In the next few days, Shehnaaz and Madhu made sure Jagjit was in bed most of the time and had his medicines timely. Madhu shifted to the adjacent room in order to maintain her husband's isolation. The doctor suggested he wore a mask to avoid getting the rest of the family infected. Also, she took her father to for a second opinion went through the reports and suggested the similar prescriptions and a therapy.
'He's doing ok.. pichle kuch dino me zyada improvement toh ni dikha.. idk..'
She was chatting with Sidharth again.
'Give it sometime.. 4 din me pneumonia thik nhi ho jata..'
He replied.
'Hmm.. anyways.. kal Delhi wapas jari..'
She told him.
'Aap kab aoge?'
She asked him.
'Can't wait to see me?😉'
He texted back with a smile on his face.
'Is that even a question!?😏'
She really had a smirk on her face while replying. Was she waiting to see him again? Yes.
'Tickets book ni kiya maine abhi tak.. I've a few meetings next week.. thoda schedule dekhna padega then I'll see..'
He replied to what he had been thinking of.
'I'll see ka kya matlab? Kuch dino ke liye aao.. Sheena ke bhai ho.. aana hai aapko!!'
She immediately typed. Keep the flirting apart, Sheena and her entire family were expecting him there.
'Ofc I'll be there.. bas date decide ni kiya maine..'
He replied.
'Lo batao, yaha mai aapka wait kar rahi hu.. aur aapko padi hi ni aane ka😔😔'
She had a dramatic face while typing that, in a mood to talk, to forget the surroundings for a while and just worry about nothing for a while.
'I never said I wouldn't come! 🙄'
He chuckled, typing away. She was such a unique piece.
'Okie.. just so u know.. ur being missed!😌'
'Aww darling that's so sweet of u!😊'
'Toh aap bhi mujhe miss karte ho?'
She asked, even though she knew she was a stupid to ask such a question.
'Maine aisa toh nhi kaha?'
He giggled like a school boy, asking her back.
'How rude Sidharth!? Ur so mean.'
She was actually mad at him for saying that.
'Hey!?'
He texted when she suddenly went offline and then laughed it off.
She kept her phone away and walked out of her room, suddenly realizing that she was hungry.
"Nashta karlo." Madhu entered his room with a tray in her hands, it had a plate full of Upma and a glass of juice.
"Mai ni khana." Jagjit replied, as he kept scrolling through his phone.
"Ye ni khana? Ki chaida ae fir?" She asked him, wondering what she should prepare for him.
"Kuj ni chaida mainu." He replied and it came off quite rude.
"Haaye! Ki hoya?" She asked worriedly, keeping the tray aside and walking towards him.
He coughed, covering his mouth as she came closer and looked away.
"Ja tu." He mumbled, shifting away from her on the bed.
"Pehle sahi se baat karo." She replied.
"Nahi karni." He told her.
"Kya kiya maine? Merse nazar ho aap?" She asked again.
"Kal raat aayi kyu ni?" He asked.
"Aapne awaz di thi? Haaye, shayad meri aankh lag gayi jaldi. Kya chahiye tha? Tabiyat toh thik hai aapki?" She replied, keeping a hand on his forehead to check the temperature.
"Awaz nahi di thi." He shook his head, taking her hand off his head. He wasn't able to sleep alone after being habituated to her presence, he had wished if she'd just understand the same and try sleeping in the same room as him but then he didn't want her to fall sick as well. He was just missing her.
"Toh mujhe kaise pata lagta?!" She chuckled and he glared her.
He was about to say something but a series of coughs didn't let him, his entire body shook as he coughed.
"Aram se." She was there for him, rubbing his back to ease him and then passing him a glass of water.
"Bahar ja, tu bhi bimar ho jayegi." He told her once he sobered up.
"Pehle kehte ho aayi nahi, abhi bahar bhej rahe ho? Seedhe seedhe bola karo, ke mere bina aapka mann nahi lagta." She mentioned, sitting at the edge of the bed, next to his feet. She gently pressed them over the quilt.
"Itna samajhti hai toh aa jati!" He scoffed, getting back to his phone.
"Shhhhh! Jawan beti hai ghar me. Sharam nahi aati aap dono ko khule aam aisi baatein karte!?" Shehnaaz barged in, picked up the breakfast tray and kept it on her father's lap.
"Chup kar!" Madhu scolded her daughter, trying not to smile at her antics while her father chuckled.
"Nashta karlo Papa. Aapka TV ka cable room me lagane ke liye bol diya, ek banda ayega shaam tak." She told her father.
"Teri packing ho gayi?" Jagjit asked her.
"Mujhe bhejne ki jaldi hai?" She asked him back.
"Putt, tune kaam rok rakha hai apna itne dino se. Tu ja, hai toh sahi ek nurse." He replied, gesturing towards his wife.
The ladies chuckled and made him have his breakfast before they began to actually pack Shehnaaz's bag.
"Papa shaadi me nahi aa payega na?" Shehnaaz was upset. Even if her father recovered, she wouldn't want him to visit Delhi in such terrible weather out there.
"Hm.. koi na. Tu photos bhejti rehna. Kuch acha sa gift dena, paise bhijwa denge tere Papa tujhe. Aur humari taraf se Anju aur sabse maafi mang lena. Inki tabiyat theek hoti toh hum zarur aate." Madhu replied, folding her daughter's clothes and putting them inside the suitcase.
"Ha baba, itna samajh jayenge wo log." Shehnaaz told her mother.
"Ab toh teri dost ki bhi shaadi ho rahi hai. Tune apna kuch socha hai ya nahi?" Madhu gently asked.
"Mummy.. nahi yaar. Mere se ye shaadi-vadi ki baatein na kiya karo." Shehnaaz shook her head.
"Kyu? Kyu nahi? Ab toh tere sare dost bhi settle ho rahe hai." Madhu mentioned. When she had initiated the topic of getting married, her daughter had denied because none of her friends were married yet and that she wanted to work more in her field and get a stable job.
"Aapko aur Papa ko itni problems hui, yeh sab dekhne ke baad mai kaise shaadi ka sochu Mummy!?!" Shehnaaz asked her. She was very young but she did remember her father arguing every other day with people for Madhu who would simply sit back and cry.
"Baccha! Hum-uss waqt ki baat alag thi! Log accept nahi karte the aise rishte! Aaj ki baat alag hai, tu aisa kyu sochti hai?!" Madhu cupped her face and pulled her into a hug.
"Mummy, mujhe kabhi nahi karni shaadi." Shehnaaz mumbled, snuggling into her mother's chest like a baby.
"Acha thik hai, pehle tere Papa thik ho jaye. Hum iss bare me baat karenge." Madhu dodged the topic today. She needed to talk to her husband about it before making her daughter understand.
Soon Shehnaaz flew back to Delhi, she had to finish off a lot of work before asking her manager to grant her a leave for another 4 days for her friend's wedding.
"Welcome back! Itna miss kiya maine tujhe!" Sheena hugged her best friend at the airport when she went to pick her up.
"I missed you too!" Shehnaaz replied, kissing her cheek.
"Oye tere dark circle dikh rahe hain? Raat ko thik se soyi nahi?" Shehnaaz suspiciously asked when her friend didn't look at her best.
"Kuch vaisi samajh le." Sheena chuckled, getting into her car and driving themselves home.
"Vaise guests abhi se aane lage hain, Masi aur unki betiyaan aa chuki hain. Guest room full hai, bua log kal ayenge. Aur uske baad jo ayenge, sare guest house me rukenge. Papa ne booking kar rakhi hai." Sheena informed her on their way.
"Okay." Shehnaaz nodded, imagining how hectic her days were going to get.
"Also, Guru ka promotion ho gaya. Marketing aur management dono dekhega ab." Sheena told her.
"Oh my God! Congratulations! Usne bataya nahi mujhe!? I was in touch with him for the doctor!" Shehnaaz congratulated her friend with a hug.
"Baba, I'm driving!" Sheena laughed, trying to hug her friend and change the gear at the same time.
"Lekin Sana, itna sab responsibility usko yaha se akele karna mushkil hai. Bangalore ki branch ke pass badi team hai, he'll be moving to Bangalore." She added.
"What?! Lekin- tu toh yaha rehti hai- toh fir..!?!" Shehnaaz was taken aback, surprised, shocked when the realization hit. If Gurjot was going to Bangalore, Sheena would go with him.
"Sana.." Sheena sighed. Even her parents weren't happy about it since they believed their daughter would stay close to them in the same city and now she was going to move all the way to the south.
"What the hell!? Ye Guru ka baccha iss bare me kuch nahi kar saka?!" Shehnaaz asked.
"Promotion hua hai uska Sana." Sheena defended her finance.
Shehnaaz was so upset but she didn't say anything since Sheena had accepted the fact that she'd move to Bangalore. Well, there was no way anybody would not accept a promotion just because they got transferred. But the distance was a little too much. Even Anju and Rajiv were upset but they were trying not to let it affect them.
'Guru ko promotion mil gaya.. He'll head the Bangalore branch of his company.. Mickey bata rahi thi..'
She texted Sidharth after dinner.
'Yeah.. Mom told me.'
He replied in a few minutes.
'You knew?!'
She was surprised that he already knew.
'Mere alawa sabko pata tha.. lekin kisi ne mujhe batana zaruri kyu ni samjha?!?'
She was somewhere not happy that a lot of things had happened while she was in Chandigarh.
'Tum apne Papa ko leke pareshan thi.. isliye shayad..'
He replied.
'She's my best friend! I deserved to know before anybody else!!'
She immediately typed. Sheena had never really hid anything from her.
'Ur right..'
He could understand that she might be upset about the news.
'Ab Mickey chali jayegi yaha se..'
She mentioned.
'Uncle aur aunty bol nhi rhe.. lekin na unke face pe dikh raha hai..'
She kept thinking about her life without her best friend in the same city.
'Like they're not very happy about it.. you know..'
She added.
'I understand'
He replied.
''U should be happy.. uska room ab tumahara hua 😂'
He added, trying to cheer her up.
'Haha.'
She replied.
'U know what? If I was her, mai toh kabhi kuch nhi chhupata tumse..'
He said.
'Hm?'
She asked.
'That's the best friend code, isn't it?'
He asked her.
"Ur right.'
She agreed.
'Maybe I should be ur new best friend? What say?'
He asked again.
'New best friend?'
She asked back with a smile on her face.
'Why not?'
He asked back.
'Sahi bol rahe ho! Ye wali kisi kaam ki ni nikli..😂 Need a new one.'
She laughed, replying to him.
'That's like it.'
He was glad that she wasn't upset anymore. Well, she was but not at that very moment.
"Sana! Beta, garam pani karde. Thermos me karke Masi ko dede." Anju called.
"Ha aunty!" She replied.
'Sidharth.. I'll be back.. neeche bula rhe hain..'
She quickly typed away.
'This is how I treat ur new best friend 🤨'
His response had her surprised. She wasn't expecting him to say that.
'Ye best friend kuch zyada hi attention ni mang raha hai?!'
She smirked, asking him.
'Nhi mang sakta?'
He smirked, asking her back and wanting to know what she'd do next.
'Maine aisa kab kaha?'
She replied as she laughed at herself. Why was his mere text getting her all heated up in the cheeks.
'I'll be back in 10 bestie 😉'
She texted and pushed her phone down her pocket, making her way towards the kitchen.
Sidharth chuckled, the winking emoticon she sent was teasing him. Usually, he'd be re-arranging his work files in his office bag before going to sleep at this time. He was so punctual about his daily routine but engaging himself into a conversation with Shehnaaz in between his busy schedule was fun these days. He'd keep an eye on his phone mostly during the evenings, because she'd text him after wrapping up her work.
He looked at her WhatsApp profile, she was wearing a plain sweatshirt and denims, holding her handbag. It was simple and yet she looked so pretty.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello there! Humble apologies for the delay! Aab se regularly post karne ki koshish karungi!
Anyways, how was this chapter?!
What do you think was the highlight today?!
Who do you think is more interested in another? Sidharth or Shehnaaz?!
And how so?!