Guru-Shishya or Life Partners?

"Bas ek raat..."

Sumedh's POV
The next morning, I was getting ready for work.

"Sumedh, aap aaj..." Bandana said. I understood what she wanted to say. "Me Siddharth se baat nhi karne wala!" I said. She rolled her eyes. "Agar aap baat nhi kroghe to kese pta chalega ki aakhir hua kya!?" She said. "Sumedh agar Siddharth k lie nhi to Devaki k lie hi baat kr lijie" She said. I finally agreed. "Lekin sirf Devaki k lie! Aur me bas ek baar poochunga" I said. She smiled and nodded.

*******

I reached Lab. I saw Siddharth working with the microscope. I went to him. "Kal tujhe kya hua tha?" I asked. "Mujhe? Kucch bhi to nhi. Tu bta tujhe kya hua tha? Kitni zor se thappad mara tune mujhe" He said. I widened my eyes and mouth. "Ulta chor kotwaar ko bhonke? Tujhe sachme nhi yaad tune kya kaand kiya tha kal?" I asked. He shook his head. I took him to show the CCTV footage.

I managed to play the footage of the day before. It was blank. "Esa kese ho sakta h!?" Siddharth said. After sometime it worked but it was just playing the footage of Siddharth kissing Sanjana. "Dekha?" I said. He was shocked. "Yeh...yeh kese hua?" He asked. "Mujhe kya pta!? Tu bta kese hua?" I asked. "Sumedh I swear mujhe kucch nhi pta. Haan itna zarur yaad h k woh Sanjana mere saath zabardasti kar rhi thi" He said. I cocked my eyebrow. "Iss footage ko dekh kar lag raha h k tu uska rape kar raha tha!!! Look at her! She was pushing you...aur tu..." I said and stopped. He bit his lower lip. "Mujhe Devaki ki kasam, mujhe nhi pta yeh sab kese hua" He said. Ok, he wasn't lying.

"Accha chal bta woh kya bol rhi thi tujhe" I said. "Me uska blood sample le raha tha, and then...she came close to me. Me door jaane ki koshish kar raha tha but woh paas aa rhi thi. Mene uski taraf dekha aur phir...pta nhi, bas itna hi yaad h" He said.

I listened to him carefully. "Thik h. Koi baat nhi. Tu iss kisse ko...nhi kissa nhi, iss baat ko bhool ja" I said. He smiled and nodded. We got back to work.

*******

It was 5pm. Time to go back home. I went to my car and sat inside. My hands were on the steering and I closed my eyes. I was trying to understand what happened with Siddharth. "Kucch to h jo picture me beth nhi raha" I thought.

"Kya hua Sumedh? Me kucch help krdu?" Someone said. I opened my eyes and found Sanjana. "Tum yaha kya kar rhi ho?" I asked gritting my teeth. "Arey itna gussa? Well, me hi hu jo Siddharth ka raaz bta sakti hu" She said. I got out of the car. "Matlab?" I asked inpatiently. "Use hypnotise kiya tha mene. Tabhi to usne mujhe kiss kiya" She said. "What? L-lekin...kyu kiya tumne esa?" I asked. "Kyunki...mujhe uski video chahiye thi" She said showing me the video, which was identically the same that we saw in the CCTV footage. "To CCTV footage k saath ched-chad tumne ki? Kyu kiya tumne esa?" I asked. "Blackmail krna tha is video k zariye" She replied. "Chahti kya ho tum?" I finally asked. "Tumhe" She replied. I was confused as well as shocked by what she said.

"M...mujhe matlab?" I asked. "Bas ek raat k lie" She said wrapping her arms aroung my neck. I pushed her away. "Pagal ho tum?" I yelled. "Agar tumne meri wish poori nhi ki, to yeh video police k paas jaeghi, aur Siddharth ko rape k lie saza ho ghi" She said. "Iss sab me Siddharth ko lane ki kya zarurat thi? Tum mujhe bhi to hypnotise kar sakti thi na? Uski zindagi kyu barbaad ki?" I asked holding her shoulders tightly.

"Me tum dono pe poori research krke aai thi. Tum jaldi hypnotise hone walo me se nhi ho. Siddharth tha, to mene apna kaam kar diya" She said. "Do din h tumhare paas sochne k lie" She said. "Bye sweetheart" She said placing her hand on my left cheek. I pushed her and she left. I quickly took a bottle of water and washed my face.

I went home.

Bandana was already in our room. I sat next to her and without saying anything I held her hands. I was looking straight in her eyes. "Kya hua?" She asked all of a sudden. I hugged her tightly.

Bandana's POV
Sumedh hugged me. I felt that he was crying. I broke the hug. "Sumedh? Kya hua? Aap ese...ro kyu rhe ho?" I asked worringly. I cupped his face and wiped his tears. He finally told me everything. I was just shoked. How can someone be like this? She used Siddharth and now...how disgusting!

I controlled my tears. "Siddharth ko btaya?" I asked. He shook his head. "Use btaunga to woh aur bhi pareshan ho jaega" Sumedh replied. "To ab?" I asked in a low voice. "Don't know. Samajh nhi aa raha apne dost aur uski family ki izzat bchau ya khud ki!?" He said. I hugged him.

"Tum btao. Jo tum kahoghi wahi hoga" He said. It was a damn difficult decision. I thought for sometime. "Mujhe...mujhe Devaki se baat krni h" I finally said. "Bandana, usko tension dene ka kya faiyda?" Sumedh asked. "Nhi Sumedh...ab ham dono hi iska koi solution nikaal sakte h" I said. He finally agreed.

I called Devaki. "Hi Dev...kesi h?" I asked. "Ekdam mast! Tu bta" She asked. "Haan me bhi thik hu. Umm, Siddharth ghar par h?" I asked. "Haan, kucch der pehle hi ae. Bandana tu sachme thik h na? Teri awaaz..." She said. "Dev me thik hu. Mujhe milna tha tujhse" I said. "Mujhe bhi. Kitna time ho gaya na? Tu kal ghar aaja" She said. "Umm...nhi kahi bahar milte h. Sirf tu aur me" I said. "Ehmm...chal thik h. Kal shaam ko, coffee shop me chalega?" She asked. "Haan thik h. Lekin time pe aa jana. Late mat hona. Aur akeli aana" I said. "Uh ok. See you tomorrow" She said and ended the call.

I looked at Sumedh and simply nodded. He smiled.