Sleep was far away from both their eyes. They are in their own conflicts. Anurag got up from his bed and went towards the balcony, "Baaba ko main kal kya jawab du?! Prerna meri friend hai, isse zyada main uske baare mein socha bhi nahi hai. Shaadi kaise karu?!!"
On the other side, Prerna is walking to and fro in her room which disturbed Shivi's sleep. Shivi woke up and saw Prerna in tension,
"Dii, kya hua? Aap abhi tak sone kyu nahi aayi aur yeh kapde bhi nahi badli!!! Baaba ke liye pareshan ho? Ya phir shaadi ko lekar kuch baat hai?!"
"Dono"
"Di, Baaba ko kuch nahi hoga, hum kuch hone nahi doge.. Aur rahi baat shaadi ki toh, Anurag se acha ladka kaha milega Di!!?"
"Shivii, shaadi.. bahut badi baat hote hai. Aur main yaha ek decision nahi le paa rahi hu. Baaba bahut ummeed lekar bedha hai...."
"Dii, maine pehle bhi keh rahi thi na, ki aap dono ke beech mein pyaar hai, bas dono realise nahi kar rahe ho. Jab realize hoga na, tab koi tension nahi..?"
"Shivi, tum samajh nahi rahi ho, hum dono ke beech main pyaar nahi hai. Hum ache dost hai. Pasand karne mein aur Pyaar karne mein farak hai"
Suddenly, Prerna's phone rings,
"Anurag?!! iss vakt?"
"Hmmm!! dekha Dii, pyaar toh hai!!" Shivani laughed and turned to sleep.
Prerna took the call and went towards the window.
"Hello, Anurag?? itni raat ko?!!"
"Hai, Prerna, sorry..itni raat ko call karna pada. Voh Baaba ne ..... humari..."
"Hmmm... pata hai"
"Tumne kya jawab diya?!"
"Maine kuch nahi kaha, par... kal bataani padegi"
"Maine bhi. Par... hmmm...can we meet?"
"Hhh?!"
"Can we meet tomorrow? humein face to face baat karna chahiye. Phir ek decision lete hai?"
"haa, mujhe bhi yahi sahi lag rahi hai. So kal milte hai. Bye"
"Good night"
....................................
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Mangalore
Next Morning
Murthy Industries
"Sid" Zubin called him standing at the cabin door
"Zubin.. tum vaha kyu khade ho?"
"Nahi, tum soch mein tha toh.." Zubin came inside and sat in front of him
"Its nothing"
"Really, Sid, you are not a kid now, so you have to go man, Kolkata jaa ke tumhe apni family ko sab sach sach bataana hai, yaar"
"Zubin, agar achanak koyi aake tumse yeh bole ki voh tumhara kuch lagta hai toh tum kaise react karoge?"
"What?!"
"Exactly, vahi hoga reaction."
"Matlab tum ese hi rahne vaale ho?" Sid stood up and went towards the huge glass window in his cabin
"Nahi, I need proof. Uss Naveen ke against mujhe proof chahiye. Uske baad hi main.."
"So, what are you up to?... I mean kisi ke baare mein pata karna, its easy for you na, after all You are 'the Sidharth Murthy'"
"Hmm, but iss kaam mein main apna Appa ka naam nahi khaseetna chahte"
"Then?"
"One-month ke liye main office se nahi jaa sakte, important meetings hai aur deals bhi. So I think.."
"You think that tumhare jagah main Kolkata jaau Right?"
Sid smiles
"And you know what? main yaha ke kaam khatam karke next week, straight to Kolkata"
"Thanks, yaar"
"Really, jis anaadh ladke ko uske 12 saal ki umar se apna lunch aur kapde de kar yaar bana diya tha tu ne. Aaj mera ek job hai, khud ka ghar hai, sab tere vajese. So practically, thanks mujhe tumse kehna chahiye, par sorry main nahi kehne wala, kyun ki ab aur bhi lootna hai yaar"
They both laughed and hugged each other.
.............................................
............................................
Kolkata
Anurag is waiting in the cafe for Prerna. 5 minutes later Prerna came in and greeted Anurag. They ordered coffee for them and sat there in silence. Its Anurag who thought to break the silence,
"Aaj bahut ajeeb feel ho raha hai, hai na? Kal tak hum kitne comfortably baat kar rahe the, aur achaanak aaj!"
"Anurag, tumne kya socha hai? Humein kya jawaab dena chahiye?"
"I don't know!! Baaba ne pehli baar mujhse kuch maanga hai, aur ummeed bhi kar raha hai ki main Haa karu."
"Hmm... meri bhi situation kuch esa hi hai. Maine baaba ko kabhi kisi bhi cheez ke liye naa nahi kaha hai. Aur sochne ke liye vakt bhi nahi maangi hai, par kal pehli baar main..."
"Marriage ithni badi deal ho jayega, yeh maine nahi socha tha. Anyways, now that we have to find a solution, humein iss baare mein bina koyi hesitation, baat kar leni chahiye"
Prerna and Anurag again went in silence
Anurag's thoughts
"Prerna se main apna confusion ke baare mein kaise kahu?, kya voh mujhe samaj paayegi?!!"
Prerna's thoughts
"Haa, main maanti hu ki mujhe bachpan mein Anurag se... par ab jo Anurag mere saamne beta hai, mujhe voh purani waali feeling kyu nahi aa rahi hai!!!? Shaayad saath mein vakt bitaane se future mein pyaar ho sakte hai, hai na!! jaise Shivi ne kaha. Par, inhe Kaise bataau?!"
The waiter came there to give them their coffee
"Anurag..."
"Prerna , pehle mujhe kuch kehna hai. Voh... {he sighed}, jaise hi maine coma se baahar nikla, Baaba ne mujhe sab kuch bata diya tha. One month, hospital mein Baaba mujhe yaha ki har ek ki jaankaari thi. Par... pata nahi kyu?!, mere dil main ek ajeeb si bechaini, ya phir, kisi ki khayaal!! I don't know!! Phir maine socha jaise hi main yaha, ghar pe aaunga toh, sab theek ho jaayega. Par aaj bhi I feel restless sometimes.... Voh feeling kabhi gaya nahi hai. And yeh sab main tumhe kyu bata raha hu, voh bhi nahi pata mujhe!"
"Kahi tum kisi se pyaar toh nahi kar rahe the?!" Prerna asked curiously, "Nahi voh kya hai na, yeh sab tab hota hai jab hum kisi se bahut pyaar karte hai aur voh kahi door gaye ho"
"Really?!"
"Anurag, mujhe lagta hai ki humein..." Prerna hesitated to speak
"ki humein ek chance lena chahiye?!" Anurag completed her sentence, rather asked.
"Ha, what you think?!"
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