Jaise tum na... waise hum

Moving on

"Thank you" she said, "Thank you aap unke saath nahi the." and continued to cry.

Pragya's bedroom 8 p.m.

Pragya closed her laptop and came and sat on the bed facing Abhi.

"Kamaal hai yaar" Abhi said, "Aaj itna sab kuch hua and you are working?"

"Aadat ho gayi hai" she said, "Actually... its only when I work that I used to feel peaceful. So... din ho ya raat, I..."

Abhi nodded and held Pragya's hand and asked, "Toh?"

She looked at him with a surprise.

"Toh, meri Fuggi" Abhi said, "ek college lecturer se, meri boss bani, phir secretary, phir ek manager, phir wapas ek school teacher, aur ab... ek business woman, haan?"

She smiled.

"I am proud of you Fuggi, you know aaj dopahar ko socha tha boloon" he said pointing his hands towards her "Look at you, this is the potential you had and I never knew about it! I mean, I regret not seeing this in you."

"Nahi" she said, "Ye aapke wajah se hi hua hai... actually... I feel ... I feel bad saying this now but... aapse jo nafrat thi usiki wajah se hua hai. Mein aapko dikhana chahti thi ki mein... ki mein manhoos nahi hoon... funny it sounds terrible now."

"Jo bhi ho" he said, "I am happy ki meri wajah se hua hai".

She smiled and nodded.

"Toh Mrs Pragya" he said, "Arora ya Mehra ... jo bhi ho doesn't matter... can I be of any service to any of your businesses?"

She smiled. "Aap jo chaahe woh kar sakte hein" she said, "Hey...aaj dopahar ko kaha tha na 3 talents ke audition hai, woh clips bheje hein... aap sunenge?"

"Haan" he said, "Par tumne suna?"

"Haan" she said and got up and picked up her phone from the workstation and sat back down on the bed, "Do ladkiyaan hein aur ek ladka... I really liked the boy's voice.... Aap sunke dekh lijiye."

"Woh bar wala singer nahi laga?" he asked.

"Kya?" she asked.

"Woh ladka jo tha" he said, "uska koi bar wala singer jaisa voice nahi laga kya?"

"Nooo... in fact I liked his voice" she said, "it felt good... like there is pain in his voice... kaafi soulful laga mujhe actually... toh ye bar wala singer kyu pooch rahe ho aap?"

Abhi smiled and asked "Uska naam bola kuch?"

"Haan... ek minute... Prashant... Prashant Singh" She said.

Abhi nodded.

"Achcha laga uske baare me ye sunke" he said, "and achcha laga ki tumne bhi uski talent ko pehchani."

"Aisa kyu?" she asked.

"Prashant" he said "woh..."

"Yahi Prashant jo aapke saath aaya tha?" she asked.

Abhi nodded a yes and said "he is actually good."

"Toh aap pehle bhi bol sakete the na?" she asked.

"Nahi" he said, "I didn't want to influence you in any way... actually... I also wanted to test you... dekhna tha mujhe ki tum talents ko pehchaan paati ho ya nahi." and grinned sheepishly.

She smiled and said, "So I passed the test I guess".

He nodded in agreement.

"Well... coming from the Rockstar" she said, "I take it as a compliment".

He smiled and said "Waise... Yahan Sasuma, ya humara bhai nahi hai. Tum mujhe hug kar sakti ho. You know... compliment ke liye."

She smiled, "jyada hug karenge to diabetes hoga. And aapke blood reports aagaye hein. Everything's fine."

"Bas khamokhaan mera itna blood choos liya." he said, "hey... is it okay agar mein Prashant ko humare saath rehne kahoon? Woh kya hai na... I already miss him. Sachch boloon to it's because of him I am sane now... warna shayad ab tak to ... I don't know mera kya ho jaata. And he hasn't got anyone else... so."

She nodded a yes and said, "Sure... and may be you two can team up too ... or you can go solo. I would love to listen to my favourite Rockstar again... but... it's all up to you."

He smiled.

"Aap agar business side me dekhna chahte hein to woh bhi." she said, "actually... I am starting a new thing... humari beti ke naam pe... Kiara ke... stationeries, toys, apparels, and charity too... charity mein schools bhi kholne ka plan hai... villages me... you can look over that too... your choice."

Abhi nodded. Thoughts about Kiara roamed in his mind.

"Rhea aur Prachi ke baare me kuch pata hai?" he asked.

"I've seen their pics on Facebook. Rhea Canada me hai..." she said, "I didn't know. Purab ne bataya. Prachi Mumbai me. Uske saath bhi contact me nahi hoon."

He nodded but she could see the disappointment in his face. He got up and walked over to the window and looked outside.

She came over and stood by his side. "Jyada matt sochiye" she said, "Bachchi nahi hai woh abhi. She is an adult."

Abhi nodded.

She continued, "And waise bhi there's not much we can do agar woh Alia ko apna sab kuch maanti hai. I mean... she is as manipulative as Alia is. I have been fooled by her many times... and I guess aap bhi."

"Haan" he said.

"Humse galatiyaan hui hai par what she does" she said, "... its her choice and her life."

"True" he said.

"Prachi mili thi mujhse" he said, "before she went to Mumbai. Tumhare accident ke ek hafte baad."

"Actually... donon ko maine poocha tha... Rhea ke baare me" she said, "both of them said they are happy with the proposal. If they had told the truth, baat itni bigadti nahi."

Abhi nodded.

"Yaad hai?" Abhi asked, "tum humesha ladka chahti thi aur mein ladki?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Actually" he said, "I find I get along better with boys than girls."

She smiled and asked "Prashant ko phone kiya tha aapne?"

He nodded, "aayega thodi der me. I'll talk about staying here."

"If he is willing" she said, "it will be good. You can help him too".

"Arre" he said, "Kya help. Woh mujhe sikhata hai... Purab ki tarah... but ... I needed it at that time actually."

She smiled.

After a long pause he asked "Aur ... Alia aur Tanu. Unka kuch karna hai?"

"I have my eyes on them." she said, "dekhte hein... Lets wait and watch."

They stared into the night sky and continued to talk with each other under the full moon – something they hadn't done since a long time.

~ ~ ~