Pariyo ki Kahani (ShiKas B-Day OS)
28 August, 1am
The Shinde household was wide awake at late night after a long time. It was, afterall, Shilpa's birthday. And probably the best birthday in recent memories, going by all the deserved love coming her away after so
much struggle. As the clock had struck 12, the entire family had surrounded her while she stood infront of her Papa's portrait and sung Happy Birthday while tears gathered in her eyes. Overwhelmed, she cut the cake and fed the first piece to aai and then gave her family a giant group hug. Later, when this was over she responded to messages and calls from close friends and family. All this took an hour or so. After the celebrations aai, ashu Bhaiya and her sister had gone back to sleep as tomorrow they had plans to wake up early while Shilpa still lingered in the living room by papa's portrait. Fingers trembling, eyes teary, she touched it. 'I miss you, Papa.' she whispered brokenly. 'I miss you way too much. ' She smiled at a memory that now came back to her. When she was a little girl, her father had gifted her a silver shining bracelet which had a charm inside. She had giggled while wearing it, asking her father since when he started believing in luck. 'Since you were born, my little fairy' her father had chuckled and hugged her. Now, in the dim light of the dark living room, standing beneath his photo, the memory made her heart cry and smile at the same time. Just then, she heard three rapid knocks on the door.
Surprised, she went to answer it. Through the keyhole she saw the shadow of a tall man, his face completely covered by a hoodie. He was holding a package. 'Kya hua? Itni raat ko kaun hai? ' she asked. 'Madam special delivery hai.' the man replied trying for a deep baritone. She almost laughed out loud. Disguise or not, this was one voice she would know anywhere. She opened the door smiling. 'Ji kahiye kya delivery hai? ' she asked. The man handed her the box. 'Ma'am kisi ne Aapke liye gift bheja hai. Kholke check kar lijiye barabar hai ki nahi. Happy Birthday. ' the mysterious man replied. Shilpa smiled mischievously. 'Aapko kaise pata mera bday hai? ' she asked in a curiously innocent voice. 'Shit yar.. Kya galti kar deta hu mai.. Ghanta mastermind' the man scolded himself. 'Wo.. Wo delivery jisne di usi ne bataya aapko message dene ko. Aur ye mat puchna kisne bheja, anonymous hai.' he hurriedly replied. She barely managed to control her laugh. 'Accha..anonymous hmm.. Chaliye mai check kar leti hu. ' she said. She opened the box to see a heart shaped silver charms bracelet inside. Her whole being began to tremble. She looked at the hooded man. 'T.. Thank u bol dena jisne bhi dia. ' The hooded man looked at her,his mask covering his wide happy smile that she liked the gift. 'Welcome maa'm.' he grinned and turned to leave. But her voice stopped him. 'Oh delivery wale, ruko. ' He stopped and half turned turned, surprised. Before he had time to react, she ran and hugged him tight from the back, her arms framing his chest. He was stunned. 'Thank u.. Itni acchi gift deliver Karne ke liye mere ghar pe wo bhi itni raat mei. Mai aapki abhari hu. ' she whispered and then dashed inside her home, locking the door behind her.
Vikas stood outside, perplexed. 'Ye aurat pagal hai sach mei. Delivery walo ko bhi hug karti hai bus mujhse problem hai isse. ' he grumbled to himself, irritated. Huffing, he exited the building and went into his own, saluting the guard on the way whom he had bribed to let him go upstairs. Meanwhile, shilpa happily fingered the charm bracelet, thrilled beyond measure just like a little girl. 'Thank u Vikas ji. Love u. ' she whispered just like she had in big boss in the jacket task, the one moment her composure had slipped.
The next morning many Shilpians came to her home and she happily celebrated her birthday with them, all the while wishing she could spend some time with him too. She also replied to various messages online posted for her and was very happy to see her name trending. She kept checking the phone all day, waiting to see if he would wish her in public,and how he would do so.
Vikas on the otherhand slept off till 10am as he had slept very late the last night. After he woke up he kept wondering if shilpa had liked the present and more importantly, if she would ever guess who had sent it. Probably not, his heart sighed. He kept thinking of different ways to wish her but ended up cancelling them all down. He kept searching through the store of VMs in his laptop, looking for the perfect one. In the meanwhile he still spent some time online planning his wish and also enjoying the eagerness of shikas fans. He had a gut feeling everyone was waiting for his wish so he deliberately prolonged it to gain some sadistic pleasure as well as plan the perfect wish in the meantime.
At exactly 11:50, he posted his wish on twitter and instagram, pouring his entire heart out about her being an amazing woman, their equation, their meetings, his respect for her and her Aai, everything. What was left was communicated through the VM from Zindagi Gulzar Hai. He also added a PS of hope u liked the Charms to finally communicate to her that he was the one who sent the gift, wondering how she would react. He kept checking for a reply for around an hour but there was no immediate one. 'Seems fair since I was so late to wish her. ' he mumbled to himself. Just then, Komal who was staying over for the week came into his room with Niyu. He looked at them, surprised. 'Kya hua Komal? Hii Niyu ' he said, taking Niyu into his arms automatically. 'Bhaiya meri ek dost ke ghar jaana hai abhi work emergency hai urgent.. Plz Niyu ka khayal rakh sakte hain aap.. Wo so nahi rahi.. Plz sula dena OK bye mai ja rahi hu. ' saying so she dashed off. Vikas was stupefied. 'Han Mai khali hu to babysitter ka fayda uthaegi ye.. Badi zalim dunya hai na Niyu.. ' he mumbled bouncing the baby around in his arms. Unfortunately, she started crying. 'Oops.. Wrong move. Sorry Niyu sorry. Rona band karo plz pari.. ' he said but she continued to cry. Alarmed, he whispered. 'Accha Accha suno.. Mai ek kahani sunata hu aapko thik hai badle mei rona band karo.. Deal? ' The baby stopped and looked at him with curious eyes. Smiling, he made her lie on the bed. 'Han to suno.. Pari ki kahani hai ye. As a little fairy child, she was the cutest baby ever with the kindest smile. She loved her papa the most. She cared for everyone. Everyone loved her. She was tender. Innocent. Too innocent for the cruel world. But then.. Life happened. ' He paused for dramatic effect. 'Life happened and wore her down. It took her dad away from her. Threw stones in her path. Ridiculed, insulted and burned her. But u know what she did? She rose above it all. But this time not with angel white wings, but with black devil wings. She rose above it all and burned everyone down, taking her revenge. But she never stopped being beautiful, no. Now she was terrifyingly beautiful. And yet.. Yet when the mask slipped, you could still see the cute little fairy who made everyone smile with her adorable and kind nature. And it was in that moment did u realize that it is impossible not to fall in love with her. Right, Niyu? Niyu? '
It was then he realized that she had fallen asleep. 'Yar ye to meri story ke climax ke pehle hi so gai.. ' he mumbled. 'Itna pakaoge to soegi hi na.' A voice behind him said. He whirled around, shocked to the core.. 'Ky... ' his words got stuck in his throat as he saw her there in a printed black dress, beautifull like he had just described. He pinched himself twice. 'Aah ' he muttered. She rolled her eyes at him. 'Mai hi hu vishwas kar lo Vikas ji. ' she chuckled softly. 'Shilpa.. Tum yaha kaise? ' he whispered, still afraid he was dreaming. 'Kaise Matlab kya.. Watchman ko bribe karke aayi jaise aap kal aaye the mere ghar is wakt. ' He was shocked. 'Aapko pata tha? '
'Aur nahi to kya.. Itni comical disguise thi Aapki pata bhi hai.. Ek min mei pata chal gaya bade aaye mastermind. ' she laughed. 'Hey kam se kam gift to di maine uski koi kadar nahi aapko.. ' he muttered.
Her face grew serious. 'Kadar hai isliye yaha aai hu. Par aap itni interesting kahani suna rahe the to sunne ke liye ruk gai. '
He was mortified. 'Aapne kahani suni? '
'Han nahi to kya.. Badi interesting thi. Kiske liye thi Guptaji? ' she smirked. He was irritated so he rebuted 'Wo Sarah ki life story Suna raha tha mai Niyu ko.. '
Now shilpa was furious. 'Accha to jaiye Sarah ke pass.. Mai ja rahi hu pata nai kyu yaha aai.Bye Niyu.. Will meet u when ur jerk mama is not around' saying so she kissed the sleeping baby and exited the room. He followed her quitely to the empty living room, ensuring Niyu was peacefully asleep. Just as she was about to exit he put his arms around her from behind just like she had and pulled her back into his chest. 'Hmm.. Abhi bhi bahut jaldi gussa ho jati hai ye pari.. ' he mumbled, nuzzling her neck with his chin. She closed her eyes in contentment. 'Vikas.. ' she sighed. 'Mmm shilpa ' he replied, still kissing her shoulders, lost in her. 'Vikas I need to talk to u.. ' she mumbled seriously and turned around. He looked into her eyes deeply. 'Han bolo.. ' he said. She gulped. 'Vikas ji.. Thank u for everything u did. Right down to this story which I wouldn't have known about if I didn't spy. For the gift. For the wish. Seriously, thank u. U remembered about the bracelet I told u I got from Papa. I can never repay u for that. Seriously. Love u. ' the last part was said so low that he didn't catch it. 'I'm sorry, what? ' he asked puzzled. 'I said love u! ' she screeched in his ear irritated. 'Ouch.. Pyar jata rahi Ho ki dhamka rahi ho' he said and then both ended up laughing. He took her hand and pulled her down to the sofa next to himself and cuddled her against his chest, firmly kissing her lips. 'Love u too, my little fairy. Remember I will always do anything for u. Whatever else changes in life, that won't. Happy Birthday once again.' She smiled, content. There was no need for any other words. They both stayed like this through the entire night, secure,safe and strong together, curled against each other in each others arms on the sofa. Indeed, the best birthday ever for Shilpa! :)
