“Ahhhhh” She heard a voice from the adjacent rooms! It did not take her a second to guess the voice. “Abir!” She entered the room and saw Abir in pain, his bandage had come out and he was making futile attempts to fix it on his own.
“Abirrrrrr, tum kya karte rehte ho, yeh kaise nikla, tumne kisiko bulaya kyu nahi, itne laparwah kyu ho Abirrrr!” Little did she know that her expressions gave away more than she wanted to.
“Toh kise bulata, tum toh mujhpe dhyan hi nahi de rahi thi, maine socha shayad tumhe mera aas paas rehna acha nahi lagta”. Abir replied, clearly hurt.
“Woh main…..” She clearly had no answer, but the hurt on Abir’s face broke her heart. No matter what mess she would be in or no matter what happens, the person who has always made her smile, who always cares about her, who loves her unconditionally, she cannot hurt him. Main Abir ko aur hurt nahi kar sakti, she thought to herself.
“Tum chup raho Abir, do mujhe woh box. Tum kal ho na ho ke Shah Rukh Khan ho? Bahubali ho? Karan Arjun ki Rakhi ho? Nahi ho toh itna mahan kyu bann rahe ho, chup chap woh box do mujhe Abir”, saying she literally snatched it away from him.
“Okay Angry Chorni, main tumhare samne surrender kart ahu!” Saying Abir bowed to her.
She smiled to herself. No matter what problem was she in, her Abir would always make her smile, he would always make sure she was fine. And the best part about him was, that he would give her the privacy that she wanted. She knew that he understood her, he could see the tension on her face, but he still did not pester her to talk it out since he trusted her to tell him at the right time. It was the trust that would always pull her towards him and that would give her the strength to fight for him. She mentally made a note that tonight she would tell him everything, and they both would sort it out together. Abir would find a way, and she trusted him.
But right now, something else was her priority. She could think of these worries later. She drifted her attention to Abir. In all these thoughts she did not notice that he had his eyes fixed on her, as if he was reading her, as if he was trying to convey her what he felt! Today, she wouldn’t make him wait, today she would give him all the happiness that he deserved.
“Kyu aise kyu dekh rahe ho”, she questioned, trying to hide her smile and fidgeting with his kurta that she was holding to put the bandaid.
“Kyu nahi dekh sakta? Main bas tumpe nazar rakh raha hu, mere sexy abs dekhke kahi tumhara mann bhatak gaya toh, fir mera kya hoga” Abir replied naughtily.
“Kyu, tumhara kya hoga? Kya tumhe acha nahi lagta mera tumhare sath hona? Kya tumhe acha nahi lagta jab main tumhe dekhke sharmati hu? Jab tumhara mujhpe itna asar hota hain? Batao Abir” Mishti said all in one breath leaving Abir shocked.
“Mishhhh… Mishtiii.. Main” Abir couldn’t react. He did not know this side of his angry chorni.
“Abir, sunooo! Meri baat sunooo! Abir, mujhe tumhe yeh sab aise nahi kehna tha, but ab main aur nahi ruk sakti. Abir, main yeh toh nahi keh sakti ki jabse tumhe dekha tabse mujhe tumse pyaar ho gaya, par yeh jarur sach hain, ki jabse main tumhe janne lagi hu, woh tumhari harr baat, tumhari harr soch mujhe yeh ehsaas dilati thi ki agar mera koi life partner hoga toh usme yeh sab cheese hogi.” Mishti continued while fixing the bandaid avoiding to look at Abir since she knew that she wouldn’t be able to speak if she looked at Abir.
“Abir, mujhe pata hain tumhari painting wali kaun hain! Aur main janti hu tumpe kya guzri thi jab mera goddhana kunal ke sath ho raha tha. Abir main tumse aur dur nahi reh sakti, tumse main aur yeh luka chupi ka khel nahi khel sakti. Mr. Ajeeb Rajvansh, I love you. Main tumse bahut pyaar karti hu. Tabse jabse main pyaar ka matlab nahi janti thi. Tumne ek bina ma baap ki beti ko pyaar ka matlab sikhaya, tumne use jeene ki nayi umeed di, tumne use khushi di. Abir, please ha keh do”. Saying this, she kneeled before him and held a cut out of the bandaid which by now she had rolled into a ring shape.
Abir couldn’t react. He just sat still tears forming in his eyes. Was it for real? He pinched himself. But as soon as he was back to his senses, he kneeled down so that he was at her level, the tears which were starting to form were now flowing from his eyes. He couldn’t stop them, today he dint want to stop them.
“Mishti, tum yeh… kaise.. kab..main” Abir couldn’t utter any further words.
“Abir I am sorry, I am sorry I din’t say it earlier, Abir I am sorry that I made you wait, I am sorry for hurting you. But I had to tell you today.” Mishti cupped his face.
There was nothing that he could speak. He just pulled her towards him and hugged her tight. “I love you too Mishti, I love you a lot, Thank you for loving me back”. Abir whispered amidst the tears.
After some time they broke the hug, both shy not knowing what to speak! “Thoda unexpected nahi tha yeh”, Abir was back to being his playful self. “Abir tum bhi na”, Mishti hit him playfully.
As Mishti got up to leave Abir held her hand, “Mishti thank you mujhe apnane ke liye.”
“Mr. Ajeeb Ranjvansh, tum ho bade ajeeb, but jaise bhi ho, mujhe ache lagte ho. Ab chalo, warna sab upar aa jayenge, fir kya jawab doge”. Saying this she ran away from there. She had other things to worry about, but right now all that mattered to her was that, her Abir was happy and she had managed to get that smile back on his face.
“Pagal ladki, hamesha mujhe surprise karti hain.” Abir also went behind her.
The Ganpati puja continued and both the souls thanked bappa for giving them the strength to be together.
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Writer: Swahidantli