Rab Rakha

Chapter 29

"Namaste Aunty! Aaiye.." Shehnaaz opened the door to the Shukla family on a pretty Sunday afternoon.

"Namaste beta, namaste!" Rita Ma entered with a basket of fruits in her hands.

Shehnaaz quickly introduced Preeti and Ajay to her mother, her eyes looked around for Sidharth and a tint of disappointment took over when she realized that he didn't come.

"Adi aur Sidharth, uske apartment me hain. Do din pehle bulaya tha plumber ko, ab ja ke aaya." Preeti told her, when Shehnaaz was looking at the door expectantly.

"Oh. Thik hai, maine socha itna sara khana bana liya aur sab aaye hi nahi." Shehnaaz joked, masking her expressions.

"Nahi nahi, sab aaj yahi khana khane ke mood se aaye hain!" Ajay replied and she smiled back at him.

"Baithiye aap log, mai chai banati hu." Shehnaaz said, gesturing them to take a seat in the living area.

"Mai aati hu tere sath.." Preeti followed her into the kitchen.

"Sab ache se set ho gaya?" She asked, leaning against the kitchen island.

"Ha di, ab toh lagbhag do weeks ho gaye humko shift huye. Ho gaye settle." Shehnaaz nodded, pouring milk into a saucepan.

"Aunty thik hain.. I mean, how's she doing now?" Preeti calmly asked.

"Thik hai di.." Shehnaaz lowered the flame and replied, turning back to talk.

"Aur tu?" Preeti further asked.

"Mai bhi thik hi hu. Pehle na aisa tha.. ke mera aur Mummy ka poora poora attention Papa pe hota tha. Lekin abhi.. unke jane ke baad hum ko aisa lagta hai ke humare pass aur koi kaam nahi hai karne ko." Shehnaaz replied. Preeti kept her hand behind her back lovingly.

"We'll be fine." Shehnaaz blinked her eyes in assurance, focusing on the tea back again.

"Yeah, time helps a lot." Preeti replied. She had been at Shehnaaz's place, gone through some similar stuff and made it out of that.

Along with the tea, they joined the rest of the people in the living area. Sidharth and Advait had arrived by then. Shehnaaz smiled at the two of them and served them as well.

"Hi Sidharth." She smiled at the man in a black tshirt and a plain pair of denims. His hair was slightly wet, he looked and smelled freshly showered.

"Hey. Thanks." Sidharth replied, picking a cup of tea for himself.

"Hello di. Baitho na." Advait greeted her, gesturing to her to sit next to him.

"Hii Adi. Kaisa hai tu?" She replied, cradling her cup of tea in her palm.

"Oye, tere yaha kaan pe blue blue ho gaya hai." She pointed out when she noticed suddenly.

"Holi ka colour nahi utra hai abhi tak." He chuckled, embarrassed.

"Aww! Arey hum bhi itni gandi Holi khelte the pehle, college me. Mai aur Sheena, baad dono ka face purple reh jata tha!" She replied and the two chuckled.

"Ha!? Aap dono best friends ho na." He mentioned and she nodded, sipping her tea.

"Ghar pe kuch repair ho raha tha?" She turned to ask Sidharth. She had felt his eyes on them for a few minutes now.

"Ha, actually bathroom me shower ka issue tha. Plumber ko bulaya tha maine." Sidharth replied.

"Okay. By the way, kisi electrician ka number hai kya? Mere room me lights badalni hai." She asked him.

"Ha, I know one. Bhejta hu." He nodded. Though he wondered why she didn't ask him about the electrician beforehand and rather decided to wait for two long weeks. Why was she hesitating to talk to him? Why didn't she want to take his help until it was necessary?