Na Jaane Kyon...

Boyfriend

The house was a newly constructed first floor portion of a huge bunglow in one of the upscale areas of Delhi. Mrs Bhalla was even more stylish than what she appeared on the video calls. Slightly on the heavier side, she was elegantly dressed in an expensive looking suit. Her hair were coloured much lighter than usual Indian shades, with streaks of golden highlights. Her perfectly made up face, and glittering diamonds did not look flashy, rather gave her a classy look. Naina could not guess her age, but she definitely looked older than her parents.

She called one of her uniformed servants to take Naina's suitcase upstairs in spite of her repeated refusal.

"Koi baat nahi, puttar, Bhalla saab inne paise dete hain inn logon ko. Saara din free baithe rehte hain. Maine toh kaha unhe ki inne saare servants ki kya zarurat hai par woh kehte hain ki meri Manjot koi kaam ke liye awaaz lagaye toh chaar bande daud ke aane chahiye. O kya hai na, puttar, Bhalla saab bada hi pyar karte hain mujhe." Mrs Bhalla went on with her non stop chatter till Naina climbed the stairs.

She called out again, "Puttar, aaj ka lunch main bhej dungi. Tu bas apna saaman set kar le."

Though she was loud and ostentatious, Naina realised that Mrs Bhalla was an affectionate person. Only, she talked a lot. With a sigh, she entered the house, holding a sleepy Ayush's hand.

"Oye, kitna soyega? Dekh hum new house aa gaye." She shook her little brother who was walking with closed eyes.

"Kaise aaye?" He mumbled in a sleepy voice.

Naina sat on her knees, putting away the bag slinging on her shoulder, "Car se aaye aur kaise. So raha tha tu poore raaste. Ab pohoch gaye hain ab aankhen khol aur dekh kaisa hai hamara naya ghar."

Ayush rubbed his eyes with fisted hands before opening them. He blinked repeatedly at the bright rooms, then let out an excited squeal, running around to check the house. It was a two bedroom place, with one big hall and a large, modern kitchen. There was a small guest room as well, just near the main entrance. Both bedrooms had one wall made of glass doors which opened into spacious terraces, separated by a low wall which had a number of pots with beautiful plants. A smaller terrace could be accessed through the main hall. Naina had chosen the house for its modern design and open, airy rooms. Since it was already furnished, she didn't need to get anything from her old place. Even the curtains were in place. She had just booked a few cartons of kitchen items and some more essentials through a transporter. The stuff was to reach by evening.

"Naina, hamare ghar se chota hai par nice hai. Itni badi windows... ismein se toh saare stars dekh sakta hun main raat ko." Ayush pressed his nose to the glass door, peering at the bright, blue sky.

"Yeh window nahi, door hai. Dekh." Naina opened the sliding door.

Ayush ran out, thrilled at the same open space as his previous house, "Tumne toh kaha tha new house hamare ghar jaisa nahi hoga par yeh terrace toh hamare ghar jaisa hi hai... usse bhi zyada white hai."

Naina ruffled his hair, "Maine koshish ki apne ghar se jitna same ho sake utna lene ki. Tujhe achha laga?"

He nodded, "Bohot achha. Yahan friends bhi honge na?"

"Ban jayenge. Main Bhalla aunty ko puchungi aas paas teri age ka kon kon hai." Naina assured him.

Since Ayush was used to having a separate bedroom since he was three years old, he settled down in his room while Naina arranged her things in the second bedroom. Thanks to Bhalla aunty, they had an elaborate meal of soup, pasta, sandwiches and milk shake. The servant who brought the meal to them, told them that Mrs Bhalla had pain in the knees so she couldn't come up the stairs. Naina decided to go down and thank her in the evening. But she couldn't, as her parcels arrived. It was late in the night that she and Ayush finally arranged everything in the kitchen and put other things at their designated places. Both their rooms had a large frame of their parent's picture. Ayush's toys easily fit into the chest of drawers in his room. Naina put his bicycle on the terrace for now. For herself, she had brought her easy chair along. Since there was no window, she placed it at the side of the door, where she could sit curled up and gaze at the sky whenever she felt lonely. For dinner, they had leftovers of the lunch which were plenty.