Itefaaq

Chapter 19: To Dance Again

Rajveer had slept in the next morning and scrambled to get ready. He hadn't seen Mahi so he assumed she had already gone to work, which was good because he wasn't in the proper mindset to speak with her anyway.

His shift had been too busy so Rajveer wasn't able to call Mahi to apologize. He hated the restlessness that accompanied putting off an important task but he suffered through it. At the end of the shift, which was about an hour after Mahi got off work, he returned home to find Mahi missing.

Groaning in frustration, he called her but he could hear her phone ringing in her bedroom. Jumping straight from frustration to worry, Rajveer was about to call Akaash to see if Mahi was called in for a work emergency when the door opened.

"Hi," Rajveer said casually, as if he hadn't been about to send out a search party.

"Hey..." Mahi said with a small smile as she took her shoes off. She was carrying two bags of grocery and held them up as she explained, "Voh, sabziyan chahiye thi tho maine socha ghar aane se pehle khareed loon." Rajveer was about to speak but she held her hand up and said, "I know, 'Rent ke saath grocery included hain, aur mujhe phone kyun nahi kiya?' Maine bas aise kaam mein kaha ki 'Haan, mujhe bhi sabziyan chahiye," aur phir Akaash sir aur Mira insist kar rahe the ki main unke saath hi jaoon kyunki voh bhi shopping ke liye jaane vale the toh is liye."

Rajveer nodded slowly. "Mahi actually, agar tumhare paas time hai toh can we talk for a few minutes? I mean, it's not an emergency, toh jab bhi tum free ho..." Rajveer was trying to gauge her reaction. She would obviously jump to the conclusion he wanted to talk about the previous day but surprisingly, she didn't seem particularly affected by his request.

"Haan main toh free hi hoon. What's up?" she said as she placed the bags on the nearest table.

"Darasal, main kal ke baare mein - kal raat in particular - ke baare mein baat karna chahta hoon."

Mahi knew this was where the conversation was headed but her blood ran cold nonetheless. This was it, he was going to tell her it was a mistake and that he wasn't thinking clearly. Trying her best to stay composed and stop her thoughts from jumping to the worst case scenario, she nodded, "Okay."

"Main maafi maangna chahta hoon."

"Kis liye maafi? Maine toh sab kuch shuri kiya tha -"

"Mahi, just, please don't interrupt me until I finish this," Rajveer said as politely as possible, taking her hands into his in his earnestness, "Aur tumne kuch galat nahi kiya. Maine actually tumhe koi seeda javab nahi diya. I hope you know ki main tumhe uncomfortable nahi karna chahta. So I'm sorry for last night. Aur aage jaakar aisa kuch karne se pehle tumhara permission loonga."

Mahi's shoulders relaxed as she nearly laughed in relief. She hadn't been shut down - yet. In response to his apology, Mahi simply shrugged and said, "I don't remember complaining."

"Mahi..." Rajveer said, not sure how to proceed.

"Rajveer, mera kahne ka matlab hai ki tumhare paas permission hai. Jab bhi chaho, tum "aisa kuch" kar sakte ho," Mahi said as calmly as possible. Inside she was screaming. How had they ended up here? It was simultaneously exciting, embarrassing, and scary. Mahi had never been this open or vulnerable with another person before. Thinking back, this was just the latest of many milestones Rajveer had been for her. But despite all this novelty, Mahi still felt safe and secure because it was Rajveer. She was sure that, even if Rajveer rejected her, he wouldn't abandon her - especially after their talk yesterday. He would stay by her side as a friend - and she wouldn't let him go that easily if he tried another meaningless stunt like 'pushing her away for her own good' again.