Sidnaaz: Indifference

Unaware: 1

What if Sidharth and Shehnaaz runs in same social circle and office but are very unaware of their feelings. And all of sudden they start to question the importance of each other in their life.

…

“Good morning, Sana” Sidharth greets Shehnaaz when she enters the elevator.

“Morning” Shehnaaz nods at Sidharth and presses button to level 21. For rest of the ride they stayed quietly waiting for elevator to reach their common destination.

“See you at lunch.” Sana said when elevator stops and makes her way towards her office area. Sidharth also start walking towards his office which is just some meters away from hers. And just like every other day this was end of their interaction.

It’s been 4 years since Shehnaaz started working in the same office as Sidharth. Their life is united in every way possible. They have friends in common, they hang out at same place at lunch time with other co-workers. They live in same apartment building. But for some reason both of them never connected with each other. Their conversation never exceeded ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello” most of the time.

Shehnaaz signed as she looked at watch. It was lunch time already. She like always forced herself to go and socialize with the people in the office. When she moved to Mumbai 4 years ago, she became a little bit of an introvert. People in the office were nice and she gets along with them but she never came out of her shell in front of them. She can sometime see pretense in them and she didn’t want to gain that ‘quality’.

She locates her ‘group’ as she enters the Café. When she started working here she met Ritika. She was from Punjab just like Shehnaaz and they were able to bond because of that. And automatically she became a part of Ritika’s friend circle.

“Hi Shehnaaz, come sit quickly. We are making a plan to go out next week.” Ritika said.

“kaisa plan” Shehnaaz asked while opening her lunch box.

“We are planning to go hill station next Friday.” Sidharth answered her question.

“Oh sorry, I have plans for next Friday. You guys enjoy.” Sana mentioned.

“Ohhh yeah. I totally forgot. You have very very important plan.” Ritika said mischievously and winked at Sana.

“Stop it!” Shehnaaz started to blush.

“Okaayy then. I will book for one less person then.” Sidharth said. For him, it really didn’t matter if Sana came to trip or not. They were not close. Although he is bit curious about her plans and what is about it that made her blush.
……

“Yaar, today is not the best day for you to give up on me.” Shehnaaz kicked her car’s tyre in frustration. It is about to rain heavily and Shehnaaz is stuck in middle of nowhere. She quickly got her phone out to call the mechanic when another car stopped right next to hers. She recognized the car immediately and started wondering why he stopped.

“Hey, what happened? Are you alright?” Sidharth walked towards Shehnaaz.

“My car broke down and I am trying to call the mechanic and he is not picking up his phone” Shehnaaz complained and tried to call mechanic once again.

“Why don’t I give you a lift? You can leave your car here and mechanic can come tomorrow morning.

Shehnaaz froze for a second. Getting a lift from Sidharth can get awkward. There is still good 20 minutes ride to their building. She will have nothing to talk to him about and it will get awkward and she will die with embarrassment.

“NO!....I mean no it’s okay. I will call the mechanic. I need a car for tomorrow morning as well. It’s better I wait.” Shehnaaz was hoping that he leaves soon.

“We live in a same building Shehnaaz and I will give you a life tomorrow morning as well. So don’t worry. Chalo abb baarish hole wali hai.” Sidharth said in authoritative room.

Great now I have to share a car with him tomorrow morning as well. Tu toh gayi Sana. Shehnaaz thought to herself and collected her bags and made a way towards his very luxurious car.

After five minutes awkward silence Sidharth decided to break the tension.

“So, you are not coming with us on Friday right?” Sidharth asked

“No, I am sure it will be fun but I am busy on Friday.” Shehnaaz mumbled hoping that he will drop this topic.

“yeah, you mentioned the other day at lunch that you have other plans.”

“yes” Shehnaaz again gave one word response but couldn’t help but blush again.

There it is again. That blush. Sidharth wanted so badly to find out what is turning her like this. For all the years he known her, he never seen her like this. Not that he paid much attention. She is always been quite girl in the group. Just talked with one or two people mostly. He is sure no one will notice of she stopped hanging out with them in lunch time.

“Is it okay if I put music on?” Sidharth decided to take her cue and not have further discussion on this topic. Putting music is the next way to suppress the awkwardness.

“Thank you for giving me a lift. I can take a taxi in the morning.” Shehnaaz said once they reached the building car park.

“No, I will give you a lift. I’ll meet you here at 7:30 tomorrow morning.” Sidharth said not liking the way she is trying to ignore him. Shehnaaz nodded and left the swiftly. 

“Hey baba ji, kaha fasa diya apne mere ko?” Shenaaz muttered as she dropped herself on her comfy bed. From last two hours since she entered her home the only thing she can think of is Sidharth and it is worrying her.

She was still in her thoughts when her phone rang. A smiled made a way on her face when she looked at the caller ID.

“Hello” Shehnaaz said excitedly.

“Hey Shehnaaz, kaisi hai? I thought to call and check up on you.” The caller replies.

“I am good. Aap kaise hain. Did you had a good day?” Shehnaaz laid comfortably on her bed.

“My day was very bad and very slow” The caller said with heavy sigh.

“Kyun…” Shehnaaz asked worryingly.

“Because I missed you and I cannot wait for Friday to come.”

“Pagal dara diya tune mujhe ek minute ke liye.” Shehnaaz complained and pouted.

“Haha. Sorry darling but I cannot wait to see you.”

Shenaaz again turned tomato listening to that. Ronak is her cousin’s friend. They met in a small family gathering couple of months ago. They started talking and he end up asking her number. After talking to her for about 2 months, he finally gathered a courage and asked her on a date. Shehnaaz agreed straight away. She really liked him and wanted to see where this could lead.

When she in college, she was too busy to date anyone and after starting a job she never had a time. So, all in all, she never had a boyfriend except mini crush here and there. Talking with Ronak is evoking new giddy feeling in her.

“I will see you soon. Sleep now darling.”

“Bye, good night” Shehnaaz responded and got ready to sleep with a smile on her face. A smile that quickly turned into a frown when she realized she is going to again share a ride with Mr. Popular in the morning.

….

After divulging into negative thoughts about ride sharing all night, Shehnaaz realized that he is being nothing but helpful. She needs to stops thinking about awkwardness and do something nice in return. So she woke up early and made breakfast for herself and Sidharth. She rolled the parantha’s so he can eat them in the car if he wants and packed some for her lunch.

“Hi Sana, I am glad you showed up. I thought you were going to leave waiting.” Sidharth tried to tease her when she came and sat in his car.

“I couldn’t do that to you. Also, thank you for all your help. I didn’t want to sound ungrateful yesterday. Look, I brought a food for you as well.” Shehnaaz was in good mood and before her confident dies down she quickly offered him food.

Sidharth sat there quietly for few minutes, trying to contemplate what is happening. She bought a home-made food for him. He is a single guy who lives alone, so definitely home food is a luxury. He is kind of touched by her gesture.

“You don’t have to take it if you don’t to.” Sidharth was sitting there without making any attempt to take food from her. Now she was doubting her actions.

“No…I will take them. They are mine now. Thank You.” Sidharth took paranthas from her hands and started opening the foil like a kid who just got a birthday gift.

“Great, gobi parantha my favorite. These are so good, Shehnaaz” Sidharth couldn’t help but moan after first bite. Shehnaaz was feeling elated after looking at him eating.

“We are going to be late, Sidharth. You can eat them later.” Shehnaaz looked at the time and they are already running late.

“Okay, Okay, Let me just finish this one please.” Sidharth mumbled with his mouth full.

This small incident worked perfectly as a catalyst that broke the awkwardness between them. Now she was feeling more relaxed with him. After long time she was looking forward to lunch time.

….

ON FRIDAY

“So, we will all meet at my place around 6:00 pm. We will take two cars from there.” Sidharth told everyone while leaving the office. Everyone is quite excited about the trip. Monday being a public holiday will surely help.

“Sana, wait a minute.” Sidharth saw Shehnaaz leaving and made his way towards her. “Woh, just checking if you are still not coming.”

Shehnaaz giggled and replied back “Sidharth, you asked this question so many time in last 2-3 days. I am still not coming.”

“I wanted to just double check.” Sidharth blushed and started scratching back of his head. Although, he still not sure why he asked her this question once again.

Maybe because you want to know about her plans! Sidharth quickly dismissed that thought and went to his car.

……

“Let’s go everything is packed.” Vikas, Sidharth’s best friend said while looking around to make sure everyone is there.

“Kash Sana bhi yahan hoti yaar. Why did she have to go on date today of all the days.” Rikita whined.

“Wait, our Shehnaaz, quite frilly Shehnaaz went on a date. With who?” Vikas asked suddenly interested in the topic.

“Yes, she is going out with Ronak. He is so handsome yaar and I think he genuinely likes her.” Rikita was all in on sharing little information with Vikas.

“She needed this man. Can you believe she never went on a date? This will be good for her” She continued.

“I can surely believe that she never went on a date. She is so innocent and naïve. You are right this will be good. I am happy for her” Vikas mentions to Ritika.

While they both were glad about Shehnaaz’s progress in dating world, someone standing next to them was feeling a sudden spark of concern. This is the first time she is going on a date in her life and that as well in Mumbai. Who knows what type of guy she went out with. Did she tell anyone where is she going? Is someone is keeping an eye on her? What if something happens even Ritika won’t be here to help her. All those question were surfing in his brain.

But why am I getting effected by this? Mujhe kyun problem ho rahi hai.