Of The Stars That Breathe

5. Surprise!

"Why?", Ajey asked me with a voice so soft yet adamant on knowing the truth.
I wanted to tell him.
I really wanted to.
I wanted to tell him all the things that bothered me; all that I went through after Maa's death, how all of my family members had recovered from the trauma, but somehow, I hadn't. About what happened at school, about Dev; all the things. He was technically a stranger to me, he wouldn't judge me. But the problem also lies in him being a stranger.
Jo baat main apne gharwaalo ko bhi nahi bata pai, main Ajey se kyu bata paungi?

So, to divert the topic, I asked, "You seem to like these platforms a lot. Tell me, what do you watch? How is it to watch such things?"

His eyes eased at my genuine curiosity.
His right hand inched forward at me; the fingers twitching just a little, when he decided against what he planned to do.
"I see what you are trying to do."

He knew.
Somehow, he always knew.
And I didn't know whether to feel irritated or privileged by it.

"What am I trying to do?", I asked with a pretended face of confusion.

He snorted, shook his head away from me and said under his breath, 'You can't expect, Ajey. You can't.'

Despite that, when he turned back to me, a smile was adoring his features.
"I mostly prefer anime."

"Umm-hmm"

The comforting silence eloped us yet again. I stared straight ahead at the moving waters.
The seashore have always fascinated me. The crystal clear waters flowing in sync with the shifting sand on the shore, embedded with the imprints of people's feet who came to collect the shells and of half-washed sandcastles made by giggling kids.
I closed my eyes.

'Close your eyes, beta, and listen to the crashing of the waves. Can you tell what they are whispering?'
Maa used to ask me.

She would have loved it here.

I didn't know exactly when my mind conjured up the song, let alone my vocal cords whired the same, but it was when I had opened my eyes and seen a particular pair of eyes looking at me, when I realised that I had hummed a whole stanza of 'Yeh Kaha Aa Gaye Hum'.

It was Maa's favourite song.
Ajey was smiling at me. He started to speak something, but before he could, Nupur's phone rang.

Eh?
My face turned skeptical. Who was calling at this goddamned hour?

I fished the phone out of the back pocket of my shorts. The truecaller read 'Dakshita Patel', my best friend from school. I picked it up.

"Hello? Dakshita?"
"Hello, Nupur di? I wanted to talk to Ahalya", she said.

"Abey gawaar, main hi hoon.", I joked.

"Yo girl! I have some very important thing to tell you!"

She practically yelled in my ear. Fear ran through the whole length of me about my eardrums bleeding. I motioned the phone away from me; the act earning a curious glance from Ajey. I was very sure ke call speaker pe ho naa ho, he would be able to hear everyting.

"Dakshita it's fucking 5:15 in the morning. Gandu, abhi kon call karta hai?"
I was seriously mad at this girl.

"Abey woh sab chhod. Sun meri baat, you are staying at Burj-Al-Arab, right?" I gave her a 'hmm'.

She continued, "Arey toh sun, CarryMinati bhi vahi hai, bro! I just saw his story. I mean, I wasn't able to sleep and was watching his videos-"

"Ek minute, ek minute, carry- who?", I inquired.

"CarryMinati, you illiterate! Don't tell me you don't know him! Anyway, I just saw his instagram story and he is in Dubai, and guess what, he is staying in the same hotel as you! Fuck yaar, agar main teri jagah hoti na toh-"

I noticed that Ajey was staring at me horrifically. I think he might know CarryMinati and was surprised that whoever he was, was staying here too. Suddenly, I remembered that Jeh had mistakened Ajey for this Carry guy.

I put the call on speaker since I didn't wanted to take any risks with my hearing ability.
"Haha! That reminds me of something, Ajey! Funny how my elder brother thought you were CarryMinati!", I giggled at him.

Unusually, he just gave me a blank look.

Before I could ask him, Dakshita interjected, "What-what did you just say, Ahalya?!"

"Umm, I wasn't talking to you..."

"Yeah, but the name you just mentioned, it's Carry's real name.", she said in a 'duh' tone.

I snorted.
Oh my poor Dakshita!
Fangirl-ism has made her a little too desperate, it seems!

"Oh no, no. I am talking about Ajey Nagar. The Carry you are talking about-"

"IS THE SAME!", she yelled.

"Is he with you?! Oh my God, Ahalya! Is he right fucking there with you? Did you talk to him! Oh my Lord, you lucky bastard-"

I looked at him quizzically.
What does it mean-
I mean, there was obviously a misunderstanding, right?
He couldn't be-

"Ahalya, I can-", he started.

After a second or two, a loud scream came from the other side. Dakshita screamed so loudly that the phone fell from my hands.

"Fuckkkkkkkkkk! Carry? Is that you? Fu- ohh behen ki- shit-ohh shit, bhench- I can't believe this- fuck, I can't-", Dakshita yelled.

The call was on speaker.
She had heard his voice.

Ajey picked up the phone and was staring at me, and I, at him. There was no sign of any emotion on his face.
There was a misunderstanding.
Yes, a misunderstanding.
This couldn't be true-

Dakshita asked from the other end, "Ajey Nagar, please tell me it's you."
My eyes widened.

He had a look of sadness and regret in his beautiful, night-like eyes. He then answered to her, but the way he was looking at me, it seemed as he was answering me, "Yes, it's me."

All the pieces of this unnameable puzzle arranged itself in my mind, which was a haywire in itself.
Jeh's suspicion, Ajey mysteriously knowing that I lied about watching CarryMinati, the horrific look on his face when Dakshita had mentioned him...

By the time I realised the truth, the air had already knocked off my lungs.

...

// aye raat itna bataa, tujhko toh hoga pata //

~~~

Ladies and gentlemen, the moment has arrived!
Finally, finally!
Ab, sachh ka hoga pardafaash! (ok lol)

Normally, fans would have screamed with excitement (also hug in extreme cases) when they meet CarryMinati.
But what will Ahalya do?
What will Ajey do?
Stay tuned to find out :)

Thank you, dear peeps <3