Behind The Curtains

22. Behind The Curtains

I packed my dresses in one of Virat's old travel bag. And Virat packed all his essentials in his new one.
"Alish, take that!" Virat said, pointing the shelf next to me.
I looked at the shelf there were quite lot of things -his towel, his t-shirts, shirts, cargos and many. What he wants me take? I wondered out aloud.
"That one," he pointed again as if he is pointing something in particular.

I looked again but I couldn't figure out what he was pointing about. "Which one? Can't you say the name?" I said, throwing my hands in air.

He heaved a sigh. "Why the hell I would ask you to take that?" he muttered to himself. And he himself walked to the shelf and pulled his shorts which were in the corner of the shelf. My eyes widened at the realization. His shorts were supossed to mean 'that'. Both of us were embrassed by the situation. I hung my head low as my cheeks turned red in embrassment. He stood near his bag, scratching his neck. In short, it was awkward -real awkward.

"I'll look for Radhu Maa," I excused myself and walked to the kitchen. Radhu Maa hasn't arrived yet. I boiled the milk to prepare some coffee for both of us.

After boiling, I carefully poured the hot milk in one of the glass. Considering my broken wrist, the milk pan was too heavy to hold. There are greater chances of me spilling the milk if my concentration laps for a milli-second.

"Alish, Your phone has been ringing constantly," Virat yelled from the room. I jerked away and the milk spilled all over the kitchen.

"Alish! What happened?" Virat rushed to kitchen. He takes in the whole scene and his expression turned from terrified to amusement in seconds.

"Great! This day is going to be great. I can sense that," I muttered to myself while Virat was laughing at me.

Four missed calls! It's Gowtham. I checked the time on my mobile. It was just 7:30 am and again it's Sunday. Gowtham waking up this early in Sundays is highly impossible. It must be something important.
I called him back. He picked up the call in the first ring.

"Alisha, listen to me. Don't freak out, Okay?" he asked on the other line.

"Okay..." I replied unsure.

"Alisha, do you remember the guy Teja?" he asked uncertainly.

"Ofcourse, I do. He is your best friend's brother, right?" I clarified.

"Exactly. This Teja guy works in the leading journal. I've asked him about Ranveer the other day. Guess what?" he paused. My heart paced up on hearing his name, Ranveer. Taking my silence as a cue, Gowtham continued, "We have found him. Alisha! WE HAVE FOUND RANVEER!" he shouted in the other line.

I couldn't say anything. I don't know what to do -shout, dance, celebrate-my mind was having so much of thoughts. But I couldn't do anything. I felt numb unable to move. My mind couldn't process any message.

Without my knowledge, my phone slipped out of my hands. A lone tear traced my cheeks. Virat who was watching me all these time came near to me. His lips were moving. He seems to be speaking, but I couldn't hear anything. He shook me by my shoulders and that seemed to work. I quickly came out of my reverie.

"What happened?" he asked while pressing my phone in his ears. His gaze doesn't leave me once. I wiped my tears with back of my hand and smiled at him. A whole hearted smile.

The phone was pressed against his ears till now. Probably Gowtham is in line. His eyebrows creased more like a frown. He looked at me. Confusion was clearly written all over his face.

"I'm happy then," he finally said and ended the call. His cheerfulness drained out of his voice.

"Virat, Are you okay?" I ask.