BALH2 FF: Hum Tum Kitne Paas Hain

Chapter 15-Dukh Baatne Se Kam Hota Hai

Ram took a sip of water, wiping his last set of tears. He had been crying for over fifteen minutes now. He felt lost like never before. He tried to distract himself with work but that did not help him a bit.

Getting up from the chair, he walked towards the huge window overlooking the sea. Since the day he had spoken to Priya sitting in front of this very window about gratitude, it had become a place of solace for him. The endless sea brought to him some kind of unexplainable calm.

Maybe it was the vastness of the sea, which made his problems look trivial. Or maybe it was the memory attached to the conversation he had with Priya.

Priya.

Ram knew that the only person who could pacify his anxious self right now was her. He had tried to talk to Adi and Brinda, but it was not even close to what he needed.

However, the way Priya had abruptly cut his call made him feel that she didn't want to talk to him. Maybe she felt uncomfortable with what had happened last night.

He had hoped that Priya would call him back or at the very least send a message, but none of that had happened. It had been over two hours of him waiting for her to contact him.

Ram sighed heavily as he continued to stare out of the window.

The ringing of his phone brought him back to reality. He walked towards the table to pick up his phone and saw it was Priya video calling him. Seeing her caller ID was enough to bring a small smile to his face.

"Sorry Mr. Kapoor maine aise aapka phone kaat diya tha. Mera achanak sar dukhne laga toh main sone chali gayi thi." Priya lied without looking at the screen, not having it in her to look at Ram's face.

"A-arey tum sorry kyun bol rhi ho? It's...it's okay." Ram looked away from the screen as well. "Tumhara headache kaise hai ab?"

As soon as Ram spoke, Priya knew something was wrong. She looked at the screen and saw Ram looking away.

"Mr. Kapoor?" She called out to him softly.

The frown on Ram's forehead disappeared by just hearing her say his name in that manner. He immediately looked at his phone.

"Mr. Kapoor! Aap ro rhe the?" Priya questioned worriedly as soon as he turned his face towards the camera.

"Main? N-nahi toh? Main kyun rounga?" He lied, looking away again.

"Kya hua hai? Aap aise? Mr. Kapoor please bataiye naa kya hua hai, mujhe ghabrahat ho rhi hai."

"Arey nahi kuch nahi hua hai Priya, tum shaant ho jao. Main nahi ro rha tha."

"Jhooth mat boliye! Aapki shakal se saaf saaf pata chal rha hai ki aap ro rhe the. Kyun?"

Ram remained silent.

"Kuch toh boliye!"

"Maine kaha naa, it's nothing. No big deal."

"No big deal?! Aap ro rhe the. Big deal kaise nahi hai yeh?"

Again, Ram did not say anything.

Priya spoke in almost a whisper this time, "Mr. Kapoor, I can understand agar aap mujhse share nahi karna chahte toh. It's completely okay. But kisi se toh baat kijiye. Aise akele please mat roiye."

"Tum aisa kyun bol rhi ho? Obviously I have no problem sharing it with you. Itna pareshaan kyun ho rhi ho, shant ho jaao please."

"Mr. Kapoor, something is troubling you, and me not knowing what is troubling you is troubling me. Aap ro rhe the. Yeh jaante huye main shaant ho jaau? Aise kaise shaant ho jaau?" Priya spoke hurriedly. She pressed her forehead as her headache started growing again due to the tension.