• Eternal Night •

37

"I heard about Shivaay and his jokes!" smirked Kalyani.

"Oh, you did?" Annika chuckled. "Any solutions, then?"

"Sadly, no!" said Prithvi. "You know, whenever he gets nervous, he spouts nonsense. I remember when we took him for the school interview. The principal asked him what his favourite animal was and he said that it was a dung beetle? Yeah?"

"What?" gasped Annika.

"Oh yes!" laughed Prithvi and Kalyani.

"It's a great animal..." Shivaay commented. "It takes the poop away. It helps clean. Wonderful. Everyone's favourite animal should be dung beetle."

"It's not even an animal to begin with..." said Gauri. "What are you talking about?"

"Well kill me for it..." said Shivaay. "I was two and a half years old."

"Then how come you knew about a dung beetle?" screeched Rudra. "All I knew at that age was horses and dogs and cats."

"Kill me again for having a better IQ than you!" Shivaay shrugged. "And those weren't the only animals you knew. Because you said that your favourite animal was a hippo. Like whose favourite animal is that?"

Pressing a palm on Rudra's mouth, Om calmly said, "So it is safe to say that my brothers have always been insane."

"Not really," Kalyani pipped up. "Because darling, you said that your favourite animal was a Brachiosaurus."

Gauri almost spilled out the water she was drinking while Rudra and Annika doubled up. "A what?"

"Oh yeah!!" chuckled Shivaay. "That was from Jurassic Park. I trained Om well for the school interview."

Om flushed red in embarrassment. "Madness stems from Shivaay. Clearly."

"You are welcome, Om!" smiled Shivaay. "Be glad that I gave you only the madness and not the other disea..."

Shivaay bit his tongue when he realized what he was speaking and the eyes everyone was making at him. Gauri crossed her arms. "Say it. Complete it."

Shivaay grinned nervously. "I forgot what I was saying. Damn Paul. I think he is giving me some medicine that induces forgetfulness too."

"Ugh, shut up Shivaay!" Om rebuked him. "Accept that you are just an asshole."

"No..." Shivaay yawned. "I have an asshole. Just like I have you and Rudra. There is a difference."

"Okay now you guys really need to shut up!" Prithvi got up. "It's late and Shivaay, you need to sleep."

"I need to go and sleep too. I have an early morning call tomorrow..." Rudra stretched his arms. "Gauri Bhabhi and I will have to sit on the presentation too."

Shivaay chuckled. "Why does it feel like you are in some play and mistakenly spouting my lines?"

Rudra sneered. "Some bad play then, eh?"

Shivaay's expressions turned grim. "I am sorry, Ru. If I could, I would have never let this happen. I would have been the happiest if you had got to live your life the way you wanted. I never wanted to push you and Gauri into this."

Rudra shook his head and hugged Shivaay. "No Bhaiya. I really want to do this. I was wrong. I enjoy this. You don't need to be sorry."

Shivaay patted his back. "Such a bad liar you are."

Rudra smiled. "I can quit when you come back."

Shivaay looked down. He didn't know if he could look into Rudra's eyes and say anything. Rudra greedily held his hand. "You will do that for me, right?"

Shivaay still couldn't lookup. He just nodded.

"Okay," Kalyani said. "Let's go home, Rudra. We are getting late. Shivaay should sleep now. He has a few tests tomorrow morning."

"What kind of tests?" Rudra raised a brow.

"Stress test for them, surprise and gasping test for me..." said Shivaay. "Then blood tests and whatnot. Maybe to complete the package, Paul can throw in a Morning testosterone test too."

Annika pinched the bridge of her nose and groaned. "Boy."

"Yeah," Prithvi nodded. "This is a perfect moment to just say good night. Thanks for making it easier Shivaay."

Shivaay laughed. Prithvi leaned in for a quick forehead kiss. "Take care. I hope tomorrow is a better day for better jokes."

"We all live in hope..." Shivaay shrugged. "Good night my grand old man. Good night, Dadi."

Smiling, everyone walked out of the room except Annika and Om. After closing the door, Om slowly walked in and sat at the foot of the bed. Staring at Shivaay, he asked, "We can talk, Shivaay."

"What?" Shivaay knitted his brows. "What does that mean?"

"I mean, has Paul told you something?" he asked again.

"What? No! Why will Paul tell me something..." Shivaay sighed. "What are you even talking about? What is this about?"

"It is about you behaving differently. And well, Paul will not tell you anything but you might have heard something accidentally too..." said Annika. "Which I am pretty sure you have."

"Guys yaar..." Shivaay tiredly closed his eyes. "Nothing of this sort has happened alright. And I am really tired now, let's go to sleep. Please."

Not wanting to argue with him any further, both Om and Annika let the matter be and nodded.

***************************************

"Can't sleep?" asked Om.

Annika kept her eyes on Shivaay's silhouette and whispered, "How can I? Funny how a few days back I had walked out because of this."

Om looked at her. "Because of this? What do you mean?"

Annika took a shaky breath. "I don't know, Om. But I never wanted to see this."

Om didn't understand her. "What?"

Frustratedly, Annika turned towards him. "This. How...it's difficult to see him like this and not...it's tough. I don't like it."

"Ah..." Om nodded. "I understand. I always thought that you hated Shivaay."

"No..." Annika sighed. "No. God no. We just are very different people."

"Gauri and I too. I think everyone is different. But love is a means to coexist with each other in spite of that. When the fondness outweighs the differences...isn't it?"

"Yeah..." Annika agreed. "I probably accepted it too late."

Om remained quiet for a long time. Then he spoke. "It's a funny word, isn't it? Late...what is it about it that makes everything so tragic? Late..."

Tears welled up in Annika's eyes and she looked away. She mumbled, "Late..."

Om sniffled. "You know Shivaay is the most punctual person I know. And yet, he never gets anything in time. I failed to see what he was trying to do. Rudra too. A lot of other people too. Even you. It's unfair."

"I am trying to correct it..." cried Annika silently.

"Trust me," Om choked up. "Even I am. But I know it is not going to be enough."

Annika pulled him closer to her. Burying her head in his chest, she mumbled, "I hope it is. I am praying."