two stories of marriage

chapter 17

Even though it was a great evening for purvi, the morning had come and now she would have to say goodbye to ishita.

'i'll miss you...' said purvi, still not leaving ishita from the hug.

'arre, i'll miss you too..' said ishita, trying to comfort purvi.

'phir yaheen rok jaona...' said purvi as she looked up to her.

'purvi!' said ishita with that 'unbelievable' waala look.

'arre mazaak kar rahi hoon, i know u have to go, bye!' said purvi as she finally separated from her sister.

'bye!' said ishita with a light chuckle as she lovingly patted on purvi's cheek, while ishyant touched her mother's feet.

'bye, ma!' said ishita as she hugged her mother and they finally left.

                                                       ***

The car drive home was filled with silence, as dushyant's gaze was fixed on the road, and ishita's, outside the window of the passenger seat.

'toh, aaj, mon varat?' asked dushyant, trying to break the ice, without moving his gaze away from the road.

'arre, nahi...bataiye, kuch kehna tha aapko?' asked ishita as she looked away from the window.

'technically, puchna tha, ice cream kaisi lagti hai aapko?'

'khaane mein toh achi lagti hai...' said ishita as she noticed that dushyant stopped the car by an ice-cream cart.

'aur boss, kya hal chaal ?' said dushyant to the ice-cream vendor as he pulled down the window.

While a confused ishita gave him a 'what's going on' look,

'bhai mera toh usual chocolate cone, aap kye lengi?' replied dushyant casually, as ishita simply stated,

'kulfi.' To which dushyant just said to the vendor,

'madam ne keh diya hai, ab haazir karo.'

After they got the ice creams and paid for them, parked the car, a little far from the ice-cream cart, when ishita asked,

'toh achanak se ice cream?' as she took a bite from her kulfi.

'woh building dekh rahi ho...' said dushyant as he pointed towards a building, just a few blocks away and ishita nodded in agreement,

'well, jab business bilkul start kiya tha, tab wahan pe ek chota sa office rent kiya tha, phir jab thak ke ghar jaa raha hota tha late nights ko, toh yahan se ice-cream leta hua jaata tha, mood thik karke ,apne aap ko assure karta tha ki one day all of this will pay off...aur phir jab yahan se guzre, toh bas yaad aa gayi aur, mujhse raha nahi gaya..' he explained as a tiny smile came on his face, thinking how far he has come.

'it did pay off then, huh...' remarked ishita, as he nodded in agreement,

'haan, kabhi-kabhi zyada stress hota hai toh yaheen aa jata hoon, makes me feel sab thik ho jayega..' he said as he finished his cone.

'aur aaj?' she asked as she took the last bite of her kulfi.

'aaj, aap mere saath hain, toh khush hoon..' he said as he looked at her with a loving smile that she reciprocated.

                                                                ***

'oh- ho, ab bas bhi karo, kitna bajaogi isse aur, mere sar mein dard ho gaya hai!' remarked her mother, completely annoyed by purvi, who was going to unleash all of her emotions onto the guitar today.

'aaj aap toh kya, mujhe yamraj bhi nahi rok sakta!' exclaimed purvi as she played the guitar so loudly, jumping on her bed, like a happy little kid.

'bhagwaan, ho gaya mera, ab bas utha le mujhe!' complained her mother with irritation and annoyance, but to purvi, none of this mattered, to her, there was nothing or nobody to be seen or heard, just she and her guitar.

                                   ***

'ji, ji-ji, bilkul...i'm glad you liked it , sure, sure...yeah, bye!' kavin hung up on the call as he celebrated his victory, he had just impressed the guy who had vowed to hate everything and he couldn't be more happier.

This was his chance to prove himself, and as far as what was to be seen, he had done nothing but a phenomenal job.

'guess what.' Texted kavin to purvi

'what?' replied purvi

'mocambo ne phone karke kaha he liked my work!'

'kya baat kar rahe ho, kavin, i'm so proud of you!'

'aur tum batao..'

'kuch nahi, over-excitement mein zyada hi guitar baja liya, ungliyan sooj gayi...it really hurts...'

'yikes, take care yaar, zyada dard toh nahi ho raha?'

'arre don't worry..it'll be fine in a while...i'm still glad though maine inn do bahaut lambe din ke intezaar ki kasar nikal li.'

'well, i'm glad you feel that way..'

'arre, woh toh chodo, tumne mocambo ko khush kardiya, party toh banti hai!'

'kyun nahi, toh batao, kya karein phir...'

'chalo, aaj tumhe main surprise deti hoon.'

'surprise, huh, ok then...'

'hmm, so, 7 at my home?'

'done!'

'great, see you then.'

'acha suno...'

'haan?'

'kuch kehna tha bas...'

'arre kaho na..'

'nm, i love u..'

'i love you too...'

She left the chat with a smile on her face and so did kavin on the other end.

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