Completely Lovestruck

• | Implication | •

"Yuv, mujhe samajh mein nahi aaraha hai.. Maa itni aasani se Zoya ko, jisse woh teek se jaante bhi nahi, usko sab kuch kaise bata diya? I thought she was sensible but no! Main kya bakwaas assume kartha raha. Mujhe lagtha hai mera dimaag kharab hai. She'll never understand anything. Jab Mr. Hooda ke cheap harkaton ke baare mein patha chala, she hid everything from me aur tabh bilkul chup thi. Kuch action nahi liya. She's still listening to him! Why can't maa understand that his fake concern is only to get his work done? Agar jaanti bhi hai toh ye sab kyun kar rahi hai us insaan keliye, jinhe hum sab ki parvah hi nahi hai? Zoya ko sab bata diya!"

Aditya sounded pissed as he kept on brushing Ralph, his little puppy's belly softly. Yuvaan was seated opposite to him on a stool while cleaning his puppy. The friends were at Yuvaan's house, giving a bath to their puppies, to grab some home-made lunch afterwards.

"Dude, main jaanta hoon Anjana aunty kabhi kabhi ah.. I don't feel good to say this par she's very innocent aur mujhe aunty keliye bura lagraha hai. Of course I don't know aunty kyun Zoya ko sach bata diya achanak. Koi wajah hoga. Do you really think jaise tune kaha, Zoya aunty ko force kiya hoga Adi? Aise karne se usko kya milega?"

Yuvaan raised an eyebrow in question as he applied some shampoo to his hands and lathered well. Aditya looked up at the ceiling, then at his drenched pup and started brushing its tail, with his sole concentration on the little being.

"I don't know. I feel ki Zoya Maa ke mann mein zeher bar rahi hai! Tu jaanta hai main kabhi bhi khud ka aapa ko saktha hoon, its not under control aur main nahi chahtha ghar par aaye hue mehmaan ke wajah se mera din kharab ho. Zoya should know her limits and maa shouldn't have told her about our family. Is wajah se Mr. Hooda ne mujhse pehele hi din kaha mujhe achche bachche waali acting karna hoga Zoya ke saamne aur dekh kya hua? Jo baat hum chupa kar rakh rahe the usi baat maa ne, jo mere gusse waali attitude se darr rahi thi, khud jaakar Zoya ko bata diya! Just fabulous Yuv, argh!"

Yuvaan could understand Aditya had a reason enough to vent out his frustration. He was asked by his parents to take care of his tongue to not slip a word about the facade of their family but his own mother had ruined the idea. Yuvaan knew Aditya well to comprehend what are his strengths and weaknesses. Even though he might not be cordial with his mother, Aditya wasn't certainly a beast.

Yuvaan still remembers how his friend had panicked when Anjana got sick few months back and how time to time, he kept calling Maria aunt to keep track of his maa's health condition. Yuvaan got up from his stool as he finished bathing his dog and started wiping the puppy's body slowly.

"Adi, calm down aur meri baat sun. I understand your anger lekin Anjana aunty sensitive hai yaar aur ye tu experience se mujhse behetar jaanta hoga. Kya patha shaayad tu Zoya par bewajah hi ilzaam laga rahe ho! We don't know right? Aunty ne tujhse Zoya ke saath dosti ka haath badhane keliye kaha na? I mean her suggestion..."

"Um... not maa par Mr. Hooda. Woh maa ko manipulate kartha hai aur maa chup chap apne so-called husband ke orders follow karthi hai.."

Aditya stiffened his grip around Ralph's neck unintentionally to which the puppy barked in pain and he immediately realized what he had done and hugged the pup tightly.

"Sorry Ralph, I didn't want to hurt you.."

Yuvaan sighed and carried his pup out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. Aditya wrapped Ralph carefully in another and followed Yuvaan in to his room.

"Anjana aunty literally asked you to become friends with Zoya aur I'm not sure but I feel ki aunty aur uncle dono yeh chahthe hai. Dekh yaar, don't get angry. I can be wrong but woh teri maa hai aur use teri parvah hai. Maybe aunty ne socha hoga kyun na ek aisi shaks ke saath baatein share kare jo unhe samjhengi, jiska uske saath achchi bonding ho, jis par woh trust karsakthi hai? Tu apni maa se last time teek se baat kab ki Adi? Yaad nahi hoga na tujhe? Toh tune assume kaise karliya achanak ki aunty ko Zoya ne manipulate kiya hoga? You neither know what aunty does when she's alone at home and obviously, you haven't given yourself a chance to start afresh with Zoya, kyun ki tu humesha us par taunt maarta hai ya phir uske saath verbally fight kartha hai..."