2: Romanticising the rain
Manav whines about his failure to talk to the beautiful woman he saw on the bus. The friends speculate about the reasons behind Dhriti's decision. Yash and Ahana's problems come to light.

Manav lay in his bed, busy watching the show 'Suits'. Although his eyes looked at the screen of his laptop, his mind was busy, wandering back to the day's morning. He had seen the prettiest woman ever earlier but failed to talk to her. All thanks to his boss.

Manav groaned loudly, turning over and lying down on his back. He hated looking at ceilings with fans, but he just kept looking at it today. He had this uneasy feeling like he had lost something, something precious.

"I'll have some coffee" he murmured, getting up, and forgot to pause the episode he was watching.

Manav got up lazily, having zero energy to start the day. Pune was a new city for him. He grew up and studied in Nagpur and moved to Pune a year ago because of a job opportunity. He didn't have many friends and no relatives in the city, so his life here got too monotonous at times. This was just one of the days when he felt uninspired to go around about his daily activities.

He got ready for work, had tea and left without having breakfast. Luckily, there was a bus stop near his house, so travelling to his office was convenient. Being a software engineer, he could work from home once a week, and that was something he loved to do on dull days like these. But, clients were visiting today, so he had to go.

He got on the bus, which was on time today, a miracle! He took his ticket and sat on a seat, plugging his earphones and started listening to songs.

The bus went ahead by the same roads, and he also saw some 'regulars' i.e. the people he saw on the bus every day. The bus was stuck in traffic for around ten minutes and then faced some more traffic later on. And then God decided to bless Manav's eyes because, at the next stop, a beautiful woman stepped on the bus.  

Manav quickly looked away, not wanting to look at her like a creep. She was wearing an indigo-coloured kurta and just...just looked breathtaking according to him. She didn't sit beside him but sat in the same row as him.

He had removed his earphones from one ear and had decided to look at the beauty of the city. It had started raining, and that was something he loved. The fragrance of the mud, the pretty skies, the sound of the raindrops...he was in the team 'romanticising rain' forever.

Just like him, she was also listening to songs. He wondered about her taste in music. Perhaps, she's listening to the latest song 'Tum se'. Or maybe she likes songs from a few years ago- like 'Soch na sake', 'Kaun tujhe'. Or maybe she's listening to songs from the movie 'Jab we met'.

aaoge jab tum o sajna, angna phool khilenge...

Or maybe she listens to English songs. Maybe she is a huge directioner or a huge swiftie. Perhaps, she is listening to Espresso.

'What am I even thinking?' He laughed to himself. Just then, his attention went to the change the conductor had given him.

'It's torn!'

"Dada, this note is torn in the corner, please give me another note," he said and the conductor nodded.

"Sorry, evdhya lokan madhe kadhitari asa hota!" (Sorry, this happens sometimes when there are so many people!) he said, handing him a new note and taking the old one and Manav just nodded with a small smile, not knowing what to say.

After ten minutes his stop came, and he got off. He wished to look at her once, for the last time, but his heart started beating loudly as he noticed that she ran towards the door, in panic. 'Perhaps I could talk to her now'.

But to her bad luck, she fell and dropped everything. He quickly picked up her book and her wallet. The book was a copy of 'Grandma's Bag of Stories'.

'A children's book? Interesting

He noticed that the lady was talking on the call, so she couldn't respond to the people shouting at her.

"Jaaga ahe dada, tumhi jau shakta" (There is space, you can go) he said, walking towards the door. The bitter people were a little embarrassed and walked out of the bus. The bus driver seemed clearly annoyed.

He glanced at her, embarrassment was clear on her face. Just then his phone rang. 'Karan?'

"Arey aaraha Hu Karan, kitna bechain hota hai mere bina!"

"It's me" he heard his senior's voice.

"I'm just getting on the second bus" he panicked and said.

"You have twenty minutes"

"Yes sir" Manav replied and kept the phone in his pocket. Thankfully, he saw his second bus approaching the stop.

"Excuse me?" He heard a voice.

"Oh yes," Manav muttered and turned to hand over the things to that woman. His bus had halted at the stop, so he rushed to get on it.

After showing his daily pass, he realised that he hadn't got a chance to talk to her or look at her for the last time.

'SCREW MY LIFE'.

By the time he had relived the events of the morning, his coffee was ready.

"Naseeb mein ek unromantic aur boring life hi hai" (I have an unromantic and boring life in my fate) he muttered before going back to his room. The episode hadn't paused and had gone ahead.

"WHY?" He yelled at himself as he was reminded of the episode.

-

"Dhriti? Why did you leave your job?" Ritwik asked, shocked at his friend's decision.

"I don't know, man," she said, sighing.

"Guys, I think she is pranking us" Ahana said and all the others gave her 'a look'. She clicked her tongue, and justified, "She's drunk!"

"So?" Karan asked, "I don't think that drunk Dhriti would joke around about her career"

"Yeah, agreed," Raghav said, thoughtfully "But wouldn't at least one of us know if she was quitting?" he said, "Maybe she is joking around"

"But Raghav, you are the one who kept on suspecting that Dhriti is stressed. Perhaps, she was stressed about her job and resigning and everything, you know what I mean? Like" Vani voiced her thoughts.

"GUYS" Dhriti started, out of nowhere "Are you gossiping about me, in front of me?" She said and gasped at the end.

"She's so wasted" Karan mouthed and the others chuckled.

"Of course not, Dhriti. But why did you leave your job?" Vani said.

"Just...because," she said and giggled.

"Is it the new boss?" Ahana asked.

"Nope, she's really nice and capable"

"You weren't going up the ladder there?" Ritwik asked.

"I was"

"Then what happened? Is anything related to your family or something?" Tara asked.

"Wrong answer" Dhriti replied in what was a poor imitation of a robotic voice.

That was when everyone gave up.

"Let's just go home"

Ahana and Vani decided to take Dhriti home. Raghav and Ritwik rode away on their bikes.

"Tara? Wanna go together? I'm going to the house"

"Yeah, of course" she faked a smile as the two sat in the rickshaw which she had booked. The ride back home was super awkward. Both of them kept on looking in opposite directions, not knowing what to say to one another. That's how it had been with Karan and Tara. Long conversations about anything and everything with bickering or plain, awkward silence. They reached Vrindavan society in some time. Karan paid the driver and the two resumed their awkwardness.

"Uh..so what is your flat number?"

"A-707" he said and Vani tried to hide her shock. He's going to live in front of me?

"Oh wow, we're actually neighbours now," she said with cringeworthy laughter.

"Yes," he said with a hesitant smile. Oh my, this is so weird.

"It's a furnished flat, right?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm going there to sleep today. Bought my first house" he said.

"Oh yeah, right." Tara muttered, "Congratulations, Karan," she said with a smile of genuine happiness for her friend.

-

After dropping Dhriti, Ahana went back to her house. She and her husband, Yash had recently bought it before they got married. This house was the symbol of their new life together. Ahana often found herself wondering what this new life was. Him being away and her being here? Was their new life going to be so dictated by his family? She took a shower and changed her clothes. He had left a note on the nightstand.

'I'll be back by 12, sleep tight love!' and he had drawn a heart and smiley face with some stars.

The notes charm didn't work for her now, though. She switched off the lights and dozed off.

True to his word, Yash was back home by midnight. He used his key got in and went straight to his and his wife's room. She was fast asleep by the time he had reached home. A soft smile appeared on his face seeing her sleep peacefully. She turned a little, perhaps because she felt someone else's presence in sleep.

"I should freshen up and change or Ahana will kill me" he muttered to himself.

He changed his clothes and sat beside her, just like that for that, he felt peaceful and calm. Being around her made him feel genuinely happy.

Being with her kept him sane, her mere existence was comforting; but unfortunately, due to the current circumstances, being with him drove her insane.

A/N: pls let me know about the grammatical errors or typos, thank you, hope you liked this part❤️