Kuch Lamhaat, Tumhaarey Saath

Coming home to you

The door clicked as he turned the key, the small *tick* rang in the lobby that was quiet, of course since it was 1 am, and the door creaked as he entered his home. His home, finally after 2 days.
Even two days away from home felt so exhausting he wondered how he lived away from home for so many months during big boss! But did he regret it? No. Somehow, Not at all. Big boss, despite being the controversial, superficial show it was, had given him such BEAUTIFUL things in life. First, the little less important one being the fame, the love, the UNBELIEVABLE amount of love people had developed for him. After years of bing misunderstood in public's eye, it was good and comforting to finally be known for who you are; and not only being known, but also loved.

The second, was appreciation of what he had in life; his family, his friends, his home. After being far away from them all for so long, he realised their importance even better than before. He owed them their life, for they held him through it. Gratitude - he was brimming with it. And now, the third!

The third was this girl; half laying, half sitting there on the blue couch in his lounge, the television on and the screen blaring with no sound, the remote lay on the table in front of the couch. She was snoring softly, her head at a weird angle on the head rest of the sofa, her legs were tucked under her and she had her black dupatta wrapped around her. He chuckled, entering, placing his small hand carry suitcase beside the shelf, hanging his keys on the little hooks behind the house door, and taking off his shoes - all as quietly as he could.
All the lights in the house were closed, except the one in the kitchen. She would make sure of that, always, before going to sleep and she would get so pissed when he would leave the lights on.
"Bijli free ki milti hai tujhe? Light bhi on, pankha bhi on, ac bhi on! Sidhaaarthh at least bathroom se nikaltey time to light off kar diya kar!" She would scold him.

Big boss had given him this girl, as the peace, as the charm, as the happiness, as the contentment, as the love he never knew he needed, He never knew he was seeking.
She just came into his life like whole god damn hurricane and uprooted it in her own amazing ways. She was a havoc and an enrichment, at the same time. And only she could be that, only she, in her own weird, stupid, absolutely mindless ways of living life!
Big boss had given him this girl, and he couldn't be more thankful and gratified......
despite the fact that they had been fighting for the past three days.

Fights, they had absolutely insignificant affects on their relationship. And to his surprise, they fought very less post big boss. Each time one would get hyper, the other would give in. Most times, well, her and other times, him too. They rarely had serious fights, there was nothing to fight over and often, they would engage themselves in a made up, forced, comical argument and have fun bickering around loudly. Weird? But just absolutely them.

However, they had been fighting for the past three days. They had been arguing for a week on a matter, but two days ago, she had yelled at him and then shut the door, not wanting to talk and the grumpy Shukla then hadn't pushed her. To his surprise, she didn't even bid farewell properly to him as he had left for Lonavla for two days. She had only called twice;  once to check if he had reached safely, and then the other day to check if he had slept well that night. And she had talked about just that and cut the call. She hadn't picked any of his calls, only replied to his important messages in monosyllabic responses.

He had planned to stay angry and aloof till she came to placate him!! But but but, his resolve had disappeared into thin air as he had entered the house and watched her tiny, frail form, sleeping in that weird position on the couch, two untouched plates of food on the dining table....she had fallen asleep waiting for him...

"Shehnaaz..." He whispered, as he walked up to her. A small trail of drool had dried on the side of her parted mouth, as she snored lightly.
"Shehnaaz, uth, kamrey mein leit jaa key.." he said softly, removing strands of hair from her face and tucking them behind her ear.
"uth jaa! Baby, uth jaa!" He shook her, shoulder, waking her.
"H-huh?" Her head moved very slightly as she opened her eyes. He watched as her eyes lit up suddenly. "Haye Sidharth? Tu kab aya?!" She gasped, sitting up.
"Abhi abhi aya..... Teri tabyat theek hai? Weak lag rhi hai tu" he said, looking at her face skeptically.
She had gotten so thin and frail, owing to her diet, but not just that, her face looked pale too. And she was slightly warmer than usual.