Sapno Ka Shaher

Waqt toh lagega hi...

Naina was in the kitchen, cleaning the countertop. The used plates and the empty utensils were kept in the sink for rinsing and the leftovers from the lunch were stored in the fridge. She didn't expect this much food would be left uneaten, because Sameer hadn't eaten properly today. Her hands were working on the countertop mechanically, but her mind was completely lost. Her mind was lost in the thoughts of Sameer, who was standing in the balcony and behaving as lost since morning.

Something was so wrong with him, Naina knew that. He was answering only in 'yes' or 'no' or 'sorry' since morning. And it wasn't just about not speaking much, but his body language, his lost eyes and melancholic face was enough proof to tell her that something so dreadful had happened yesterday night. She was aware that it wasn't only about rejection, that thing Sameer had learnt to handle, but much more worse than that. But what? Did Aryan insult Sameer badly? Did they have a fight in between? She just couldn't get it. Neither she got the time to ask him peacefully nor Sameer was available in the house for that. And she was sure that he was just avoiding the situation to be questioned about yesterday night.

He had woken up early in the morning and straightaway entered the bathroom. After bath, he had had his tea, made by Papa, in a hurry and left the house saying he would get the vegetables and grocery. She inferred that he had even forgotten about her periods, as generally he wouldn't let her enter the kitchen in the morning. He had taken so long to return, carrying a grocery of over a month. She had even berated him, not meaning literally but just to make him speak.

"Yeh kya hai Sameer? Ek mahine se bhi jyada ka ration hai yeh..." Her eyes had widened seeing the multiple heavy cotton bags he had kept on the kitchen platform.

"Sorry..." was the only word he had said.

She had immediately softened, "aaa... koi baat nahi... ab tension nahi rahega na ghar me kaunsi cheez hai aur kaunsi nahi..." She tried to lift his mood with her chirpy voice.

He had just hummed and turned to leave when Papa joined them in the kitchen, "arey Sameer, kahan gaye the tum? Subah se dhund raha hun tumhe..." There was a big smile on Papa's face. Sameer didn't respond and just looked down. "Achchha, kal ki mulaakat kaisi thi tumhari... role mila tumhe?" Rakesh was keen to know the outcome of Sameer's meeting with Aryan.

Sameer didn't lift his head. "Nahi," he had said without meeting his eyes with anyone and left the kitchen.

Naina and Rakesh looked at each other, and both had observed that Sameer was indeed disturbed. Naina wanted to talk to him but he was again out for a long time on the pretext of meeting Aditya. But when he hadn't returned after an hour, she had gone to check on him and spotted him walking alone in the garden. He was walking in the harsh sunlight, which he doesn't like at all. All this wasn't enough for them, as during lunch too, Sameer was constantly thinking about something. She just wished she had stayed awake yesterday when he arrived. Yesterday night, she had woken up with a jerk thinking about Sameer, but seeing him sleeping beside her, she had heaved a sigh of relief. She had realized she slept in a new suit, but she was in no mood of getting up and changing it. So she just scooted closer to Sameer, hugged him from behind and fell asleep again. But now, she wished she should have just checked on him, asked him when did he return and whether he had eaten anything, because today morning, she had again received just a 'sorry' from him, when asked why he didn't wake her up or eat something.

She was getting worried now. Quiet Sameer had always scared her. When he would stand alone at nights in the terrace garden of Krishna Kaustubhi during his office days, she would just wonder if she has done something wrong again and Sameer is just avoiding to talk about it. But later, it had of course turned out as the bad treatment he was receiving in the office and eventually the business split. The way he had gone silent and fierce when Kartik had hugged her during the play, she knew he was carrying a tornado of emotions inside him and that was putting her into more guilt. The way he was keeping himself away from her after returning from Delhi and feared small-small things related to their relationship, it had taken her so much time to assure him that no-one and nothing could part them away. And today, since morning, she had seen reflections of all those phases in Sameer and that had scared her to the core. She was afraid that Sameer may go into the shell again and surround himself with self-doubt like all those times and she didn't want it to happen in any way. She had tried to guess all the possibilities that must have happened yesterday during Sameer's meeting with Aryan, but she just couldn't reach a specific one. And soon, she had given up the guessing game too and just wanted to hear it directly from Sameer. All she needed was the alone time with him and she just prayed that she would get it somehow.