One Day At A Time

Chapter 18 - Music To My Ears

"Jaadoooo teri nazar
Khushi-boo tera badannnn
Tu haan kar...ya naa kar..."

"Khushi-boo?" Akash laughed. "Jelly, I applaud the mind-blowing creativity!"

Anjali winked at him and glanced at Arnav with a smug smile on her face.

"Stop screwing up good songs Jelly, or I am going to pour the entire glass of water next to me over your head!" Arnav cried in exasperation and covered his ears. "Where is Niks when you need him? I don't know about you, but I intend to murder him for being this late today!" He said with a frown on his face.

It had been an hour of sheer torture since Anjali had arrived at Akash's house. Arnav had opened the door to a mad girl screaming her lungs out the moment she had seen him. He had smiled as she had hugged him and asked him how he had managed to come down to Pune for the Christmas break. When he had refused to tell her the actual reason, the torture had begun. He was well aware that this crazy girl was quite capable of singing distorted versions of decent songs in her unbearable voice until his eardrums burst into flames— until he didn't spill out the actual reason for his trip to Pune.

"Where is Khush? I need some serious help! She was meant to be here by now." Payal asked no one in particular as she watched Akash pounce on the card she had just thrown on the mat angrily to complete a much-needed sequence in his set of thirteen cards in. She glared at Akash in utter frustration, and he swallowed a smile. They had been playing Rummy for the last half hour, and she had not won a single round, and she knew Khushi was the only one who could help her out of her misery.

"Once again, London Kumar, why are you here in the middle of the year?" Jelly paused to look at Arnav from the sofa where she sat, filing her nails. She had been observing him while he pretended to be busy reading a magazine sitting on the other end of the sofa. She had been smiling inwardly whenever she saw him glancing at his watch now and then.

"For the last time, I am here because I was feeling homesi—"

"Ab toh hain tumse....harr Khushiiiii apni
Tum pe marna hain..tumpe marnaaaa hain...
Khushiiiiiii...tum pe marnaaaa hain..."

"Anjali!" Arnav shouted helplessly. "Bas kar meri Maa! Yaar, isko koi le jao idhar se!"

The doorbell rang, shrill and loud. Anjali and Arnav got to their feet together in a flash and looked at each other. She had a evil smile playing on her lips when she saw him hesitating to move from his spot while staring at her.

"Let me get that." She said, looking at him but not budging from her place.

Seconds ticked by, as he stared at her in pure hatred for putting him through this. The doorbell rang once again, but she still didn't move. Arnav kept looking at her, anger slowly beginning to crawl up in his eyes. He was about to move when he saw Anjali take a few steps towards the door.

"I said I'll get it." She said firmly but stood at the same place, not willing to budge.

Arnav scowled at her and without wasting another moment, stormed out of the room, leaving the rest of them in fits of laughter. He wasn't sure with whom he was angrier at the moment. Anjali or Khushi. He had waited— waited long enough to go crazy since he had opened his eyes in the morning. She had forbidden him to come to college to pick her up saying she wasn't sure when she would finish today. He understood she was attending college after two weeks of absence and that she needed some time to catch up with her classmates and professors. But now it had been more than an hour past her finishing time, and she still hadn't shown up. The wait had been unbearable.

A few minutes later, Arnav was back upstairs with Nikhil by his side, the frustration showing clearly on his face. Akash, Anjali and Payal looked at each other and smiled.