Ek Ajnabee Haseena

chapter 12

Tarika, woke up to what appeared to be a headache that would kill her. she sat up with a lot of difficulty, her hand still on her head. She somehow stood up from the bed, looking for some medicine, her thinking of it as a normal headache was enough clue to realise, that she had no memory of last night.

"good morning." Wished abhijeet, as he appeared suddenly, giving tarika an almost heart attack.

"aap?" questioned tarika, as her glance fell on a cup in his hand.

"haan woh, kal raat ke baad aapki toh gaadi chalane ke bhi halat nahi thi...maine jaise-taise aapka ghar dhoondke aapko yahan lekar aaya...phir aarpko ultiyan hone lagi, toh main yahi ruk gaya..." informed abhijeet, as tarika was utterly confused.

"aapko kuch bhi yaad nahi hai?" questioned abhijeet, as tarika shook her head in no, and abhijeet chuckled at this response.

"lagta hai kuch zyada hi pee li thi apne...koi baat nahi hota hai..." assured abhijeet, as he handed the cup in his hand to her.

"yeh kya hai?" tarika was more clueless than ever now.

"yeh aapke hangover ke liye...sar dard ho raha hoga..." replied abhijeet.

"arre lekin maine pee kab!" exclaimed tarika, as abhijeet sighing heavily, just signalled her to sit down, while he did so himself.

"aapne pehli baar bitayi thi ek raat, rajveer ke paas jaye bina...aapka man kiya hoga aisa karne ka joh shayad aap kabhi nahi karti...joh bilkul thik hai...lekin joh mujhe lag raha hai ki aap, trauma se cope karne ke liye, kaafi self-destructive cheezein karna chahti hain....aap chahiye, toh main aapko apne therapist ka number de sakta hoon, baat karke dekh lijiye..." explained abhijeet, as tarika was left to just process this.

***

ishita, woke up to the smell of freshly made, warm tea. A smile crept up on her face, as she woke up happily, only to see dushyant handing her the cup. There was this disappointment in her face, not because of him though.

She sipped her cup of tea, and looked over to him.

"pata hai, meri maa bhi aisi chaye banati thi...gud daalkar...phir bed ke paas rakhdeti thi mujhe uthane ke liye..." reminisced ishita, with a bittersweet smile.

"yaad aa rahi hai?" asked dushyant, as he was making his omelette.

"aa bhi rahi hai toh kya faydaa! Unke toh main chor lagti hoon! Ab batao main kisi angle se chor lagti hoon!" grumbled ishita, as dushyant hiding his laughter, just shook his head in no.

"haan dekho, tum toh mereko jaante bhi nahi ho, aur yaar yeh toh mere maa-baap hain!" exclaimed ishita, as dushyant handed her a plate of omelette, as she quickly started to munch on it furiously.

"aur main soch rahi thi bakery pe pehle paise inhe de dungi! Bakery mein lagaungi ab! Cake pe bhejungi, sabse sasta, bassi waala, joh koi nahi khaata..." muttered ishita under her breath, while eating.

"tum apni bakery mein bahaut sochti ho, jabki woh abhi hai bhi nahi..." remarked dushyant, as he couldn't help but chuckle, while eating his omelette.

"toh kabhi toh hogi na!" retorted ishita, as dushyant nodded in agreement.

"acha, kaise loge?" questioned dushyant jokingly.

"paise jod ke..." replied ishita immediately, her innocence was so endearing.

"jagah dekhi hai?" followed up dushyant with another question.

"jaise-jaise delhi dekhungi, jagah mil jayegi..." assured ishita, with such surety.

"you know what, tum bilkul sahi keh rahi ho, naukri bhi tumhe mil hi jayegi..." stated dushyant with least of sincerity or seriousness in his tone, as she cleaned up his plate.

"tum bilkul mere baap jaise baatein kar rahe ho...kabhi positive nahi sochte ho...kuch bhi karna ho, das mushkilein bata doge! Kabhi socha hai, ki problems ka solution bhi hota hai..." rebuked ishita, as she placed her plate and cup on the cinq too.

Dushyant, just chuckled at her, as he looked at the clock, and left for the court.

***

Purvi and kavin, who were hiking to the top of the mountain together, had reached to a quite beautiful view of mountains, and rivers, and a clear sky.

"kavin, come on yaar main yahi hoon..." assured purvi, as kavin was too scared to move from his place.

"come on yaar..." insisted purvi, as kavin shook his head in no.

"tumhe pata hai mujhe height se darr lagta hai, hum yahan kyun nahi photo le sakte...ab selfie ke liye marr jao main!" exclaimed kavin, as purvi just couldn't help but stop bursting out loud in laughter.

"mazak kar rahi thi, honeymoon pe heart attack thodi dungi tumhe..." replied purvi as she walked over to him.

"ab yahan lelein?" offered purvi, as she handed him the phone.

"tumhara haath zayada bada hai..." remarked purvi, as kavin chuckled and took the phone, and clicked the pic together.

"dekhao.." took purvi the phone from him, she liked the photo a lot, but as she looked closer, she zoomed onto the hill behind the one they were on, and there was a man, quite looking like ajay.

***