7 days

November 11 ( Part Two)

‘ Do you….do you think dada would forgive me?’ he sniffled.

Simran hugged him and kissed his head.

‘ Of course, he loves you’

Shubman sat quietly and played with the silver rings on his finger. He had put on Ishaan's one as well, hoping that he would be able to give it back to him.

‘ I…I didn't mean to lie to him’ he whimpered.

‘ Why did you do it, Shubman?’

‘ I…I didn't want to hurt him..I didn't tell him about her because…because I knew that he would…he wouldn't like me meeting her…’

‘ So you hid it? You didn't think that he might find out?’

Shubman covered his face and cried.

‘ I…I don't know, Simran Di…I couldn't stop talking to her, she's…she's my friend too’

‘ Don't you think that, if you had talked to him, he might have understood? He always understands..’

Shubman looked at Simran, she was right. Ishaan always understood. Shubman's anger, his struggles, his tantrums, his dreams, his likes, his dislikes, his mood swings, his constant need for love and physical affection. Ishaan always understood. Shubman was the one who had failed to see beyond himself.

‘ But…but I love him so much..why did I hurt him so much?! How could I be so selfish!’

Simran held his hands and tried to calm him down. He hugged her and buried his face on her shoulder. He thought back to how Ishaan had cried while confronting him, how his beautiful eyes filled with tears. Shubman felt razor blades in his throat as he recalled the things he had said at Ishaan.

‘ There's ... .there's something wrong’ Shubman sat up panicked.

‘ Shubhi, you might…’

‘ No….I.. when I was talking to him, I felt anger…there's something wrong’

Simran stared at him confused.

‘ I mean, inside my head I kept thinking that I should calm down, and talk to him properly ... .but..but my tongue kept betraying me. It didn't say what I wanted it to say. …’

‘ What…what do you mean?’ Ibrahim  asked, sitting beside him.

Shubman took a deep breath and thought of what he felt at that time.

‘ It was as though I was stuck in my body again, like …like when…when I had the jinn on me. Not that severe but, like how a puppet is being handled? I didn't have control over myself…’ Shubman tried to explain.

‘ Ibrahim, maybe you should call Abrar?’ Simran said nervously.

Ibrahim called Abrar and told him everything that Shubman had said.

‘ Maybe it's the other half that's still affecting him…’ Abrar said after a minute of silence.

They all exchanged nervous glances.

‘ I..should meet him’ Shubman said after a while.

‘ Are you crazy?!’ Simran gripped his shoulder.

‘ Maybe ..maybe Mayank would tell me what it is.’ he tried to reason.

‘ Abrar, I will call you back…Shubman sir, your sister is right, if Mayank sees you, who knows what he might do?’ Ibrahim said.

‘ I don't care…I don't care even if I have to see Mayank again, or be in the same room as him…I need to know what's written in it. …Mayank,..he might tell me?’ Shubman pleaded.