It had been more than a week, except for Madhu's brother and his family everybody had begun to leave. Sheena and Gurjot would have stayed if it was not for them to set up their home in Bangalore.
"Call karegi na mujhe roz? Meri toh dono betiyan ghar se nikal gayi, itna soona lag raha hai ab." Anju said, as she had a conversation with Madhu and Shehnaaz over a video call.
"Karungi Aunty." Shehnaaz replied while dusting the living area that they had occupied.
"Bhabhi, apni medicines lete hain na time se?" Anju asked her.
"Hanji." Madhu nodded. Her husband's demise had her blood pressure fluctuated.
"Sana baccha, Mummy ka khayal rakhna. Job dhundni chalu ki tune?" Anju asked further.
Since Anju was like her guardian, this question coming from her didn't bother Shehnaaz but the fact that her uncle's family could also listen to this, bothered her. She stilled at her place, gave herself a second and then answered.
"Dekhti hu Aunty, mere ko thoda break chahiye abhi kaam se. Mummy ke sath rehna chahti hu." She nodded.
"Mann na aise time me kuch karna nahi chahega beta, lekin time toh kisi ke liye nahi rukta na? Samay ke sath aage badhna padta hai. Teri job se Mummy ka kya lena dena, Madhu tere sath hi rahengi na." Anju tried to explain her point.
When Shehnaaz didn't respond, Madhu gestured to her to take a seat next to her and took a hold of her daughter's hand.
"Soch iss bare me." She also suggested.
"Hanji. Chalo aunty, mere ko khana banana hai. Rakhti hu." Shehnaaz smiled assuring Anju that she'd think about it.
"Ha, dhyan rakhna." Anju replied, hanging up.
Shehnaaz then made her way into the kitchen, since her uncle's family was staying back, her workload had increased. She couldn't ask the guests to back her up in the household chores because they were better at accompanying her mother, console her and keep her talking. She'd get up early in the morning, prepare tea and breakfast for everybody, clean the dining table soon after and take a break to wash up herself before preparing lunch. Similar were the scenarios around dinner time.
"Madad kardu?" Madhu asked today. Her daughter smiled, finally her mother was getting up and walking around to look after their house.
"Nahi, bas baitho table pe. Roti lati hu sek ke." Shehnaaz replied, setting up the dinner table.
"Tune naukri kyu chhodi?" Her uncle, Rajesh, asked.
"Papa ke treatment ke time bohot leaves li thi. Chhuti milti nahi, manager pareshan karta." She replied, serving him chapatis.
"Beta, tune ghar bhi toh chalana hai." He pointed out.
"Samajhti hu Mama. Dusri jagah dekhungi, yahi kahi Chandigarh me." She replied, wanting to stay with her mother from now on.
"Aisa hai toh, mere chacha ke bete se baat kar sakti hu mai tere liye." Her aunt, Lata, spoke.
"Dentist hai mera bhai, uske clinic me receptionist chahiye unko." She added, it had Shehnaaz still in her place in surprise.
"Meri beti graphic designer hai. Delhi me 50 hazar kamati thi mahine ka." Madhu interjected, offended that they didn't know how qualified her daughter was.
"Hain?! Didi mujhe nahi pata tha. Sana, tujhe itni achi naukri nahi chhodni thi." Lata apologetically replied, focusing on her meal and the topic was dropped as the dinner proceeded in silence.
"Sabke sath kyu nahi khati?" Madhu asked her daughter later in the night as they were preparing their bed.
"Phir sab job wagera ke bare me puchne lagte." Shehnaaz rolled her eyes, it made her mother smile. However, she hardly ate.
"Teri marzi, tera mann nahi hai toh mat kar abhi. Aram se jana." Madhu said, caressing her daughter's hair.
"Mai kahi nahi ja rahi." Shehnaaz replied.
"Tujhe yaha achi job nahi milegi putt, isliye toh tu Delhi gayi thi na." Madhu reminded her.
"Mai kahi nahi jaungi Mummy." Shehnaaz repeated herself, wrapping her arms around her mother and closing her eyes.
"Aise kaise chalega hm? Shaadi ke baad bhi aisi bolegi." Madhu smiled, hugging her.
"Aap chaloge mere sath? Delhi? Ya jaha bhi meri job lagegi? Ya jaha bhi meri shaadi hogi?" Shehnaaz asked her mother.
"Mai kaise? Sana, tere Papa ko gaye 10 din nahi huye hain. Mai yeh ghar chhod ke kaise ja sakti hu? Yeh humara Ghar hai." Madhu was not expecting such a thing. Leaving behind the house her husband made for them was out of the question.
"Aur shaadi ke baad mai tere sasural me rahungi? Jhalli!" Madhu chuckled.
"Bas phir. Koi kahi nahi jayega. So jao." Shehnaaz announced, getting comfortable under the covers and switching off the lights. Madhu didn't bother her either.
Shehnaaz regretted staying away from her parents, not being able to provide her father the right treatment at the right time. She wasn't planning to let that happen again and decided to stay with her mother. Every second of the time she was awake, she'd feel how it would have been if her father would have made it. How would it have been if Jagjit was taken to Fortis a few weeks before? He would have definitely survived.
Only if she'd have been there and been stubborn enough like her father to take him to the hospital sooner. Only if her parents had not neglected their health just not to worry their child about themselves.
Only if Jagjit wanted to recover and get well soon for his family rather than focusing on his property matters and wanting to spend some time around carelessly. Only if he'd have been serious about his own health.
Shehnaaz stared at Madhu who was fast asleep and there it was her, she didn't even get a wink of sleep in the last few days. She'd be tired after all those household chores but couldn't find the peace to sleep at night. She slipped away from her mother and sat up slowly so as not to wake her up and grabbed her phone to pass some time. Her whatsapp was filled with people's messages, they had dropped their condolences when they got to know about Jagjit. Her colleagues, friends from school and college, some of her father's friends were also there. She'd simply open the chats but could not bring herself to reply because there were so many.
She put some soft music on, just some old melodies in its instrumental form through her bluetooth and strolled outside towards the terrace to walk around a little. And just like that she spent another day.
Sidharth and Vardhan were having lunch with their clients regarding their upcoming project. They were going to work on a big restaurant this time, named 'Wine and Dine', the fact that it was owned by a renowned businessman made it a big deal.
"Have heard a lot about you guys, because I want something new this time. I'm gonna go with you people." Raj Singh told them over lunch.
Since it was just a lunch meet up, Sidharth and Vardhan had a catalogue along with them to let the other party know about their work. So far, Singh seemed interested. The meeting was arranged in yet another restaurant Singh owned, they had been here once and knew how Singh liked it.
"I guarantee you won't be disappointed sir." Sidharth replied with a pretty formal face.
"I'll get back to you guys next week to sign the papers then?" Singh mentioned, forwarding his hand towards the men. Both Sidharth and Vardhan shook hands with him as they stood up.
"We'll wait for you." Vardhan smiled as he took his leave along with his friend. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Ishani around, she was having her lunch with some people at the nearby table.
"Ishani? Hii." He approached her.
"Hi Vardhan. Tum yaha?" Ishani smiled, getting up to greet him.
"Yeah, meeting ke kaam se aaye huye the." He replied, hugging her.
"Oh hi Sidharth." She smiled at the guy behind Vardhan as well, stepping aside a little, she hugged him shortly.
"Hey." Sidharth returned the gesture.
"Actually mai bhi kaam se aayi thi. I interviewed a businessman for the magazine. Here, this is my team." She told them, introducing them to her colleagues.
"Would have asked you guys for some drinks, but we're a little tight on the schedule." Vardhan told them, knowing Ishani would ask them to join.
"It's okay. Hum bhi nikal rahe hain." She replied as just then a waiter came over to return her card.
They were walking out altogether, Ishani couldn't help but look at Sidharth. He wasn't a very talkative guy, even she was a little bit like that. And today, in that jacket he looked quite good.
"Sidharth.." she said, since he was walking after her she could use the opportunity.
"Yeah?" He came next to her.
"Do you like coffee? There's a really nice cafe near my office." She said, she sounded a little hesitant but finally made the move.
"Yeah?" He replied, his response wasn't very clear. He looked at her, asking him out so sweetly that he didn't refuse the idea. Moreover, denying her on the spot in the middle of the day would have seemed rude.
"It's okay if you're not free, mai aise hi bol rahi thi." She immediately told him
"Nahi Ishani, it's not that. I mean how about tomorrow?" He replied. Talking one on one would be a better choice.
"Okay." She smiled as she nodded, turning to leave.
"How would I know kaha aana hai?" He asked her and she then realized that she didn't tell him anything about that cafe.
"Yeah sorry, it's Brew cafe. Link road, Bandra." She replied, showing him a picture of the place on her phone.
"And here." She passed her phone so that he could give her his number. He nodded, feeding his contacts and taking his leave.
"I see, there's still hope." Vardhan commented as soon as Sidharth got into the car. He didn't respond, not wanting to entertain his friend on this.
Later in the night, Sidharth was doing his laundry. He put all the shirts he wore this week and let them soak in the water before adding the detergent. Amongst his everyday chores, his mind would travel back to his trip to Chandigarh, to Shehnaaz. To the way she had been back then, he wanted to know how she was doing now, if she was really fine and if she wanted to talk to him about it. Since he had been there at her place, after losing his father, he knew how terrible it felt and all he wanted to do at that time was to be left alone. That was one of the main reasons why he wasn't bothering her with his texts but he did drop a few messages every other day about her and her mother's health and she'd reply with a word or two.
On that note, he decided to text her. Upon checking his phone, he found a message from Ishani. She had asked if he could be there at 7 tomorrow and he replied in affirmative.
'What did u make today?' He asked not wanting to go with the how are you today question.
'Rajma, roti, daal, chawal' Shehnaaz was online, she had just finished doing the dishes after dinner at night and settled on the bed.
'Nice' He replied.
'How was ur day?' She asked him.
'It was fine.. the same old.. urs?' He asked back.
'khana banaya.. kapde dhoye..' She responded. That's all she did lately.
'That's it?' He replied, amazed to know that she hadn't stepped out of her house yet, confining herself into the house instead.
'U think it's not enough? 5-6 logo ka khana.. breakfast, lunch n dinner!' she was lowkey offended. Cooking 3 times for half a dozen people wasn't easy. Her uncle and aunty had two children as well.
'Oh.. Mama n family still there?' He asked.
'Yeah' she replied.
'Don't u miss going to work?' He couldn't help but ask it.
'its ok if u wanna take a break..' He added when she didn't reply, realizing he had overstepped.
'I don't know Sidharth.. I don't know what I wanna do..' Shehnaaz replied. She wasn't in a clear state of mind every time she began to think, there would be so many things in her plate to look after.
'U will figure it out.. relax' he told her. It was fine to not feel sorted all the damn time and she was going through an extremely vulnerable phase.
'I don't have the time to relax either' she replied. She had taken up a medical loan, that needed to be repaid in a few months. Even though she had plenty of time, she didn't have much savings to repay the loan without a job and run the house for long although her father's insurance was helpful. She needed to find a job but she didn't want to begin with work anytime soon. But she had to. Yet she didn't want to.
'what do u mean?' he asked.
'Nothing' she replied, not really wanting to share her story. She knew she was going to manage it on her own.
'U know u can tell me anything' he mentioned.
'Yeah' she had a small smile when she read his text because she knew he was a good guy to talk to but she just didn't want to get there.
'Will start looking for a job soon' she informed him.
'That'd be good' he replied. He also wanted to tell her that she could let him know if she needed help yet he kept his concerns to himself. She'd ask if she needed help.
There were only a few people who had been checking up on her, Sidharth was one after Sheena, Gurjot and Anju. It was a good thing had she made such a nice friend, where the awkwardness among them was long forgotten. Keeping her phone aside and beginning to prepare the bed for her mother because she wasn't feeling sleepy at all.
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Hello all! Kya haal chal everybody?
Finally Sidharth and Shehnaaz getting into a conversation ha? How did it feel?
I Know things are far from romantic, it's gonna take some time, we'll get there one day.
I know the Ishani thing might not be liked but it's a part in the process, stay tuned to find out.
Also, I can only send lots and lots of hugs to all the people who wrote how they also went through difficult phases in their life.. lots of strength and power to you guys! My heart goes out to people who've faced such an unfortunate situation, but just know that ur parents only become the shining star in ur life, they'll always be there with you and guide you through as your angles.. ❤️