It was late at night most of the recruits had retired to bed after a long day of training. Karan was still wandering around the academy. He was bored and unable to sleep. Faizi too was missing from his room. At this hour of the night, he was most probably on the terrace with sanju, drinking.
Karan usually did not drink at the academy, it was only during special functions or when Faizi and Sanjana visited. That too, in a limited amount.
For some reason, probably the fact that the three of them hadn't gotten much time to themselves in the past months, he decided to join them. Also it was a weekend the next day, none of those bloody recruits to face....well not all of them were bloody...or atleast a certain someone wasn't as entitled as he had thought she was.
Smiling to himself at the thought of her, he headed to the terrace. The academy seemed beautiful, eerie but beautiful at night. It was quiet...almost as if it were lifeless, if not for the occasional rounds made by the guards.
He reached the terrace, and sure enough there they were, at their usual table.
Seeing him, Faizi's smile widened. Sanjana turned around slightly.
"Janab ekdam se yaha kaise?" Faizi asked, not as drunk as he had expected him to be.
"Kyu? Aa nahi sakta?" Karan replied sitting down between the both of them. None of them were in uniform. They never drank in uniform. At night, there were no seniors, no juniors. None of them got up.
"Aa hi gaye ho to bolo...kya lenge" Faizi laughed slightly. Sanjana just smiled.
"Jo bhi hai, de de." Karan said, resting comfortably against the back of the chair, looking up at the sky. Faizi poured a small amount of the content of the bottle in a glass and handed it to Karan.
Karan took a small sip, its bitter taste resting in his mouth.
"Bohot time ho gaya na." He suddenly asked. "Aise baithke baat kiye hue."
A comfortable silence followed. All of them taking in the warmth of it, the feeling of nostalgia.
"Aur batao. Kya chal raha hai. Tu badi shaant hai sanju, kya baat hai." Karan smiled, knowing that if she were actually drunk, she wouldn't have been so quiet.
"Kuch nah sirji. Bas..je samay jitna kaat sakte hai utna kaat rahe hai."
"Kya matlab?"
"Sirji. Aap bhool gao? Aadha mahina bacha hai humaaye paas."
Everything slowly popped in his mind. Kundanji, her engagement, the one-year agreement.
"..."
"Sirji koi baat na hai. Aap tension mat lo. Hum kar lenge byaah...kundanji se. Aap humaayi zindigi me mat padiye, aap bhi khaali peeli fas jaayenge." She mumbled, taking a sip of the alcohol.
"Tu dhamki de rahi hai?" Faizi chuckled.
"Nai Sirji. Salah de re hai. Katayi uljhi hua hai humaara jeevan."
Karan was silent. He did not like what was happening. How could she just agree? After knowing the truth about Kundan, he had kept silent, hoping she would decline the wedding. He was aware that her father or the fiance would not let her stay at the academy. She was talented and determined, the best of her batch, one of the few gems that the academy had. To see all that go to waste, it did not feel right at all. He did not know if it was the alcohol, but he was getting angrier. First, him not getting a chance with monami, him refusing to acknowledge his feelings, then Kundan ending the career of an excellent commando.
"Tu to kamzor nikli." Karan said silently, under the influence of alcohol, all of his anger slowly being misplaced. Faizi furrowed his eyebrows, looking at him. Sanjana stared at him, confused.
"Tujhe pata hai tune kya kya kamaya hai. Aur tu...uss sabko chodne ko taiyaar hai...kyuki tu apni family se ladne se darti hai."
"Sirji...je aap bhi jaante hai ki sabse mushkil ladaiyan pariwaar ke s--"
"To tu mushkil ka saamne karne ko taiyaar nahi hai. Tu apne pariwaar ko, apne farz se aage rakh rahi hai. Tu-"
"Karan. Sanju. Bas." Faizi cut him off, worried. This was the last thing he expected. He was afraid this was going to go too far.
"Faizi tu shaant reh. Aur sanju, tu mujhe jawab de. Kahan hai ab tera 'farz'?" He looked at her, his anger unintentionally pouring out. She gulped, the hurt evident in her eyes.
"Sirji...aap Ky--"
"Bata na! Kyu nahi lad rahi pariwaar se? Aur agar itna hi shauk hai uss Kundan se shaadi karne ka, to vo Siddhart ko kyu nahi batati? Haan?" He slowly got up, his voice getting aggressive.
"Tere bapu ko aaj tak wardi ki value nahi samjha paayi. Na hi pariwaar se lad paayi aur na hi Siddhart ko sach bata paayi. Kyu?"
Faizi got up, now worried. Both of them were drunk, angry, hurt and none of them were the type to back off. As he had thought under the influence Sanjana too got up, not caring too much if her words would hurt.
"Sirji, aap je isliye keh rahe hai kyuki aap humaayi jagah par nahi hai. Aap na hi samajhte hai aur na hi kabhi samjhenge. Rahi baat oo Siddhart ki, kuch sach na saamne aaye to sabje liye beheter hai. Aur je aap katayi achhe se jaante hai." She replied, the anger on her face betrayed by the hurt in her voice. Karan, getting the reference, felt the anger in him explode. She remained unfazed.
"Kya bola?" He said turning back, his eyes angrier than ever, more so by the fact that this was being said by the person that he least expected. "Kya bola tune? Mai sach chupa raja hu. Haan! Lekin atleast mai usse sudhaarne ke liye kuch kar to raha hu. Tu to sab aise hi bina lade jhel rahi hai. Aur tu khudko commando kehti hai? Jo khud ke liye nahi lad sakta vo kisi aur ke liye kya ladega. Jo khud ke liye nahi lad sakta, vo ye wardi deserve nahi karta."
At this, Sanjana was silent, everything about her screamed hurt, regret and anger. Faizi saw this, dread creeping up his back. Karan loved baby, and Sanjana loved her duty. He knew Karan's intentions weren't bad, but the situation currently was way worse than just bad.
Slowly everything came back to Karan, everything he had just said, the meaning of it. Seeing her his face softened in regret and fear. What had he just done, they had never ever fought or even argued on anything. This was another reason he never drank..he lost control of his emotions. Realising her angered gaze on him, he tried to diffuse the situation.
"Sanju..." he said slowly, his hand reaching out for her shoulder. She took a step back, looked at him and stormed off. Karan felt a pang of guilt. Why did it always happen? Everytime he tried to make someone do something good, it ended up hurting the person. He looked at Faizi, who stared at him and sighed.
He needed to make everything alright.
》》》》》》
A/N: okay...okay. I'm already crying. I'm in love with their friendship and I'm cursing myself for this. But i know, karan and I will make everything alright(hopefully).
