City of Dreams

17.

She picked up her mobile and sat down jumping on her knees and gave him a beaming smile this time, "Oh Wow!! bahut sunder lag rahe ho. So handsome. Aise hi teek lag rahe ho, bahut garmi lagegi coat voat pehen ke. Tumhe toh waise bhi kuch jayada sweating hoti hain. Aise hi changa lag raha hain... Hayee I wish I could hug you right now!"

He looked very handsome, with clean shave and crisp cloth. He had lost some weight and looked well-toned as he was working out almost every day now to be in shape.

"Kal" he replied.

"Hugh?" she asked, confused.

"Kal hug karenge... bas kuch gaanto main aa jaunga. Ab aadat dal le... bahut saare trips main jaana padega mujhe. Kaushik has lined up stuff for me..." he looked at her, sitting down in the bed. It was advice more to himself than to her. He thought about how he never wanted to be without her. About how happy she made him and how he wanted to go on being that happy for the rest of his life.

She nodded, "Tumhara kaam hain... it's good na! I am happy ab tumhe phir se TV main, theatre main, news main dekhne ko milega. Agar bahut miss hoga toh mujhe bhi saath le jana... teek hain"

He smiled and blinked his eyes. "Ab bata kya hua? Sadi hui kyun hain?"

"Kuch nahi bas aise hi... tumhari yaad aa rahi thi aur neend bhi"

"Don't lie to me haan! I know when you give excuses when you don't want to say the truth... Jaldi bol" he pestered.

"Hadd hain... kuch bhi nahi hain baba... Please don't irritate me now. Please go for your dinner and BYE!" She cut the call abruptly.

She immediately got a call again from him, "Kya hain Sidharth... jao na baad main baat karenge na!"

"Teri himmat kaise hui mera phone cut karne ki? MOTI... Nahi bolna teek hain par phone kyun kata tunne? Haan bol phone kyun kata?" he said in anger.

"Hayee... tum na kabhie kabhie itna irritate karne lag jaate ho!" she whined.

"Acha ji, now I am irritating you! You disconnected the call so rudely! You are being secretive! You are brooding over something... aur irritate main kar raha huin... Wah!! Gor kalyug aa gaya hain... Teek hain kuch nahi poochunga ab main. Even if you tell me I won't listen! Baiti reh mooh sada ke. Phone bhi nahi karunga... aur na tera phone pick karunga... aayi badi... hugh!" he spoke acting furious but failing miserably and it didn't go unnoticed by her.

"Kitne cute lag rahe ho... heheheee... Mujhe na darr nahi lag raha tumhare iss damki se... heehehee... Hassi aa rahi hain... Lol! Yeh apna attitude na kissi aur ko dikhana. Abhi do-teen gante main tumhara phir se phone nahi aaya toh mera naam badal dena... Shehnaaz to..."

"MOTI" he suggested impishly.

"No... not that..." she furrowed her brows in grumpily.

"Chal be ab pakka mat... ab main cut karunga phone"

"Love you" she said to see if he is still annoyed.

He did not reply but gave her a small tight-lipped smile and disconnected the phone. He right away called Karou and came to know about the opportunity he received to sing but that Shehnaaz is still waiting for them to respond. He now knew the reason for her sour mood. He was able to tell just by her voice and expressions her state of mind. He knows he is getting inquisitive through these daily conversations and interactions with her, but he gets curious about her dreams, successes, failures, and fears. He felt deeply connected to her to know more about why she feels anxious, angry, sad, or excited rather make assumptions and jumping to conclusions, he called Karou, his confidant and an ally now.