Rab Rakha

Chapter 26

Shehnaaz was in the market, since she was looking after the kitchen for a while and noticed they needed some groceries. There was no way she could avoid going out this time, she had to get out and take responsibility for her house now. It wasn't easy though, taking Jagjit's car and driving around without him, going by the places he liked without him and not making tea for him anymore.

Her gaze fell on a local bar on her way back, she was so tempted to stop by and get herself some refreshments for the weekend when her mother won't be there. But she knew how sharp Madhu's eyes and nose were, that woman could smell and figure out minute changes in a single glance so Shehnaaz decided not to sneak alcohol inside her house.

Madhu had decided to visit her village along with her brother's family for the weekend, Shehnaaz was going to accompany her mother but her plans changed when she got an email. There were two interviews scheduled at the end of the week.

Shehnaaz sighed upon finding the entire place to herself, she was not habituated to this even in Delhi. Anju and Rajiv were there all the time. After dropping the bags at home, sighed grabbed the car keys again and made her way out because the empty house just felt like one big abandoned place.

She entered the bar she saw sometime back and made her way without thinking twice. "Whiskey." She asked the bartender for a drink, then another and then one after that as well.

She had to have some alcohol in her system to feel foggy so as to not think of all the responsibilities for a while and just be a girl who is a little lost. She just wanted to have some time for herself.

"Had a long day, huh?" A guy came up and took a seat next to her on the counter. She looked at him, her expressionless face gave away her response. She wasn't in for talking.

The tall and broad guy that he was, if he didn't have that weird tattoo around his neck, he'd look like Sidharth. Talking of him, she recalled what a fine birthday party it was when she flirted with Sidharth that lead one thing to another and they ended up making out. It was probably the most crazy things she had done.

"Done checking me out?" The guy asked and she looked away uncomfortably.

Sidharth was a closed chapter for sure, that man was dating another woman already and here she was, comparing a random guy with him. Why was she even thinking about him in the first place?

"Amardeep Sodhi." The guy forwarded his hand, introducing himself with a classic boyish smile on his face.

"Hm." She gave him a nod and shook hands with him nevertheless. As sloshed as she was, she had really lost the track of time that night when her phone buzzed with her mother's call. Madhu called her to let her know that she had reached their village in Beas.

"Kya hua hai? Breakup? Cheat kiya bande ne?" He began to guess.

"Nahi." She shook her head.

"Hm, itni khoobsurat ladki pe koi kaise cheat kar sakta hai." He commented, thinking of the possibilities that had this beautiful girl infront of him lost.

She chuckled, it reminded her of the way she had flirted with Sidharth a couple of months ago.

"Shehnaaz, you okay?" Sidharth had asked her, when she stumbled. All drunk at her friend's birthday party.

"Abhi tak toh thi." She replied and he frowned, not understanding what it meant.

"Why are you so handsome?" She asked him again, now that she stood on her own and leaned against the counter.

"Wha- I'm sorry?" He chuckled, he was very surprised to find out that she was flirting with him.

"Chalo kisi ne toh notice kiya mujhe." He shrugged, answering her.