Karan was flustered! He had to reach for field practice in an hour's time. He was already running late! His taskmaster of a brother had been pestering him to wake up since 5:30 in the morning, but the kind soul that he was, he had granted Karan his extra 10 minutes of sleep. Calling out to Karan to wake up and get ready on time, he had rushed to office way early to prepare for the business meeting scheduled for the day.
But Karan had slept like a log way beyond his time limit, waking up only when Miss Psycho walked into his room and switched on the lights, turning his shelf into a mess while looking for her physiotherapy kit that she had left in his room the day before while they were involved in an argument, about something so silly that he didn't even remember it now. He sat up in bed groggily, getting the shock of his life when he looked at his cell phone to realize it was already 7:30am and he had to be at the field at 8:30am.
He jumped out of his bed, and was about to rush to the washroom when he found Preeta standing on the ladder, struggling to reach to the topmost shelf. Wondering what Miss Psycho was upto now with a stunt like this, he yelled at her to get out of his room quick.
Shocked at the sudden sound, Preeta lost her balance and fell off the ladder, as usual into the arms of Karan Luthra! Karan was so used to Preeta's clumsiness by now that he was always on his toes when she was around, ready to hold her each time she was about to fall. Preeta was so relieved at being rescued that she was busy smiling goofily at Karan. For a minute, Karan was lost in her eyes and the beautiful smile. She looked exceptionally happy for some weird reason and the baby pink suit she was wearing definitely accentuated her hazel brown eyes! It was the sound of Preeta's phone dropping from her grip that brought them out of their intense eyelock.
Karan almost yelled saying, "Yaar tum kar kya rahi thi ladder par chadhkar?? Tumhara kit toh yahan neeche shelf par rakha tha na! Bandariya ki tarah stunt maarne ka kya matlab hota hai! Maana ki tum bandariya ki tarah behave karti ho, par unke climbing skills toh nahin hai na!!! Pata hai Preeta, kaash tum cricket ball hoti! Toh highest number of hattricks ke liye mera number cricket ki history mein golden letters mein likha jaa chuka hota! Jab dekho meri baahon mein gir jaati ho Psycho!"
Preeta retorted, "Toh maine bola tha ki mujhe apne baahon mein le lo Karan! Nahin na! Mat aao na pakadne! Aur koi hota na toh main thank you bolti par jo help karne ke baad itna sunaata hai, bandariya bulaata hai mujhe... Arghhh! I hate you so much! Ab mujhe aise hi poora din pakad ke rakhne ka iraada hai ya seedhe khade hone ke liye tumhari permission lena padegi?"
Karan acted as if he was going to drop her to the ground. Preeta let out a frightened cry before realizing she was still in his arms, and heaved a sigh of relief. Karan teased her saying, "Tumhi toh bola chhod do! Ab seedhe khadi raho! Mere haath dukh rahe hain tumhara wazan sambhaalte sambhaalte."
Straightening up, Preeta glared at Karan and said, "How dare you Mr. Loser Luthra? Mujhe moti bula rahe ho tum!"
Karan retorted, "Ab dekho maine toh aise nahin kaha tha! Tumhe yeh samajh mein aaya toh shayad tumhe lagta hoga ki tum moti ho! Waise tum chaho toh hum milkar gymming kar sakte hain, dekho mere room mein hi hai! Kya khayal hai?" Saying that, he smirked at her knowing very well that she would be flustered and irritated with his flirting.
Preeta replied, "Main moti ho jaaoongi par tum jaise akdu ke saath gymming bilkul nahin karoongi. Ab tumhari bak bak band karo! Mujhe bahut kaam hai. Hato mere raaste se!"
Karan caught up to her and blocked her way with his arms saying, "Aise kaise jaane doon? Mere room mein aake meri cheezon ko bikher ke aise kaise chali jaogi? Pehle yeh batao tum ladder par chadhi kyun thi? Wahan pe kya dhoond rahi thi haan? Tumhara kit toh neeche hi rakha tha!"
Preeta replied, "Woh actually jab main kit dhoond rahi thi toh upar se kuch gir gaya tha. Bas wahi rakh rahi thi ki tumne itni tez awaaz di ki main gir gayi. Waise tum bachpan mein kitne cute the! Pata nahin waqt ne kiya kaisa zulm ki tum gadhe ki poonch ban gaye!"
Saying that, Preeta broke into a fit of laughter and was about to escape when the realization hit Karan and he pulled her back and asked, "Excuse me? What do you mean bachpan mein cute tha! Abhi aur bhi cute hoon okay. Ladkiyaan marti hain mujhpe! Par bandariya kya jaane adrak ka swaad! Ek minute, how dare you? Tum chori chhupe mere bachpan ki photo kaise dekh sakti ho! Maine toh woh photo sabse chhupa kar rakha tha. Woh actually mom na woh photo frame karwana chahti thi aur sabko photo dikhake mujhe bahut embarrass bhi kiya hai pehle! I couldn't have risked my image na! Waise sharam nahi aati tumhe! Hamesha mujhe birthday suit mein dekhne ka oath le rakha hai kya tumne, besharam ladki!"
Preeta replied with a smirk, "Shut up Karan! Zyaada bak bak ki na toh yeh photo abhi seedha Rakhi auntie ke haath pahunch jaayega. Phir ek nangu pangu photo ki live size portrait lagegi deewar par aur tumhari izzat... Khair chhodo!"
Dishing out the picture, she flashed it in front of Karan's eyes before dashing out of the room. Karan ran behind her, forgetting he was getting really late for his practice. After running around in circles and reaching the corridor, he caught hold of Preeta's arm and pulled her towards himself, losing balance himself and they both fell down on the floor on top of each other. Preeta's grip loosened and the photograph lay forgotten on the floor while two souls were lost in the depth of each other's eyes, their faces so close they could feel each other's breath, a slight smile playing on their lips.
Just then, Rakhi was coming from the other end of the corridor. Clearing her throat, she announced that she was definitely the coolest mom and they had her full support to carry on their romance in the corridor but they needed to wrap it up before anyone else saw them like this. Picking up the photograph with utmost excitement, she exclaimed that this was a lucky day for her. Giggling, she left the two of them blushing out of sheer embarrassment. They helped each other get up before shooting daggers at each other and arguing some more.
Just then, Karan heard the ringing of his phone from his room and realized he was terribly late. Looking at Preeta accusingly, he said, "Dekha phir se late karwa diya yaar! Tum na musibat ki pudiya ho! Uff! Now move! I'm already so late!"
Looking at Karan with annoyance, she muttered to herself cursing Karan under her breath.
*************
Karan had never been this quick his whole life. He was literally panting for breath by the time he was ready to leave. He spotted Preeta leaving the house at the same time. He decided to ignore her else he was sure he would not be reaching on time and his brother would skin him alive.
Karan was now cursing his luck. His car just wouldn't start and Sameer had borrowed his other car since his car was given for servicing. He was muttering to himself that his day was cursed, all thanks to Preeta.
Just then, he felt someone tapping on his shoulder. On turning, he found Preeta and yelled, "Yaar I'm in no mood for arguments right now. I'm already late, all thanks to you. Please don't start off already."
Preeta replied with a calm that surprised Karan, "Listen Karan! Mujhe bhi koi shauk nahin hai argue karne ka. Maine dekha tumhara car start nahin ho raha hai. I'm going to the hospital now to collect Dadi's reports. Chalo main tumhe drop kar deti hoon. Don't be so surprised. Arre didn't you notice? I bought a Scooty! Main ek hafte se use kar rahi hoon! Taana maarne se fursat mile toh aas paas bhi dekh liya karo! Ab chalo!!!"
*****
Karan was holding on to her for dear life, screaming at her to slow down. He yelled, "Yaar agar maarna hi tha toh help kyun offer kiya! Kisi aur tareeke se maar deti! Scooty hai, F1 ka racing car nahin jo Mumbai ki sadkon pe itni zor se uda rahi hai!"
Preeta replied, "Thoda muh band rakhoge toh kya duniya tham jaayegi. Ek toh help karo aur upar se yeh bak bak bhi suno. Karan Luthra Scooty pe baithke bin paani ke macchhli ki tarah ban gaya hai! Listen! Agar zyaada darr lag raha hai toh zor se mujhe pakad ke baith sakte ho! And mind you, agar gudgudi ki na toh Scooty se gir gaye toh mujhe mat bolna!"
****
Karan was holding on to Preeta's waist tightly, all the while stealing glances at her through the mirror and smiling to himself, unaware of the current shooting down Preeta's whole system with his touch.
****
Preeta managed to drop him before time. Karan was so surprised and excited about it, like a kid who just won a competition. He squished Preeta with a tight hug, smiling so wide that Preeta couldn't help but laugh admiringly. Asking her to leave her so she could breathe, she laughed and pulled his cheeks calling him cute.
Karan's ears immediately perked up at the word 'cute' and he was about to pester Preeta when she pushed him towards the gate reminding him that he was getting late.
Just as she was about to leave, Karan yelled back, "Thanks Psycho. Abhi toh main jaa raha hoon par shaam ko tayyar rehna. We're discussing over dinner exactly how cute I am! Bye babydoll!"
Preeta left with a smile on her face, remembering all those times Karan surpassed all limits of cuteness, despite getting on her nerves ever so frequently!
Maybe they had a chance of being friends, or maybe something more- the witness to which was her heart that always beat faster when he was around.
