Broken

6.

Shiva came home in the evening. Now that Raavi had made her promise, he felt much relieved. He straight went and lay down on the sofa. His head was seriously aching. He hadn't slept properly for five days now. Dhara noticed his headache and got some tea for him. He smiled at her and began sipping his tea.

"Raavi thik hai ab?" Dhara asked.

"Haa bhabhi. Thik toh hain par pata nahi. Kabhi bhi mood change ho jata hai uska." Shiva said.

"Tu fikr mat kar. Woh jaldi thik ho jayegi."

Shiva only hoped so. Now that he had spoken to Raavi, he realised that the girl had only one dream in her life. She had never thought of herself, only of the Pandya family. It was weird how someone brought up by Prafulla could be so thoughtful. Shiva knew he wasn't the right person to speak to her about goals and ambitions because he had none of his own. For him, his world revolved around his family. Just like Raavi. His reason to live was his family and his store. Then it hit him, Raavi had always wanted to work at the store! Maybe she could start there. She could keep the accounts.

"Bhabhi, kya hum dukaan ke accounts Raavi ko handle karne ke liye de sakte hai?" Shiva asked. "I know woh aap karti ho, par shayad Raavi ko iss waqt aisi ek responsibility ki zaroorat hai."

"Main Gaumbi se baat karti hu. Agar woh yeh karna chahe toh kar sakti hai."

Shiva thanked his Dhara bhabhi. He would speak to Raavi about it and if she agreed then he would teach her everything about keeping accounts. She had once made an entire budget and kept track of all the expenses for their local dandiya event. Everything was well accounted for, and Shiva was happy because she was busy and didn't annoy him so much. Now he was ready to her hear chatter 24X7. In fact, he missed her now. He'd be much happier if she were with him.

"Shiva, mujhe dekhke bohot achha laga ki tu Raavi ki itni care karta hai." Dhara said. "Itna khyaal toh aajtak Gaumbi ne bhi nahi rakha mera."

Shiva was confused. Why was she comparing her and Gaumbi with Raavi and him? They weren't a couple. He was sure if something like that happened to Dhara, Gaumbi would take care of her better than Shiva. Their love was so deep and so pure. What he had for Raavi was pure concern. He had also known her since childhood. Although most of it was spent in hating her, but he never really hated her. He knew that.

"Kyu nahi karega? Shiva ki toh life Raavi ke hi aas paas ghumti hain." Krish came and sat down in the sofa.

Even though Shiva knew what Krish said was right, he gave him a glare. Krish didn't mind at all. Shiva noticed both Dhara and Krish staring at him. He knew these two watched too many Hindi serials together. They probably thought he was in love with Raavi or what not. Shiva rolled his eyes and got back to his tea.

"Teri padhai khatam ho gayi jo tu chala aaya?" Dhara asked.

"Nahi, main toh Shiva se puchne aaya tha ki kya main kal Raavi se kal ek baar mil sakta hu? Mujhe baat karna hai usse." Krish said.

Shiva nodded. Krish had been wanting to visit her for quite some time now. Dhara didn't allow him because she didn't want him to see her like that and she was afraid Krish might say something wrong and cause her more pain unintentionally. Now that Raavi was better, he didn't mind Krish visiting her. He knew how much Raavi loved Krish. She would be happy to see him. Knowing Krish, he would definitely make her laugh. If only Dev had asked him too, things wouldn't have escalated this far.

That night Shiva went to sleep early, hoping to catch some sleep. He'd been extremely tired and disoriented. Only if his sudden insomnia would leave him.  He closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep, but his phone rang, waking him up. Cursing his luck he got up, and saw that it was Raavi calling. His headache and his anger disappeared in a second. It was only replaced with concern. Was she okay? He picked it up.

"Raavi, kya hua?" He asked.

"Kuch nahi. Bas aise hi."

Shiva relaxed onto his cot. Hearing her voice felt good. She didn't sound upset. Maybe she just wanted to talk. He was happy to talk to her as long as she wanted to talk. But she didn't talk for the longest time so he decided to begin the conversation.

"Kal golagappe khane chale?" He asked.

"Shiva maine almost teen hafte se nahi khaya hai golagappe. Tune abhi kaha toh yaad aaya. Humare school ke piche jo bhaiyya the yaad hai? Unke golagappe best the. Wahi chalenge."  She spoke in excitement.

Shiva smiled. "Ae maami ki behen ki beti, humare ghar ke paas jo banate hai unka best hai."

"Bilkul bhi nahi. Unka bohot teekha hota hai. Mirchi na dene bolo toh bhi mirchi bhar dete hai." Raavi said. "Shiva main tujhe disturb toh nahi kar rahi na?"

Shiva hated when she said that. She never thought that way before. They had that haq on each other to annoy each other whenever they wanted. "Ae mami ki behen ki beti, disturb toh tu mujhe bachpan se karti aa rahi hai. Ab toh aadat ho gayi hai mujhe. Jhel lunga."

"Bakwas mat kar. Tu mujhe zyada irritate karta hai. Main tujhe jhelti hu. Waise bhi tujhe mere alawa koi handle nahi kar sakta. Jab dekho gussa aur irritation. Bhootnath kahi ka..."

After that Shiva didn't even have to speak. She kept talking and talking. Shiva listened to every word and after a while he noticed she stopped talking. He asked her if she was there, but no reply. She must have fallen asleep, he realised. So he cut the call and went to sleep. Sleep didn't come but atleast he was feeling much better listening to her talk.