Ajnabee - The ecstasy of one sided love.

Chapter 68

" chote ustaad ...tum to chupe rustam bhi nikle . agar aise hi chalte rahe na boss bade bade mustande tumhare pair chuke jayenge " Batuk said with amazement as even after three rounds of carom the little trickster was winning . 

Aarav grinned but didn't say anything and got back his focus on the fourth game . he was direct after the queen . Trilochan and Somnath had their eyes stuck on the game as if it was most anticipated match between two states . Batuk glared at them when they both bet against him rather than for him . He had to bet for himself . And he glared at them again when they were cheering for Aarav on his each win , shouting like teenagers . 

" Aaj din hi kharaap hai mera " Batuk grumbled when Aarav won the match and Trilochan Somnath picked him up in unison cheering for him . 

Bondita and Anirudh just came back from work together . They became a lot distant in the past few days . Bondita was going far and far away from his reach . They had normal conversation like every day , normal routine , sleeping on the same bed , doing everything together but they were not together . The warmth that once existed between them had faded, replaced by an unspoken tension that neither could fully understand. Anirudh noticed the change, the way Bondita seemed to withdraw more and more, her smiles becoming rarer, her laughter almost nonexistent. He couldn't pinpoint the reason, but he felt it—something was wrong, and it gnawed at him relentlessly.

Bondita, too, was painfully aware of the growing distance. Every time she looked at Anirudh, her heart clenched with the weight of the secret she carried.  Yet, despite the tension between them, they came together for Aarav. The little boy became their unspoken reason to connect, the only thing that kept them from drifting completely apart.

They noticed the eruption of laughter and exchanged gazes . 

" kya ho raha hai bhai ? " Anirudh asked leaving his bag on the sofa , Bondita following him . 

" Aree Anirudh humaara dil khush ho gaya mann kar raha hai ki hum saare gaon mein mithaai baant de . " Trilochan exclaimed in immense happiness . 

" aisa kya ho gaya ? " Anirudh asked with amusement .

" aree dada pucho mat ....iss chote ustaad ne ek nahi , do nahi chaar baar haraya hai carom mein . aur kitna smoothly khelta hai yeh . acche acchon ko dhul chata de " 

Anirudh looked at the small boy and smiled with amazement . Seriously he was a box of hidden talents . He and Bondita had been gifting him books and puzzles which he quickly solved . He played every indoor games with Batuk , quickly learned if he wasn't aware about the game rules . He nearly won every game but he totally aced in the carom game .

" ab kya karein kuch bacche hote hi champion hain . haina ? " he asked cutely ruffling his hair , and was mildly shocked to see him still shying away from him . 

It was weird for him really . Sometimes he felt like the little boy was trying to impress him but was also intimidated by him or scared of him . Every time he tried to get closer to the boy , he ran away from him hiding behind Bondita . But the boy looked at him with a gaze he was familiar with but couldn't pin point . With a feeling he was well aware with but still couldn't recognize . It was like having a long lost friend . It's all the innocence in them that melted his heart . 

" ab tum itne sust ho toh koi kar bhi kya sakta hai ? mera baccha hai hi smart accha accha isse haar jaye . tum smart ho par tumhaari smartness ka kya faida agar tum usse azmaate hi nahi . mere bacche ne aazmaliya . " Bondita exclaimed proudly fixing her baby's hair and giving him a peck on his forehead . The small boy wasn't still used to the womanly affection but was starting to accept it . He wanted to call her , wanted to express his feelings to her every time she gave him the kiss which his mother was supposed to give but she didn't . Thanks to his bad luck and insecurity , his tongue tied at every time he wanted to call her by the specific name he was dying to call .