# The wrong Mr Right.

Part 38

It was about 10:30 pm. Randhir wrapped himself up in a blanket which had been rolled up on the couch beside him. Watching Tv for a while, the consciousness started seeping in--that he was hungry.
'When did I last had a proper meal??? ', he racked his brains.
'Today is Friday , it probably had been the dinner I had at Aaryan's house on Wednesday.'
With a groan, he realised the hunger wasn't going to go away unless he fed himself with something other than toast and butter or the odd banana.
Shoving back the blanket,thrusting his feet into his old flip-flops, he stood up and strode towards the kitchen. He pulled out an instant noodle pack from the drawer and after frowning over the instructions, filled it up with the required amount of water and popped it in the microwave. While he was waiting,he made himself a cup of readymade soup.

Fifteen minutes later,he was sitting in front of the TV again with a tray on his lap. Fork in one hand, remote in the other, he flicked channels. Rubbish.... Rubbish.... Rubbish ...... More hopeful...... Rubbish . He returned to National Geographic Channel, realising going on flicking further would mean he would have to flick hundreds of channels to flick through and even more crap to moan about. Suddenly as one of the lion was progressing towards the zebra,he heard the doorbell ring.

"Who the hell can it be????That too at this time in the night.....", he groaned.
The sound of the doorbell had also woken Poggy, who had been sleeping on the rug. Leaping wildly around his feet, she followed Randhir into the hall.
As he negotiated with the lock , the little dog pawed the front door adding more scratch marks to it to which were already there.

"OK, OK..... Gimme a chance girl", muttered Randhir . He grabbed Poggy's collar with one hand while he opened the door with the other. In the dim pool of light above their head , he saw Sanyukta standing in front of him.
'Am I dreaming????', he wondered.
He kept blinking at her without a word.
She blinked back.... then suddenly the expression on her face changed and her eyes grew wide.

Wondering the reason for her reaction, he looked down at himself , but it was far too late..... He was only wearing flip-flops, an old faded T-shirt and black silk Boxer shorts with red lips all over it.

"I... I think I've come at a bad time", Sanyukta mumbled.

" Oh No No...... It's just late . ...I wasn't expecting anyone."

"You weren't in bed???"

Randhir hadn't been to bed in weeks. It was easier to sleep on the couch, wrapped up like a spring roll in his blanket, watching TV , until it bored him to sleep.

"No", he chipped..."I was just vegging out in front of the TV"

"Would you like to come in...??", he asked.

She stepped hesitantly into the hall and looked around .

"You'll have to excuse the mess... Poggy and I have been complete slobs lately", he chipped embarrassedly picking up the dog bone on his way .

" That's OKay..", Sanyukta picked her way over half-a-dozen CDs lying on the floor.

"It's not okay....", Randhir looked towards Poggy , who had the remote control in her mouth.
"To hell with this little monster..., I buy her new toys each week but still she plays with my stuff.

"Not too different from Rimi", Sanyukta chipped. "She always.....", she stopped in middle turning pink.
"OH.."

He followed Sanyukta's gaze towards the TV and gawped at the sight of a naked couple tangled together in the heat of passion.
'Bloody hell--- Now she would think I was watching porn. ', he thought.
Making a lunge for his dog, he snatched the remote from her mouth.

"She must have changed the channel...I was watching NGC ". He paused for a while and chipped, " I swear ". He flicked back to NGC and chipped , "See.."

"It's okay, you don't need to explain yourself to me.", Sanyukta sat on the edge of the couch and chipped,
"I'm not your mother".

Randhir tossed the blanket on the floor , making room for himself to sit.

"Um... Was this your dinner by any chance??", she asked eyeing the tray which he had dumped on the floor before he went to answer the door.
Poggy was eating what was left in the plate.

"Well.. I wasn't hungry, so I just thought of munching a snack.", he grinned and lied .

He looked at Sanyukta and studied her properly. She looked pale and drawn .
"How's your father???", he asked tentatively.

"His condition was too bad when I went there", Sanyukta chipped while her gaze was fixed at her hands.

"Oh.. I'm sorry..."

"A minor blip, according to the cardiac specialist. But Dad's doing better now apparently . I stayed with Maa and Shanaya, until I knew.

"Good", Randhir sighed.

She lifted her gaze to his. Her eyes were moist..." I've never seen my Dad like this before... At one point I thought ,I would lose him forever . I know .....
I haven't been a good daughter , I always let him down. I never cared of how much I hurted him. I just wanted to take revenge with both of them for loving Shanaya more than me. In fact I thought they never loved me..... But I was wrong... They do love me, but I never gave them a chance to express it... I really got scared. I thought I wouldn't even get a chance to say sorry to him. ", she paused for a while and continued.
" I...I didn't know who else to turn to. I was going home but I didn't want to be there. The dam inside her eyes burst, tears started rolling down her eyes as if there's no more room for them inside her. Within seconds , she was sobbing noisily.

Poggy who had a phobia with the crying voice fled the room.

Randhir couldn't see her like this.Despite his qualms,he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. His warmth against her was soothing. She nestled her face in the crook of his neck and nuzzled him.

Randhir was shocked by her gesture. They were not a couple anymore. He offered her his friendship and told her , he would be there for her. But he hadn't expected this. What exactly she expected from him??? A shoulder to cry on??? Someone who wasn't a family or involved with her family , to offer a detached point of view???
He just wished that she had handed him , the DO'S and DONT'S as soon as she walked through the door.

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