the best friend

chapter 8

Purvi and ishita were back to their old habits, walking to college as well as from college home. They looked at the ice cream cart go by but realised that once in a day is more than sufficient. Moreover, they were just enjoying each other's company, nothing else really mattered.

'toh kya baat hai, dushyant ki nazar tumse hat hi nahi rahi thi aaj..' said purvi in the middle of their conversation about their day.

'aisa kuch nahi hai...' said ishita very unconvincingly.

'haan, tum toh bas hi bol rahe the...' said purvi mockingly.

'yaar, purvi—i-, i like him, i do..' replied ishita

'and he likes you, problem kahan aa rahi hai?' asked purvi impatiently

'how can you be so sure he likes me, let's face it, he's nice to everyone, what if it's just that?' commented ishita.

'he's nice to everyone, but woh look joh cheek raha hota hai na 'i love you', woh sirf tum hi deta hai.' Explained purvi.

'acha, main koi desperate looks toh nahi deti na usse.' Ishita got self conscious.

'joh look main aur kavin ek dusre ko dete hain, woh desperate hain?'

'obviously not. It's that romantic movie ke end pe hero aur heroine jo looks dete hain na woh..'

'aur kaun nahi chahta woh look..' commented purvi as ishita nodded with a 'yeah right' smile.

'toh jab tujhe woh mil raha hai toh gava mat.' Purvi commanded with all the seriousness inside of her, to ishita who knew very well that purvi was one of those fun-loving people who only reserved this concern for matters they really were serious about, so she nodded reciprocating that seriousness.

'i think i'll talk to him.' Said ishita.

Meanwhile, kavin and dushyant were at dushyant's house, since his mother had came back, kavin expressed his wish to have her famous paneer korma, and dushyant's mother very merrily invited kavin too.

'yaar aunty ek aapko dekh liya aur aapka paneer korma kha liya, ab bas main apni life safal consider kar raha hoon...maza hi aa gaya.'

'arre beta, tum aaya toh karo bas, tumhe kya kuch nahi hai khilane ke liye.'

'arre aunty main toh aa jaon, bas yeh aapka beta, mujhe lane mein interested kahan hota hai, iska interest toh kahi aur hi hai.' Dushyant's mother smiled as dushyant spared another one of his death stares to kavin.

'haan, taste toh lekin iska meri tarah hi, bahaut acha hai.' Mrs hemraj commented.

'yaar had hai, piche hi pad gaye ho aap log mere aur ishita ke, chahte kya ho aap log mujhse?' exclaimed an extremely irritated dushyant.

'humne kab ishita ka naam liya, kyun aunty?'

'bilkul. Kyun, kuch hai kyat um dono ke beech?'

Dushyant shaked his head at both of them, 'i would appreciate agar aap dono iss topic pe baat na karein.' Stated dushyant firmly.

'bhai dushyant aisa kya ho gaya hai? Agar tujhe ishita pasand hai ya nahi pasand hai, batade humein. Usse zyada kya puch rahe hain tujhse?'

'mujhe toh yeh khud bhi nahi pata abhi.'

'what do you mean yaar? Aise kaise nahi pata.'

'yaar kavin, mujhe time chahiye, main...'

'kyun?'

'i want to be sure about what i want before i go ahead.'

A pissed off kavin, just didn't have the patience for this. He wondered what is making dushyant act this way. while dushyant left the dinning table.

'yeh ladka bhi mahan hai by god!' remarked kavin.

At night, dushyant flipped through the pages of Anna Karenina, as a smile formed on his face. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door of his bedroom, it was his mother.

'arre maa aap?' said dushyant as he turned towards the door.

'yeh tum pehle bhi padh chuke ho na?' remarked mrs hemraj as dushyant smiled casually and nodded.

'elena ki tarah, ishita ko bhi yahi pasand hai na?' mrs hemraj questioned as dushyant's face was full of shock and his eyes slowly getting moist.

'agar main usse bhi hurt kar baitha toh...' said dushyant as he looked down on the book, slowly rubbing his thumb around the title.

'joh tum abhi kar rahe ho, toh shayad zaroor.'

'mujhe kuch samajh nahi aa raha mom, woh nahi janti ki main kitna hurt kar sakta hoon usse, aur usse ek aur bura relationship nahi chahiye apni life mein.'

'tum agar iss baar bhi bhagoge na, toh tum ek bure relationship se zyada bura kardoge uski life mein..'

Dushyant nodded as he kept aside the copy of Anna Karenina.

'i think hum dono ke liye hi acha hai ki main usse sach batadoon.' Said dushyant as his mother nodded in agreement.