Shakhi // JIGGLY //

II

...

"Tumhe Anokhi kaisi lagi?"

He got a loud bark and a lick on his palm in return.

"Mujhe bhi."

Shaurya was seated on a loveseat in the corner of his office with Jiggly lounging around in his lap. He had gotten Jiggly only to talk about his conflicting feelings. So after the incident in the canteen with Anokhi, Shaurya had rushed to his office with Jiggly in tow and locked the gate to settle down in the seat while staring out the window.

"Lekin mujhe voh ladki samajh main nahi aati. Aur uske around main kaisa behave karne lagta hu, mujhe voh zyaada samajh nahi aata. I don't know what happens to me." Shaurya got up from his seat and placed Jiggly there while he started pacing around.

"Voh ladki itni talented hai. She's got a brilliant mind. But at the same time voh itni bewakoof kaise ho sakti hai? She's so naïve. You get what I'm saying?" Shaurya looked at Jiggly to find him staring back at him as if he understood his words completely.

"I mean voh meri student hai. Humare college me padhti hai. How can I feel like this about her? And out of everyone else, voh kyu? I mean, jabse voh aayi hai, usne sirf mujhe pareshaan kiya. Humare milne se pehle bhi usne mujhe itna pareshaan kiya hai. Did you know usne ek baar train par meri aankho me pepper spray daal diya tha? Aur yeh hamesha galat jane par spray karti hai. Main toh uski yeh sochkar help kar raha tha ki voh train se kudke apni jaan dene vaali hai. Uss hi ki bhalai ke liye kar raha tha, na? Iska pepper spray kabhi bahar nahi nikalta jab actually zaroorat hoti hai. Yeh kidnap ho chuki hai ek baar. Can you believe that? Dhang se sheher main aayi nahi hai aur saari buri cheeze iske saath hi ho rahi hai. Kaha-kaha jaaun uske peeche? Main nahi hota toh ab tak marr gayi hoti voh. But akela bhi toh nahi chodh sakta. Tum samajh rahe ho na?"

He looked at Jiggly to find him listening intently. He was going to let it all out today.

Shaurya went towards Jiggly's bag and took out some dog biscuits for Jiggly. He sat by him on the couch and fed him some one by one.

"Usko thodi der ke liye bhi akela chodhta hu toh voh uska personal hawaldar aa jaata hai. Chalo Anokhi toh hai jaisi hai, iss Ahir ki kya problem hai? Kaam-dhanda nahi hai kya iske paas? Chandigarh ke saare criminals ne London shift kar liya hai kya jo yeh mauj maar raha hai? Iska chapter khatam hi nahi ho raha hai. Uss Aastha ma'am ko dhundne ke liye help maangne gaye the. Unko dhundte dhundte usne Anokhi ko dangon main bhej diya. Uski koi responsibility banti hai ya nahi? How could he do that? Anokhi ko kuch ho jaata toh I would've killed him. Aur voh Anokhi bhi uske gun-gaan gaati rehti hai. Kya chal raha hai kuch samajh hi nahi aa raha." Shaurya was starting to get angry now. As soon as his fist was free from the dog treats he held Jiggly's face with both of his eyes and looked at his eyes in anger.

Anokhi had been passing by Shaurya's cabin from outside the building when she stopped by his window to a scene she never thought she would see.

"Yeh Shaurya sir ke andar kitna gussa bhara hua hai? Jiggly par bhi gussa kar rahe hai. Bechare ki toh koi galti bhi nahi hogi. Kisne trust kiya inko apne dog ke saath? Main toh apna dog kabhi na deti inko. Khudka mood toh kabhi sambhala nahi jaata inse, Jiggly ko aur sambhalenge." She stood outside watching him talking to Jiggly while still holding his face. She couldn't read lips but she knew that he was probably venting out his frustration to Jiggly about something.

"...Voh kyu madarata rehta hai uske aas-pass? Kya lagti hai Anokhi uski? Aastha ma'am mil gayi toh uska kaam khatam na? Anokhi ke baaki do kidnappers toh dhunde nahi jaate usse. Itna time ho gaya hai. Kuch kaam ki baat karta nahi hai, Anokhi ko idhar-udhar ghumata rehta hai bas. Voh bhi toh jaati rehti hai uske saath. Maine usko apni gaadi main bhetna offer kiya, bhetne se pehle do baatein suna di. Uski jeep me toh hasti-khelti ja rahi thi. Meri gaadi me kya problem hai? Uski jeep se toh acchi hi hai. Do you think she likes him?" Jiggly slowly scampered off the loveseat to the ground and made his way towards the window where Anokhi was still watching.

Shaurya turned towards the direction Jiggly was going in before his eyes met Anokhi's through the window. Their cheeks flared up, being caught up in the act of doing something none of them were supposed to be doing.

Shaurya made his way towards the window and opened it.

"Tumne kuch dekha toh nahi na?" Shaurya asked in a low voice now trying to avoid her gaze.

"Sab dekha." Shaurya eyes widened and his cheeks reddened as he stumbled to find his way to a reasonable explanation of why was he ranting about her to a dog.

"Lekin suna kuch nahi. Soundproof glass." Shaurya heaved a sigh of relief before Anokhi started talking again.

"Aur main bas aise hi jaa rahi thi yaha se. Mera intention nahi that aapko aur...Jiggly ko aise dekhne ka. Main bas...curious thi. Aap kya baat kar rahe the...?" Anokhi scratched behind her ear, a nervous habit of hers and she hesitantly asked him.

"Nothing...Main usse nothing ke baare me baat kar raha tha." Shaurya had no idea what was coming out of his mouth, it was as if his mouth had developed a mind of its own and it was dead set on embarrassing Shaurya.

Anokhi's eyebrows perked up hearing the peculiar arrangement of words of explanation from him.

"I meant...uh...bas aise hi. Mausam ke baare me baat kar raha tha. Catching up on the all the gossips in the dog community." Shaurya did a mental face palm because of the absurd explanations spewing out of his mouth, while Anokhi saw the clear torture he was going through in his eyes as he kept smiling, as if he hadn't just said that.

Anokhi thought best to leave him to it. The man had never made sense to her and she was sure he never will.

"Main aapko disturb nahi karti fir. Aap kariye aap jo bhi kar rahe the. Enjoy your gossiping, sir." By this point, Shaurya had lost all hope in himself and just accepted that he will never be able to regain the dignity he just lost, back as he replied, "I will. Thank you."

Anokhi was about to leave while trying to hide her amused smile, unaware that Shaurya was very much aware of the little smirk she had plastered on her face. Jiggly immediately jumped up and kept his front paws on the window sill with a loud bark addressed towards Anokhi that made her stop in her path.

"Lagta hai ki yeh chahta hai tum ruk jao." Shaurya said a soft smile on his face as his hand went up to his hair.

It's official. I love this little dude. Yeh mujhe aur main kya chahta hoon sab se acche se janta hai. Are soulmates real? Because if they are, then this little canine is definitely mine. Or is it weird for a dog to be my soulmate?

Shaurya shook himself out of his far-fetched thoughts, to say the least.

"Sir, aapka dog hai, main kaise? I mean-"

"I don't mind." Shaurya answered way too quickly for his liking. "I mean, abhi tumhare koi lectures bhi nahi hai. Why don't you keep us- I mean, HIM company? I'm sure, isse bahaut accha lagega...aur...mujhe bhi." Shaurya was trying real hard to hide his blush as he bowed his head down.

Anokhi felt something suddenly shift in the air and herself. She couldn't help but think that Shaurya looks adorable with him trying to hide his clearly blushing cheeks. And she never could say no to dogs anyways. Suddenly the extra studies she had planned to do today in her free period seemed like they could wait.

"Ab Jiggly keh raha hai toh, mana kaise kar sakti hoon."

Shaurya discreetly gave Jiggly a rub on his head as he softly smiled towards Anokhi.

He reminded himself to treat Jiggly with some extra cookies later. Jiggly deserved them.

...