the unfortunate thing || kaira

#09

one morning the family was sitting together having their breakfast when dadi told them about the pooja.

"he said day after tomorrow will be the best day. i want you all to take an off and help in the preparations." she said and everyone nodded.

kartik made naira have her medicines and they walked in the backyard for sometime talking about random stuff. "we should go should shopping. we will take maa and chachi with us." kartik suggested. 

"sure!" naira smiled. 

they went back inside the house and saw everyone there already preparing. "you guys are here? go and get ready, you both have to go for shopping." said dadi.

"let me inform maa-" kartik said but she cut her off.

"no kittu. swarna and surekha will go by themselves. i want you two to go." dadi said sternly and everyone agreed.

before they could go upstairs, manish had called kartik for some work so he told her to wait for sometime.

naira nodded and stood there. she was observing her surroundings. she saw swarna and surekha busy in their own works. manish, kartik and akhilesh working their own.

she moved her gaze towards the door and she was sure she had seen someone there. she frowned and moved towards the door.

she stepped outside and checked behind the doors so see if someone was hiding there. "im sure i saw someone here..." she muttered.

shaking her head she went inside. "where were you gone naira?" asked dadi.

"aunty, i thought someone was there, at the door. so i went to check." dadi nodded and went. 

i swear i saw someone there. leave it naira, you get ready. she shook her head an went upstairs to change.

ten minutes later she came down wearing a long floral pink long frock and her white sneakers. she paired the outfit with a small white hand bag. kartik too had went upstairs to change. when naira was in the washroom, he had taken his clothes and changed in the other room. 

he wore a simple white t-shirt with a black shirt over it and black jeans. he was mesmerised seeing naira in the outfit. he wanted to pick her in his arms, kiss her, cuddle her but he knew he couldn't do that.

he wiped the tear the fell from his eye and called her. "naira! shall we go?" he asked. 

"yes. i am coming." she replied and they went towards the car.

as they sat  naira suddenly winced due to the sharp pain in her head. she had a blur picture in her mind. she saw a woman and a man talking before she heard some shouts. "aah.." she rubbed her head. 

"are you okay? we can send maa and chachi if you want." kartik said softly while rubbing her back. 

"no it's okay. i am good." she smiled.

"are you sure? we can skip-" she cut him off. 

"kartik, i am fine. and i will tell you if i feel even a bit of discomfort." she smiled at him.

he nodded at her and started the car and drove to the market. as they reached, kartik and naira went to different shops to buy their clothes and the other things required for the pooja.

they both enjoyed in each other's presence and had a great time. later that day kartik took naira to have golgappe. they even had some ice cream.

"let's go?" asked kartik.

naira nodded and they sat in their car. it was seven pm when they reached home. when they entered, they saw dadi sitting on the sofa, crying and swarn , surekha consoling her.

they ran towards her and went on their knees. "dadi? kya hua? aap ro kyu rahe hain?" said naira as she rubbed her hand.

"beta, pooja ki samagri saari kharab ho gayi. humse gir gayi. ab itne kam samay mei sab kaise hoga?" she cried more.

"dadi, isme rone ki kya baat hai? hum kal jaa kar le aayenge." kartik assured his grandmother.

"but the markets will be closed tomorrow because of thee strikes." she said. 

kartik stood up and rubbed his temple. naira too stood up and rubbed kartik's hand. "kartik, we should go right now. the markets might be open. its just seven pm." she said.

kartik nodded and took the car keys and they both sat in the car and went to the market. after a lot of searching, travelling to different places, they finally found the required material and called home. 

"yes aunty, we got them. the exact amount which dadi told us to bring." naira informed surekha over the floor. 

"yes, yes. we are heading back now." naira cut the call.

she turned to see kartik missing. she called his name many times but didn't heard any reply from him. "k-kartik.. are you there?" she repeated again with a shaky voice. 

"naira.." she heard an unfamiliar voice. 

she turned to see no one. she felt someone's presence around her. she didn't had keys with her or she would've sat in the car. she dialed kartik and thankfully he picked up. "kartik where are you?" she asked over the phone.

"naira, i am three shops away. there was still something missing. you just wait five minutes more, i am coming." saying this cut the call.

naira was somewhere relieved when she heard him. she stood by the car and got busy in her phone. 

she was roaming in circles waiting for kartik when she felt someone touch her. she moved away only to see no one around.

"naira. you must be hallucinating. it's okay." she said to herself.

she took a deep breath and stood by the car. she felt someone's presence around but chose to ignore it. she was feeling very uneasy and just wanted kartik to return soon. ten minutes later, she heard the car being opened.

she turned and saw kartik struggling with the bags. "let me help you." she took some bags and arranged it on the backseat. "thank you." kartik smiled at her.

she returned the smile and sat inside the car. kartik started the car and they drove back home. 

****
word count: 1031

target: 32 votes
20 comments (next update, nice update, emojis, will not be counted.)