Kabhi to nazar milao

Fees

Naina sat on the bed, looking down at the bandaged ankle. Her gaze moved up to the part where Sameer had touched her. She wondered why she got such a shock. She was used to his touch. But somehow, it felt different today.

Naina shivered at the memory... she lightly moved one hand over her leg... imagining his fingers resting on her skin... the thought itself gave her jitters.

In the evening, the pain was little better, but she was still limping. Sameer was right, walking to the tree, over the stony path would have been an ardous task. She would have still gone if Sameer had not insisted on coming here later.

Shalu, the girl living in the next room, brought her dinner to the room. Naina thanked her before closing the door properly. She didn't want any risk when Sameer was here.

The familiar thud came soon after dinner. The balcony door was already open. He walked in, dusting his hands.

She had changed into her pink kurta with patiala.

Sameer looked at her ankle, still bandaged.

"Abhi bhi dard ho raha hai?" He sat at the foot of her bed.

She shook her head.

"Main ispe dawa laga deta hun... kahan rakhi hai?" He got up to go to the table.

"Main laga lungi... tum rehne do." She quickly said, not ready for the shock again.

He looked at her, the lines on her forehead telling him the reason for denial.

Smiling, he went to the table and picked up the ointment given by the medical assistant. Coming back, he sat at the same place.

"Sameer, maine kaha na main laga lungi." Her voice had already started to waver.

"Shhh, " he kept a finger on his lips, asking her to be quiet.

Slowly, he started removing the bandage. As each layer was peeled off, his fingers reached closer to her skin... Naina waited with her breath quickening every moment. The bandage came off finally. He kept it aside and held her foot, looking closely at the ankle. Her toes curled at the ticklish feeling where his fingers touched the underfoot.

After looking at it for some time, Sameer took the tube of ointment and squeezed out a bit on his finger. He started to rub it lightly on her ankle. To prevent the ointment smearing on the edge of her salwar, he pushed it up slightly.

"Sam... Sameer... " Naina managed to speak up.

He stopped, looking up at her, "Naina, yaad hai jab pichle saal mujhe bukhar hua tha... tumne woh sab kiya jo uss samay zaroori tha... tab tumhe woh karna galat laga tha?"

She gulped, shaking her head slightly.

"Tab agar main kehta ki mere itne kareeb mat aao toh kya tum manti?" He questioned.

She shook her head again.

His voice dropped a few decibels, "Uss samay mujhe chune ke baare mein socha ya mujhe theek karne ke baare mein?"

"Tumhe theek dekhna tha." Her voice matched his.

"Main bhi tumhe theek dekhna chahta hun, " his voice, that was calm till now, suddenly turned hoarse, "aur yeh mauka toh main bilkul nahi chod sakta."

She bit her lip, unable to speak.

He shifted to keep her ankle in his lap, holding the leg where he had held it in the library, slowly rubbing the ointment.

Suddenly, he gave a hard twist to her ankle, making Naina scream out.

He grinned, as she gave him a shocked, murderous look.