One Day At A Time

Chapter Twenty Three - Through The Wringer(4)

"There? Where? Show me!" She chuckled and looked down at her dress and stilettos.

He was off his chair in a flash and standing right in front of her, suddenly furious. "Shirls—" He rasped. "Don't tease me. I —"

"I don't have the right to." She held his gaze, unafraid.

He stared at her for long, watching every emotion that flitted across her face at that moment and then his gaze fell on her lips which had been lent the faintest touch of colour and gloss. He looked away immediately. "You—" He started but stopped abruptly and stepped away from her. "You are right. It is about her. It always was. I've finally gotten us to a point where she's had enough of me and doesn't want to see me or talk to me again." He said as he threw the sheets on the sofa. He ran his fingers through his hair and walked further away from her. "And this time I've messed it up pretty badly with Bhai too." He turned to look at her. "I am not a good guy, Shirley. You are wasting your time when you could do so much better."

Shirley looked at him and felt like he was a blow away from breaking into pieces. Her face softened immediately. "I don't know what situation you are talking about, but of what you've told me so far, Khushi has been a great friend to you all these years, and you've been the same for her. It's just that she's unable to or didn't want to see anything beyond that friendship— unlike me. There is a difference between us. I hope you get to see it someday and stop advising me."

He shook his head and looked down at the carpet on the floor. "Would you go out with a guy who was responsible for brutally hurting his brother, who has always loved him?"

"I would go out with the guy who has the balls to tell me he was doing so with remorse written all over his face." She quipped.

His heart missed a beat hearing the words and his head snapped in her direction. "I'm twisted, Shirls. Stay away from me."

"Dear God, that kind of honest admission should surely make me rethink." Her lips curved into a wry smile as she walked closer to face him. "You mean ..as twisted as those curls?" She pointed at a curly lock near his cheek.

He caught her finger mid-air with his hand as his jaw clenched. "It's not funny, Shirls."

"I know. It's too serious to be called funny." She glanced at his fingers wrapped around her index finger and then into his eyes with all the love she had for him. "Hold my hand whenever you need me or want me to be around you. I'll always be with you. Even when you feel like convincing me that you are the most despicable being on this planet, me and my crushed index finger will still be here to listen to you."

Kabir let go of her finger instantly. "Shit! I am so sorry! God, I didn't mean to—hell, my anger seems to hurt everyone around me nowadays and —"

"That's all you have to tell Khushi and your Bhai if you think you've wronged them." She smiled while massaging her aching finger. "Once their anger subsides, they will know you meant it. But until then, you will have to bear hell and be with friends to keep your sanity. There is no other way out." Her brow creased in a frown. "And don't let anyone tell you that you are twisted. Not even yourself. You have a beautiful heart, and it will always trump your mind. You are made like that, you should know it."

Kabir sat on the sofa staring at the guitar lying next to him realising she knew nothing of what was going on in his life. But for the first time since he had met her again after school, he felt the urge to share a part of it with her. "I —I am planning to tell Bhai everything after this show." He looked down at the floor again. "And I —I am shit scared."

Shirley had no clue what was going on in his mind and life, yet she was sitting by his side holding his hand the moment he uttered those words. "Just this one time, brave it out." She said softly, their fingers intertwined. "Once you are honest with yourself and them, you don't have to be scared again, ever."