A Tale of Trust - A DevAkshi & SamAina FF

Chapter 9 - Conversation

Happy Reading

Tuesday.

Naina saw the date and day hung on a calender in a book store. She was on her way to board the Mumbai local train with the rest of the gang.

Tuesdays and Thursdays were different than the other five days of the week. MunDit had informed her on last Sunday that Sameer will be going to the university with them on every Tuesday and Thursday from the next week. The attendance was never the problem with him it was the only thing he saw in hindsight to be around Naina.

As the gang of five boarded the local, Naina saw her faint reflection in the greasy mirror near by. Her hair could drip oil, her over powdered face and the two too tight pigtails she made, made her look nothing short of comical.

"Ye kya hulia banaya hai?" Preeti had asked Naina when they had seen her the first time in the morning. Swati on the other hand had fallen on the couch laughing.

"Naina!" Asha had let out a shocked scream "Ye kya hai beta? Agar tumhe lagta hai ki aise taiyaar hone se mai tumhe aaj college skip karne dungi to aisa kuch nahi hoga! Are bhai jawab dena hota hai mujhe tumhare parents ko."

"Hum nikal hi rahe hai Aunty" Naina had replied and dragged the two of them out.

Even MunDit had a hard time muffling their giggles when they met the girls at the corner of the street.

Naina saw herself in the mirror and buried herself in shame. All eyes in the coach were on her. Naina tried to hide behind her friends but they were of no help either. They kept laughing looking at her and the worst of her angry glares couldn't hold their giggles back.

Back in school when Sameer had started taking interest in Naina she had poured a whole oil can on her head to drive him away but it didn't work then. She hoped that it will work now.

As the gang entered VJN University's campus they could notice all eyes on Naina and people laughed shamelessly right on Naina's face.

"Koi kaam nahi hai tumhare paas?" Swati almost slapped one of their classmates when she found her laughing near the gate.

"Jaane de Swati." Naina stopped her and walked inside the college building ready to face all the humiliation.

"Naina ke pet me bahut badi dadhi hai" Munna said

"Dadhi?" Pandit bit his nail "Kya Chenu? Ek to Dadhi pet me nahi muh par hoti hai... Aur Naina ladki hai uski dadhi kaha se aayegi? Maine kaha tha ... Kaha tha maine itna achar mat kha chadh gayi gas dimag me."

"Tu Ponga ka Ponga hi rahega" Munna slapped Pandit's arm "Ye muhavra hota hai."

"Ho gaya tumhara?" Preeti said and pulled Pandit towards the building. Munna jumped and pointed to the building indicating a Pehle Aap to Swati. She walked away with her chin showing her annoyance to Munna but he followed her with a glad smile and excessive blush.

_________

12:27 pm

Sonakshi excused herself from the other creatives.

She shut the cabin's door behind her, looked here and there for a while and whistled for a while as she walked towards the canteen. She hurried and stood behind a Peepal's trunk. She waited for Dev. He would soon be out of the set or vanity and head towards the canteen for a quick snack. Everyday she hid somewhere and as soon as she saw him she would come out and behave as if she met him by accident. Every. Single. Day.

The sky was clear and cloudless, a rare event these days as Mumbai was experiencing its first spells of monsoon.

Dev came out of the set. Sonakshi checked her appearance. He was still far from the canteen's door. She saw him and didn't realise when an innocent stare turned into full fledged ogling. She noticed that his 90s costume didn't suit his skin tone much. She made a mental note to talk to his stylist. She could recall all his costumes, the day he wore them, the scene they shot. Every detail of his was imprinted in her mind with astounding intricacy.