Addiction - Avneil

The silence before the storm..

Neil gave Avni some water and she took it absent mindedly. She was more composed now.

Neil - "Avni. Who was it?"

Avni looked at Neil and was making her mind to speak up when they both heard someone clearing their throat on the door. Both turned around and it was Bebe.

Bebe (immediately turned her eyes sideways on seeing Neil holding Avni's hand)-"arre! Tum dono Kabhi to ek doosre Ka haath choda Karo! I understand Neil ki meri Daugher in law inni pyaari hai but Kabhi to let me also enjoy her company!"(You both should leave each other's hand for a while. I understand Neil that my daughter in law is so cute but let me also enjoy her company sometime)

Avni immediately wiped off her tears as Bebe was anyways looking sideways embarrassed at catching them in this state.

Neil -"arre bebe aap! Humko awaaz laga di hoti!"(Hey bebe you. Should have called us)

Bebe -" pehle ye bol ab main dekh loon! By God it's really hard living in the same house as a newly married couple!"(First tell me if I can look now...)

Neil (quickly checking that Avni had composed herself) - "of course bebe, pls don't make us feel bad. Ye bhi koi poochne ki baat Hai!"(Is it even something to ask)

Bebe looked at them in the eye and smiled. She walked upto them and put her hand on Avni's head.

Bebe -" puttar. Tum dono hamesha aise hi pyaar mein raho. Meri to God se yahi wish Hai. Wo kya kehte hain - fingers crossed!"(Son. I wish both of u stay in love like this. What's it Said..)

Avni looked down a bit shyly at this.

Neil -" Bebe aapne breakfast kiya kya? Mujhe to bahut bhookh lagi Hai! Aaj kya Hai breakfast mein!"(Have u had breakfast. I'm very hungry. What's there for breakfast)

Bebe -" mood Kharab Kar diya tune ye pooch ke. Shweta ke haath Ka khana hoga Aur kya. "(You've destroyed my mood by asking this. Shweta's hand made food what else)
Both neil and avni smiled at this quietly. Bebe and Shweta's tiffs were a daily occurrence and quite a source of amusement for the family at times. Bebe had a heart of gold. But she was sometimes too stern for everyone's good.

Bebe - "chal ab mein apni Ananya ko leke ja rahi hoon. Tu apni speed pe aana, wo kya kehte hain - Snail kahin ka!"(OK im taking my ananya now. You come at your own speed. What's it Said - like a snail)

Neil -"arre bebe I will come with Ananya. Kuch urgent baat karni thi usse"(..I've to discuss some thing urgent with her)

Bebe -" Oh urgent! Meri bhookh se zyada urgent nahi ho sakti Teri baat. Poori raat Kam pad Gayi baatein karne ko jo ab Aur chahiye!!"(Cant be more urgent than my hunger. Was the entire night less than u need more time)

At this point Neil gave up in complete embarrassment. It was really hard to beat Bebe!

Neil (smiling sheepishly with the tip of his ears turning red)-"she's all yours bebe. Main aata hoon"(I'll come)

As Bebe took Avni with her, Neil thought to himself that he will get to the bottom of this. He found it very weird that Avni was disturbed so much and yet she talked on phone as if she knew the person so well. Yes she was shocked but she definitely sounded as if she was close to the person.

Also when Neil had asked her about who it was, then after getting over her initial shock she looked relieved, if not outright happy! Neil suddenly felt a pang of jealousy. Avni was close to the person who had called. Why was that person not replying to neil? He had cut the phone twice when Neil asked him who he was! This was extremely suspicious. Neil's jealousy only grew as he thought more and more about it. He was ready to go down for breakfast but suddenly he got a call from DD.

DD -"A very good morning sir-ji! When are you coming to office?"

Neil -" kyun DD? Kal ke case mein koi development Hua Hai kya? Are all proofs against Dayawanti in place? I want that before her appearance in court, the police has a solid case against her. She's as slippery as an eel and I want to be sure that her neck gets awarded the noose now. If anyone deserves a capital punishment in all the cases I have seen through my career , it  is this heartless lady!" (Why DD? Any development in yesterday's case?..)

DD -"Yes sir. I'm personally taking care of the case details! Don't worry sir. It will be one of the most watertight cases that we have built!"

Neil -"it better be DD. You know what! I myself want to check that everything is in place. Dayawanti is going to the court on Wednesday right? Let me come to office immediately and start on this with you "

With this neil cut the phone. Being the workaholic and dedicated officer that he was, Neil decided to forego the breakfast and rush to office. He had to get to office to start the day and ensure the person who had escaped justice for so many years was punished. Also he wanted avni to feel better knowing dayawanti is permanently behind bars and that she can't escape legally. With this in mind he left.

Avni had a quiet and uneventful breakfast with Bebe and family. She was feeling a bit restless now that Neela ma was not there in India and was out of reach as she had decided not to take her cell phone with her to Japan. Avni was really very happy for Neela ma and remembered the promise she made to her to be happy!

She decided that she should meet her nani (maternal grandmom) Nanno today. After all, Nanno hardly got to spent any time with her only grand daughter! She called up Ali to pick her up so that he can drop her at Nanno's place. Ali picked her call in one ring - as usual!

Ali - "Yo girl! Kaisi ho? Aaj kaise yaad kar liya apne old and now useless friend ko!" (How are  you? How did you remember your old and now useless friend?)

Avni (rolling her eyes) - "Drama karna band kar Ali! I need a lift to Nanno's house. Can you make it in 15 minutes?'( Stop the drama
.)

Ali (who was actually already keeping his bike keys in his pocket and walking out of his cafe) - "i am literally on my way. Where will you get such an obedient driver!? Avni, tu na galat ghar mein phans gayi. Agar mere saath rehti to Neil jaisa ignore nahi milta!"(..you got caught with the wrong house / man. If you were with me you wouldn't have gotten an ignore like Neil gives you)

Avni (getting a bit angry) - "Ali, i have told you so many times. Why do you talk nonsensical stuff like this? What will it change? Let me take my decisions without any pressure and constant bickering from you pls! You know what, if you want to talk like this only then pls dont come. Actually I am well capable of taking a cab and going by myself!"

Ali - "Hey sorry sorry sorry! Sorry baba, I was just kidding. I am on my way. Pls wait for ten minutes. See you outside the house"

At this avni cooled down a bit. She was not dumb. She very well knew what Ali felt about her. She did not want to lose a friend by rubbishing his claims of being in love with her. But really she could not see him as a lover at all! Their friendship was old and deep and pure and she wanted to keep it like that. She thought for a moment if she had done any wrong by calling Ali. Did it mean she gave him wrong signals! She decided that it was not like that and she was over analyzing as usual. She shook her head and walked out of the gates lost in her own thoughts.

From a distance, a truck started speeding up towards Avni as she was crossing the road. At seeing a lady cross the road, the truck driver should have slowed down, but instead he started speeding up! Avni was in the middle of the road when she heard the roar of the truck and she jumped up in fear. There was no way she could have out ran the truck and crossed the road. She screwed her eyes shut to face the inevitable and Neil's face flashed in the darkness in her mind.

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Hey guys! Is it not just brilliant to have the suspense! :)