Anokhi Fitrat

Chapter 9

As they walked out of the cabin with their lunch boxes and entered the cafeteria, they say Nisha wrapping up her lunch and getting up to walk out. Manik yelled, "Nishu!" and rushed to her, much to Kabir's dismay.

"Hi Manik, Hi Kabir" greeted Nisha warmly. To which Kabir nodded subtly, returning her smile half heartedly. "Tune lunch kiya? asked Manik.

"Yes I was just wrapping up" said Nisha. "You could have asked us to join you" said Manik complaining. "Well I thought tum log busy honge" shrugged Nisha, not meeting Kabir's eye.

"Chal koi na, abhi hum lunch kar ne hi waale the, aaja baith humaare saath company dene ke liye at least" said Manik, while Kabir looked mortified. Now he would have to pretend to be normal when his insides were squirming.

"Nahi, Manik aaj nahi mujhe bohut kaam hai" said Nisha hastily, much to Kabir's relief.

"Arrey kaam aadhe ghante baad kar le, itni bhi kya jaldi hai tujhe" insisted Manik.

"Phir kabhi, aaj mujhe office se jaldi bhi nikalna hai 4 baje tak, mandir jaane ke liye, papa kab se bol rahe hai, aur delay nahi kar sakti" insisted Nisha, not agreeing to Manik's plan.

"Hey bhagwaan, kya karoon main tera, aisi umar mein pooja paat nahi karte beta, abhi se yeh sab kar liya toh budhe ho ke kya karegi tu" said Manik, holding his hands on his head, dramatically. "Ek tu hai, aur ek yeh mera bhai, kya karoon main tum dono ka" retorted Manik.

"Tujhe kisi ne force kiya kya, toh dikkat kya hai teri" said Kabir, smacking him on his head.

"Tum bhi mandir jaate ho?" asked Nisha widening her eyes with curiosity.

"Haan Maa humesha kehti thi, toh jab bhi mann kare chala jaata hoon" answered Kabir, with a tinge of hurt in his eye.

Nisha chided herself for bringing it up and before she could think it through, she attempts to divert the conversation, "Manik, dekha seekho kuch, kabhi apni mummy ki baat maani hai tumne, bachpan mein toh kitni daant khaayi hai aunty se"

"Arrey bhagwaan, mere saath hi kyun, yeh ek kaafi nahi tha, ki doosri ko bhi swaad anusaar sanskaar mein dooba ke bhej diya, kya hoga mera" said Manik dramatically, looking up to the ceiling, in despair.
"Traditions follow karna is not uncool" exclaimed Kabir and Nisha at the same time, pleasantly surprised with each other, while Manik gave an evil smirk.
"Wah, tum dono ki soch kya milti hai" he said suggestively, before he could further tease them. Nisha bade them a goodbye and scurried off to her desk.
Kabir thought to himself sadly, "Great! She's leaving from office early, Matlab aaj mere saath ghar Wapas nahi jaayegi and abhi Seedha Monday ko milenge" and sighed in disbelief with Manik nagging him from behind to hurry for lunch.
That night, Kabir couldn't get too much sleep over the thought of Nisha and her boyfriend. He wondered why was he so taken aback when she said it to him and why was she affecting him so much. They had barely known each other.
The next morning Kabir decided to take a quick jog in the park so as to clear his mind and focus on the things he needed to do in the weekend. He had convinced himself there was no point sulking over something that is not in his control.
"Good morning Kabir, Itni Subah subah tum yahan" he heard someone call from behind and turned around to see a familiar "sunshine" that instantly brought a bright smile to his face.
"Oh hi Nisha, good morning! Main toh bas jog karne aaya tha, what about you?" asked Kabir cheerfully.
"Main bhi, getting some fresh Aaj ka Mausam kitna accha hai, halki halki dhoop, par thandi bhi. Love it" said Nisha, taking a whiff of the fresh air. Her sun kissed face just basking in the glory as Kabir is mesmerized by her.
Breaking him from his trance, she asks, "Toh finally weekend ke kya plans banaye". Much to her surprise, his face slightly falls and he responds sulkily, "Nothing much, socha nahi"
To make up for souring his mood she asks, "Tumhe dogs pasand hai?"
"Dogs? I mean haan I think they are the best pets to have" answered Kabir nonchalantly.
"Great, aaj main dog shelter jaa rahi hoon to volunteer for the day, you should come, it'll be fun" said Nisha not thinking much of it.
Kabir stares at her stunned, thinking if she asked him if he wants to spend the day with her. On the other hand, Nisha thinks she overstepped asking him to come, so she covers up saying "Listen, you don't have to, I was just making a suggestion—" only to be cut off by him saying, "Noo!! I mean—,I mean I'd love to come" fumbles Kabir, smiling sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.
"Oh great, I was thinking of going around 11 am, its not far from here around 3kms" answered Nisha, relieved and a little excited.
"Okay phir main tumhe gaadi ke saath milta hoon building ke lobby mein 11 baje" said Kabir, bidding her a goodbye, thrilled at this bright turn his day has taken. Also a bit conflicted in the back of his head. He dismisses the conflict, by thinking that she wouldn't have invited him if she didn't want to continue being friends. 

As promised, Kabir meets her at the lobby in his car and is not surprised to see her ready and waiting for him with a bunch of bags in her hand. He gets out immediately to help her with the bags while she protests, "Hey no, I can manage, I just need to dump them in your trunk". He grabs some of the bags from her hand, making her pout in annoyance. They finally settled down in the car and Kabir glanced at her still pouting and sitting with her arms crossed, looking away from him.

"Arrey I was just trying to help, come on you can't be annoyed at me for that" pleaded Kabir, trying to make eye contact while also keeping an eye on the road as he drove them.

"Kabir, I told you I could do it, I mean for once why can't people just listen when you say you can do something, par nahi kisi ko bharosa hi nahi hai" snapped Nisha angrily. Kabir who was confused at her sudden annoyance, suddenly understood what was the reason behind it. Nisha thought him like other people thought she wasn't capable of doing/managing things on her own. His eyes softened when he gazed at her outburst, he slowly stopped the car at the side and parked it. She looked at him surprised and raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Look, I know it must have felt like I didn't believe you couldn't carry those bags, I just wanted to share the burden that's all. Trust me, I grew up with a sister and she is possibly physically and mentally way stronger than I am despite me being older than her. I know not to underestimate women" said Kabir, raising his hands in surrender.

Nisha smiled sheepishly at his words, knowing that she overreacted and judged him unneccesarily. "Sorry, I think abhi tak itni baar ho chuka hai ki, ab default reaction ho gaya hai, I know stereotype nahi karna chahiye, not everyone is like that. And I should've known better than to doubt you, Kabir. I am sorry" said Nisha sincerely.

Kabir, who already wasn't annoyed at her, said "Heyy please sorry mat bolo, I know what it's like not to have people trust what you say" with a hint of sadness in his eyes. Before she could ask him, he said jokingly "But bhaisaab mujhe nahi pata tha, tumhe gussa bhi aata aur tum gusse mein ek dum angry Sherni lagti ho" and started to drive, with her rolling her eyes at his retort.

As we kept inching closer to the venue, Kabir observed that her mood improved significantly and she seemed a little excited. Before he could stop himself he asked her how come she seems so excited and regretted it immediately when she said, "Sam bhi hoga na, I have been dying to meet him. This new job switch and all ke wajah se main usko time hi nahi de paa rahe thi". On asking who Sam was, she responded smiling, "Arrey kahan tha maine my boyfriend" and Kabir's glee immediately lessened as he answered with a sudued "Oh".

She stepped out of the car as they reached and two people who seemed to be in charge of the dog shelter, came out to greet her. Taking the bags out of the trunk and letting Kabir help her, Nisha walked over to them and handed the bags. She introduced Kabir to the girl who seemed to be in her 30s as Navya and the other boy as Ankur. And for his introduction she said, "Yeh Kabir hai, he's my colleague and a friend" to which Navya raised an eyebrow suggestively. Before she could further question Nisha went on a full monologue mode, explaining what was in each of the bags.

They laughed animatedly, looking at her speak speedily, with a sort of impatience as if they knew something. The girl who looked to be in her 30s finally said, "Hum sab samajh gaye and hum tujhe aur delay nahi karenge, jaa tera hero wait kar raha hai in room 10".

Nisha hugged her excitedly, "Thank you Navya" and rushed to Kabir and held his hand and ushered him as he realized who they were gonna meet. He grimaced as she manouvered him through the rooms and they finally reached room 10.

He was preparing himself for the finality of his heart break when ---