Ek Ajnabee Haseena

chapter 19

"par tarika, kya isse kaafi hai tumhare liye maana, ki woh pyaar karta hai tumse?" questioned vikram, as tarika was startled.

"par...kyun nahi?" asked tarika, as vikram just shrugged his shoulders.

"tum batao, pyaar kya hai tumhare liye? Ki koi ache se baat karlein...." confirmed vikram, as tarika looked down, thinking about his question.

"par agar koi tumhari sachi parwah karein toh?" questioned tarika back.

"concern toh kabhi-kabhi hamare neighbours ya colleagues humein bhi dekhadete hain, agar kuch bora hota hai..." responded vikram.

"aap keh rahe hain ki rajveer bas, bas, thodi si kindness dekha rahe the?" raised tarika a question.

"ek possibility toh ho hi sakti hai woh..." stated vikram.

"no! i felt it, it was love!" protested tarika.

"par woh tumhari feelings thi tarika, kya woh rajveer ki thi? kya kabhi kuch kaha usne tumse aisa?" asked vikram, as tarika was flabbergasted.

"par,zaroori thodi hai ki koi apni, feelings express arre, iss tarah bolkar, aur bhi tareeke hote hain..." defended tarika herself.

"hmm, bilkul sahi keh rahi ho, toh kya tha uska tarika tumhe batane ka?" interrogated vikram.

Tarika, failed to think of anything, when a painful memory hit her.

Tarika, secretly enters a house, which she opens the lock to with her bobby pin. She gets inside and makes sure to close the door, and starts to look around.

A beautiful and well-furnished living-room, she couldn't help but think rajveer has great taste. Only for her glance to fall on the pictures on the wall, in a photo-frame shaped like a tree, written in all caps at the top, 'FAMILY'.

She started to touch rajveer's childhood photo, couldn't help but adore the cute child. She smilingly looked for his parents, when her glance fell on a photo, where rajveer had his arm around a woman, with a child in between them. she felt hurt, betrayed, teary-eyed, like her world collapsed.

She walked over to another room, a room filled with toys, colourful walls, and family photos, of that child and woman with rajveer. She angrily threw all of them on the floor, breaking them. she ran away in anger.

"pata hai, ek baar, mera birthday tha....mera bilkul man nahi tha maanane ka...aman mere birthday pe hamesha mere liye mera favourite breakfast banate the, aur candle-light dinner rakhte the...koi na koi gift ke saath...main bas kaam kar rahi thi apna, tab..." recounted tarika.

Tarika, writing down her report, financial statements spread all over the table. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. She looked up to find rajveer.

"hi..." he greeted with a smile, and entered her cabin, closing the door, as tarika was perplexed, while he signalled her to keep quite.

He placed something on her table, as it was a plate, with five cupcakes, shaped like a round cake, joined with a cream. He placed a candle on it, and it released a firework like sparkle.

"happy birthday!" exclaimed rajveer, as tarika couldn't help but smile.

"yeh sab..." pointed tarika, to his own custom-made cake.

"arre woh main aapko facebook pe dhoondne ki koshish kar raha tha, tab mujhe mil gaya ki aapko kisi relative ne wish kia hua hai...phir mujhe laga shayad aapka mood kharab hi hoga aaj toh..." stated rajveer.

"anyways, khaaiye na please..."signalled rajveer towards the cake, as tarika ate happily.

"ab yeh pyaar nahi hai, toh kya hai?" questioned tarika.

"tarika, tum dobara gayi ho uske ghar, uss din ke baad?" questioned vikram, as tarika nodded in agreement.

Tarika, hid behind a tree, where she could get a perfect view of rajveer's dinning table, where he was eating with shweta and their child, sitting on his lap.

"khaalo na bache, please...bahaut tasty hai yeh...dekho.." ate rajveer the food himself, making expressions, to convince him he was telling the truth.

"raj tum rehne do, abhi yeh khaalo chup-chap...warna ice-cream nahi milegi..." warned shweta, as the boy immediately ran to eat his food, and rajveer just chuckled.

"mujhe laga tha, jaise, meri hi family hai...i could feel that through them..." stated tarika, as vikram sighed.

"tarika, hum kitna bhi chahein, ki joh kisi aur ke paas hai, woh humein bhi milein, hamara unse woh cheez chinne ka haq nahi banta..." explained vikram.

***

Author's note: so the condition tarika has here is erotomania, basically she's convinced someone is in love with her despite of all given evidences that he doesn't. It's a real condition, that needs to be treated properly, or it can destroy someone's life, like here. If you think you have it, or anyone else you know has it, get help, and you can always look for resources online.