Sidharth turned and tossed, it was dead of the night and he was still trying to sleep. It had been a few hours that he was back to his home. The trip had been hectic, tightly packed. To add up, he hadn't slept for a single day. Ofcourse sleep did not visit him, but that wasn't the only case, all during the past few days, he had worked day and night, exhausting himself to death. And finally after a good home cooked dinner with family, followed by a hot shower he had hoped to sleep. But he couldn't. It was over two hours of tossing and turning. And sleep had evaded him.
"Fuck!" He made a sound, the word was an emotion, well almost! He sat up, looking at the ceiling, as his fingers moved through his hair,this was exhausting, he was tired, to point that his eyes failed to remain open,but the more he tried to sleep, the more he couldn't. All that happened was his brain talking to him, creating situations, scenarios, recalling events from past, finding faults within himself. Over the past year, Siddharth had turned into self hyper critical man.
Pouring himself some water, he picked up the borosilicate, while his other hand looked for the phone. Picking it up, he scrolled through the messages. Earlier in the day, his sister had asked him a picture of his mother cooking for him. He smiled. He thought of her. The last year had not been exhausting only for Siddharth, but also for his family, especially the mother. He recalled the way she had cried while visiting him at jail. She had warned him, warned him against Bhavya. Maybe if he had listened, things would have been different.
Shehnaaz was fast asleep when she heard the bell. For an initial reaction, she took it for a dream, she could hear the sound, the ringing of the bell. And then a few moments later, her head whispered to open the door.
A few mintues passed and her phone rang.
"Hello!" She spoke, picking it up. It was Sidharth and, she read the name displayed on the screen.
In her head she had already walked to the door and opened it. "Its you?" She asked looking through the key hole and smiled. A small, faint smile through her thoroughly swollen face.
"Hey, " she spoke opening the door and moving away.
Sidharth smiled at her. He felt awkward, but he stepped inside. "Neend nahi aa rahi thi!" He spoke, looking at her. She looked beautiful as always, but there was something unusual this time. She looked cute,.the swollen eyes, the cheeks, the light brown hair that cascaded along her face, the eyes that refused to stay open. He felt a feeling of sacred fondness seep inside him. He so wanted to pull her into a hug and kiss her cheek.
"Aur mai neend ki goli?", she spoke, looking back at him.
He looked at her, their eyes meeting. He smiled, tight lipped. What was the logic he could sell her ? Could he tell her that, it was the glimpse of her, the comfort of her breathing against him , that kept pulling him back to her.
"I am sorr..." he was about to say, when.she spoke back.
"Huh!" She made a sound, walking to him and holding his hand, "abhi yeh aane se pehle sochna tha!" She spoke, pulling him.to her bedroom.
"Soi thi?", he asked, sitting on the bed, while she walked outside.
Well that was the only bedroom.she had in that 1Bhk apartment in a building of a posh township. The bedroom was the only place that had an AC, she didn't know if any of the things were to Siddharth's standard or not, but that was the only thing avaliable. "Raat ko 1: 30 what did you expect me to do.?"
He felt awkward, he had never asked anyone for help, nor did he know how to. "Yeah!" He spoke, scratching his ear. He almost regretted being here. For a moment he thought that he could make and excuse and walk out, but then she would make fun of him.
