Saajna

3

She was fricking out when it took him too long to reply and started second guessing the lovely message she typed. It took her only a total of 8 mins to delete it and in it's place she sent a plain 'good night' and then 2 min to add another message asking from where did he find her number. 5 mins later and her nervousness is indirectly proportional to his patience. The  more nervous she got the less patience he has.  Finally after the agonising wait of 22 mins he replied.

'I have my ways'

She started asking what took him so long to reply but quickly decided against it. Instead she responded with

'And what are your ways'

she had already guessed it's Riya but not knowing what else to talk about, she goes with the conversation.

A few text after he told her to sleep, so that's what she did. Well she tries but couldn't. Suddenly feeling thirsty she reached towards her bed side table but find the bottle empty. She then went to the kitchen downstairs, barefoot with a bottle in her hand.

"Anika" she was on the least step of the stairs when she heard the loud voice, she dreaded hearing. She stayed put on the last step not having enough courage to turn and face the women.

A fuming Neeti descended the steps and yanked her nieces arms so hard it almost dislocated, turning Anika towards her. "Kya kar rahi ho is waqt apne kamre se bahar" She looks down at her from the additional steps she was standing. "Wo-woo-"Anika fumble. Her face contoured in pain when it was again given a hard tug. " Aaj kya tumne kasam kha li mujhe pagal kar dene ki. Kya kar ho tum yaha." Neeti roared at the innocent girl who was now shaking in fear. "Ghar se bhaag rhi thi tum?" She yelled causing Anika to whimper "Nh-nhi-nhii k-kaki maa-"

"Kya hua. Itni raat me kyu cheekh rhi ho Neeti" This time it was Prashant who cuts her off. " Achcha hua aap aa gaye. Ghar se bhaag rhi thi itni raat ko ye larki" Neeti accused her again. "Kya bakwass kar rhi ho. Hosh me ho?" "Mai bakwass kar rahi hu? Puchiye apni ladli se kya kar rahi hai itni raat me apne kamre se bahar" Prashant turned towards Anika waiting for the explanation. "Na-nh-nahii k-ka-kaa sa" Anika shutters.

She was shaking and on the verge of a panic attack,  making it tough for her to talk. Prashant's eyes soften she his niece's condition. "Anika, breathe mera bachcha. Come on, breathe." He cups her face. "Mai hu yaha. Kuch nhi hua. Breathe" She takes a deep breath and then repeats it few times again. "Kaka sa, mera pani khatam ho gaya tha. Mujhe pyaas lagi thi, mai wahi lene aayi thi" She explains showing the bottle in her hand. That cause Prashant to sigh. He caressed her head and told her to fill up her bottle. He then turned towards her wife, grab her hand and dragged her to their bedroom. "Dimaag kharab hai tumhara. Agar nhi to kabhi kabhi istemaal kar liya karo before saying nonsense. He yells at his wife once he locked the door.

Downstairs Anika was still lost. She couldn't wrap her mind around what just happened. She goes straight to her room taking the half filled bottle.

She grabbed her phone. She needed to talk to someone or she will have a panic attack, thinking of all the people she can call but finding no one as she don't have any friends. She decided to call Rudra,the only person she has.

He didn't answer. May be he slept. May be he didn't wanna talk. May he will think I am clingy . What if he complains about me to kaki maa. She shook her head and stops thinking about all the may be's and what if's. She decided to call again.

"The number you are trying to call is currently unreachable. Please call again later" It was enough. Her emotional heart couldn't take more, a choked sob broke through her throat causing uncontrollable tears to fell from her eyes and multiple sobs. Her body, curled in the fetus position, head on her knees and hands wrapped tightly around her, shook at the impact.