped up and gave her a twirl while still on the phone. When she frowned at him looking confused, he rolled his eyes and pointed at the massive umbrella drying in the corner of the room and then back at his dry clothes and gave her a thumbs up, indicating it had kept him dry. Nivi raised her eyebrows in an 'I told you so' look and Viren gave her a cheeky smile while at the same time he nodded said 'Ji Dadaji, bilkul' into the phone in a completely serious voice. He nodded a couple more times and said 'ji' a few more times before holding out the phone to Nivi saying 'Dadi.'
Viren handed the phone to Nivi and then gave his hair one last rub and chucked the towel onto a chair. He sat back down on the arm of the sofa before sliding back onto the sofa itself and leaning back on some cushions as he watched Nivi through half closed eyes. He felt exhausted but at the same time wide awake; he couldn't believe it was still only early evening, it felt like ages since they'd headed out for Nivi's interview.
As he watched Nivi tell Dadi they were both fine, Viren was happy to see she finally looked dry and seemed ok. He'd been worried about her; she'd seemed numb up until when they'd come inside and he'd never seen her like that. He realised she'd started speaking to Divya when she said 'Dii stop it! Koi aur hai waha pe?!' Her face went a cute shade of bright pink and Viren wondered what Divya had said to her. After a few minutes Dadi came back on the phone and he smiled as he heard her say 'Haan Dadi, Viren ne meri bohth madath ki...yahaan hai...teek hai Dadi' and then she came over to him with the phone held out. 'Dadi.' Viren sat up with a start, thinking what did Dadi want to say to him? He took the phone and listened.
Nivi watched and wondered what Dadi was saying to Viren, he seemed so serious, so when he hung up she asked him. 'Kuch nahi, she just..' before Viren could finish his stomach growled loudly and Nivi started laughing as Viren put his hand on his stomach and said, 'I just realised I haven't eaten ALL day!!' He seemed so shocked, Nivi shook her head, 'Hai bagwaan! It's a miracle you're still alive...' Viren was always eating and she felt a little bad he hadn't eaten anything all day because of her. 'I'm actually hungry too, tum yahaan beto, I'll go and sort some food out' She went into the kitchen leaving Viren sitting in the living room.
Edited by anjaani07 - 12 years ago