Bloom into YOU

CH:18- A Change of Heart?

The next morning, it was Karishma who woke up first and the first thing her eyes landed on was Urmila's face. She continued to stare at Urmila's face for a good few seconds, "there is not the slightest bit of difference between them," she took a deep breath and try to avert her gaze from Urmila's face but she couldn't, "it's been over a month, I have seen her sleeping like this," she thought, "It's not Haseena," her mind reprimanded her, "this is her lookalike." Even Though as this inner struggle was going on, she felt an urge to touch Urmila's face, "just once," she assured herself, "just once, I want to feel her facial curves against my fingers," she glanced at her own sculpted fingers, "and I'll know if she is Haseena or not?" She moved her hand towards Urmila's face but before it could make contact with Urmila's skin; Urmila opened her eyes and looked at Karishma. For a brief moment, Karishma felt instead of Urmila it was Haseena lying there and staring directly into her soul with her piercing gaze—she gulped simultaneously without breaking eye contact with Urmila.

"Kya reh Chatak Chandni, yeh sab kya chal raha hai?" Urmila asked with surprise in her voice as she pointed towards Karishma's hand which had just frozen right next to Urmila's face.

"Kuch nahi," Kairshma fumbled, "machar tha," she removed the bed sheets, "ya phir makhi," she got up from the bed, "bus usi ko hata rahe thi mein," she said without making eye contact with Urmila as she made an effort to hide her flushed face after being caught in an act.

"Toh tu itni laal kyu ho gayi?" She asked with a coy smile.

"Garmi bahut hai, shayad isliye," Karishma moved towards the chair to pick up her uniform and was about to move towards the bathroom when Urmila held Karishma's wrist.

"Tera aur Haseen dilruba ka kya koi lafra wifra tha?" She asked while standing opposite Karishma as she scanned her face.

"Kuch nahi tha humare darmiyan," Karishma uttered with great difficulty as she squeezed her eyes shut, "aur agar kuch hota bhi to kya farak padta, woh toh hai nahi yahan yeh sab janane ke liye," she shrugged off Urmila's hand from her and went into the bathroom but stopped at the entrance, "aur tumhain in sab mein padhne ki zaroorat nahi hai, jo kam karne aayi ho wo karo aur yahn se chalti bano."

"Dekh tu mere se aise baat mat kiya kar," Urmila turned towards Karishma, "warna," she raised her finger at Karishma.

"Warna, Kya?" Karishma slapped the back of Urmila's hand with hers to dismiss Urmila's raised finger from her sight and made an effort to suppress the urge that she feels every time to hold her finger. 

"Warna," Urmila rubbed the back of her hand which was itching after Karishma's assault.

"Warna?" Karishma raised her eyebrows as she stepped out of the bathroom and started taking slight steps towards Urmila who was glancing at her hand which had become red and then at Karishma who was taking gradual steps towards her.

"Aye dekh tu dur reh mujhe se," Urmila uttered as she took a few steps backward and ended up colliding with the wall. After finding nowhere else to go, she closed her eyes anticipating anything from Karishma. However, when she didn't sense any movement for a few seconds then she opened her eyes and found Karishma staring at her, intently. She can see the yearning in Karishma's eyes—a yearning for her to be Haseena and not Urmila, a yearning for that one touch, a yearning for to be held, and a yearning to behold. She couldn't bear the heat of Karishma's gaze on her, so she averted her eyes from Karishma and ended up pushing Karishma away from her, "yeh kya chal raha hai tera chatak chandini," her voice was shaky as those words came out from her mouth in a rush.

"Kuch nahi," Karishma moved away from Urmila and without saying anything to her, she went inside the bathroom. "What was that?" She splashed some cold water on her face, "why I'm able to sense Haseena whenever that lookalike is close by to me?" She sighed, "I think, I'm going insane," she looked at her reflection in the mirror, "but why shouldn't I?" She wiped the water droplets on the mirror with her hand, "she is the only person I have thought of, in the past one month--- day and night," she inhaled a huge sum of air, "now I'm at the point that I can't even differentiate between illusions and reality," she slammed her hand on the wash basin, "you have ruined me, Haseena," she exhaled a sharp breath to calm herself, "you have ruined me," she mumbled frustratingly.