Raghav had now boarded the flight and was going to have a sound sleep. But the moment he closed his eyes, he remembered the moments he shared with Pallavi. Especially, the ones they spent in the car. He was missing her a lot. It had not even been 2 hours since they last met but still, he was not able to keep her out of his mind. He saw their pictures on his mobile which they clicked on several occasions. All the times that they spent together came in front of his eyes. It was impossible for him to not miss her. To keep her out of his mind, he decided to play some music. The song that played was a romantic Hindi song named 'Mashoor Banegi.' It was her favorite song. They used to often listen to his song. Even the song reminded him of her. Not being able to take her off his mind, he went to sleep. He couldn't even sleep properly. After trying hard for half an hour, he finally went to sleep.
On the other hand, Pallavi was tossing and turning in her bed trying hard to sleep. Since the time she hanged up the call, she was trying to sleep but her mind kept on wandering to his memories. She was missing his flirty talks, jealous being, point wise arguments, cheeky smile and everything that he did. She kept on staring at their photos in her phone. She remembered how they used to fight about what to order in restaurants, talk continuously about their favorite Marvel characters or argue upon which songs to listen to. The next seven days would be very difficult for her. The most important part of her daily routine would be missing. Spending time with him was her comfort. They kept on talking without a break. They even forgot about time when they were together. She just wondered how hard she had fallen for this man whom she considered to be her biggest enemy in the initial days. She then slept with a smile on her face.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Pallavi woke up the next day, did her usual morning routine and left for the shop. She passed by their regular spot and realized that he wouldn't be there. A frown crept on her face. She then went to the shop and started doing her work. She was waiting for his call but soon realized that he would be in the flight the whole day today so, there was no chance of speaking to him. Customers kept coming and she got busy in attending to them. She was busy till 3 in the evening as a certain group of ladies had come to buy sarees for themselves in their lunch time. Pallavi had barely finished her lunch when these ladies showed up. They kept on asking her to show some more designs, more colors or more patterns. It was quite tiring to fulfill their demands but, at the end they left the shop with their favorite sarees and a smile on their faces. She looked at the time and saw it was 3pm already.
"Only 5 days and some hours. Then, I will finally get to meet Ghamandi Rao." Pallavi thought to herself and smiled.
"What happened didi? Why are you smiling to yourself? Did Raghav message you?" Krishna asked breaking her out of her trance.
"No, he's on the flight the whole day. He will land at around 2 in the midnight which is 3.30pm there and then will check in in the hotel. Then the conference will commence on the next day morning so, he will have to sleep as soon as he checks in in the hotel. He won't get enough sleep also, Bichara!!" Pallavi spoke.
"Didi, he will sleep on the flight. What will he do the whole day? There would be no internet connection so, he won't be able to work." Krishna said.
"But, sleeping on a bed and sleeping on a flight is different."
"Didi, he is not going to get good sleep and here you are the one making sad puppy face." Krishna said teasing Pallavi.
"Of course, I will feel bad. You won't understand unless and until you fall in love." Pallavi retaliated.
"Ohho Didi!! Pyaar ke baareme bada pata hai aapko." Krishna laughed and Pallavi too joined her.
"Waise Didi, I noticed that you are quite down today. Should we go watch a movie to cheer you up?" Krishna asked.
"Okay."
"Then I will book tickets for RRR." Krishna spoke excited.
Krishna booked the tickets. The movie was at 6 in the evening. Pallavi called Nikhil and asked him to look after the shop as she was going out with Krishna.
Krishna and Pallavi went to watch the movie and enjoyed it. Pallavi made a mental note to bring Raghav to watch this movie once he's back. Then they went for dinner.
"Aaj kitne dino baad aaye na hum?" Pallavi said.
"Haan, ab aapko Raghav se fursat milegi tab hum aayenge na." Krishna never left any chance to tease Pallavi.
"Hogaya tera chalu? Mera matlab tha ki kitne dino baad movie dekhi aur yaha aaye." Pallavi explained what she meant.
"Haan didi, bohot dino baad acchi movie lagi thi. Yeh covid ke wajah se ek to theater mein movies hi nahi aati thi aur jo aati thi woh dekhne ke liye time hi nahi mila. Aaj bohot maja aaya." Krishna said. Something striked her and she looked at Pallavi while Pallavi looked back at Krishna.
"Kulfi House." Both of them said together.
"Chal waha bhi jaate hai."
"Neki aur puchpuch? Chaliye." Krishna said and both of them left to eat Kulfi.
While having Kulfi, Pallavi and Krishna remembered the old times when they used to come here.
"Didi, kitna maja aata tha na pehle?" Krishna asked.
"Haan. Tab ki toh baat hi kuch aur thi. Yaad hai tu mujhe Hyderabad ghumane leke gayi thi? Woh din toh bohot maja aaya tha." Pallavi said.
"Woh din mein paise kam hote the par phir bhi maja bohot aata tha." Krishna said. They ate their Kulfi and went back home.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The whole day Pallavi was busy with customers and work. She spent the evening with Krishna but, in every moment she remembered him. It was night and she couldn't help but wonder what he must be doing. The whole day was productive for her and she was surrounded by people but now when she was alone, she could feel how lonely she was. She decided to wait till 2 in the morning so that she can talk to him and sleep.
"But, he has to check in and sleep as soon as possible. He would get late because of you. Do you want him to get embarrassed by getting late to an international conference just because of you?" Her brain asked.
"Talking for 2 minutes in the car wouldn't delay his sleep. Also, he has been sleeping an entire day on the flight. He would be wanting to talk to you but won't call because he doesn't want to disturb your sleep." Her heart advised.
"But, he must be tired because of the long journey. Even if it's just sitting on one place, one does get tired. He would be having jet lags. Don't be selfish. Just because you are missing him, don't ruin his meeting." Her brain explained.
"Calling for 5 minutes won't harm. Wait for him. You'll feel better." Her heart suggested.
Pallavi as usual followed her heart when it came to him.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The clock was about to hit 2. She was waiting to call him. She knew that his flight will land around 1.45 am. She decided to call him at around 2.05 or 2.10 so that, she can talk peacefully to him. He would have completed the formalities and would be sitting in the car by then. She took her phone and dialed his number but it couldn't connect as her package didn't have international calling. She whatsapp called him which he didn't pick up. She waited for sometime but he didn't call back. She assumed that he was busy and went to sleep. She kept her mobile on the nightstand and was about to pull her duvet when he called her.
"Hello, Raghav. How are you? Did you reach safely? You know what, I missed you a lot." Pallavi spoke in one go.
"Then? What am I supposed to do?" Raghav asked blankly.
"Are you okay? What happened? Is there any problem?" Pallavi asked a series of questions.
"Pallavi, listen I am really tired. I don't want to talk to anyone otherwise, I may end up hurting you. So, let's talk tomorrow." Raghav told her.
"Okay. Fine. I understand, if you feel like sharing something I am always there for you. Remember that." Pallavi spoke and hanged up.
Honestly, she was hurt by the cold way in which Raghav spoke to her but, she also knew that it was not the right moment to talk to him. She kept her phone on the night stand and slept.
She woke up the next day with around 20 missed calls from her Ghamandi Rao. She assumed that probably, he realized his mistake of being rude to her and had called to talk to her. She was about to call him when she realized that he might be sleeping by now. She still tried her luck and called him. He immediately picked up the call.
"Why haven't you been picking up my calls?" He yelled as soon as he picked up the call.
"Raghav, I was sleeping."
"Oh, so you have to time to sleep but you don't have time to talk to me. That's Great!!" He said.
Her heart pained to listen to such words. She had waited till 2 am just so that she can talk to him and he just ignored her and now he was accusing her of giving more importance to her sleep.
"Will you please explain to me, what has happened? You have been cranky since yesterday." She still kept her calm and spoke to him.
"Now I am the one who is cranky? So, you being irresponsible is okay but me being cranky isn't okay?" He asked rudely.
"Can you be little calm, please." She requested. It was taking every ounce of her patience to not burst out at him but still she controlled.
"My stay here got extended." He finally dropped the bomb.
"When are you coming back then?" She asked.
"I will be coming back by 3rd."
"Why??" She asked coming out of the shock.
"There are some issues in the contract and other legal documents, according to him. So, my legal team will have to come here to sort it out. That meeting will take place on 30th and then the documents will be reframed accordingly. So, it will take time. My flight is on 2nd. So, I will return around 6pm on 3rd." Raghav told her.
"Okay." She said sadly inwardly cursing the dealer.
"Are you okay with it? Don't you have any problem?" He asked.
"I have to be okay with it. There's nothing that I can do about it. It's your work and I understand. It's okay." She replied sadly. Here she was counting the number of days to meet him and there his stay increased.
"It must be quite late there so will hang up now." She said cutting the call.
Author's Note - Raghav's stay just got increased. He isn't coming back anytime soon. Till he comes back keep enjoying their 'Lambiyaan Si Judaaiyan.' Also, I know a few people may be disappointed because, Raghav wasn't there in most of the chapter and came only in the end but don't worry, the next chapter will focus on Raghav and his feelings. I know you guys don't like it when they fight, even I don't like it par drame4 ke liye karna padta hai😉. Let me clear that they would not be fighting the entire time and Raghav will 'PATAO' Pallavi in his style.
Date - 25th May 2022.
