Shaayad...

58.

Sidharth woke up feeling his head spinning around and realised that it might be a hangover. He groaned, "Fuck!", Sidharth muttered under his breath.

Shehnaaz had been up already, getting all freshened up before he woke up. She was in such a giddy and happy mood, that she couldn't remember the last time she felt that happy.

It was probably, 13 years ago. Her parents had finally told her that she would be brought back to her home from her maternal grandparent's home.

She was just so happy that, as happy as she was today. Shehnaaz's face fell when she remembered what had happened that same day after she came home.

The 14 year old Shehnaaz happily packed her bags and her books. She sat in her room, without a bed or a dressing table, and just a mattress for her to sleep on.

She was dressed up in the most beautiful dress she had because she was finally going home. People had told her that maternal uncle and aunts loved her a lot, but this had proven false in her context.

She hated being here and each and every moment of these 4 years that she had spent here, she has only wished to go home, to her parents.

Her maami came up with an angry face, scaring the little girl. Shehnaaz was more scared of her maami than she was of her parents and obviously a part of this reason was that she hadn't stayed with them.

"Tujhe bola tha roti banane ko!", maami scowled. "Mumma-papa aa re...", Shehnaaz said scaredly.

"Abhi aaye toh nhi naa!", maami shouted as she grabbed her arm.

Shehnaaz winced in pain but she had realised a long time ago that screaming in pain only made her maami more mad at her.

So, with time she understood that it's better to stay silent and bear the pain than to scream and increase it. Maami pulled her towards the kitchen and made her move inside the kitchen while she herself laid the table.

Shehnaaz was too happy to mind or even object about the treatment. Had it been another day, she might have fought back, but not today.

Her parents were coming to take her and absolutely nothing could spoil her mood. She happily worked in the kitchen and as soon as she heard her father's car pull up in front of the house, she ran outside.

However, her happiness was short lived when mumma and papa told her that she was going to a hostel in Dalhousie, straight from here.

She wasn't even taken to her home, from her mama's home, she went straight to a hostel.

As she remembered that day, Shehnaaz got sad. She was feeling the same happiness today, maybe even more than that. What if, its short lived too?

What if by the time the day comes to an end, she is left alone to be unhappy again. She remembers how she was feeling like crying when her parents were dropping her off, but she didn't.

She didn't let even a single tear drop out of her eyes, Shehnaaz was determined that she wouldn't cry.

She knew that her parents wouldn't care, and they would definitely leave her in the hostel then why even bother to cry and beg them to let her stay.

As soon as she was shown her room, they both left. Shehnaaz had thought that they might stay for some time and talk to her maybe, but they didn't, they just left.

That whole night, Shehnaaz had locked herself up in that small hostel room and cried, all alone. From that day, she never cried in front of anybody, except Baaz.

But then Ayaan came and she let her in, he left her too. And now she had finally let herself bare in front of Sidharth, only one thing was left and she was going to do it today.