Back And Forth

~six~

It rained in Mumbai in the months of June, July and August generally.

But that year it suddenly rained in December. All the guys he'd ever known decided to meet for a football match in the rain.

He wasn't a crazy football fan, but liking the sport and the weather in general agreed in a jiffy.

Vedant didn't regret his decision even for once as they played and splashed themselves in mud. They'd been one hour into playing when he suddenly realized there were about four to five faces he didn't quite recognize.

There was one tall and skinny guy, one short and stout guy who's keeping was amazing, there was one fairly well built guy; the kind of guy who'd be perfect for a gym advertisement and another familiar looking guy.

"Hi, Kanan." The body builder introduced himself.

"Vedant."

"Well that's Nikhil..." he introduced, patting the back of the skinny guy, "that's Jai..." he pointed at the familiar guy, "...and that's Rishi." Rishi, the shortie gave a small nod.

Despite his height and built, something about Rishi's body language screamed of confidence.

It took a total of five seconds for Vedant's head to join the pieces of the puzzle.

This was Rishi!

And that's Rishi's friend Kanan. Jai and Nikhil...Meera's friends.

It was as if, the harder he tried to stop thinking about her, the more she forced herself into his life.

"Any of you guys up for some snacks?" Rishi offered suddenly, obviously receiving multiple yeah-s and okay-s. Who says no to food after football?

"My sister cooks really well." Rishi explained, as he tucked the ball under his arm and lead the other boys towards a white building.

Vedant froze immediately, recalling the distaste with which Meera had had to cook at home during her IPCC days. And before he could stop himself he'd ended up asking,

"Oh. She's going to cook for all of us now?"

"Yeah." Rishi shrugged in response.

From the corner of his gaze he sensed Archit throwing him a questioning stare, which he ignored.

"Aren't you going to ask her if she's free once?"

Rishi turned around suddenly, his brows raised in question, "What's your problem?"

"N-Nothing. He was just curious." Archit intervened instantly, also throwing him a glare.

"My sister cooks well. So she'll cook for me. Okay?"

Bastard.

With that, Rishi turned back ahead and continued walking.

"What the hell were you doing?" Archit whispered from next to him, as they took the stairs to Rishi's house.

Vedant pressed his lips into a thin line, trying to control the whiplash that was ready to take over from his mouth.

"Vedant." Archit gritted through his teeth.

"What?"

"What the hell were you doing? We barely know the guy."

Vedant took a deep breath in as he responded, "His sister's Meera."

Archit blinked with shock, as he let the information sink in. "How do you know that?"

Vedant shrugged casually, obviously reminding Archit about the diary.

"Right. The legendary diary. But, what's the problem if she's his sister?"

"She hates cooking. And this..." he started, almost ready to blurt out all of what Meera had ever felt only to realize what he was doing. They were her private emotions, things she'd never shared with anybody. He couldn't possibly tell Archit all that.

"...nothing." he sighed, also noting that Meera's house was only two buildings away from his.

After reaching the third floor, Rishi rang the doorbell to a wooden door-ed house. The door was opened by a frail, old lady, Dadi Vedant guessed.

"Where's Meera?" Rishi asked even before he set foot into the house.

"Oh she's out with Aashni. Beta you brought your friends home?" Dadi had a total of four teeth in her mouth, which is why when she closed her mouth, it looked like she was chewing on her gums. The skin under her eyes looked paper thin, only showing just how old she was, but her swiftness with getting the door proved to be a contradiction to that.

"Yes Dadi. But we came for some food. Never mind, we'll eat out."

Vedant sighed unconsciously.

Good she's not home.