BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

DISTANCE

{PLEASE IGNORE THE SPELLING AND THE GRAMMAR MISTAKES}

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Anubhav is sitting alone in his room, blankly staring at the wall before him. It's been four months since the incident happened. He has tried to contact Haseena so many times but always fails as Haseena has completely broken up their bond.

Everyone in the house feels worried for him as he starts to ignore his health and meals. He mostly spends his time in solitude. Only Neil and Karishma know the real reason behind it. Once they even tried to talk to Haseena but Haseena strongly refused to talk anything about Anubhav.

Anubhav puts his head on the sofa and closes his eyes. After a few seconds, he feels a pair of soft hands land on his forehead and starts to massage his head. He opens his eyes and finds Santu with her innocent smile. He smiles at her back. Holding her hands, he makes her sit beside him.

He asks, "Itni raatri ko aap yanha kar rahi hain?"

"Aap se milne aayi thi?" Santu replies.

He asks, "Kyun?"

She cups his face and asks, "Bunny, aap udaas kyun ho?"

He looks into her eyes for a second and quickly looks sideways to hide his pain. He clears his throat and answers, "Nahi toh! Hum kanha udaas hain! Hum bilkul thik hain."

Santu cutely replies, "Bunny, mera friend kehta hain ki jhuth nahi bolna chahiye. Buri baat hoti hain. Aur usse bhi buri baat hoti hain jab koi udaas ho. Aap udaas ho. Yeh toh buri baat hain naa?"

Anubhav smiles at her. He puts his palm on her cheek, caresses her cheek, and says, "Haan, thode se udaas hain hum. Parantu aap chinta mat kijiye. Hum thik ho jaayenge."

Santu replies, "Bunny, aapko kisi ne kuch kaha hain kya? Aap mujhe batayiye. Main uska sar phod dungi!"

He chuckles, "Nahi baba! Hume kisi ne kuch nahi kaha."

"Pakka?" She asks cutely.

He smiles, "Haan!"

She too smiles and hugs him, "Bunny, aap please kabhi bhi udaas na ho. Aapko koi problem ho toh aap apni Chutki ko bata do."

He is surprised to hear the word 'CHUTKI' from her mouth. He used to call her by this name many years ago before the brutal incident happened with them. 

"K...Kya kaha aapne?" Anubhav asks her.

She replies, "Yeh hi ki udas mat raho aur mujhe bata do."

He again asks, "Aap kaun?"

"Buddhu? Main! Aapki Chutki. Aap mere Bunny" She giggles.

He smiles into tears. He quickly hugs her and kisses her forehead. He is happy to know that she is recalling her memories slowly. They stay hugging each other for a time till Karishma makes a knock on his door. 

He breaks the hug and looks at Karishma. They get up.

Anubhav asks, "Behna aap?" 

"Woh bas aise hi aaye the" She replies with a small smile.

"Aayiye naa" he asks her to come in.

Karishma comes near him and says to Santu, "Santu, bachcha woh Cheetah ka phone aaya tha. Aap se baat karna chahte the."