My brother's best friend

Chapter 11

"Yeh bahut khaas jagah hai. Ek Baar mera mummy se jhagda hua tha, tab main gussa hokar ghar se nikal gaya tha. Bike uthaai and bas chalta gaya, aur achanak se yahaan aa gaya tha. Sabki tarah main bhi iss jagah ke baare mein nahi jaanta tha. Uss waqt yahaan aakar mujhe bahut sukoon Mila tha. Tab se main sukoon dhoondhne yahi aata hoon. Maine kabhi kisi ko iss jagah ke baare mein nahi bataya, Arjun, Munna, Pandit aur yahaan tak ki Nanu Ko bhi nahi. Lekin aaj Laga ki tumhe batana chahiye."

Sameer held her hand and took her to the tea stall. A old man was sitting there, engrossed in reading the newspaper and a soft music was playing on the radio. The man saw Sameer and his face brightened at once,
"Arey Sameer beta as Gaye. Kitna din ho gaye aaye huye. Saath mein yeh pyaari si bitiya kaun hai. "

"Namaste chacha. Yeh Naina hai, meri dost hai." Sameer answered

The man just smiled knowingly. The way he was looking at her, she was surely not just a friend,
"Woh pehle kabhi kisi Ko apne saath laaye nahi na, toh isliye pooch Raha tha. Hamesha wali chai bana doon na."

"Ji chacha. Hum woh gaadi ke paas khade huye hai, jab chai bann jaye toh awaaz de dena"

Sameer and Naina sat on the car's hood in complete silence. It was a comfortable silence though, the one that makes you understand the other's piece of mind and gives you peace at heart. Finally, Sameer broke the silence,
"Naina tumne jo bhi kaha tha... umm woh corridor mein,..." He took a deep breath and continued,
" Mujhe nahi pata ki tumne yeh kaha se suna aur main jaanna bhi nahi chahta. Lekin, woh sab sach hai"

He sighed and continued,
"Par ek baat aur bhi hai, ki woh sab sach tha. Main aisa Kiya karta tha, par ab main Badal Gaya hoon, Apne Nanu ke liye, buisness ke liye aur Apne liye. Main Nanu ka trust nahi todd Sakta Naina. Main jaanta hoon ki Jo maine Kiya woh bahut galat that, Lekin tab iss baat ki samajh nahi thi. Shayad nazuk umar ka Josh tha, main apni lonely life ka gussa doosro par nikaalta tha. Lekin Naina, main tumhari Kasam khata hoon, maine kisi ka faayda nahi uthaya, aur naa hi Dil toda. Jo bhi tha, woh dono side se tha. Par main jaanta hoon ki phir bhi galat tha."

He paused and gazed at her again,
"Phir ek din maine Nanu ke apne upar trust ko dekha aur decide kar Liya ki main bilkul Badal jaaunga. Yeh first year ki baat hai. Tab se life mein koi nahi. Bas dost, Nanu, cricket aur factory. Sorry maine tumhara trust toda"

Naina listened to all this quietly and looked at him. She was doing a victory dance inside her heart." There's no one in his life. He has changed. He is not what he used to be." Naina was too engrossed in her happiness, when a sad thought hit her again." But he will never like me. Maybe he is waiting for a girl, for falling in love, for marriage". But another question popped in her mind.
"Tumhe kabhi pyaar hua hai Sameer."

Sameer was extremely shocked with this question,
" Nahi kabhi nahi. Pehle bhi jo tha, woh pyaar nahi tha, bas pagalpan tha. Ab nahi hai. Main pyaar mein believe nahi karta. Yeh sab kahaniya hai, ki tum kisi Ko aur koi tumhe Jaan se zyada chaahta hai, tumhari care karta hai ya phir tumhare saath dega. Yeh sab bekaar ki baatein hai."

"Iss maamle mein meri raay ek dum alag hai. Mere khayal se pyaar sabko hota, life mein ek Baar to pakka. Hawa ke jhonke ki tarah sabke paas aata hai, Khushi deta hai, sukoon deta hai. Lekin yeh hawa ka jhonka hi toh hai, ek Baar toh guzrega hi, Lekin agar tum sacche ho, toh tumhare paas waapas bhi ayega, aur iss baar humesha ke liye. Jaise hawa Ko control nahi kar sakte, waise pyaar Ko bhi control nahi kar sakte. Bas pyaar mein hone Ko enjoy karna chahiye, iss feeling Ko enjoy karna chahiye. Shayad use tumse pyaar Na bhi ho, pas agar tum sacche ho to use jaane do. Agar woh tumhare paas waapas aaye to woh tumhara hai humesha ke liye, aur agar nahi, toh woh kabhi tumhara tha hi nahi." Naina finished and looked at him. He was in deep thought.

Soon the old man called them and they sipped their tea on one of the wooden benches.
"Tumhe kabhi pyaar hua hai Naina"

Naina choked on her tea and coughed. Sameer rubbed her back and calmed her down. She again looked at him.
"Mujhe... mujhe toh kabhi pyaar nahi hua. Yeh sab bhi bas books aur kahaniyo se Suna hai. Lekin jo bhi abhi kaha, main us par believe Karti hoon"

"Ha Lekin..." Sameer stopped in between and listened to the song. A slow and sensuous song was playing on the background, the same which was playing in the party.

Naina sighed,
"Meri Freshers kharab ho gayi. Kitna Mann that dance karne ka. Preeti ne toh gaane bhi soch rakhe the." She made a annoyed face and Sameer laughed . He gazed at her fondly and offered his hand.
Naina looked at his outstretched hand and took it without a second thought.

Sameer pulled her closer and rested his hand on her waist while her hand went to his shoulder. They soon got into the beat and danced slowly. He twirled her around and Naina giggled. Soon the dance turned pretty heated and their laughing filled the usually-quiet area. With the last twirl, Naina came to his arms due to the force and hugged him by his waist. Sameer too wrapped his hands around her and buried his nose in her neck.

They were at complete peace, until they came back to their senses. Sameer pulled back and adjusted his clothes awkwardly, while Naina took care of her messy hair.
"Chalo car mein baithte hai Naina. Waapas bhi jaana hai."

Sameer paid the old man and bid his farewell. As he adjusted his seat belt, Naina spoke,
"Thank you Sameer mujhe yahaan laane ke liye aur yeh din itna yaadgaar banane ke liye." She smiled.

Sameer gave a curt nod and drove to college. The party was nearing the end. His friends enquired about his whereabouts, while he brushed it off saying that he was gone for just ten minutes, and they might have missed him at the party. Naina too have a similar excuse to Preeti and Swati and they all headed home.

It was decided that Munna and Pandit will take one car and drop Swati home, while Sameer and Arjun will drop Naina and Preeti home. On the way to the Aggarwal household, Sameer's eyes kept drifting off to the front view mirror of the car and towards a particular girl, though he tries his best to concentrate on the less-attractive-and-arousing road.

They reached the home and Sameer hugged Arjun tightly and stopped himself from taking the petite girl back into his arms, no matter how difficult it seemed.
He bid his farewell and drove off to the Maheshwari Villa.

Once they reached home, Naina and Preeti were bombarded with questions by Bela, regarding the events of the freshers party. Preeti answered all of them quiet enthusiastically and elaborated about the food, music and dance that took place, skillfully ignoring her own dance with a first year. Naina didn't prove too successful in answering the questions, and merely provided some little information, which she could manage with her thinking abilities and her endless imagination. When asked if they had fun after all, Preeti nodded happily while Naina blushed and gave a curt nod.
After the long conversation finally ended, the girls slipped into their nightwear and retired to their bed. Preeti was sleeping like a baby, while Naina recalled her dance with Sameer and their conversation. The fact that he was not a player anymore, lifted her spirits greatly and a huge smile reached her beautiful features. But his confession of not ever falling in love gave her much more joy and she drifted off to sleep in the complete peace, something which she experienced after a long time.

On the other hand, Sameer was in a similar condition. He was already in his comfortable pyjamas and he was thinking about the events of the day. He recalled Naina's interpretation of love and found himself believing it more and more. It was coming from such an innocent mouth and his heart wanted to believe I'm her little speech."Was she right? Do all fall in love? Can he fall in love? "No matter how much his brain tried, it did not prove too successful in contradicting Naina. A warm smile came to his lips, though he didn't know why. Maybe someone will love him too and he will also love someone.

He then remembered their dance and how she was giggling in joy. "She is so pure, so innocent, so beautiful..." She said that she has never fallen in love, though her voice didn't seem too convincing, he wanted to believe her. He could not bear the thought that she could ever love someone else. "But actually she will. She will marry one day, have children, make a home" This made him more angry. He suddenly felt too frustrated. He didn't know why, but he punched the boxing bag in anger. Only the thought that she is his till college, gave him some sort of happiness. There is still time to all the other things. With this he went off to bed and pulled the blanked over his bare chest and slept in peace, to dream about snogging Naina passionately in the tea shop.