I am on fire in this department!!!
Mere multitasking skills have gone wild

Happy Reading!!!

Outside the temple, Naina and Sameer  stood for a minute looking at each other, wordless. Sameer didn't say anything for a while in anticipation and Naina didn't speak because of hesitation.

"Baithe?" Sameer pointed to ... To what? To the floor below their feet, on the steps of the temple. In his defense, excitement and the knots in his tummy took the better of him.

"So?" Naina decided that it was better to get to the point directly. "Humein concert host karna hai. Zyada kaam to hoga nahi, starting ka introduction aur last ka resignation and vote of thanks hume dena hoga. Vote of thanks? Pata hai na?"

Sameer wasn't actually listening to what exactly she was saying. He just nodded.

"Theek hai toh ho sakta hai ki beech me wo thak jaaye ya refreshment ke liye jana chahe. To humara college band ya dance group perform karega. Ab iske saare intro ... Jo last year ... use huye hai ... Wo maine Vicky ... Sameer? Tum sun bhi rahe ho?"

"Huh?"

Sameer was caught off guard! He did what he did best in these situations. Slowly and with a sly smile he lifted his hand and pinched his ear in a SORRY. As much as Naina felt like scolding him, the way his expressions changed from lost lover boy to a cute little pup made her anger vanish.

Sameer did a happy dance in his mini victory.

"Kaha tak suni tumne meri baat?" She interrogated him with full rights and glimpses of old Naina began resurfacing in her.

"Maine ... Wo ... Introduction." He picked up a random word he had heard her say.

"Kiska introduction?" Naina crossed her arms and Sameer could read D.A.N.G.E.R.

"Nahi sudhar sakte na tum? Ek baar bas ek baar kahi full concentration de doge to ghat jaoge kya?" Naina kept on scolding him. Pyar wali daant, something he had been missing from years was served in a platter for him. "Dekho! Abhi bhi dhyan nahi hai. Yaha shoot karte hoge na tum log? Bhagwan se thoda concentration maang lena."

Naina began explaining the whole programme and procedure of script preparation again.
____________________________________

"You like Sonakshi? Tujhe Sonakshi pasand hai!" Jatin had a hand over his head! He was too shocked too accept the hypothesis.

"Dheere bol!" Dev smacked his arm. "Aisa kuch nahi hai. Sonakshi is just an entertaining person to be around."

Shefali was crossing Dev's make up room when she heard words of interest - Dev, like and Sonakshi.

"Accha?" If amusement and disbelief had a baby that would be the word to describe Jatin's tone.

"Tujhe sach sun-na hai?"

"I am all ears." Jatin was on his toes.

Shefali knew this would be the perfect opportunity to make Sonakshi listen the truth from the horse's mouth. So she, in a quick reflex, took out her phone and pressed the recording button.

"Sonakshi humari show ki writer hai bas." Dev said like he just did a big finish for a drama show.

Jatin raised his eyebrows. So, Dev continued.

"Honestly, Sonakshi ke bahut lafde hote hai set pe. Kabhi Bijoy Sir ke saath toh kabhi Ishwari ma'am ke saath. Kaafi immature bacchi hai mujhse poocho to."

"Toh? Do you like her? Do you not like her?" Jatin wasn't ready to shift from the point.

"No."

"No?"

"Nahi... She is a good coffee partner and is good for a small chit chat par I can't even date her."

"That's bad dude. I think she likes you." Jatin was serious now.

"Haa. Pata hai par I am Devrat Dixit. Mujhpe kisi ka crush hona kaun si badi baat hai? She isn't of my type. Usme ... Usme wo baat nahi hai jo Dev Dixit ki girlfriend banane ke liye chahiye. Abhi, Sonakshi bahut bacchi hai." Dev ended the conversation from his side and Shefali stopped the recording.

She looked at her phone as if it held secrets of enemy countries or as if it held a time bomb which would explode any second. Shefali was a DevAkshi shipper. She had seen how cute and mad Sonakshi was around Dev and she wanted them to end up being together but she also knew that if Sonakshi harboured any feeling for Dev now, it would destroy her ultimately.

She knew Sonakshi would be heart broken but what else was an option?

Whatsapp--> Sonakshi (Work) --> Audio --> Sent.

Shefali didn't had the heart to see the single tick turn double and then blue. She closed her phone and went to do some actual work.
___________________________________

While discussing about the script, their performance and a little rehearsal of that, the differences between Sameer and Naina dispersed like winter morning mist.

Naina was laughing at a joke Sameer cracked and he was basking in all her attention. He was raising invisible collars, doing Taki Taki Jitendra's dance with Naina in his head.

Eye contacts- long eye contacts, slight hand touches - very, very brief brushing of their hands happened. Even the sun had mercy on them and the clouds covered the sky. A cool breeze began flapping their hair.

Nazar milne se shuru hoti thi,
Kahani pyar ki.
Din dopahar guzarte the jab,
Gali me yaar ki.

Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai
Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai.

"Mai chalu?" Naina picked up her bag. "Kuch khas to tha nahi practice karne ke liye, waise tumhe to koi dikkat hogi nahi, superstar jo ho!"

"Tum superstar aise bol rahi ho jaise koi gali ho." Sameer wasn't a super star but he was a known name in the TV industry. After all the appreciation, all the awards and love of fans; the way Naina called him a superstar hurt him. It actually cut deep through his skin, it made all that he had achieved vain and baseless.

Naina pursed her lips.

"Candy floss!" Naina screamed and ran to the vendor.

Sameer followed her. All his unacknowledged efforts to please her, never made his confidence shake but this one taunt killed his zeal.

He observed her eat the candy but ... something had changed.
____________________________________

Sonakshi opened her phone to check for new messages. There was the voice note from Shefali.

"Sona di, agle scene me na...." Nikki diverted her attention and the message remained unseen.
____________________________________

"Ghar kaise jaogi tum?" Sameer asked Naina.

Tum chod do. Naina wanted to reply but then she was still confused about him. She was angry with him or with her choice. She still couldn't resist being back to normal when he was around. She was melting, slowly.

"Cab book kar lo. Meri shoot hai."

His plan was to make her see his set. The way they acted, the way episodes were crafted, the hard work they had to put in every scene, each expression and then she could go back with Sonakshi. He had a lot of plans with her. Now, he didn't feel an ounce to carry those plans ahead.

Naina's smile dropped and she felt like hitting his head.

"Mai akele jau?" Naina asked her.

"Drop karne Vicky aaya tha kya?" Regret filled his head as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Vicky?"

Anger sprouted his head.

"Mujhe Munna ne bataya ki Vicky ne sabko sunaya par tumhe congrats bola."

"Wo isiliye kyuki hosting ke liye Vicky ki pehli choice mai hi thi."

When Sunaina had been forcing Vicky to put Sameer's name in the male host coloumn, he changed the female's name and gave Naina the oppurtunity. Pandit had told Sameer about Naina's name already being there as the female host. Sameer's middle name was possessive and he had lost his cool already. It took mountain size efforts from them to cool him down but Mr. Maheshwari the volcano, had never settled down properly.

"Tumhe agar Vicky me interest hai to bol do na." Sameer had lost control over his tongue.

"Dimag to theek jagah pe hai tumhara?"

He ignored her question and went on to say -

"Ye sahi hai Naina. Meri poori attention le lo ... Are kutte ki tarah tumhare aage piche ghumta hu mai sirf ek maafi ke liye par tum ho ki meri baat tak sun-na nahi chahti. Sunogi bhi kyu? Side business ke liye Vicky jo hai na."

Naina had never been insulted in such a way.

"Mai jaa rahi hu." She couldn't conjure another word. She turned around with tears in her eyes.

"Meri baat abhi khatam nahi hui hai." He held her hand and made her face him with force.

"Mujhe dard ho raha hai." Naina tried to free her hand from his grip.

"Aur mujhe jo dard hua hai, uska kya? Itne saalon me ek din bhi aisa nahi nikla hai jab maine tumhe yaad na kiya ho." His grip loosened and his voice broke in between words. "Par tumhe na tab apne sade huye morals ke aage dikhta tha na aaj. Agar meri koi galti hoti toh mujhe bhi suspend kar dete na school wale? Kiya mujhe suspend? Bolo? Haa meri company galat thi. Mujhe bhi pata tha par akela tha mai Naina..."

Naina felt like cursing herself. She had no clue what went wrong but him being vulnerable wasn't bearable for her.

"... Fir tum mili mujhe. Tum khud batao jis din tumne mujhe smoke karne se mana kiya uske baad haath bhi lagaya maine cigarette ko?"

"Sameer ... "

The pain in her voice made him realise that he may have gone too far but it was too late to back out from his words.

"Kabhi kabhi lagta hai ki tumhe mere jaise ladke par bharosa nahi karna chahiye aur jitna time tum lena chaho utna lena chahiye ... Sab sahi hai... Par fir lagta hai ki tumne to kabhi mujh par bharosa hi nahi kiya, kitni baar maine tumse baat karna chaha... Kabhi kabhi lagta hai ki dosti bhi thi kya humare beech?"

Naina opened her mouth in her defense but she couldn't find words or points to debate her case. After all these years Sameer was right! That was a new thing but she couldn't joke about it. He threw the pages of the script on the road and went away.

___________________________________

Shefali checked her phone. The ticks of the voice note became double and blue.

She pressed the delete button.

Her thumb grazed from delete for everyone to delete for me.

She let out a long breath!

"Bhagwan bacha lena!" The worry was in Shefali's court. "Pata nahi Sona di ne sirf message dekha hai? Suna hoga? Ufffff itni tension."
____________________________________

Naina came back like a tired, guilty mess. She heard a soft music from Sonakshi's room.

"Naina date kaisi rahi?" Preeti asked her but Naina ignored both Preeti and Swati.

She dumped herself beside Sona on the bed.

"Ranjish hi sahi,
Dil hi dukhane ke liye aa." was playing.

"I don't understand boys." Naina said while looking at the ceiling.

"Me neither." Sona replied in a muffled voice. Her face was buried in the pillow.
____________________________________

In Sameer's room, Munna-Pandit were hearing Sameer's narration of the temple tale. 

They stood still, right in front of him. Sameer had his hand in his palms. MunDit stood like soldiers in attention position. They began marching and then circled around him!

"Tere jaisa yaar kahan?" Pandit held Sameer's chin and rotated it as if inspecting his face for a trace of the streak of weirdness in him!

"Ek mai hu jisko wo frock wali pandat ghas hi nahi daalti aur ek ye hai jo acchi khasi story ko reverse gear me daal aaya!" Munna scolded him too.

"Kya karta yaar? Wo Vicky ka naam le rahi thi mai bhadak gaya aur fir kuch zyada hi bol diya." Sameer's head was back in his hands.

"Are are! Ab ye bholuram kya karega?" Pandit taunted him!

"Mere paas ek idea hai..." Munna said.

"Nahi ab koi idea nahi." Sameer stopped him. "Ab faisla poori tarah se Naina ke haath me hai. Ya to haa ya naa. Sab uske haath me hai."

"Agar wo naa mani to?" Munna asked.

Sameer had no answer.
___________________________________

Preeti and Swati followed Naina into Sonakshi's room.

"Sona di !!" Swati screamed to wake Sonakshi. She got up with her hair falling in an unorderly fashion all over her head.

"Haa?"

"Bahut thak jaate ho na aap?" Naina began detangling Sona's hair with her gentle fingers. Sona pinched Naina's cheeks in return.

"Aap ek kaam karo, parso ki chutti lo aur aap humare college fest me aao.  Bahut mazze karwayenge." Preeti suggested.

"Parso poori team ki party hai. 100 episodes complete huye hai!" Sonakshi's voice was still low pitched and dreamy.

"Khana chura ke le aana humare liye." Swati giggled at her own joke.

The girls engaged Sonakshi for time being. She was too busy emotionally and also on the work front to download Shefali's voice note and listen to it.

The night deepened and it was still time for a new chapter to dawn in their lives.

Precap - Dawn of a new chapter 😂

My editing skills are sleeping btw!

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Insta id - ritii11

Aur koi formality?

Aree haa. Now Samaina have been talking in Hindi all through the ff. Toh English me jhagda ajeeb lagta isiliye Hindi me bhida diya!

Aanand bhava!

Stressed about YUDKBH precap anyone?