Perfect Mismatch

Ch 23 - Of uncertainties

She reached home at 11 pm and texted Sidharth. Barely having energy to do much, she reheated the bhindi ki sabzi Ritu Didi had made and kept in the microwave - had one roti and went to bed.

[Sidharth] Cool. So ja. I will come tomorrow morning only. Night shoot.

She did not even realize when she dozed off. She woke up at 9 am next morning to a plethora of calls, texts and messages.

Calling back Shehbaaz first, she spoke to her parents, who had safely landed in Canada and were enjoying the landscape with their relatives. The next person she called back was Ritu Didi, who said she will be coming in the next ten minutes.

When she did come, Sana was grateful for her presence. She asked her to make chai and sat down on the sofa with her feet up on the centre table, eyes closed pressing her temples.

"Kya hua didi? Sarr dard hai?...", Ritu asked, serving her the tea.

"Nahi...bas thoda sar bhaari ho raha hai...aapki chai kahan hai? aajao? baitho saath me?", Sana asked Ritu Didi to sit with her.

"Sidharth aa gaya? ..." she asked, sipping her tea.

"Didi abhi toh aaye hain bhaiyya ...gadi dekha abhi...shayad so gaye aate hi...itna doorbell bajaya wo khole hi nahi...", Ritu told her. 

"Hmm..thak gaya hoga...", she thought brushing aside her thoughts of slight disappointment.

 They chitchatted a bit - she told her about how she loved watching her and Sid on the show and Sana shared her inside experiences about the show. 

Her phone rang again, it was Kaushal. He was one of the people whose calls she had missed multiple times and she had completely forgotten to call him back..

"Sorry...sorry...sorry...main karne wali thi tereko call par...", She apologised profusely.

"Its ok...tune social media dekha?", He asked, worried.

"Nahi...ab kya ho gaya ...rabba...", She got stressed. Though, in the past she would've loved to be the most tweeted name, now she would check twice before being happy about something.

"Okay wait...main links bhej raha hun videos ke...wo dekh lena...I tried calling Sid, but I think he just got back home...khair, tu dekh...and call me once done" Sana was scared by Kaushal's tone.

She opened the links and saw the video clippings. Even Ritu sat on the floor next to her in apprehension.

The first one has Parth saying "haan...toh maine pehle hi kaha tha aap logon ko...wo aur Sidharth koi saath me nahi hain...usne kaafi use kar lia Sidharth ka...Sidharth jaisa ladka muh bhi na lagyae usko...in fact there was an interview with a national news channel which had called them both, par sidharth ne mana kar dia uske saath aane se...ab soch lo aap kya couple hain ye log...aur main abhi live interview me dekh raha tha, Sidharth has clearly said that he is not dating her and there is nothing between them...", He had commented. 

Sana closed her eyes in anger and frustration. But she had two more videos to tend to. 

"I really don't want to comment on anybody, but they aren't together. Sidharth had always treated her like a kid. And maybe, he has all this while let her use the 'I love him' bit  so that her career progresses....Sidharth aisa type ka hai...jo openly aake clarify nahi karega, if she is benefitting from the whole 'are they together' controversy because she is a good friend of his...." another toxic co-contestant had commented. 

The third video was the one, which broke her. It was Sidharth from last evening. The News Channel had asked him "Kya aap aur Shehnaaz romantic relationship me ho?..." to which he had commented - "Sir...mujhe nahi pata aap log mere muh se kya sunana chahte ho...main uske saath romantically involved nahi hun...mere liye wo sirf ek dost hai...aur kuch nahi..."