Broken

8.

Shiva was pacing around the store. Raavi had promised him she would come, he didn't need to pick her up. He only hoped she wouldn't back out last minute. Gaumbi had instructed him not to overwork her on the first day itself. He had opened up the store early and got finished setting everything up before she came. Raavi came after ten minutes and Shiva was so happy, he could hug her.

"Tu mujhe jaldi se sab sikha de." Raavi said.

Shiva asked kaka to take over and took her to the back room to explain all accounts to her. He gave her a detailed explanation of everything. They spent about three hours discussing her work. Shiva had tried not to give her too much in one day, but Raavi didn't mind at all. She kept asking him stuff and he ended up explaining the whole thing to her. After they were done, Raavi wanted to start immediately. She went to kaka and collected every bill from him. Then she sat in a corner and started doing her work.

Shiva went back to his own work but he couldn't concentrate. Watching his maami ki behen ki beti work was soothing his soul. She didn't get interrupted with customers coming in and Shiva moving heavy stuff here and there. Her focus was straight on work. Shiva saw the way her hair kept falling falling into her eyes disturbing her every minute. He took a hairband from one of the shelves and gently pulled all her hair back. Raavi stiffened up for a second, not expecting this at all. He collected all her hair and tied it into a high ponytail. Raavi blushed for a second but quickly got to work.

He kept giving her water or juice from time to time. When it was lunch time, Shiva served her the lunch Dhara had send for them. They ate together. After that she again got to work. Shiva was almost free so he stood and admired Raavi. He didn't expect her to be so hardworking and dedicated. She had always been a lazy airhead for him. But he was wrong. Raavi called him and showed him her accounts for the past week. Shiva sat down with her and ran his calculations again. They were perfect. Raavi was amazing at her job. When he told her this, he saw the happiness in her face, and he just knew she had regained her confidence.

"Mujhe pata tha main amazing hone waali hu. Maine na maths bohot seriously liya tha school time se kyuki mujhe pata tha ki mujhe store mein kaam karna hai." Raavi chucked. "Shiva mujhe aaj bohot maza aaya. First time maine life mein itna productive kaam kiya."

"Matlab tere vele baithe rehne ki din khatam? Gaumbi se kehke tujhe permanent accountant bana du?" Shiva asked.

Raavi hugged him tightly and said yes. Shiva realised he was getting too comfortable with her hugs. Having her in his arms felt nice. He loved that feeling. Strangely she didn't let go this time. Neither did he. It felt good. Their moment broke when Kaka came there. Kaka needed some help with things so Shiva went and helped him. Raavi came there and started helping him with those sacks too. She could barely move them. He asked her to leave it but she still kept trying. She was dragging a sack and it hit a huge shelf. It was about to fall on her, but Shiva pulled her by the waist and she fell on him. Unfortunately, the shelf fell on his leg and he screamed in pain.

"Shiva!" Raavi was concerned.

"Main thik hu." He didn't want to worry her.

Kaka came hearing all the commotion. He lifted the shelf from Shiva's leg. Raavi went to check. She asked kaka to get ice and some ointment. Shiva liked that she was fussing over his leg so much. He tried to stand up but failed. It was worse than he thought. She applied ice onto his leg and asked kaka to inform Gaumbi. Then she started applying ointment to his foot. He kept wincing in pain, and he saw Raavi was wincing more than him.

"Tujhe zyaada dard ho raha hai mujhse." Shiva said

"Haa toh. Teri chot, meri chot, ek hi baat hain."

Shiva was confused. What did she mean by that? Yes, it hurt him more when she cut her hand. She was right. But why? He didn't feel this much of a connection with anyone else. Only Raavi. They way she was tending to his bruise, Shiva felt like pulling her into his arms. This was extremely weird for him to think. He tried to get up again, but Raavi pushed him down.

"Chup chap baith na. Apne aap ko superman samajhta hai?"

"Main bilkul thik hu."

"Shiva!" Raavi scolded him. "Tu yahi baitha reh jab tak Gaumbi nahi aate. Warna-" She tried to show him her fist, as he used to do earlier.

Shiva burst out laughing. She could be really cute at times. Involuntarily, he pulled her closer to him. By that time Gaumbi had come and Raavi told him everything. He pulled Shiva up and both he and Raavi put him in a cab to take him home. Gaumbi sat with him inside while Raavi said goodbye. Shiva didn't want to leave her. He caught the sad look in her eyes while she was saying goodbye. Their feeling was mutual.

***

Shiva and Raavi had spoken on the phone three times after he reached home. She was calling him every hour and asking him about his leg. He didn't mind her talking but the look which his family members were giving him were making him feel embarrassed, and the girl wouldn't stop talking once he picked up the call.  She would go on and on. After the second phone call, Shiva decided to forget his embarrassment. Talking to her was more important.

"Teri taang kaisi hai ab?" Krish asked.

"Thik hai."

"Kaash Raavi yaha hoti, hain na? Woh pyaar se apne haatho ke malam laga deti."

"Bakwaas mat kar." Shiva said.

"Main kya wapas Raavi ko Raavi bhabhi bolne ki practice shuru kar du?" Krish asked.

Shiva found an apple which Dhara had kept for him. He threw it on Krish who ducked it and ran away, laughing. Shiva smiled. He actually wouldn't mind if Raavi became Krish's bhabhi. He'd learnt to tolerate her presence. Honestly, he loved her presence. She made him happy and he only wished to spend all his time with her. He could sleep much better with her sleeping with him. This thought made him shy as well as confused. Was he in love with his Maami ki behen ki beti? His phone rang again. It was his Chipkali.

"Shiva tu thik hai? Tera pair kaisa hai?" She asked.

"Ae maami ki behen ki beti, yeh 40 min mein mera pair bilkul thik ho gaya hai. Main toh football khel raha hu."

"Bakwaas mat kar. Tu yaha hota toh mujhe itni tension nahi hoti."

"Toh kya karu? Ghar jamai ban jau uss maami ka?" Shiva cursed himself. Krish's comment had made him blurt this out. He was worried that Raavi was going to cut the call.

"Haa ban jaa. Tera khyaal toh rakh paungi. Ya phir bol main tere paas bhag ke chali aati hu." Raavi laughed.

"To phir aaja." Shiva smiled.

This time Raavi took a long time to reply. "Main waha nahi aa sakti. Dev hai waha."

Shiva felt his heart sinking when he heard Dev's name from her mouth. Why couldn't she get over Dev? Was she still in love with him? Shiva felt his temper flaring. Raavi said something from the other side but he was too mad. He cut the call and switched his phone off. Why did Raavi have to love Dev of all people? For the first time in his life, he was feeling jealous of his brother.