Meant to be

Chapter 11: Come back oh come back!

The shehnaaz who walked out of that confession room had such a guarded expression because she herself could not believe the chain of reactions she had just set off.

Every time shehnaaz was called to the confession room, Sidharth got super nervous.nervous for her sake and also for his sake. What happened to her mattered to him, even though they were not on talking terms and even though there seemed to be no sign of a thawing between them, she mattered a great big deal to him. He even was struggling to now remember why they drifted apart. He just wanted her back but did not know how to find his way back to her. Just as he was entering the house to check if she was out yet, he saw her walk out with a glazed expression and came towards the kitchen area where Mahira was making lunch. She sat on the high stool, thankfully for Sidharth's sake he found shefali  and Asim  in the long couches next to the dining table, he non chalantly took some fruit and moved to the table and asked asim and shefali to join him.

When she saw that,  Shehnaaz perked up almost like a reminder of why she messed up her life in the first place. "Kyun bulaya tereko
Andhar? Kya Kuch secret task hai? Bol na? Kuch toh gadbad isnay ki hai. Ajeeb sa shakal bana rahi hai.! Bol na" mahira asked

Shehnaaz covered her predicament with humour because there was no way she was going to share with mahira what just happened nor was she going to do it when sidharth was listening. He of course might get angry with her and ask her to change her decision but she was scared of what if he did not care, what if it did not make a difference to him at all? Then how would she recover from that?

"Bb ko toh bas mere saath guftagoo karni
Thi. Unhonay bola ki shehnaaz aajkal koi tareef hi nahi kar raha chalo mein mar deta hoon. Mainay kaha rehn de BB baby tum nay andhar bulaya hamaarey liye bas utna hi kaafi hai." She said this with a flick of her hair and giggled. Sidharth without even flinching his eye was studying her expression and he knew something was not right.  She look shaken to the core but was going out of her way to act and behave normally.

Sidharth continued to watch her intently the whole day and even into the wkv task. She was called to the confession room twice more since then and she always deflected any questions about it with humor. He just desperately hoped that Shehnaaz was not doing anything impulsively without thinking it through.

The other day he heard her telling bhau, "Bhauji apka Danda gang Mein kuch lady circuit ka job mil sakta hai Kya ? Kyunki apna abhi bahar dal paknaa thoda mushkil hi Nahin naamumkin hai!" Then one day in the luggage area he heard her mumbling to herself "abey baazu kya yaar upar neechey ka planning karta hai tu, abhi itnay kapdey bejhein hain Aur Mein packing karte mar Jaoon" Or to khesaari a very cryptic "aap tension muth Lo! Shaayad apse strong koi chala jaaye, yeh BB tedha hai, anything can happen! From what he could gather he very painfully pieced together that she was quitting the show! He was so alarmed by it. He was hoping to get through to her as a peace offering even started keeping himself aloof from the new girls.

At the end of the WKV a new wild card entrant had entered and what's worse for sidharth he looked young and sweet on shehnaaz. As soon as the shoot got over he quickly asked Shehnaaz to come aside and he saw both of them engage in a fierce whisper battle and all he could hear was "sir nay bola bas 1 week aur try karle" that really hit him hard. He had already forgotten what this damn fight was all about, he decided that for his own sanity sake he will let her know that he cares for her and he thinks of her as his dear friend and he wanted her back right next to him. It did not matter to him at this point whether he was right or she was right. This had gone on too long and he had a game to win , and if he had to win this game he needed her to fuel his sanity with her insanity.

That night he set into motion his modus operandi to making truce with Shehnaaz. He found her sitting outside with Paras and bhau and Arti and khesari, he deliberately went and sat with them. And while he did not participate he just kept glancing at Shehnaaz, he had a serene expression on his face and he looked so handsome. Shehnaaz was fighting the urge to give him a tight hug, but thought that he was here because of shefali who was in the smoking room. And to confirm this as soon as Shefali came out of the smoking room out of all the places she could sit. She went and sat right next to sidharth who was sitting by the edge of the pool and facing the garden couches where everyone else was congregated. Shehnaaz sighed deeply and told herself for the sake of salman sir she will have to put up with this but she need not watch or be a part of this ridiculousness so she bade goodnight to everyone and went to sleep on her bed.

While she was settling and had covered her blanket on her face, she heard a familiar shuffling, followed by the whiff of his fresh and typically sidharth fragrance and she heard something being placed on the stand next to her bed. She waited for him to retreat and looked at the bedside to find her water bottle, she had left it outside at the garden couch. She touched it and to her surprise it was filled, with cold water just as she liked it. Puzzled she just looked over to him to find him curled into a few pillows and staring into open space. She sighed deeply because she just did not understand what happened there. With nothing else to do this late in the night she settled back into the bed and sighed "one night over 6 more to go" she consoled herself.

Thank you for stopping and reading. Hope to cover the famous patch up in the following chapter and move on with all our lives!