Tanhaiyan | neirohi

8. tables turn

Messaging a final goodnight in the family group, he slipped out of the ongoing musical message spamming. This was very unusual of him to do and the younger Birla clan did notice it, but no one protested. Even if he was the sunshine guy most of the times, he too must be having his off days. And they thought the same. Sometimes, space was all a person needed.

Shutting his eyes forcefully, he tried to get some sleep.

But the empty house and the dark room gave him a shivers. He was not afraid. But the loneliness felt prickly. The cry of the ceiling fan remained his only company tonight. Bored, he was just a second away from falling asleep.

Till the bed felt sinking deeper. Some kind of weight settled in.

Now this was a first.

He titled to the other side a little. The lights were still out. He could see the faint outline of the open hair. Clearing his throat, his voice came out hoarse as he called her out.

"Aarohi?"

"Haan?"

She countered, a bit surprised that he was still awake. A month or two of living together, yet they never shared the bed. Why? Simply, cause there was no need. Either she ended up sleeping at the hospital or revising her exam portions. While he fell asleep more often on the sofa, binging some web series.

Back in Udaipur, the Birlas had always put her on night shifts. Knowingly or not, remained a mystery. Not that she complained. In a way she was glad that they were not put into this awkward situation back there. And this made her realize how much she had avoided her room unintentionally. First time after ages that she entered her own room, and she had almost tripped cause of the bags kept near the door.

And now to sleep on the same bed did feel awkward.

That is what led to their current condition. Both of them lay like corpses at the extreme ends of the bed. Stiff with crossed arms. Pretending to sleep yet wide awake. Even the doctor who was given an early off cause of some mishap, was not getting a wink of sleep. They would've created a pillow wall but none of them wanted to be the immature one. Worse things done before yet this felt more awkward.

"Chamgadar?"

"Hmm?"

"I meant it when I said that you are free to go back to Udaipur. Manjari auntie seh mein baath kar loongi."

He sighed. Why was this chipkali so difficult to understand?

"Chipkali?"

"Hmm?"

"You shut up and sleep. And let me sleep."

The last he saw was the utter shock on her face on being asked to shut up. Satisfied with leaving her speechless, he turned over to his side. The twinkle of mischief restored in his eyes. At last, he was able to sleep peacefully.

Early in the morning his sleep was stolen. No, not the sun rays. But a weird kind of giggle. A very light one. Following it up was a deep sigh. The noises were almost inaudible. But the very silent surroundings, did not help them go unheard.

The morning laziness stopped his bones from functioning. He turned over to the other side. Blinking his eyes, he tried to get a clear vision. Chipkali was sleeping soundly. Her hair strewn all over the place but she was still. She had truthfully stayed in her corner. Sleep suited her well, he noted with a lazy smile. Just as he was stretching, he heard the noise again.

The deep breath and the light giggle.

He looked at the girl next to him and around the room. That's when he woke up with a jolt. Was someone other than them inside the house? The mere thought gave him chills. Stumbling out of the bed, he peeked out of the bedroom. The giggle was there again. But it was not from outside the room.

It was inside.

Whoever the person was, had been inside their room the whole time.

Alert and cautious, he looked around. Stealthily, he proceeded towards the curtain near the window. Suddenly, he stilled. What if the person attacks him? Stepping back on understanding the gravity of the situation, he walked over to Aarohi's side of the bed.

Tapping on her shoulder, he tried to get her up.

"Chipkali, wake up. Someone's in our room!"

She squinted her eyes groggily. On seeing him squatting next to her bedside, she swatted his hand away and turned over to the other, falling asleep again. He tried again and she shoved him away, annoyed.

"Neil yaar! Sone do naa!"

This chipkali was utterly useless. All she knew was to stick to her bed, like a true chipkali. This time he lifted her up by dragging her hand. Poor thing, who could fall asleep after that? To say she was pissed was an understatement. Nevertheless, she still let him drag her to the curtains.

His hands shivered as he touched the white cloth.

Irritated for many reasons, Aarohi did not waste another second stripping off the curtain. The spot was empty. No one was there. Not even a speck of dust. Neil was losing his mind out here.

"Yeh hehe kaun kar raha hain?"

Aarohi rolled her eyes. She was certain, he was making things up. That is, till she heard the giggle herself. Confused at first, when she met the even more confused eyes, everything became clear to her. Pulling back her hand from his hold, she rushed over to her bedside.

She swiped the accept option.

"Kya huan?" she asked frustrated.

"Yes yes, that medicine only. Haan bhai. Dude, I know my job. You do yours. Abbey senior tum ho ya main hu? Just do what you are asked to! If you have so many questions then go ask Dr. Nair, stop ruining my sleep!"

Throwing the phone on the bed, early in the morning she felt like pulling out her hair. These juniors working under her had so many questions! Who were they to question the prescriptions she wrote? She had half a heart to toss all of them into the infamous Birla hospital. She was certain that they would declare her a Saint if that ever happened.

Meanwhile, Neil had his hand on his heart. The shock was difficult to wear off. He eyed her phone with absolute horror. Lifting his gaze, he found chipkali smiling sheepishly at him.

"Chipkali, who in the right state of their mind sets a ringtone like that!"

"Sorry woh... uh, you see when classes used to be there and if the phone rang, the professors used to take them away. Toh aise ringtone never got me caught cause he couldn't kick anyone out for sighing or giggling. Toh..."

She let out an awkward chuckle, cursing the junior resident under her breath.

The disbelief apparent on his pale face, he shook his head. Climbing out, he locked himself up in the washroom, trying to get rid of the goosebumps. What an eventful morning. At this rate he was never going to need an alarm clock, ever again. He was the one who was universally known as the jugad master. Seems like, someone was ahead of him in that race as well.

Oh, look how the tables turn!

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