Rab Rakha

Chapter 33

"What's your best memory with him?" Sidharth asked Shehnaaz as they sat opposite each other in the restaurant, having lunch together.

"Papa ke sath.." she gave herself a minute to think as she smiled, recalling one good story.

"Ha! Ek baar na Papa mujhe airport lene aaye raat ke 10-11 baje. Next day na Mummy ka birthday tha aur mai surprise dene aa rahi thi unko. Vaise toh mai khud aa jati, lekin tabhi mai college me thi aur Papa ka card use karti thi, toh jab maine ticket book kari, unko pata lag gaya tha." She began to narrate.

"Acha, phir?" He asked.

"Phir wo mujhe lene aaye, Mummy ko jhoot bolke lekin Mummy ne unki adhi baatein sun li, jab Papa bol rahe the ke wo kisi ko wait karne ko keh rahe the, thik outer me milenge bol rahe the. Mummy ka typical auraton wala dimag chal pada tabhi." She chuckled asking she recalled that very incident.

"Aur na- hahahahaha.. phir na. Haaye! Uss din ko yaad karti hu aur hasi aa jati hai!" She couldn't complete her story because she kept laughing in between.

"Bolegi?!" He chuckled, watching her act like crazy.

"Arey phir na Papa aur mai aram se ice cream khate huye ghar wapas aaye. Lagbhag 1 ghante se zyada ho gaya, ghar aaye toh Mummy ro rahe the!" She replied.

"Matlab samjha tu?! Mummy ko laga ke Papa 'kisi aur' se- you know! She thought he was having an affair!" She explained it to him and began laugh.

"Oh shit!" He chuckled asking well.

"Uss din toh bhai, Mummy ne Papa ka phone check kara aur office bag khali karke dekha! Phir jab maine testify kiya, tab jaa ke mani wo!" She told him.

"Testify." He chuckled asking he shook his head.

"Mummy ne pehle itna roya.. itne drame kiye! Haaye puch mat, itne mote mote aansu. Uspe Papa ki hasi na ruke uss moment me, dono maa baap mere ik number ke drame baaz! Aur agle din? Mummy ekdum khush, sab normal! Happy happy! Papa ne mana liya hoga.." she said.

"Mana hi liya hoga na, agle din khush thi toh." He shrugged.

"Ha matlab obviously mana liya, I didn't ask how and probably didn't wanna know." She babbled.

"Best puch raha hai tu, worst memory bhi puch le mere se. Batau mai?" She asked him then and he nodded, letting her carry the conversation ahead now that she was all talks.

"Ek bari jab mai 7th me thi. Nahi, shayad 8th.. ha, 8th class ke final exams chal rahe the mere aur usi time pata nahi kis baat pe Mummy Papa ki zabardast ladai ho gayi. Itni zyada wali ke Mummy ne bartan patke aur Papa ne TV ka remote! Haaye mai toh dar hi gayi thi." She told him.

"Hm, sounds serious." He nodded as he kept chewing his food.

"Haina!? Aur phir na raat ko mujhe nind na aaye. Mai sochti ke haaye, abhi Mummy Papa kya kar rahe honge, phir se toh nahi lad rahe? Maine socha ik bari check kar lu." She added and took a pretty suspenseful pause to let him guess what happened next.

"Aage?" He asked her.

"Guess kar na kya hua?!" She asked him.

"Dono lad rahe the tab bhi?" He guessed, believing watching her parents might have been quite disturbing.

"Nahi." She mentioned and looked away with uncomfortable expressions.

"How I wish ke mai uss raat chup chap so jati! But as they say, curiosity killed the cat. Dono lad nahi rahe the lekin almost vaisa hi kuch ho raha hai lag raha tha. It was at that moment when I realised what they were doing." She mumbled next.

"Oh. Oh no." He didn't take another second to get her point. He understood that her parents were making up to each other for the fight in the marital way, on the bed. Well, that must have been pretty much disturbing as well.