Fitoor

Chapter 24

Mishti Bose

"Subah subah che baje utha diya!" I groaned and held my back that was paining.
"Tum seriously medical student ho? Tum log subah uthke padte nahi kya?" Abir asked amused.
"Exam ke pichle din padhna hi mushkil hai. Tumhare liye mai roz subah jaldi uthke padhu?" I questioned.

"Unbelievable." He muttered.
"Yeah. Like your scary bhoot story." I scoffed.
"Hey! You bought it okay." He teased laughing.
"Aurangabad chalke humare paas to nahi ayega. Ab kya kare?" I asked. At the same time, a car approached from behind us. Thank god! We asked for a lift and the driver stopped! Miracle Miracle!

"Kaha jaana hai?" He asked. A lady sat beside him. They seemed to be husband and wife.
"Aurangabad sir." Abir replied and he nodded. We sat behind as I sighed, relaxing a bit. If he doesn't create any more problems, then we could safely reach that damn city and take a bus to Bathinda. Seeing these couples I could sense something was wrong. The lady was staring at us.

"Madam to bilkul Preeti zinta jaise dikhti hai, haina?" I asked Abir and he really looked like I asked him if zebras looked like unicorns or not.
"Haa haa. Ye Preeti zinta aur mai Shah Rukh Khan. Duet gaane ke liye Kashmir jaa rahe hai." The man scoffed as the lady glared at him.
"Kyu mai joke nahi maar sakta kya?" He asked as the lady started arguing and they ended up fighting. I closed my ears tightly.

"Sir? Madam? Aap theek hai?" I asked. Abir glared at me and I totally ignored it.
"Kal humari shaadi ko das saal ho gaye par isko yaad bhi nahi tha!" The woman said angrily.
"Tumhe kaunsa yaad tha! Tumhari Amma ka phone nahi aata tho tumhe bhi-"
"Meri Amma ko beech me mat laana!" She shouted.
"Haa haa! Tum mere Maa ko har argument me ghusa sakti ho." He scoffed.

"Chup!" Abir scolded when I was about to talk.
"Kya hai? Tum advice kar sakte ho mai nahi?" I asked him angrily.
"Bas ek aur kaand mat karna." He pleaded.
"Abir! Shayad tum bhul gaye ho. Don't underestimate the power of a-"
"Rakshasi? No never." He shut his mouth and looked aside. Mera dialouge kharab kar diya!

"Sir if you don't mind, mera ek suggestion hai. Couples therapy me isko use karte hai." I started as both of them listened to me attentively.
"Aap dono apne past ke acche memories ko rewind karenge to aapki jhagda ruk jayegi aur aapka mood bhi refresh hojayega." I said smiling. They seemed to have liked the idea as they smiled too. Abir just stared at us confused.

"Yaad hai? Humari shaadi ke time me, jab hum photo ke liye stage ke upar jaa rahe the. Aapne mera haath samajhke Appa ka haath pakad liya tha!" The lady laughed and looked at us. I fake laughed loudly and Abir just gave a smile as if he was stuck in the bathroom and water had run out.
"Wo subah tha." The man replied.

"Reception ke time me jab koi nahi dekh raha tha, maine aankh maara aur aap chair se gir gaye!" Again she laughed as I held my head. Maybe this was a bad idea. Abir was cringing on a whole new level.
"Wo shaam tha." The man said again and I stared at him scrunching my nose in disgust.
"Raat ko mai humare kamre me wait kar raha tha. Tab current bhi chala gaya." He continued as we listened.

"Mujhe bhi yaad hai." The lady said.
"Then you came. Phir raat bhar-"
"Abe saale!" She shouted as he halted the car. Me and Abir looked at them confused.
"Mai us din saat baje hi sogayi thi. Meri behen tumhare liye doodh le gayi thi!" The lady screamed and started hitting the guy as he stopped the car. We hurriedly got down and took our bags and started running.

"Ruko tum dono! Meri shaadi ko barbaad kar diya!" The man was shouting as we ran faster.
"Musibat ka bhandaar apne saath leke ghum raha hu mai." Abir stated as I rolled my eyes. We were almost near the petrol bunk and we spotted a telephone booth. My phone had died a long time ago.
"Meri mami ko phone karu? Unka car agency hai. Wo Maa ko bataye bina help kar sakti hai." I suggested.