Sidharth was dropped back by his driver.Standing next to the door he tried to open it ,but didn't have keys .He had lost them somewhere, maybe.He tried reaching out for his phone ,but it was dead.As if the day had been a less of torment to him ,the night was hell bent on making him mad.His mother along with preeti and her family, had left to attend some relatives wedding.
It had been an hour with sidharth sitting on the staircase to his apartment. Well for sometime , he sat there because he was tired .In his not so clear senses ,his brain had failed to differentiate between being physically tired and tired.He needed rest,his home;literally and metaphorically.
If he continued to sit there ,a few picture by the residents of building and he would again hit the news,he did not want that.
Shehnaaz was dead asleep , she had taken a pill to sleep; when she brought back to the realm of physical dwellers by a knock at her door.For a while she thought, she had imagined that, for there was no more knock.
Sidharth was about to turn back,mentally cursing himself;when she opened the door.
A loose shrug hanging over her body, a swollen face,with a confused expression;she looked a devil to be awakend.
"Yrr I have kindoff locked myself out..n koi h ni idr...!"
"Oh...I'm sorry...andr aaja..plzz!", she said.
Sidharth settled on the couch ,while she offered him a glass of water.
"Khaya kuch?", she asked.
"Koi ni ...", he answered.
"Aap utho ...chalo mere saath ...",she lead him to her room.
"Washroom h ...fresh ho jao..i will get u something to eat!" ,she proclaimed.
Sidharth obeyed the instructions as given , also he wasn't in much of senses.
"Teko darr ni lag raha ..tune ek aadmi ko andar kaise aane dia...idr toh koi bhi mere pe trust ni karega ...?phir tu? ",he questioned.
"Tune toh suna hoga ...mai violent hu...abusive bhi..phir kyu..",he continued as she brought him some food
"Kha lo...hum subah baat karege...abi u are drunk.
It was almost noon ,when sidharth woke up. He wasn't home , he realized.Then remembered, the previous night.Oh ! His head hurt.
He was at her place ,in her bed and quilt .All of this smelt feminine.Getting fresh, he quietly tip toed outside, to find her sleeping on couch .She was an angel.Well for a girl she had put too much faith in him yester night.It was noon ,but tfe dark of living area gave her an illusion of night.
She opened her eyes, to find sidharth pouring himself some water. "Headache?", she asked.
"Good morning to you too",sidharth cheekily replied.
She smiled almost shying.
"Thank youuuu...",she stretched and her voice turned louder.
She had a stiff neck due to uneven sleepng.
"Tu thik h ?,", he asked.
"Fuck yrr ...my neck".
Sidharth had called his mother talked to her ,without letting her know about his previous day,lest she would be worried.
"Tu chal mere saath ...i will take you to doctor.", he said when he came back to check on her.
He had called his driver and somehow managed to find the keys to his place that he had forgotten in his vanity.
Shehnaaz reluctantly agreed. They visited the doctor and took medication.
Later Sidharth had offered to take her to beach.
"Pani se darr lagta h...par beaches I like...
Pta h Bhot time se yaha ane ka mann tha!",
"Toh itne saal kyu nahi aai", he said looking straight into her eyes.
It was a simple statement, but it did something to both of them.The intensity his soul had added to words,meant something bigger than them was at play.
No body answered ,or questioned any further.
They stood there, silently watching a crowd of people dazzle in the ecstasy of twilight. The orange crimson of sky ,the warmth that sand radiated as the winds turned cold; clearly told a story. Shehnaaz and Sidharth had both been here like this before.Maybe a previous life or maybe in this life ; when their hearts tormented by ways of world,sought out home.
"Its been two years I have been out like this. Pehle problems ,then unka darr ,phir unka a solution...", sidharth spoke.
"Mom bolte rehti h ,bahar Jane ko ..but himmat nahi hoti...but aaj pta nahi kaise I did it."
"Strange part pta kya h ...u are a complte stranger...but the person u were you were to me yesterday, after I turned up pretty drunk at doorstep...and the person u have been to me today...it made me bring u here!"
"Toh big actor ji ...aap k paas inte paise hai ...phir kisi 5 star Jane ki jagah ...u brought me here? Aise kyu!" ,she went on , removing the seriousness in air.
Sidharth looked at her amused, she could do it ,use humor as a defense mechanism, he understood.
Moving close ,near her ear and whispered," kyuki I knew you would like 5 stars but WOULD LOVE THIS...", IN his characteristic manner, stressing each word carefully ,and moved away.
She had almost choked on his words.He was hitting the right cords,all at wrong time.His words had her captured and yet set free at the same time.
This Sidharth, was a complicated thing .His brain was a trick.He had charms of a wizard, he knew sorcery for sure.But his emotions, were unsettling. In his good moods ,he could spill your tears making you laugh, such was his wit.However there was another of him as well, one with unsettling emotions, ruthless anger and stubbornness, maybe some unresolved issues.
Shehnaaz had noticed Sidharth well and had concluded if given a chance he could mess her up a big time,even as friends. Therefore she had decided to be friendly, but not friends with him.
Was it in her control? She knew the answer.She had always known it.The stars when they decide to write a story,bend all forces to their might!!
And their's was a story that had been the favorite of stars in every sky .
