Will I See You Again?

Bell Jar

Two hours.

In the end, it was these last two hours which were standing between her and the BB14 trophy.
Every other contestants have left already, and with each exit, her excitement and anxiety have increased in equal measure.

Two hours left and already most of the cameras inside the house have been switched off. Same with most of the lights. The few lights that are still on, have completely changed the ambiance of the living area. The place that once looked like a chaotic hellhole, was now bathed in the soft glow, creating a mysterious aura.

Two hours. Two individuals.

Ideally they're poles apart but in this moment, both have the same desire, that is, to go back to their loved ones.

Two hours, and just like these last few days, Rubina's eyes unknowingly searched the other one's.
Lately, she has come to seek his presence around this reality house. Not to talk but just to make sure that he's also here.

Seeing him sitting on the other side of the sofa, lost in his own thoughts, Rubina's eyes lingered on his face for just a few moments. A few stolen moments and then immediately shifted back to the kitchen area. Though, most of the cameras are turned off, she can't take the risk or even a simple implication from anyone that she was staring at him.

No, that's his speciality. Staring at people, trying to read others, showing empathy with those eyes to get close to others. Rubina knows all of his tricks and yet, in the last few weeks, she has made a conscious decision to be more cordial with him.
R. Mahajan didn't even need to tell her that day because she had already made her mind to do exactly that.

Nonetheless, it was definitely better for him and Rubina when the man himself came to the kitchen area and agreed to Mahajan's words.

Rubina thought that'll be the end of it so she had busied herself in making lunch for everyone but then he had said something that had caught her full attention.

"You said that in future, if you saw me someday in a mall, you wouldn't even say 'hi' to me".

As soon as he said those words, Rubina was on high alert. Not because she felt threatened by him, no, but from the fact that she had actually said those words to him in the third or fourth week and he still remembers them.

What does that say about a person?

It must have hurt him terribly if he can still recall them so easily.

Without losing her composure and as gently as she could manage, Rubina said, " that was an incident of 3rd or 4th week maybe, but we've come a long way from that".

Rubina hoped that was enough to lessen the hurt a little.

To think that he left BB14 house the first time with those words engraved in his memory, made her feel somewhat terrible. Now, this house has given her a chance to clear that misunderstanding, it would be rather foolish on Rubina's part if she let go off that opportunity.
She just hoped that in the last few weeks, they won't get into anymore ugly fights, and even if such moment appears, she'll make sure to be the one, to nip it in the bud.
_____

Loud noises from the outside brought Rubina's wandering mind back to the present and she realized that her former enemy was currently standing near the glass door and was looking outside. Most probably, waiting like a caged bird to be set free. The mental imagery of him, rapidly flapping his wings brought a smile on Rubina's face.

Long gone are those days when even hearing his name would sour her mood.
Truly a lot has happened in the last four and a half months.

Two hours.
Despite being a mountain girl, all this silence was slowly but steadily grating on her nerves. Huffing to herself, Rubina got up from the sofa and slowly walked towards the glass door where he was standing and stood beside him and looked outside.

"Pinjre main band Rubina..."

Rubina shook her head slowly to stop that foolish song in her head. Once it starts, it will play on loop. Instead, she took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly to calm her jittery nerves. Without turning towards him she gently began,

"Rahul, we need to talk"

And just like these past few months, his laser sharp gaze were back on Rubina.
Nodding to herself, Rubina turned her face towards him but instead of directly looking at those eyes, she focused on his left eyebrow and opened her mouth to say...

"God damn it! Are you freaking crazy!"

With a violent jolt Rubina was wide awake. Taking in multiple lungful of breaths, she tried to calm her heartbeat and make sense of her surroundings. She realized that she's sitting in the car. It seemed that she most likely had fallen asleep on the drive and was now roused awake by her driver, who is currently shouting at some poor stranger.

Rubina looked down at her lap, at her award and could feel a strong headache was looming around the corner and possibly would soon rear its ugly head.

"Leave him be and just drive. Can't wait for this stupid day to be finally over", Rubina told her driver tiredly and leaned back in her seat.
Looking sideways at the fast passing scenarios through the glass window, she could see the huge hoardings of the upcoming concert. Overhead lights illuminated those same intense eyes in the poster.

"Some things never change" her mind's voice supplied, not so helpfully.

Rubina pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and index finger. The headache was here already so she decided to just close her eyes and resigned herself to count the minutes till she reached her home.

"RKV is in the city.... had a great rivalry... Any plans on getting together?"

Before completely succumbing to an uncomfortable nap on her expensive leather seat, Rubina's lips softly breathed a single word.

"Maybe".

--------++++++-----------
Fair warning, you're most likely to be disappointed with this story. Still, I hope y'all like my take on this pairing.