Monami was bored. They'd been on the road for an hour now and Karan hadn't spoken a word. As far as she could tell, they wouldn't reach Mumbai till lunch time and she was bored already. She looked over at Karan who was driving with unwavering concentration.
"Agar tum tired ho gaye toh I can drive." Monami said.
"I'm fine Raani sahiba." Karan said.
"Main radio chalau?" She asked.
Karan already had a CD of his favourite songs. So he just hit play and Monami was surprised to see him play old Hindi music. Abhi na jaao chhod kar played and Monami's eyes went wide. She couldn't understand why Karan picked this song out of all the songs.
Abhi na jao chhod kar ke dil abi bhara nahi
Monami suddenly remembered Sumanji's warning about Karan. He was playing romantic songs like this and everyone knew you played old romantic songs when you were with your romantic partner. Sid impressed his first girlfriend by singing an old song.
Abhi abhi to aayi ho, abhi abhi to
Abhi abhi to aayi ho, bahar banke chhayi ho
Hawa zara mehak to le, nazar zara behak to le
Karan smiled and Monami smiled watching him smile. His smile was infectious. Was he trying to impress her or was he trying to get her in a romantic mood? It was working because she started humming the song absent-mindedly.
Yeh shaam dhal to le zara
Yeh dil sambhal to le zara
Main thodi deir jee to loon
"Meri mom ka favourite gaana hai yeh." Karan said.
Monami was surprised to see him initiate the conversation. "Mujhe bhi pasand hai yeh gaana. In fact mujhe old Hindi songs saare pasand hai. They had so much soul in them right. Kitne romantic hai!"
"Romantic toh hai." Karan said.
Bas ab na mujhko tokna
Na badhke raah rokna
Agar main ruk gayi abhi
To jaa na paaoongi kabhi
Monami thought about what he said. He admitted to the song being romantic. She was in the car with him. He was playing romantic songs on their long drive together. That could only mean one thing. He really liked her. Sumanji was right! Now the question was, did she like him?
Adhoori aas, adhoori aas chhod ke
Adhoori pyas chhod ke ao roz yun hi jaaogi
To kis tarah nibhaaogi
Ke zindagi ki raah mein
Jawan dilon ki chaah mein kai makam aayenge
Jo humko aazmaayenge
Bura na maano baat ka, yeh pyar hai gila nahi
"Tumhe sacchi koi idea nahi hai mujhe Brigadier Shah ne kyu bulaya hai?" Monami asked.
"Mujhe kaise pata hogi aapki kaha kiske saath pehchan hai?" Karan said. "All I know is ki unhone khud Colonel Batra ko phone karke tumhe invite kiya hai. Aur Colonel Batra ne mujhe bheja tumhara khyaal rakhne."
Monami found too many loopholes in his story. Firstly, she didn't know the Brigadier. Also wouldn't Colonel Batra ask her first before sending her off with Karan? And why would Karan, out of all people, agree to take her. It wasn't an official assignment. He could very well refuse to take her. So Sumanji had been right. Karan Shergill liked her. This was confirmation enough!
It thrilled her to know that Karan liked her. Maybe he was khadoos towards her because he liked her. Monami blushed thinking how alike he was to Mr. Darcy! He would act like a jerk because he couldn't articulate his love for Elizabeth. Karan was the same in this case. Monami slowly drifted into sleep as she began imagining Mr. Darcy as Karan, as her as Elizabeth.
***
"Raani Sahiba?" Karan called out shaking her awake.
Monami woke up with a start. She looked around to find that they had reached their hotel. For a moment Monami considered going home, but she didn't know how her father would react on seeing her. So she followed Karan to the lobby where he checked them in. He handed her a key card of her room.
Monami found that their rooms were adjacent to each other. She inspected both the rooms to Karan's annoyance and took the one with the better view. Karan went to his room and locked the door. Monami jumped on the soft bed and closed her eyes again, drifting back to sleep. The next time she was woken by knocks on the door. She opened the door to find Karan.
"Tum lunch karne niche chalogi ya room service?" He asked.
"Room service." Monami said.
Karan entered her room and ordered lunch for both of them. Monami checked her phone and saw twenty six messages from Sid. There were six video calls attempted and fourteen missed calls. She opened the messages to find messages from Sumanji, Chitra, Sid and one from Koel too. Wow! They had gone completely insane.
"I'm fine guys. Hotel pohoch chuki hu. Currently having lunch with Khadoos Shergill. Uske baad I'll call you guys." She texted Sid.
The reply came at once. "Tum dono ka room toh alag hai na? Woh dole shole flirt kar raha hai tere saath?"
Monami sighed and kept her phone aside. She knew they wouldn't leave her now if she continued to text them. Karan settled on the single chair of the room while Monami sat on the bed. Monami wondered how she should talk to him. She wanted to tell him that she was okay if he liked her. He didn't have to be so awkward around her.
"Tumhara ghar Mumbai mein hi hai na?" Karan asked. "Hume shaam ko nikalna hai toh if you want tum ghar ja sakti lunch ke baad."
"No... it's okay." Monami said. The thought of facing her father terrified her. "What about your family? Tum nahi miloge unse?"
"Meri family Deolali mein hi hai aur waise bhi Batra sir ne mujhe tumhari duty pe dala hai." Karan said.
"Tumne mana kyu nahi kiya Batra sir ko?" Monami asked. "I thought you didn't like me."
"Mrs. Batra thi waha aur tumhe pata hai main unko na nahi keh pata hu." Karan said.
Monami smiled. She decided she would deal with it maturely, like an adult. Not some hormonal or awkward teenager. She was going to talk about it to Karan. "It's okay you know. Tumhe jhoot bolne ki zaroorat nahi."
"Excuse me?" Karan was surprised.
"I know tum mujhe yaha kyu leke aaye ho. And it's fine. Tum mere saath apni feelings share kar sakte ho Karan. I won't mind."
"Kaisi feelings?" He asked
"That you like me." Monami said. "Itna jhooth bolne ki kya zaroorat thi. Tum directly aake mujhe bol sakte hai. Main tumhe khaa nahi jaati."
Karan looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "Raani Sahiba, aapka dimaag thik hai?"
"It's okay Karan. Defensive hone ki koi zaroorat nahi. I understand tumne aisa pehle kisi ke liye feel nahi kiya hai. It's your first time and the best thing to do in these circumstances is to just talk about it."
Karan knew it. Monami had officially gone crazy or perhaps Rani Sahiba had some grandeur delusion. There was no use talking to her. How could she even accuse him of lying and having feelings for her? He got up and went to his own room.
"Tum lunch nahi karoge?" Monami asked.
"No Raani Sahiba. Bhook marr gayi."
Monami pouted as he shut his door. Khadoos Shergill was really awkward. Maybe she shouldn't have spoken to him directly. She had her lunch then went took another nap so she would look fresh for the party tonight, if there was even one.
