Monami was in the changing room when Suman ji and Chitra charged her. They walked in and quickly locked the door from inside. Monami got scared just by looking at their faces. They looked mad. She quickly changed into her uniform and came out of the stall to face them.
"Monami tune aise hone kaise diya? Bechara Sid! Uska ro roke bura haal hai." Sumanji said.
"Tum kitni #selfish ho!" Chitra said.
"Sachhi! Usne kaha aur tumne tod diya? Sachhi bolo, tumne yeh mangni Karan sir ke liye toda hai na? Mann mein toh laddoo phoot rahe honge. Sid ne shaadi tod di, ab Karan se saath khulke romance kar paogi!" Sumanji said.
"I'm telling you, uss cutie ne shaadi todi hi hogi tumhe Karan ke saath dekhke. That's why he's so sad. #heartbreak."
Monami couldn't believe they were blaming her. Why were they connecting her breakup to Karan? And why were they blaming her for it? She had nothing to do. It was all Sid's overacting. She wasn't even his fiancé for god's sake!
"Aisa kuch nahi hai." Monami said. "Maine tum logo se pehle bhi kaha hai mere aur Karan ke beech kuch nahi hai."
"Phir Sid ko engagement todne ki zaroorat kyu padi? Aur agar tod bhi di, toh tumne todne kaise diya? Pyaar mein toh log maut tak saath nahi chodte. Bechara Sid, duniye chodke ja raha hai, aur tumne pehle hi uska saath chod diya? Tumse yeh ummeed nahi thi Monami."
Monami felt her eyes misting up. She tried to stop the tears that were threatening to spill out.
"Aajkal achhe ladke milte nahi hai, aur tum khud use chodke jaa rahi ho."
"Woh bhi uss #hot bande ke liye. #cheater."
Monami started crying. She unlocked the door and ran outside crying.
***
Monami missed her training and Karan was mad. He couldn't concentrate properly. His mind would keep going back to her. Sanjana told him that she was upset because her engagement broke. It was a valid excuse, but a soldier should keep their emotions aside. Also, he didn't get what was there to be upset about. She should be glad that namuna broke their engagement. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he asked Sanjana and Faizi to take over the training and he went looking for her.
Karan didn't have to look for her for long. She was in her room, sitting and crying. Last night she'd seem fine to him, but perhaps he was wrong. She was crying, so that means she must have actually loved that namuna. It made him feel an emotion he didn't want to feel. Karan debated going to her, but at last decided to go check up on her once.
"Tum thik ho?"
Monami turned around to find Karan. How did he find her? She wiped away her tears and nodded. "I'm fine."
"I'm sorry tumhari engagement toot gayi. Sunke bura laga." Karan said.
Monami again started crying. "Woh problem nahi hai ki engagement tooti. Problem yeh hai ki sab kya soch rahe hai. Sab mujhe blame kar rahe hai iske liye. Humesha ladkiyon pe blame kyu aata hai? Engagement usne todi phir bhi everyone thinks yeh meri wajah se ho raha hai. Mujhe selfish aur cheater bula rahe hai sab."
"Tumhari koi fault nahi hai. Sab uss namune ki wajah se hua." Karan said. "Tumhe pata hai woh marne nahi wala. Toh out of sacrifice toh usne nahi todi hogi engagement. In fact, tumhara woh namuna isn't trustworthy. Aadhe time toh Sanjana ke peecha para rehta hai."
"Usne jis bhi reason se todi ho, logo ka kya? Yeh toh humare beech ki baat hai." Monami said. "Aur agar woh Sanjana se pyaar karta hai toh kya problem hai? Use blame mat karo."
Karan was surprised to hear her still defending Sid, and also that he loved Sanjana. "Toh woh tumpe cheat kar raha hai?"
"Woh mujhpe cheat nahi kar raha. Mangetar se bhi pehle he's my best friend. Use pyaar hua main khush hu."
Karan didn't understand what was going on. Why was she defending Sid? Why was she okay with him loving another girl? Monami's tears continued to fall. Karan felt a tinge of jealousy towards Sid. Did she really love him so much that she was ready to let him go? Why? He was just a spoilt brat, nothing else. She deserved better.
"Main uss namune ko dekh leta hu." Karan was about to get up but Monami held his hand.
"Please no. Tum Sid se kuch nahi kahoge. Sid ki fault nahi hai. Feelings pe logo ka kya control. Use pyaar ho gaya so ho gaya. Fault logo ki mentality mein hai. Aur agar tumne Sid se kuch bhi kaha toh sabka shaq yakeen mein badal jayega."
"Kaisa shaq?"
Monami didn't reply. What would she say? That Sumanji and Chitra thought there was something going on between them? Karan would kill them, and then her too. He wouldn't like to hear rumours about himself.
"Raani sahiba, na aap mujhe apne uss ex fiancé se baat karne de rahi hai na kuch thik se bata rahi hai. Batao main kya karu?"
Monami looked at Karan in surprise. Was he truly concerned about her? "Tumhe usse kya fark padhta hai?"
"Tum apni training miss kar rahi ho and as your trainer, I want this problem to go away."
Monami rolled his eyes. So he wouldn't accept that he cared about her. How predictable! "Tumhe kuch karne ki zaroorat nahi."
"Main baaki namuno se baat karta hu phir. Kisine bhi engagement ko leke baat ki toh 50 laps."
"Nahi Karan." Monami said. "Maine kaha na kuch mat karo. Sab apne aap thik ho jayega. Tum kuch bhi karoge toh baat aur bigad jayegi."
Karan was feeling helpless. Monami wouldn't let him help, and she wouldn't stop crying. She wiped her tears away but Karan could see that she was still feeling vulnerable. He held her hand and pulled her closer. Monami was a bit surprised, but as soon as she felt his arms around her, she relaxed. Khadoos Shergill wasn't used to this clearly. His body was too stiff. Monami chucked and wrapped her own arms around him, trying to teach him how to hug.
He gradually loosened up. It felt nice to hug her, even though he wasn't much of a hugger. He broke the hug quicker than he wanted to because it was making him feel weird things, but he stopped and looked at her face. His eyes were transfixed on her beauty and innocence. He wanted to murder Sid and the other namunas who hurt her. How dare they? He wiped her eyes, and caressed her cheek. It was as if his mind had stopped working, and his feelings took charge of his actions. He caught her chin, and tilted it upwards.
He leaned in and touched her lips. Monami closed her eyes at the sensation. He pulled apart just as quickly as he'd kissed her. Monami opened her eyes to see his shocked expression. She pulled back from him. What the hell had just happened? Why would he kiss her? Why would she let him kiss her? Khadoos Shergill would kill her now.
Karan hated himself for losing control. This had never happened to him before. He quickly retreated from her room. Monami Tsumani would be the death of him someday.
