Live me in you again!!

Relationships

There were greetings exchanged and loud squeals of laughter could be heard in shouts which had been in grief for so long.

'It is so great to see you after so long, Rachna', Virat's mother said.

'Same here, Saroj. We last met at Virat's wedding, didn't we?', she said remembering.

'Yes', his mother replied.

'Would it be alright if I go and meet him?', Shubhi asked his mother.

Virat's mother looked towards Vikas who was standing nearby questioning him if it would indeed be alright.

'Why don't you first meet Aarav ?', Vikas said taking her to his room.

'Yeah, of course', she said smiling.

Vikas left her to talk to Aarav while he went to Virat's room.

'Hey, you wanna come outside', he asked him.

Virat was watching something on the TV. He responded with a nod.

'Ok, then, come on', he said.

Virat joined him and the both of them came to the living room where his mother and Rachna Aunty were chatting. Virat went and touched her feet. She blessed him after which he sat down on the sofa.

'On a break?', she asked him.

'Yes, quite a long one this time', Virat said smiling.

'Oh, he always says that. It's just a month', his mother chimed in.

'In their books, it's long mom', Vikas said making a case for his brother.

'Shouldn't we all head for lunch?', Virat suggested.

'Yes, of course', his mother said inviting Rachna Aunty for the meal. She also asked Chetna to call for Shubhi and Aarav.

Virat was at his best behaviour throughout the lunch. He decided to put it all away and concentrate on the present for now. He didn't want to make a scene. He knew how to curb his emotions and this time he had done that to perfection.

'Hey', Shubhi interrupted him on his way back to his room.

'Oh, hi. How have you been?', he asked her.

'Good, I suppose', she said.

'You suppose? What's the truth?', he said inviting her to his room.

'Nothing, leave that. You say, are you gonna grace my magazine with your photographs? I mean, technically, it's not my magazine but you know what I mean, right?', she said it all in a single breath.

'Relax, Shubhi', Virat said with a laugh.

'Will you, please?', she asked sitting down now.

'No', Virat said with a sigh.

'Ok, I understand', she said in a tone which hardly seemed as if she had understood.

'Anything else?', he asked her.

'Actually, yes', she said a little hesitant.

'Ok, tell me', he said keenly.

'Virat, what do you make of a girl who makes the first move for a relationship?', she asked him.

'Umm...not that I have had the pleasure of experiencing one cause my late wife would love to argue the fact that I am amazing...'

'Excuse me, I would argue that too but can you come to the point', she cut him in between.

'Well, I'd say confident, magnetic and full of love, as you might be', he said, his eyebrows testing her.

'Well, there's this guy at my workplace. We go out all the time as friends but I seriously think that this could lead to somewhere', she said.

'All that is fine but you have said this about a 1000 other guys as well. You are like the Alia Bhatt of Dear Zindagi. You don't want a committed relationship yourself because you function perfectly well alone and you think that some guy can just ruin that, don't you?', Virat said.

'That was all true in the past. I want to have some kind of stability in my life, in relationships', she said.

'Well, then go for it', Virat said patting her back.

'Thanks', she said.

'It's alright', Virat said with a laugh.

'What? What is it?', she asked him.

'It's funny to see you this serious. You must really love him', he said.

'I think I do', she said looking towards the floor.

'Good for you', Virat said giving her a hug.

'What about you? You, all ok?', she asked him.

'Of course', he said.

'Seriously? I just bared my soul to you. And you can't tell me the truth?', she asked him.

'It's the truth. I can never forget her but I must learn to live, right?', Virat said not even sure of his own words.

'Hmm'

Shubhi always wondered if Virat considered her as good a friend as she considered him. She had always felt a strange connection with him wherein she could just tell him anything without any worry of being judged. He, however, had always refrained from talking to her on deep matters. He didn't really have any real conversations with her. Well, sometimes that's how relationships work. Or maybe not?