Simply Rebellious

Chapter 9 - The Other Story

Happy Reading

A brand new day brought the fresh scent of a variety of sweets for the Agarwal family. The sofa table, swing and dining table were filled with boxes of sweet delicacies. They were ready to be sent to the Maheshwaris.

"Papa aap itni saari mithai leke jaaoge?" Preeti asked, pointing at the heap of boxes.

Anand nodded absent mindedly. He was busy counting the boxes.

"Chori ho gayi toh?" Her tone dripped of a fake concern. "Ek do yahi chod ke chale jao na tab nahi chori hoga."

Anand slapped his youngest's cheeks lightly and went ahead with his work.

Naina was sitting in a corner. Her eyes were travelling from one box to the other, wondering if one of these sweets were Sameer's favourites.

What is his favourite sweet? Does he even like sweets? Would he expect her to be present with the sweet boxes?

"Naina bhi jaayegi?" Preeti asked.

"Bhagwan jhooth na bulaye, Preeti beta. Naina abhi se kyu apne sasural ke chakkar kaategi?" Bela said.

She handed a newspaper to Anand and continued, "Ye Naina ke result wala newspaper hai. Unhe bhi dikhayenge aur suniye shaadi ki rasmo ki date fix karwana mat bhooliyega."

"Naina ka admission?" Preeti interrupted.

"Wo toh agle hafte tak ho jaayega fir college khulne se pehle hi shaadi ka saara kaam khatam kar denge." Bela said. "Ab beech me mat tok, mujhe aaj bahut kaam hai."

Naina was listening to her mother with rapt attention. Her classes were going to start in two months. Two months? That's all she had with her family? Everything was happening too fast to register.

She was drowned in her own thoughts when she heard Preeti's voice.

"Naina!! Swati ka phone hai."

"Huh?" Naina looked up. She looked around, the sweet boxes and her parents were gone.

"Swati" Preeti handed the cordless to her.

Naina took the phone, her mind still in a daze.

"Hello?"

"Yaar tum log mere ghar aaoge kya?"

"Kyu?"

"Aao na please."

Naina gave Preeti a worried glance and within a second said, -

"Tu phone rakh hum abhi aaye."

She briefed Preeti about the situation and the girls rushed out of the house, locked the door and ran to Swati's aid.

While running out of the threshold of Nirmal Jyoti, the feeling of this being the last few instances where she would leave this place, only to come back to it as home hit Naina. So, she turned back and paused. She soaked all of the society in her eyes. Every little detail was being captured in her memory.

"Naina!" Preeti called her and signalled her to hurry over to the rickshaw she had stopped.

With reluctant steps, Naina left the society.

The auto stopped in front of Swati's house. There was dead silence in her street. There were groups of people gathered here and there. There body language was enough to tell that they were gossiping about something. The scene looked like an aftermath of a scandal.

"Naina! Jijaji!" Preeti pointed ahead.

Sameer, Munna and Pandit were standing near a PCO. Their heads low, with a newspaper in hand. They looked like they weren't in the mood to draw attention to themselves.