Love That Stayed!

24. Grieving

"Fir agar mujhe, tu kabhi na mile,
Humsafar mera, tu bane na bane,
Faaslo se mera, pyaar hoga na kam,
Tu na hoga kabhi, ab juda"

Anurag's eyes darted towards the stairs, for the nth time in the last fourty five minutes, but to no avail. He forced his eyes back to the lunch table, but the uncanny silence didn't help. Aditya was also incredibly overwhelmed to speak and Seher chose to stay mum too, while the three of them had a late lunch instead of the brunch that they were supposed to.

Mannat had heated the food, served the table and then called them all down for lunch, breaking the tense melancholy inside Shaan's room. Anurag knew from experience, pushing Shaan wasn't going to help. That was the very reason that he hadn't forced him to join them for the lunch. But what he hadn't anticipated was Mannat's reluctance. The woman had served them all, requesting them to start eating without her while she fried the new batch of bread (aka Luchis/Puris) and even when done, she had made sure everyone on the table had what they needed, before plating food for Shaan and excusing herself on the that pretext.

The three of them had the food in silence then, neither knowing any appropriate words for the situation. When they were finally done, Seher helped him clean the table before they all settled on the couch in the drawing room.

Aditya broke the silence first - "Do you think we or rather I should try and speak to Shaan again? Or should I give him space?".

Anurag looked up, his shoulders sagging as he sighed, "Do you realize he isn't mad at you Adi? You and me, we chose to keep this distance, and Shaan abided by it. With me, he has his grudges. With you - he just did it because you wanted it that way. There is no malice there".

Aditya exhaled, rubbing his face ij his palms, "sometimes I don't understand why and how did we end up here. We were all so happy in school".

"We made choices. All of us", Anurag answered, his eyes fleeting to the staircase again. But Mannat was still out of sight.

"Onu -", Seher's voice forced him to look forward again, but the hesitancy in her voice had his eyebrow shooting up. Seher didn't do coy and hesitant.

A laugh bubbled inside Seher's chest at his expressions, but she shook his head, coming to the point, "Is Mannat okay?".

This time Anurag's eyes widened in genuine surprise. With everything that had happened in the hospital, Anurag had kind of accepted that Seher probably would always see Mannat behind him, never beside him, because unlike Aditya, she had never known the real Mannat. She had only know the version Aditya and he had shared and that was encased in layers of both their bitterness, agony and perspectives. Seher was his friend first, and would always be.

"You are concerned?", he couldn't help but ask without a filter.

Seher rolled her eyes, "What am I? A devil? Of course I am concerned. I can't help but observe, she looks so - lost. As if the entire world's burden is on her shoulders. And whatever image I had of her in my mind, she isn't that person".

Aditya winced aloud at his wife's words, before looking at Anurag. Something passed between the two men in that moment of eye contact. And then Aditya turned to face Seher.

"Mannat is - was - I don't know what to call it? Sunshine? And a stubborn ray of Sunshine. The one that would have storms bow down to her. That's who she is, that's why she is such an integral part of all our lives. This person right now, is just -", he shook his head,"I don't really recognize her anymore. When I cornered her at your birthday party, I was expecting her to bite back. Explain. Justify. Or just tell me it was none of my business. She didn't do anything of that resort. She took all my bitterness without any complaint. That Was what shook me up. That was why when sober, I called him to apologize".