Vineet cheers up Ruhana and boosts her confidence to handle the deal on which they've been working together. Meanwhile, he learns of a meeting that needs his immediate attention and so he asks Ruhana to take the lead. She's baffled; yeah, he has led many projects for him, but this one is tricky and she knows that she will need his help. Though she understands that the other meeting requires his full presence, she's a little worried.
"Ruhana, you can do this. Maine pehle hi kaha tha ki iss deal ko tum handle karogi." Vineet tries to cheer her up.
"Lekin Vineet, I will need you here. Han, mujhe saara context pata hai lekin fir bhi main chahti hoon tum mere sath raho." Ruhana insists.
"Lekin Ruu, Mr. Abhimanyu needs me there. Vo bhi toh zaroori hai hamari company ke liye." He tries to explain.
"Okay, fine! Par ab agar tum bhi rehte toh aur achcha rehta." She replies lowly.
Vineet looks at her; he knows that she doesn't need his assistance; she's just being humble enough. Little did he know that his presence was reassuring and comforting for her. With him around, she can handle anything and everything. That's how things have changed over the past year.
Ruhana wishes to discuss a little more about the product details, after which Vineet leaves for his meeting with Abhimanyu Desai, their new client. The manager informs Ruhana that the clients have arrived and she heads into the conference room.
It's going to be a long day!
*****
St Xavier's college
Aarna is sitting in her classroom and smiling to herself while remembering the conversation she had with her sister in the morning. The girl has many friends but her sister is her best friend. It's been a long time since they've had such profound conversations, all revolving around one name: her buddy and her sister's friend, Vineet. She's startled when someone taps her shoulder and she looks up only to find her best friend, Taara Sehgal, beaming at her.
"You're on time? How?" Aarna looks at her friend, as she's usually late for the class.
"I heard you've got something to tell me." Taara replies naughtily.
"Huh! What? I have nothing to tell you, Taara." Aarna glares at her friend.
""No, no! You have got something. Otherwise, you won't be smiling." Taara insists.
Aarna is sceptical; she can't tell anything to her friend, though she's a close friend. But she doesn't know her buddy and she can't reveal it to Taara. She smiles at him.
"Aaj maine aur Di ne bahut saari baatein ki, bas wahi soch rahi thi." Aarna replies with a smile.
"Really? I hope you're not hiding anything from me." Taara looks at Aarna, who holds her hand only to assure her that things are all good.
"Taara, kuch cheezein waqt se pehle batai nahi jaa sakti hai. I'll tell you, as you're my best friend and Didu trusts you." Aarna says.
Taara says nothing; she understands if Aarna is not ready to share something. She also knows that Aarna will share everything with her when the time is right. Meanwhile, the professor enters the class and they get busy.
Apart from getting involved in gossip, study is also important; that's what Aarna and Taara believe.
*****
The day passes in a blur. Ruhana reaches home and finds that the main door is unlocked, which means her sister is back home. She enters the house but instead of Aarna, a foul smell welcomes her. Ruhana rushes into the kitchen, only to find it in a complete mess. The kitchen slab is filled with flour and some other ingredients. Aarna is standing, staring at a container kept on the slab.
"Ye sab kya hai?" Ruhana's voice brings her out of her trance.
"Di! Aap... aap aa gayi?" Aarna turns to face her sister; she's baffled at her early arrival.
"Haan, vo aaj ek meeting thi toh office se jaldi nikli aur abhi Vineet ne drop kiya. Lekin tune ye kya kar rakha hai? Tujhe kahin chot toh nahi lagi?" Ruhana looks at her, concerned at the moment.
"Vo... main cake bana rahi thi. Lekin vo jal gaya." Aarna makes a sad face.
"Tujhe kitni baar kaha hai akele kuch experiment mat kiya kar kitchen mein? Lekin tumhe samajh nahi aata. Ye sab kya hai, Meethi?" Ruhana tends to scold her.
"Didu, wo Taara ne chocolate cake ki ek new recipe bataayi thi, toh maine socha ki main aapko surprise dungi, lekin ye ho gaya, sorry!" Aarna explains her point.
"Wait kar leti na, hum mil ke banate. Agar tujhe lag jaati toh? Tujhe pata hai na main kisi wajah se tujhe yahan akele kaam nahi karne deti hoon. Abhi dekh, kya haal banaya hai?" Ruhana scolds her.
"Didu, I am fine. Kuch nahi hua mujhe. Han thoda sa mess ho gaya lekin main saaf kar dungi. Aap fresh ho jao." Aarna tries to send her out of the room.
"Nahi, tu jaa yahan se. Kitchen main khud saaf kar lungi." Ruhana orders and Aarna has no other option than to obey her.
Ruhana sighs, she knows, her sister is upset, but this was necessary. A childhood incident has made Ruhana fearful and she doesn't let Aarna enter the kitchen. She cleans the mess and then glances at Aarna, who's sitting in the hall room with a foul face. She's doing something on her phone but she's upset. Ruhana's eyes fall on a paper that's sitting on the upper shelf. It's the recipe that Aarna was trying to bake. She smiles and preps to bake the cake and along with it, there's fried rice for dinner as she promised her the other day.
*****
The fragrant aroma reaches Aarna too and she's suspicious. But she stops herself, for, she thinks, her sister will scold her again. Well, she only tried to bake a cake, she didn't know it will turn into a mess and the cake would burn. Though she knows, her sister is very protective of her, and ever since their parents left them, it's Ruhana who has done everything for Aarna. She knows her sister is upset but she didn't mean to do that to her sister.
As she's lost in thoughts, Ruhana keeps two plates in front of her. There's a cake and a bowlful of fried rice. A smile makes way on Aarna's face and then she looks at Ruhana who's beaming at her.
"I am sorry, Meethi! Maine tujhe bina wajah danta, par main darr gayi thi. Agar tujhe chot lag jaati toh main kya karti? Bas isliye ghabra gayi thi." Ruhana apologises to her sister.
"Main jaanti hoon tu mere liye kuch karna chahti thi, par us wajah se tujhe kuch ho, wo bhi main nahi chahti hoon. Main nahi chahti wo purani cheez phir se ho. " Ruhana says and Aarna holds her hand.
"Di, aap kyun sorry bol rahe ho? Mujhe pata hai aap ghabra gayi thi. Lekin Di, ye bhi toh socho ki har baar wahi cheez thodi hogi. Tab hum dono chhote they. Aur aapko bhi pata nahi chala. Please aap khud ko blame mat karo." Aarna tries to convince her sister.
In the past, one day, their parents were away and the two sisters were hungry. These two were 6 and 13 years old. Ruhana decides to prepare Maggie noodles for them, and this is the last thing she knows how to cook. Aarna decides to help her sister and the two sisters begin to make Maggie. Ruhana put the noodles to boil and decided to warm some oil, this is a technique her mother taught her. She poured some oil into a pan. Since they had three stove gas, she didn't realise that the oil bottle was leaking and the oil had spilt on the gas stove.
That time, they had a new kind of lighter in the kitchen, which Aarna liked. She wanted to warm some water, so she tried to switch on the gas, which caused a small fire and it did hurt Aarna. Ruhana has turned fearful since then and she doesn't allow Aarna to enter the kitchen.
"Didu, sab thik hai. Aur aapko toh pata hai na, jab tak main hoon, aapki life mein sab achcha hoga, aur aapke hone se meri life mein kuch bura ho hi nahi sakta." Aarna winks at her.
"Aur agar koi aaya bhi, toh aap usko aise gussa karke bhaga dogi! Vo bhi aapse darr jayega." She laughs, causing Ruhana to smile.
The two sisters share a hug and then cut the cake together. Life's good for them, surely.
To Be Continued.
How will Life go for these three souls?
Stay tuned.