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"Tell me Shehnaaz. Kaal raat ko kya hua tha?" Said Sidharth giving Shehnaaz courage to tell everything.

Shehnaaz took a deep breath and started telling Sidharth about the previous night's scary incidents. Sidharth became shocked after hearing everything.

"Tumne usse jhule mein dekha tha?" He asked.

Shehnaaz nodded in yes and said, "Usne apna gardan pura ka pura ghumaya.... aur phir.... Mujhe yaad nahi par.... Woh bohut daravna tha...."

She started shivering thinking that but here Sidharth was thinking something else.

Flashback...

"Sidharth kya kar rahe ho? Please open my eyes." Said Sana while walking, being blindfolded.

"Bas thoda sa aur. Hum almost uss surprise ke paas pohuch chuke hai." Said Sidharth while taking Sana to the garden.

They reached near the swing and Sidharth opened Sana's blindfolds.

As soon as Sana opened her eyes, a huge smile came to her face.

"Sidharth yeh jhula...."

She sat on the swing happily and started moving backward and forward. Sidharth chuckled seeing her excitement. He knew that she would be happy and that was why he bought it for her.

"Mera humesha se sapna tha ki mere garden mein ek aisa jhula ho." She said happily.

Sidharth sat beside her and said, "Aur iss hi liye maine yeh jhula kharid liya."

"Mere liye?" She asked looking at him.

Sidharth nodded in no and said, "Nahi. Moholle ki saari auraton ke liye."

Sana suddenly pulled Sidharth towards herself by his collar and said glaring him, "Accha? Main bhi dekhti hoon yaaha koi aur kaise baith ti hai. Yeh jhula sirf humara hai."

"Of course Meri Jaan." Said Sidharth cupping her face. "Main toh sirf mazak kar raha tha."

Sana left his collars. Sidharth smiled seeing her possessiveness.

"Waise yeh jhula ab se meri favourite jagah hai. Main apne free time pe yaheen pe rahungi." She said after sometime.

"Aur main apni favourite jagah pe." Said Sidharth lying on Sana's lap.

Sana smiled and started caressing Sidharth's hair.

Flashback Ends...

"Sidharth!" Called Shehnaaz breaking his thoughts.

He looked at her when she asked, "Kya soch rahe ho?"

"Kuch nahi woh.... Accha Shehnaaz ek baat baatao. Kya tum uss jhule mein baithi thi?" Asked Sidharth curiously.

Shehnaaz tried to remember.

"Haan asal mein.... Jab aap office mein gaye the, tab main kuch der waha baith ke book padh rahi thi." She replied.

Sidharth again remembered Sana's words. Were the two things somehow connected?

Suddenly his logical brain told that he was thinking rubbish. It was not possible.

He shrugged off his thoughts and said, "Shehnaaz tum ghabrao mat. Fever ki wajah se tum chizo ko hallucinate kar rahi thi sayad. Aisa aksar humare saath hota hai. Jo chize humare saamne nahi hoti, humein woh bhi dikhne lagti hai. Tum zyada stress mat lo aur apne sehat ka khayal rakho. Thik hai?"

Shehnaaz thought for a while. She herself didn't believe in supernatural things. Maybe Sidharth was right. It was because of her high fever.

Shehnaaz smiled and slowly nodded in yes.

Sidharth also smiled and kissed Shehnaaz's forehead making her little shocked.

"Main doctor se tumhare discharge ke baare mein baat kar ke aata hoon." Said Sidharth and left from there.

Meanwhile Shehnaaz kept looking at his retreating figure.

That day, Shehnaaz got discharged from the hospital and Sidharth brought her home.

Shehnaaz's fever was gone but the weakness was still there. So Sidharth helped her to go to her room and to sit on the bed. After making her sit, Sidharth kept some cushions behind her and covered her with duvet. Shehnaaz became surprised seeing his caring nature towards her.

"Comfortable enough?" He asked to which Shehnaaz nodded in yes.

"Main kitchen mein hoon. Kisi bhi chiz ki zaroorat ho toh mujhe bula lena." He said and left from the room.

Shehnaaz leaned against the cushions and closed her eyes.

After sometime...

Sidharth came back with a bowl of soup and sat in front of Shehnaaz.

He was about to feed her when Shehnaaz stopped him saying, "Sidharth aap rehne di jiye. Main khud pee sakti hoon."

"Main puchha tumse?" He asked sternly. "Peeo chup chap."

"Par main khud....."

Sidharth glared her making her scared.

"Muh kholo apna." He said but Shehnaaz was still hesitating.

"It's my order." He again said sternly.

Shehnaaz opened her mouth and Sidharth made her drink the soup.

"Yeh hui naa baat? Jab tak gussa nahi karunga tab tak baat nahi maanogi. Pyaar ki bhasa samajh mein nahi aati tumhe."

"Pyaar ki bhasa aap ko aati kaha hai? Jab dekho daant te rehte ho aur gussa karte ho. Kaal raat ke uss daravne chehre se bhi zyada darr toh mujhe aap se....."

Shehnaaz suddenly stopped realising that she was speaking in front of him and bit her tongue.

Sidharth sighed and said, "Great! Aaj pehli baar mujhe paata chal raha hai ki main daravna bhi hoon. Anyway, isse khatam karo zaldi."

Shehnaaz didn't say anything and continued drinking from his hand.

"Aap ne khaya kuch?" She asked suddenly.

Sidharth just hummed.

"Kab?" She again asked.

"Aaj subah hospital ke canteen mein khaa liya tha." He replied.

"Aap jhut bol rahe ho na?"

"Shehnaaz....." He didn't understand what to say as he was actually lying. His silence made her sure that he didn't eat anything since morning.

Shehnaaz took the spoon from his hand and tried to feed him.

"Shehnaaz main khaa lunga baad mein......"

"Please!" Requested Shehnaaz making puppy eyes.

Sidharth couldn't refuse her and drank the soup from her hand making her happy.

Like this they made each other drink the soup.

At Night...

Shehnaaz was sleeping in her room when Sidharth came to check her. He noticed that she was moving a lot and feeling restless. He understood that last night's incident affected her very much. She still couldn't forget it.

He sat beside her and started caressing her head. Because of his touch, Shehnaaz calmed down a little. Sidharth kept caressing her head so that she could sleep peacefully.

"Shehnaaz ko kaise bhi kar ke mujhe uss trauma se bahar nikaal ke laana hoga. Uske andar ka woh darr dur karna hoga. Otherwise it will affect her health. I have to take very good care of her." He said in his mind.

A shadow passed by the room. Sidharth felt something and immediately looked at the door. But there was no one. He ignored it and again looked at Shehnaaz.

The whole night, he kept sitting there.

Since that day, Sidharth became very much caring towards Shehnaaz. He thought that her mental state was affecting her health. So he started spending time with her and tried to keep her happy. He didn't let her be alone for a moment. Even he took leave from office for that.

On the other hand, this change in Sidharth's behaviour brought smile to Shehnaaz's face. She was happy that now he didn't hate her anymore. Though most of the times he used to speak to her sternly. But still his actions always proved that he cared a lot for her. And this made her fall for him more. She knew that he would never love her back but she couldn't stop herself from loving him.

After somedays, Shehnaaz got a job in Mumbai. Sidharth helped her in finding job so that she could keep herself busy. It was the first day of her job.

Sidharth and Shehnaaz left the house together. Sidharth just opened the gate of his car when he noticed that Shehnaaz was going to another direction.

"Oh hello!" Sidharth called her. "Kaha chali?"

"Waha main road se cab mil jayegi." She replied.

"Koi zaroorat nahi hai. Main drop kar dunga tumhe."

"Par aap ko late....."

Shehnaaz stopped getting a death glare from Sidharth.

"Come!" He said sternly and got inside the car.

"At least kabhi toh pyar se baat kar sakte hai. Khadoos admi!" Thought Shehnaaz and went to his car.

She was going to sit behind when Sidharth said, "Driver hoon tumhara? Saamne baitho."

Like an obedient girl, Shehnaaz sat beside him and Sidharth started driving. Soon they reached Shehnaaz's office.

"Aaj first day hai na tumhara? All the best." Said Sidharth making Shehnaaz smile.

"Thank you." She said and came out of the car.

She moved towards the office. There her boss introduced her to the other employees. Also he told one of the employees to make Shehnaaz understand about the work.

"Don't worry. Jaise ki boss ne kaha, main tumhe saara kaam acche se samjha dunga." Said a guy coming in front of Shehnaaz.

"Hi! I'm Advait Sharma." He said further forwarding his hand.

"Shehnaaz Shukla." Said Shehnaaz smiling forwarding her hand as well.

But as soon as their hands got touched, Advait's expression changed. He sensed something. Within a fraction of second, he moved his hand back making Shehnaaz confused.

"What happened? Is everything okay?" She asked.

Advait looked at her carefully. He observed her from top to bottom and then said giving a forceful smile, "Yeah....umm..... Let's start the work."

Shehnaaz nodded and started doing the work. Advait made her understand everything but all the time he was observing her as well with a serious face. Though Shehnaaz noticed it and found it strange, she didn't say anything to him.

It was the lunch time. Shehnaaz was in the canteen and Advait was also with her.

"Tumhare ghar mein kaun kaun hai?" He asked suddenly.

"Main aur mere husband. Mumbai mein sirf hum dono hi rehte hai. Baki humari family Amravati mein rehti hai." Replied Shehnaaz.

"Ok..." Uttered Advait while thinking something deeply.

"Aur tumhare......."

Before she could complete, some other employees joined them.

"Advait! Advait! Hum sab kab se iss lunch break ka wait kar rahe the. Ab zaldi se apni kaal wali story finish karo."

"Yeah. We are eager to know uske aage kya hua."

They insisted together.

"Which story?" Asked Shehnaaz curiously.

"Story nahi. Real life incident." Said Advait correcting her.

"Actually it's about Advait's late grandfather. Woh koi normal admi nahi the. Woh mare hue logo ko dekh sakte the, unse baat kar sakte the, unke presence ko feel kar sakte the." Said one of her colleagues.

"Aur toh aur, ek baar unhone ek ladki ko sirf touch kar ke hi baata diya tha ki uss ladki ke upar kisi atma ka bura saaya hai. Advait kaal humein uss hi baare mein baata raha tha." Said another colleague.

"Phir toh yeh story hi hui na?" Said Shehnaaz and Advait immediately looked at her with a serious face.

"I mean bachpan mein meri bhi Dadi aisi stories sunati thi. But yeh bura saaya and all, yeh sab real life mein thodi hota hai?" She said further.

"Hota hai Shehnaaz." Said Advait. "Humare aas paas aisi bohut saari chize hai jinhe hum nahi jaante yaa phir sayad jaan na nahi chahte. Jo humesha dikhayi nahi dete, sirf mehsoos kiye jaate hai. Kabhi kabhi hum unhe mehsoos kar ke bhi ignore kar dete hai. Kyu ki hum educated hai, we believe in logic and science, not in those stupid superstitions. But remember one thing, iss duniya mein har chiz ko hum logic and science se explain nahi kar sakte. Atmayein hoti hai aur kisi kisi par unka bura saaya bhi padhta hai. Kya paata abhi humare bich koi aisa maujood ho jiske upar kisi atma ka bura saaya hai."

Saying that he looked at Shehnaaz who became quiet hearing his words.
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