( ... Scene continuation)
What is this man's problem in life? Gauri thinks crossly, watching Amarnath put his shirt back on. I am the girl he secretly loves. Now I'm here in his house, I said I love him and he's acting like some shy bride from the fifteenth century! What a great lover; writing film songs for me in his diary but can't say a simple "I love you too".
'I'll get you some water,' Amarnath mumbles and disappears into the kitchen.
No, she shakes her head, smiling. He's such a gentleman. His heart is so pure. I should be glad that he even hugged me back.
Amarnath returns with a glass of water. Gauri sets it on the teapoy and sits on the sofa. 'Can we talk?' she asks.
Amarnath nods, sitting on the other end of the sofa. Gauri sighs.
'Amar, I really don't know what to say,' she starts guiltily. 'I feel so bad. I'm so, so sorry for everything that I've said. My words must have been so jarring; and yet, you never said anything back to me ... all these days. I'm so sorry, Amar,' she repeats earnestly. 'Forgive me, please?'
'Nahi ... aap maafi matt pucchna please,' he says.
'I have to. But it's your fault too!' Gauri snaps. 'Are you always like this? Hiding everything? Not saying things out loud? Were you planning to tell me about what happened at Britannia restaurant that day, after I left?'
Amarnath pauses his breath before exhaling. 'Ji, I-I didn't know ... how to tell you.'
'When I learned the truth, it was like I do not know you at all. That hit me so hard.'
'Who hit you?' he asks immediately.
'It's not funny, Amar!' she growls. 'I got to know about it from that Parsi hotel owner chaacha. Is that how I should get to know things about you?'
Amarnath shakes his head, not knowing what to say.
'Maybe I wouldn't have known it at all. And you were okay with it,' Gauri crosses her arms and shifts to the other edge of the sofa, turning away.
Amarnath feels like he's been punched in the stomach. 'Gauri ... '
She doesn't reply.
'... P-Please look at me,' he says softly.
Gauri exhales and turns to look at him with hurtful eyes.
'You know I ... I am like this. I-I don't talk that much.'
'I know. But you'll have to talk to me, about your feelings. I wanna know how you feel.'
Now, how do I respond to that?
'Are you intimated by me?' she asks suspiciously.
Amarnath looks confused.
Gauri drags in some air. 'Are you afraid of me?'
'No,' he says a little too quickly.
'Say the truth, Amar!'
Amarnath swallows. 'Aap daraaiye maat isa mainu.'
Gauri maintains a straight face with great effort and waits for his answer.
'I-I'm scared of ... of the way you speak. You speak so directly. And your Englush is so good,' he confesses haltingly. 'I thought I had learnt so much English for UPSC. But when I hear you speak ... I feel I don't know any English at all. And you are so modern that you'll feel ki I'm-'
'I feel you're the best person I could've ever got. Your virtues are a thousand times better than the guy I had imagined for myself. When I see you ... the only thing I feel is that you should be mine.'
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Bombay Romance ♡ COMPLETED
Romance1985. The City of dreams. Red double decker buses, khali-peeli taxis, radios, Doordarshan, video cassettes and rotary dial phones. DCP Amarnath arrives in Bombay with a mission, straight and clear: To tackle the notorious Crime Syndicates. As the c...