One More Time

10

The ringing of her mobile woke Ria this time, it was Romy....when she cut the call, it was already 7 pm. Titli was not in her room, she went downstairs....everyone was watching tv in her in-laws room.....around 7:45 pm the door bell rang, Titli was going to answer it, Mita stopped her and asked Ria to answer it.....Ria opened the door and in front of him was standing Koustav, his hair was messy,he looked tired.....he swiftly entered the house passing Ria, sat on the sofa,kept his bag aside ,started to remove his shoes. Ria went to the kitchen,hurriedly brought out the bottle of water and kept it in front of him.....she was about to turn when she tripped over his shoes, and fell down on the floor.....hearing the sound of someone falling, Mita and Binni came and helped her to sit on the opposite sofa....Ria made no sound, but her vision was blurry due to tears of pain, but it pained her more that Koustav made no move, he was still closing the cap of the bottle as nothing had happened in front of him.....he slowly walked upstairs.......

Dinner was silent like every usual day, Ria silently was having some milk sitting on the kitchen stool, Mita was busy serving Titli, her father-in- law and Koustav. Binni was gone already.....as she saw,Titli finished her food, she called her and asked to help her go upstairs......Koustav looked at her,she was collecting her phone and pain relief medicines, he watched both of them going upstairs.....Finishing his food,he washed his hands,locked the main door, saw his mother standing there......and asked...

Koustav: why are you standing here ma? Have you eaten?

Mita: I am not hungry! Besides, how can a mother eat when her child is hurt?

Koustav: Since when she has become your child ma? She is acting a bit! She is not that hurt!

Mita: oh, you noticed! I thought that you have got blind, just a while ago! I did not raise you with these values Koustav...You may not have any feelings for her, but where has your humanity gone? ......and as I accepted Nikita as my daughter.....since your second marriage, Ria is my daughter too.

Koustav stared at her annoyingly....she was comparing his Nikita with this girl.......he angrily left for his room....resumed his pending works on his laptop.....

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Titli was very careful while helping Ria,  she could sense her Ria didi was in pain......she asked her where she was hurt, if she could apply the medicine...Ria acted like it was not hurting that much,Titli believed and turned towards her side to sleep....Ria was surprised that this little girl cared so much for her.....

Her right knee was hurting badly, making it more difficult to sleep....she was not able to bend it....Titli was sleeping soundly beside her....it was raining outside.....she played some music to divert her mind.....gradually her eyes felt heavy with sleep, she kept her phone aside and slept.....

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The next day, Ria got up earlier than usual.......her throat was dry as desert, but she found that there was no bottle of water in the room......she felt het knee was a bit better, she slowly climbed down each stairs......

She thought no one was up yet, She drank some water.....the kitchen window had a nice view of the sky....it was getting lighted each passing moment......Ria proceeded to make some tea, she was finding the cups while she felt someone's presence behind her.....she turned back and found Koustav standing there.....Ria stood still, Koustav kept an ointment on the kitchen platform,looked straight towards her and said," You should be more careful about where you are going....I think...this will work with your pain....". Ria stood there dumbly......watched Koustav going upstairs, she made two cups of tea......she made it to Koustav's floor with quite difficulty, saw the door was kept open.....this time Koustav was working on his laptop, with a lit smoke on his hand....this room had a manly fragrance of him....she slowly moved towards the table,kept the cup on it....and left, leaving a stunned Koustav behind.....

She enjoyed her cup of tea with the view of sunrise amongst clouds,sitting on a stool.......Back home, everyone loved the tea made by her.......

Going back downstairs, Ria found that Binni had called to inform that she won't be able to come that day....and her MIL had fever.....She could not allow little Titli or her FIL to cook, as she knew Koustav could not cook at all......

That day ,she prepared breakfast and lunch for everyone.....served Koustav,Titli and her FIL. Koustav made no protest while taking the lunch box that day and left for office....

Later that day doctor came to check both Ria and Mita......Ria felt good after taking the medicine....The whole afternoon, Titli helped her in cooking, and arranging,packing a small bag for going to her mother's place.....

Titli opened the door when Koustav came, he asked and went to see his mother.....Seeing his mother alright, he was relieved....Mita informed him to go with Ria for the ritual, he nodded and came out of the room.....came down showering for dinner, ate the food served by Ria.......went to do lock the gates, returned and found Titli sitting on the kitchen counter, chatting animatedly with Ria while she was busy in claeaning the dishes.....Both of them got quiet seeing him, he went towards the kitchen, informed Ria to get ready within 9 am the next day...

Ria was in a better mood at that night.....the knee pain had died down....she was feeling excited to see her parents and family, but the thought of Koustav's behaviour there, bothered her.....she made a list of things to collect things from her home,books, documents etc.....checked her mails in her phone....she glanced at the wall clock and realised it was 1 am, she hurriedly kept the bag on the couch and switched the lights and went to sleep.

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Hey lovelies...thanks for coming here, do vote ,share and comment if you like this book.....take care and stay happy
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