Chand Sifarish

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔

Sana

The dates for the engagement had been finalised. It will be held on the first of the next month. We have around twenty days left and there are a lot of affairs that need to be tended to. Shehnaaz stood there sulking, while Sidharth with a stone cold bare face just complying to their parents wishes.

I watched them, trying to stop the growing pit in my stomach.

Both bade sahab and chote sahab were so happy, they wanted it to be a grand affair. All the relatives will be coming, and their family friends from different parts of the continent. The theme of the party had to be decided, and the outfits to be designed, everyone started pacing around the room booking banquet halls. It was their grandfather's wish to have Shehnaaz and Sidharth engaged in Delhi, their hometown. 

"Sana bahar garden me ana toh pls after sometime", Shehnaaz moves back to her room with a deranged expression. 

I nod, spotting Sidharth retreating to the garden. The swing.

This swing has been part of our most important moments, be it breakdowns or achievements, it had seen it all. It all started with Shehnaaz, when she got this swing on her third birthday as a gift. She used to sit on it for hours and when Sidharth would come for vacations he would push swinging her and they used to play around for hours. I was very afraid of the swings, the feeling of leaving the earth without any control would leave me shaking. For a long time I had thought that I was anemophobic, that the rush of things left me unsettled. But one day when I was around six, sidharth took my hand and made me sit beside him teaching me that my fear was an illusion and once you get to the high of the things, the lows seem impossible. The same high I feel when I am around him.

He sits on the swing, unpacking a pack of cigarettes. I didn't know he was habituated to smoking, I had seen him once but thought that it was a one time thing. Shehnaaz had an abomination for smoking, if she would have seen him smoking, the packets would have been long dumped.

"Hi", I speak softly.

He gestures to me to sit beside him and I settle in the small space on the swing, the wind is blowing and the clouds are moving. We sit there, him drowning in his misery and I silently watching him. What could I say or do to make him feel any better? The clouds start gurgling fast and globules of plain water start falling, slowly wetting our heads and then our whole selves.

"Sana", shehnaaz's voice from inside brings me back and I remember that she wanted to talk to me and is probably coming here.

Sidharth looks at me, his eyes exhausted and then he holds my arms dragging me to the corner of the garage, the furthest corner of the garden. We were hidden from view here, the rugged walls high and flat behind my back.

I opened my mouth to speak only to be shut by his fingers.

Shehnaaz's voice grew louder and I realised she's probably out. I looked at Sidharth who just shook his head asking me to be quiet. Rainwater trickled down his face, from the tip of his hair to his nose and down his lips. I couldn't help staring at his face, his eyes which kept boring into mine and his fingers, rough yet so softly resting on my lips. His other hand which slowly held mine, his fingers moving in my palm.