Sharing Life

17. Mere Rang Mein Rangne Wali

Things were getting complicated for Priya. The shield of being 'friends who laughed and discussed about the world & family problems' was failing.

She was baffled when he offered to help her with the bakery, but she got carried away with the being friends that she couldn't refuse. Moreover, it wasn't a direct help, so she agreed.

But in their last few interactions, knowingly or unknowingly, they had began to speak about themselves. She had voiced out things about herself that she had hardly shared with anyone.

She knew when one discuss about personal stuff, one tend to get emotionally involved with the other person. And it is damn scary.

In the former times, Mahendra and Neeraj had frequently said mean things about her, to her. Since then she had denied the pleasure of being worthy of any good — be it compliments, things, or people.

When Ram complimented her smile, it felt real. It felt true that her heart wanted to believe him and his words. He was being chivalric. Don't fool yourself, her brain denied.

She had began to feel good about herself with him. But she also knew that things come in package deal. Bad with Good. Suffering with Joy. And she was not ready for that.

This has to stop. Her brain ordered. The reason, she did not even greet him this evening.

Since he was family, Shivina's family, she couldn't totally avoid him. She decided to limit their conversations. In Ram's words, interactions limited to the world & family problems. She decided to remain strong and think thousand times before she speaks or acts.

Despite her firm decision, her plan wasn't working.

She couldn't help but notice that it was more than twenty minutes the movie began and Ram hasn't uttered single word. She could hear everyone chatter except him.

A while ago, he was all excited about the movie. He was bragging about its box office collection, craze amongst teens during his college days, his favorite songs, scenes and dialogs.

And now he was quiet.

Owing to the low light in the living room, she could not properly read him. She saw his head frequently turning away from the television screen to people in the room.

It wasn't clear what bothered him until she saw Meera walking away and his gaze following her. Later he turned to the screen and began to stuff popcorn into his mouth.

She felt the sting of tears in her eyes.

She didn't wish to notice any of these things or get affected by it but he affected her in a way anyone ever could.

No. If you do anything, you will complicate things. She commanded herself yet couldn't let herself out of the kitchen despite finishing the work. Instead she began to wipe dry dishes, finding an excuse to stay there. An excuse to check on him.

She tried not to think about him, but the harder she tried more she found herself worrying about him. Par Priya it's wrong to be aware that he's not fine and do nothing. When you were in distress and he was around, knowingly or unknowingly, unhone humesha teri madat ki hain. Karwachauth se leke New Year's tak. She justified herself about wanting to comfort him.

She stared in the dark living room when something hit her mind. "Yes!" she dropped the cloth, "I can do something without making it obvious."

She grabbed her phone, turned off kitchen lights and bolted towards him. Quietly, she scooted into the single sofa across from him.