ALIGNING OUR STARS

Chapter 17- Control Over Comfort

She held the edge of the door, for a second too long. As if Karishma will come and knock on it, telling her that she forgot something there. But that never happened.

She turned around to look at her room again. It felt too big, too empty without her there. The charm was gone, Karishma had taken it along with heself. She walked ahead, her footsteps sounding a little too loud now, her breath a little too evident everytime she took it. She realised, the blanket was neatly folded, the one she gave to Karishma, the one she folded while Karishma was talking to her. This was not her, she was not this neat. The corners aligning perfectly with eachother. She looked at the leftover pieces of fruit in the tray. The edges too neat, she never cut them like that. She took the tray and the tea cups to the sink and began washing them. At last, she took Karishma's cup in her hand, and stopped. She noticed the faint lip mark on the rim of the cup. The moment striked her mind. Haseena was telling something while Karishma drank the tea, she smiled listening to that. The mark showed that exact moment. Now, in a symbolic way. She smiled again, rememberimg the moment. But then stopped when she realised what she was doing. No Haseena, you know better. She thought to herself.

After doing the dishes, Haseena came back to her room, she sat on her table and began completing her assignnent. All her tries went to vain as she couldn't really concentrate on what she was doing. She just kept thinking about the change in her behaviour.

Her being too gentle and kind towards her, teaching her stuff, covering her with a blanket instead of waking her up. Cutting fruits, neatly, too neatly. Washing the dishes too perfectly, cleaning the counter, twice. It was all not a coincidence, it was intentional. She wanted to impress Karishma. She wanted to show Karishma that she was reliable, kind, warm, gentle. Which she was, but Haseena had tried to amplify it. She didn't even try actually, it was all on auto-pilot.

But she decided, this had all got to stop. She can't let Karishma in like that. She was getting to comfortable with her. Comfort brought attachment and attachment brought pain. Haseena was now worried.

"It was just studies" She thought to herself but who was she even fooling now. It wasn't, she knew it wasn't.

"Hume yeh nahi honge denge" She told, out loud.

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Sitting on her bed, she was waiting for a reply to the message she had sent to Haseena. "Hi, I reached home"

Her phone pinged, she held it excitedly, only to find that Haseena had just reacted a 👍 to her message. She frowned. After all that, after all the time she had spent with Haseena today, that was the only reply she could give her? 

She scoffed and went to bed, she will deal with her the next day.

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Karishma came in early, excited to see her favorite person. She was there even before Haseena was. Haseena was the second person to arrive in the class, and quite surprised to see Karishma so early.

"Good morning, aap itni jaldi?" Haseena said, with a smile.

"Haan aj zara jaldi taiyaar hogye the, toh aagye hum." Said Karishma.

Haseena took out her books, getting ready for the lecture. "Aj ap kya kar rahin hai ghar jaake?" Karishma asked, searching for a chance to come over again. "Aj hamari shift hai, hum ghar nahi jayenge raat tak. Yahan se seedha restaurant" Haseena said.

"Hmm" Karishma said, hiding the disappointment in her tone. She was eager to spend more time with Haseena. She had realised that she liked spending time with her, liked being with her. And Karishma had no objection with that.