8*
A soft touch on his forehead woke him up in the morning. Sidharth immediately gets off the bed and takes her in embrace. She too hugged him very tightly . She missed him a lot and she was silently apologizing for her mother's behavior.
_' Good morning my sweetheart.' he said and prodded her chubby face with his nose.
_' Shab tum gussa to nehi ho? ' she asked timidly.
_' No no. Bilkul bhi gussa nehi hun, tumhe dekhte hi khush ho geya but please mujhe sahab mat bulao.' He requests.
_' Shab nehi bulau? To kya bulau? ' she gave confused reaction.
_' Wo tum hi soch lo but shab nehi please. '
_' Babuji bulau? Babuji? Babu? Babu achcha haina ?'
_' Ha shab se to achcha hi hain, tumne breakfast kiya? '
_' Mumma khilane ayi thi maine nehi khaya. Main naraz thi na isliye. ' she sounded a bit guilty.
_' Nehi beta, Mumma Ki baat manni chahiye. Unse naraz nehi hona. Wo tumse kitna pyaar karti hai, hai na? '
_' Ha babu, ab naraz nehi hun ' she replied.
_' Achchi baat. Ye batao, kya aaj tum phirse chalogi mere saath gifts kharidne? '
_' Nehi, Mumma se promise kiya hain maine Koi gifts nehi lungi. ' Replied a visibly sad Guddi.
_' It's okay, Koi baat nehi , chalo ab hum dono saath main breakfast karenge.'
He brought her in the dining room and placing her on a chair he went to freshen up.
They had their breakfast together. He couldn't eat properly due to lose of appetite. But he fade her with his hand. There were toast with jam, butter, boiled egg, banana, fruit juice and many more things on the table . He kept feeding until she said _' bass bass aur kuch nehi, aur nehi kha sakti. '
_' Achcha thik hain. Ab chalo mere saath. Tumhari Mumma se zaroori baatain karni hai.'
They two arrived at the door of the cracked, old house. He knocked on the door and she opened it. Guddi stepped in but her mother didn't move away from the door.
_' Shehnaaz please mujhse baat karo. Main tumhari narazgi ki wajah samjh sakta hun lekin jo ho geya usse aage bhi to badhna hai. Past main to koi Ji nehi sakta.'
_' Aap yahaan mat aayie. Aap ek respected insaan hai. Yahaan ke project ka chief engineer. Aapka yahaan ana shayad thik nehi hain . '
_' Mujhe koi problem nehi hoga log kuch bhi samjhle. I don't bother. '
_' Aapko badnaami ki darr nehi kiyun ki aap parwa nehi karte. Lekin mujhe to parwa hain apne aap ki, Yahaan rehne ke liye......'
_' Mujhe andar to bulao. Beythne ke liye kaho' he sounded tired. He could see her wet eyes, red nose tip. She has cried a lot her eyes were swollen.
_' Aapke layek nehi hai ye jagah, yahaan kuch bhi aapke layek nehi hain , aap byeth nehi saktain .' she almost cried in cracked voice.
_' Kya layek nehi hain? Ye ghar? Ye ghar to mera hi hain. Meri patni aur beti rehti hain yahaan '
She didn't reply and quickly wiped off her tears so that he could not notice. He again pleaded
_'Main bahut thak chuka hun, please mujhe bula lo. '
She moved from the doorstep and let him come in. He sat on the bed . The silence was so unbearable. He said _' kuch to kaho, kuch to kaho, mujhe paani to puncho.'
Shehnaaz checked the water pitcher but it was empty. She said _' main abhi ayi. ' and went outside with the pitcher to fill it from the tube well.
There was a long queue in front of the tube well . She was waiting in the queue . Sidharth came to the window and got to see her, standing in the queue. He felt terribly sad . He remembered how he and his family used to pamper Shehnaaz until his mother could guess his true feelings towards her.
He mumbled _' Ye kya ho gaya hum dono ke saath? Nehi hona chahiye tha . Keysi Zindegi Ji rehi ho saalon se . Main kiyun nehi dhoonda tumhe, kiyun jaane diya? Aur ab jab hum mile hi geye, tum Ye kya kar rhi ho , kiyun kar rhi ho ye sab ?Kiyun apni ego ko hamesha itna important banati ho tum ? Mera feelings kuch nehi hain? Kya maine dard nehi uthaye? I'm hating this wall, this invisible wall. Will it ever break down?'
Suddenly his phone started ringing. It was his mother.
_' Ha mummy, sorry maine call nehi kiya.'
_
_' Main ye shaadi nehi kar sakta.'
_
_' pehle nehi bataya kiyun ki decision lene main waqt lagta hain. Ha maine refuse nehi kiya lekin raazi bhi to nehi tha. '
_
_' Aap zid kiyun karti hain hamesha. Mujhe nehi jaana kisi birthday party main. Mujhe kisise nehi milna. Mujhe chhor dijiye. Main yahaan khush hun. ' he cut the call before his mother did.
But he couldn't notice that someone heard everything staying behind the door. She returned a while ago to take another water pot but after hearing all these, she didn't open the door.
A while after she came in , with a completely filled pitcher. She offered him a glass of water. The sweetest water he could ever get. He drank it in a breath.
_' Aap abhi jaiye. Baad main aapse baat karungi. Yahaan zyada der tak aapka rehna thik nehi lagega.' she said.
_' OK OK. Main jaa rha hun but promise me, tum mujhse baat karne aaogi. ' he requested holding her hand . She allowed the touch, didn't try to remove it.
_' Ha, thik hain.' saying she holded the door opened and he exited.
He was happy with the slightest change in her behavior. He forgot to bid goodbye. She closed the door at once. Guddi shouted from inside _' Babu bye bye! '
YOU ARE READING
After Falling Apart.
Fanfiction* Completed * My Second Sidnaaz fiction is here. It will be filled with emotions, drama but still as genuine as possible .
