" You failed me big time Farhan Khan. Who brings a girl to 'dhabas' for a coffee? " , Maya twisted her lips.
Farhan was drumming on the table. He chuckled and continued that.
" I treat girls according to how much they deserve. "
Maya made a straight face. Though she pretended otherwise, she actually loved the rawness of this tiny streetside dhaba serving coffee decorated with Little Heart biscuits and Choco chips.
" I know you are used to visit five star restaurants, but you don't deserve them. You deserve street vendors. " , Farhan blinked.
" I know I know. I deserve people like you as my coffee partner. " , Maya picked up her cup and took a long sip.
Farhan nodded.
" You don't deserve me. Just that I like making people happy by letting them believe they do. "
" You mean even the bestest of women, like me, don't deserve you. Right? Which almost makes it clear that you aren't made to satisfy women's needs. " , Maya fired calmly.
Farhan stared at her for sometime. She danced her brows.
He then made a red face.
" There was no need to get below the belt. " , he faked anger.
" Just as there's no need to always demean me. " , Maya batted eyelashes.
" Demean? I never do that. But I know, truth always hurts. " , Farhan made a sad face.
Maya slapped him on the hand.
" You could be a bit serious sometime. "
" Why even? I'm a worshipper of Batman's Joker. And the moto of my life is the same as his.... ' Why so serious? ' " , Farhan grinned.
" Yeah, and following that, the Joker commits 'serious' crimes. " , Maya concentrated on the coffee.
" I too do. Like stealing women's hearts. "
" That was lame, you know. "
Farhan scratched his forehead.
" If you really like serious guys, why don't you hook up with Professor Khurana? He seems quite interested in you. "
" Interested in me? Like really? Who on earth would be interested in this 'ugly boring' girl? " , Maya caught the right note.
Farhan made faces.
" Thought you took a dig at me? Nay!
Only boring snobbish men like Khurana would be interested in you. "
" Yet, he isn't here sitting with me. You are. "
" That's because neither him nor you own a heart as big as me. " , Farhan took a huge bite from the bread pakora.
" You are a hopeless narcissist. " , Maya modded sideways.
" Narcissist yes, but I'm extremely hopeful, that one day very soon you'll crave for my friendship. " , Farhan ducked his tongue out.
" That's your mission. Accept it. "
" Nope. That's just a part-time job. Wooing women. "
" How shameless are you? My goodness! " , Maya made a shocked face.
" That's a different story. But the important one is, why don't you like men? Are you..... " , Farhan turned inquisitive.
"So, you are trying to give me back what I gave to you. Thus my reply will be the same. There's no need to get below the belt and talk about my sexual orientation. " , Maya made faces.
She somehow enjoyed this conversation a lot..
Farhan laughed out loud for one long minute, turning heads of people around, embarrassing Maya as well. Then he turned serious abruptly.
" I was not talking of your sexual orientation anyways. I was just trying to dig into sad love stories of your past. "
" Oh please. I'm no fool. And fine, if that's what you were really asking, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. I'm no damsel in distress having stories that desire shoulders of social workers like you. " , Maya tapped on the plastic table making sounds with her nails.
Farhan stared on for sometime.
" When you talk so well, why don't you talk? "
" When the world's full of assholes, whom to show my intellect? " , Maya grinned.
Farhan's eyes twinkled.
" You're right. Khurana looks quite an asshole. "
Maya controlled a chuckle.
" Shut up. He's my dad's aquiantant. I can get you detained. He's quite revengeful I believe. "
" Are you sure Ms Raichand, you can get a topper detained? By an asshole? "
Maya smiled wide.
" Chuck it. Who's all there in your family? " , she asked.
" Hmm.
I, my sister, and Ammi. "
" That's beautiful. What does your sister do? "
" Studies. She's in twelfth std now. My father expired just after she was born.
But my Ammi too isn't a housewife. She's a teacher. She raised us with all her sweat. " , Farhan glowed.
" I know. I saw her photos of some school event on your facebook. " , Maya said.
" Ohh...... I just caught a stalker red handed ! " , Farhan grinned wide.
" Shut up. As if you didn't peep into mine. " , Maya was too confident.
" Peep into?
Huh.
Your profile....is bookmarked. " , Farhan smiled.
Maya knew she would blush any moment. So she cupped her cheeks.
" Do you just like to exaggerate everything? " , she faked anger.
" When I was born, my pious abbu took me to a 'Moulvi' .
After examining me for a long time, the man with long beard said,
' This boy will grow up to be a man who'll speak a lot.
But eighty percent of what he speaks will be exaggerated. ' "
" Are you for real? You really had to make up this story, just to exaggerate a reply? My goodness. " , Maya face-palmed.
Farhan giggled.
" I know you have a calm looking father, not a villain Amrish Puri kind, I suppose. Then, you've got a very pretty mother. And a brother who doesn't stay here, right? "
Maya nodded.
Though, she hardly knew how calm her father would be to him.
She discarded the line of thought.
" With such a lovely family, how did you grow up to be such a frown face? " , Farhan wondered.
" Ophho!
I'm no frown face. Just that, I don't want distractions. I wish the best results in BBA so that I can join dad and take Rangruchi to even bigger heights after MBA. "
" Distractions, as in, love? "
" Yeah.. Kinda.. " , Maya looked at the table.
Farhan chuckled.
" Ms Topper, love is not a distraction. It's a strength if you're in love with the right kind. "
" So Mr Topper, do you think I should spend time enough to look for the right kind? "
" Nope. The right kind will find you, even when he's not searching for you. "
Maya kept staring at him.
The deep set eyes, however mischief they twinkled, were enormously emotional. She could bet.
___
Sonara sat numb.
The woman before looked like a demolished castle.
She didn't get how to feel for her right now. One thing she knew. Her own heart was breaking into million pieces. And she herself wasn't in a position to collect all the pieces, rejoin, and stand out as a support to Maya Raichand.
The story, that had just finished being narrated by the protagonist herself, was more tragic than any of the pain Sonara had bore till date.
Pain of losing.....almost everything at a go, in the form of a human.
She wondered how Maya remained in an intact piece, all these while, never reflecting the burden she had been carrying in her heart, her soul.
She wondered how a woman could be that strong, to live a life again, after almost dying once.
Sonara slowly rubbed off the streams flowing down her eyes.
Before her, Maya sat motionless. Cupping her face in her palms. Sonara knew, behind this mask, there were rivers of tears right now. Because she could see water tricking down her elbow.
She took some more time. Also because her voice had choked.
After overcoming a barrier, she finally uttered...
" Maya....
I'm so sorry to have misjudged you suddenly....
I'm so sorry to have not been able to become a confidant enough to you, in all these time, even being a woman, that you could open up the immense grief you have contained in your heart to me.
I'm sorry Maya, I'm so extremely sorry. "
Sonara stopped, because a gust of emotions rose from the throat, and released from her eyes.
Love, should not hurt so much.
It....should not.
_____
Sonara has finished listening to the story. But you haven't. Maybe, sometime soon, you too will.
Sorry for repeated notifications from Penfolk these days. I'm in the energetic phase now, preparing for hibernation.