After he had gobbled up the pancakes and his milkshake, Ayush jumped off the chair, and came to Naina.
"Abhi mera cartoon?" He placed his hands on her leg, smiling with a mouth smeared with chocolate sauce and froth of the shake.
"Buddhu, muh kaun saaf karega?" She pinched his nose.
He wrapped his arms around her neck and placed a sloppy kiss on her cheek, grinning, "Naina karegi."
Instead of getting annoyed, she ruffled his hair, and stood up, holding his hand, "Chal, ab dono ko saaf karna padega." Looking back at Sameer, she raised her index finger, "Excuse me for just one minute, Sameer sir. Ayush ka TV time hai. Main bas abhi aayi."
He simply nodded, his hands pressed hard together and eyes stuck on the brown and white mark on her cheek.
"Naina ke sir, aap jaana nahi. Main TV dekh ke aapko apni colour book dikhaunga. Aaj maine new drawing banayi hai." Saying this, Ayush pulled his hand from Naina's grip, and ran to his room, screaming, "Main first aunga."
Naina sprinted after him, "Ruk jaa, t-shirt phir se geeli kar lega. Main clean karti hun... ruk Ayush."
Sameer touched his cheek the moment he was alone... what if the sticky mark was on his face. He shuddered. But Naina didn't seem to mind. How? She was so clean herself, still these marks didn't bother her when it came to Ayush. He was still wondering when she came back. Faint sound of TV from the other room meant Ayush would not be coming out for some time. His eyes drifted to Naina's cheek... it was smooth and clean.
"Th... thank you, Sameer sir, apne Ayush ke liye socha. Main bohot darr gayi thi. Smita ma'am ne pehle hi kaha tha late nahi hona chahiye. Maine Bhalla aunty ko phone kiya jab mera phone theek hua lekin servant ne bataya aunty uncle bahar gaye hue hain. Unka naam aur photograph maine daycare mein di hui hai, bas number nahi diya... unko pareshan nahi karna chahti." Naina looked gratefully at him, sitting down on the adjacent sofa.
His mind registered what she was saying, and he realised the events and tension of the day.
"Subah mera number aur details dena wahan pe. Maine kaha tha na kal hi... agar de diya hota toh aaj tension nahi hoti." Sameer said firmly, then placed the mug on the table to take out his wallet from the pocket, drawing out a passport size photograph of himself.
"Ye lo. Yeh bhi de dena. Put me as Ayush's guardian. Naina, he's too small. Uske liye risk mat lo. Please, meri baat maan lo." He placed the picture on the table.
Without looking at it, Naina tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "Maine aaj bhej di thi aapki picture, Smita ma'am ko... aapka number bhi add karne ko bol diya tha."
"Meri picture? Tumhare paas thi?" Sameer was astonished.
Naina glanced at him quickly before lowering her eyes, "Aapke insta account se."
A wave of delight spread in his veins... she had opened his account to check his posts.
"Actually photograph ke bina woh log Ayush ko aapke saath aane nahi dete, isliye. I'm... I'm sorry." She provided with urgency.
"It's okay, Naina." He said in a smooth voice, leaning to put his wallet on the table, "Insta account dekhna koi galti nahi hai. Maine bhi dekha hai tumhara."
Her eyes shot up.
Sameer realised his folly, and took a quick sip of coffee, pushing his mind to come up with something fast, "Yeh batao, aaj time ka mismanagement kaise ho gaya? You are not the type to be careless about it. Aur phone... phone ko kya hua?"
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
Na Jaane Kyon...
FanfictionNaina and Sameer meet each other when Naina comes to Delhi from Agra, her hometown, to join a new office. Along with her younger brother, she settles down in a rented accommodation and learns to manage in the new environment. Sameer is intrigued by...
