Rishton Ki Dor

11. Distance

Ayaan-"Acha, ab mai chalta hu, warna late ho jaunga. Bye."

"Bye, Ayaan. Take care."

*

"Kaisa hai tu?" Maan asked Ayaan in greeting.

Ayaan sighed, dumping his bag on his desk as he sat down. "Kya batau, yaar. Kitna bada siyappa ho gaya kal. Mom has grounded me for 2 weeks. Aur mera phone bhi le liya."

Maan hummed sympathetically. He and his family had been at his cousin's wedding last night, so Maan had heard about the incident from his brother. He'd tried calling Ayaan, but when the call hadn't gone through, he'd figured his phone must've been taken away.

Ayaan-"Mai to ab us Sagar ko dekhunga bhi nahi. Saala panauti ban gaya hai mere liye, sach mai."

"Tumhara jhagda hua kis baat pe tha kal?" Maan asked.

Ayaan was silent for a moment. He didn't want to tell the real reason. Even though it was just Maan, he didn't want to repeat those words. Instead, he said, "kuch nahi yaar, tujhe pata hai na wo kitni bakwas karta hai? Gussa aa gaya mujhe bas."

Maan shook his head. "I know wo kuch bbi bolta hai, but tu react kyu karta hai? Tere gussa ka hi wo fayda uthata hai."

Ayaan sighed. "I know. Lekin ab bas, mai bilkul gussa nahi karunga kisi par bhi. Ab to mai muh hi nahi kholunga apna."

Maan smiled. "Wow. Kitni peaceful ho jaegi hum sab ki life fir."

Ayaan shot him a glare. Maan laughed. "Chal ab muh mat bana," he said. "Aur zyada mood mat kharab kar. Jo hua so hua. Aur teri punishment bhi to do week ki hai bas. Then everything will be back to normal."

Back to normal. Ayaan bit his lip. Would things ever really go back to normal for him?

*

"May I come in, Sir?

Mihir looked up from his work to see Annie standing outside his office. He nodded. "Come in."

Annie stepped in. "Sir, ye files Mehta Industries se aye hai. They want to arrange a meeting to finalize the deal soon. So shall I go ahead with it?"

Mihir sighed internally. The Mehtas. Why were they such a constant presence in his life? Mihir had no doubt that Mr. Mehta would now hold Ayaan's actions from yesterday over his head to get what he wanted.

"Okay, meeting arrange kardo," he told Annie. "But...koi jaldi nahi hai. Keep it next week or something."

Annie nodded. "Waise, ek baat bolu Sir...I had visited their office last week...bolne nahi chahiye, lekin kaafi rude log hai, sach mai. They're nothing like you. No wonder unki company itna doob rahi hai."

Mihir smiled at her ramblings. For some reason, she had begun to trust him enough that she no longer had any filter in front of him. Mihir liked that.

"Ayaan kaisa hai, Sir?" Annie asked.

Mihir-"He's okay. He wasn't hurt or anything, thankfully."

Annie nodded. "I'm glad to hear it. He's such a lovely boy. Bekar mai phas gaya tha wo Kal. I'm glad he's doing okay!"

Mihir smiled at her. "That's very sweet of you, Annie. Thank you."