In the heart of the night, as the torrential downpour descended upon the city, a furious symphony of raindrops crashed against the surfaces. The world outside became a blur of shadows and reflections as the rain cascaded in almost violent sheets. Amid this storm, the high beams of the car lights sliced through the darkness of the night. The steely glint of raindrops is illuminated in the intense glow, revealing only a narrow path ahead on the wet asphalt. The surroundings remained shrouded in obscurity, a realm of mystery left to the imagination as the rain continues its relentless assault.
"Are you alright?", Reena spoke walking to him, her hands tracing along the edge of his jaws, looking at him, making sure he was safe. "You had me worried...", she was speaking while Shehnaaz looked at them through the rear view mirror, as she turned the car away. Her eyes constantly stuck at the mother and son, her ears grabbing every sound that they could.The mothers words were kind and so full of concern, the son wrapped his right arm around the mother and kissed over her forehead. "I am fine, mom! You have to stop being paranoid...." The mother and son held on to each other, not uttering even a word to the stranger who had just dropped the son back safely.By the time Shehnaaz had turned the car, the duo were well inside the premises of their home, their words no longer audible to the girl in the car,only their retreating figures as they faded into the darkness of night.
"Madam ab nikliye yaha se,gate pe rehne ki permission nahi hai!" The voice of the security guard brought her back to reality. She smiled, perhaps somethings were probably reserved for only a few.
"Why do you drink so much Sidharth? Do you realize you will kill yourself? And what would happen to me? Ha your mother do you think of that? What the hell are you trying to prove? Do you think that Bhavya cares? Ek ladki k peeche yeh pagalpan, kya chahta hai? ......"the woman stood at the end of the staircase as Sidharth walked up. The words slowly faded into silence and she nodded in a denial. Sidharth was a constant battle, she had once lost him to Bhavya, she did not want to lose him again.
Getting no response, she yelled. "Take a bath and come downstairs, I am waiting for dinner!"
It was already late in the night, and Shehnaaz was late to bed once again. Her hands rotated the steering wheel and the car turned towards the spot she had paid for parking. She picked up her laptop and the bag and moved out of the car, opening an umbrella, as it kept raining. The monsoon in Mumabi was a constant hazard, she thought. Lost in some strange thought she walked to the elevator and pressed the button for her floor, the visuals of Sidharth and his mother playing in her eyes.She had so less left, and she lost so much. She wondered about the prices she had paid, were they worth it?.The thoughts kept playing in her head as the water from the shower washed down her body.
It had taken Sidharth an hour to walk back downstairs. Him dressed in a pair of shorts and t shirt, his hair messy and fresh. "Where is your phone? Why aren't you answering my call ?"Rita spoke ,placing her phone down. She was apparently a very calm and understanding woman, but Sidharth was draining her.
"I didn't get any call mom. .." he spoke taking out the phone and looking at it, only to realize that it wasn't his. It was exactly the same as his ,but not his. And that's when it struck him, he had accidentally picked up Shehnaaz's phone. "Fuck its hers!"
"Uske paas hai tumhara phone toh why isn't she answering?" Reena spoke as she made a hundredth call at Sidharth's number . "Are you sure she's trustworthy? Girls like hers can't be trusted? God knows where she's taken your phone, she could be anybody? What if she starts to blackmail you,asks you for money?" Reena kept getting paranoid as Shehnaaz failed to answer every single call at his number. The paranoia was real, Sidahrth was somebody, and he had already been in trouble because of a woman. Reena did not want yet another scandal.
