Chào các bạn! Vì nhiều lý do từ nay Truyen2U chính thức đổi tên là Truyen247.Pro. Mong các bạn tiếp tục ủng hộ truy cập tên miền mới này nhé! Mãi yêu... ♥

Sinking Hopes


Naina dashed into her bedroom and stood in front of the wall-fixed mirror. Her eyes brightened with happiness and her smile widened seeing her reflection. She was heaving... not because she had run, but because for the first time, she was looking at herself as her mother's daughter. As Rama Agarwal's daughter. As a kid, she had often heard her elders speak about how the children of the family have taken characters of their parents, or whenever they would go to functions and meet their extended family, she would often hear Taiji or Bela Chachi commenting 'bilkul apni Maa par gayi hai' when they would bless her cousins. She even knew how much Swati resembled her mother in appearance. But for her, she never heard such comments. In her childhood, she would ask Bela Chachi whom she resembled with and how her mother was. Sometimes Bela would answer her innocent questions but one day, when Bela had seen her crying silently in her room after listening to a small anecdote of her mother and she then fell sick, Bela had stopped sharing about her mother thinking this would only affect Naina's health.

Naina once had got to see the only few photos of her mother, when she was in the fifth grade, but that was the only memory of her mother she could remember. Because little Naina never had that courage to ask for the access to Taiji's Almirah, where the photo albums would be kept. And as she grew, the pictures in her mind faded gradually. But now, she could actually visualize it again. The blurred image of her mother from her memory had become crystal clear. Today, she learnt new things about her mother, that too from her father, who would hardly talk about his wife in front of Naina. She got to know how she was dear to her mother, how her mother was excited to have a daughter and had dreams for her. She got to know how her mother wanted to treat her like a princess and bless her with so much love.

Yes! There was someone who truly wanted her.... Before Sameer came into her life...

She rejoiced at the thought itself. Her eyes pooled with tears but her smile didn't dwindle. Those were the tears of happiness. A short giggle escaped her mouth amidst the tears, realizing why she was missing her mother so much yesterday... Or why she just wanted to use a larger Bindi today than usual... or why Papa felt like sharing some memories of her mother... Probably destiny had just planned it somehow. To bring her closer to her mother... to fill the void of the memories of her mother, she hardly had... The tight knots of her childhood were unraveling slowly. The taunts of 'bin-Maa ki bachchi' and 'paida hote hi Maa ko kha gayi', were receding now. She knew she wasn't an unloved kid anymore, her mother loved her then and her father loves her now. Well, he had always loved her as a child but these days he was showing it often. And that was indeed magical.

For her, having received parental love from Chachaji-Chachiji was always a blessing in itself, but there was always that corner of her heart that would make her question herself why she wasn't loved by her own father. But not anymore!! She had gotten everything now. She has Papa, whom she knew would pamper her like she always wanted to be and she has Sameer who loves her beyond everything and is her life.

Sameer... when would he come back... she was waiting desperately for him... to give him the tightest hug and tell him what she experienced today...

Come soon, Sameer...!!!




"C'mon Sameer, let's talk about the film..." Aryan turned his chair towards Sameer and crossed his one leg on the other knee. Sameer sat attentively and listened as Aryan continued, "Yaar, mai poori script toh discuss nahi kar sakta tumhare sath, lekin jab maine tumhara audition dekha, toh I felt a kind of innocence in you. And just like I mentioned that the character is a flirt, toh mujhe uss nazar se tumhe dekhna hai... so that I can be sure of you."

Sameer shifted on his chair slightly. He knew how this film could be a stepping stone for his career in films and there was no chance that he would let go of this role in any condition. He knew he would need to convince Aryan anyhow that he is suitable for this role and if it requires multiple auditions for that right here, then he was ready for that too. He cleared his throat slightly, "Aryan, apko exactly kya expected hai?" He asked.

Aryan snapped his fingers and directed his index finger at Sameer, "bang on!! See this is what I liked about you. Straightforward. Toh baat yeh hai ki I really can't see you as a flirt. You look like an innocent lover boy. Jo shayad film ke baad wale phase ke liye thik bhi hai, but you should look convincing for a role of a flirt too. Only then will it look like progress, you getting it?. Toh bass, ek-do scenes hai jo mai chahta hu tum mujhe karke dikhao..."

"Haan kyun nahi..." Sameer readily agreed, "aap bataiye kya karna hai..." He added with a gentle smile.

"Okay good. Just wait a minute." Aryan opened the draft on his lap and rifled through some unbound pages randomly kept in it. He took almost a minute to figure out the scene he wanted Sameer to perform in front of him. "aahhh... got it.... This one... yeh karke dikhao..." He forwarded a page to Sameer and continued, "...Aur aise perform karo jaise sach me koi audition de rahe ho thik hai... and I can give you the girl's cues..."

As Sameer accepted the page, he nodded and muttered, "okay... just give me five minutes. Mai thoda prepare karta hun aur phir perform karta hun. Chalega na?" He softly asked.

"Yeah yeah sure. Take your time." Aryan assured Sameer and leaned back to his chair.

Resting his forearms on his knees, Sameer bent forward a little and started reading the script. He narrowed his eyes as he read those flirtatious dialogues. During the audition, he had felt so awkward while delivering those lines. And he himself was surprised at how he was even selected for that pathetic audition. But now that he was given a chance, he didn't want to underperform. It took him hardly two minutes to memorize the dialogues, but what he found difficult was to get into the character to deliver those lines. He closed his eyes and tried to recollect all the lessons from his acting class. He needed a face in his mind so that he can at least have a feel of that character. And as obvious as it could be, the face that appeared in his mind the moment he closed his eyes, was Naina's. A gentle smile crept on his lips. How beautiful she was looking!!

Focus Sameer... Focus...!!!

His subconscious warned him. He tried to feel for Naina like the way it was written in the script. But he just couldn't. The dialogues and Naina's innocent face just didn't go together. He tried again to imagine himself in the playful mood he would generally be before making love to Naina. But no!! He failed again. He couldn't get the dirty feeling that was expected in the script. He tried to imagine some of his favourite actresses. But failed again. Even Julia Roberts didn't work for him. In fact, he soon realized that he just can't invoke this feeling inside him, it doesn't matter who was in front of his eyes. Probably it was there in his upbringing, to be respectful towards women. And he found himself failing miserably in this task. He wished there was at least one such scene in his acting class, so that he would have had a knowledge about how to perform such scenes. But Shergill Sir had also said, you don't need to personally have an experience of something to portray it on the screen. So, keeping all the faces aside, he just focussed on the lines again and tried to develop the scene in his mind, as how he would project it.

Meanwhile, Aryan was just observing Sameer. He had seen it for the second time this evening when Sameer would close his eyes and think about something. He had taken out a cigarette from his pocket, but hadn't lit it. Instead, he rested his elbow on the armrest, brought his hand close to face and kept on rotating the cigarette in his fingers while leaning back in the chair. There was a constant smile on his face. He saw the continuous changes in Sameer's expressions. He saw how a few locks of Sameer's hair were falling on his forehead as he had bent forward. Aryan noticed his broad shoulders perfectly fit in that black shirt, the way he had folded his sleeves exposing his strong forearms, those slightly visible hair on his chest above his shirt's first button, his fair skin tone, his face without a blemish, his long fingers, long nails and his big hands he had held the script with. This boy was indeed a hero material. Aryan smirked, as the thought crossed his mind for the tenth time since Sameer had come.


"Aryan, mai ready hu..." Sameer's voice brought Aryan back from his thoughts.

"Okay, good. Come this way please..." Aryan pointed to an open space for Sameer to perform. Keeping the script on the centre table, Sameer walked to the place and set his hair a bit.

"You ready? You want me to come there?" Aryan asked while turning his chair towards the place Sameer was standing.

"No, it's fine." Sameer answered. Aryan chuckled and gave him a nod to start his audition.


"Kaha gayi thi jaan-e-man? Kitne din ho gaye apna haseen chehra nahi dikhya tumne...."

Sameer started the scene.

"Shimla gayi thi. Kyun? Did you miss me?" Aryan gave him the cue.

"Toh aur kya... kitne din ho gaye iss badan ko chhue hue..." Sameer felt disgusted himself while saying it.

"Achchha?" The next cue was given by Aryan.

"Haan... kitna miss kiya maine tumhe... tumhare yeh raseele honth, yeh komal hath, yeh najuk si kamar...."


"Sameer yaar.... Wait wait..." Aryan interrupted Sameer in between. As Sameer paused, Aryan continued, "Sameer... yeh abhibhi pehla jaisa hi ho raha hai... See, I understand it's a duet scene, phir bhi.... Tum abhibhi pyar se hi bol rahe ho..."

Sameer looked down as he mumbled, "aaa... sorry..."

"No need to be sorry Sameer..." Aryan gently said. "But, you know... if you're imagining your wife then it's definitely not working... yaar, aise socho jaise koi kameena insan kaise baat karega... woh kya kehte hai... haan... tharki insaan... so think like that...'' He suggested.

Sameer gestured and after a few moments, he repeated the line he was cut at, putting more efforts to sound vulgar this time. But he was again halted by Aryan.

"Sameer kya kar rahe ho yaar..." Aryan stood up frustrated, putting his hands on his jeans waistline. "Dekho, mai tumhara acting instructor nahi hu jo tumhe detail me har scene samjhau. Naa hi yeh mera kaam hai aur naa hi mere paas itna waqt hai..."

Sameer didn't say anything and looked down again. He felt embarrassed.

Aryan sighed and walked to Sameer, "Let me help you." He stood in front of Sameer and said, "okay put your hand on my waist."

Sameer's eyes widened in surprise. "What?" His instant reaction came up and he unknowingly retreated one step back.

Aryan looked at Sameer's frightened face and smirked, "what was that Sameer? You just stepped back from me. Koi director tumhe scene samjhaega, toh tum aise behave karoge uske sath?" Aryan raised his one brow. He continued, "c'mon Sameer, get out of your inhibitions. Tumhe pata hai agar tum select hote ho iss film ke liye toh you have to smoke, you have shirtless scenes, you have intimate dance numbers... And you have to have zero inhibitions agar tumhe hero banna hai toh..."

Sameer listened to Aryan with his head down but he knew that it was true. Wasn't that the first lesson in his acting class? 'tumhe besharam banna padega.' Shergill Sir's voice rang in his mind. But why was there so much difference in the way Aryan was speaking it? He had performed intense emotional scenes with Tejashree in his acting class which involved hugs and kisses, and not just that, there were multiple romantic scenes he had performed in the three months duration of the class. So he kind of knew that he would be performing such scenes in films. But, somehow it felt very awkward to do the same with Aryan, who was standing bare chest in front of him. But then, Aryan was right too. If a director is supposed to demonstrate the scene to the actors, then such incidents are bound to happen.


"Sorry Aryan, aap please bataiye..." Sameer humbly said.

Aryan's lips curved in a lopsided smile, as he thought for a moment. "Okay pehle toh kuchh tips." Aryan rubbed his palm on his beard, "Pehli baat, tum poora dialogue ek saans me bol rahe ho... zaroori nahi hai... you have to work on your breathing techniques... nahi toh jab koi bada scene aayega, toh you'll go breathless... aur tumhari hi energy kam ho jayegi..."

Sameer intently listened to him. He hadn't received any such feedback in his acting class. But as he paid attention, he registered that that was true. He would sometimes breathe heavily as he finished a big dialogue. And now he got to know the reason behind it. "Okay Aryan." Sameer said.

Aryan smiled, "aur dusra... tumhe itni jaldi kyun hai dialogue khatm karne ki? Ghar jaldi jana hai kya?" He teased.

"Na.... Nahi... toh..." Sameer stuttered.

"Toh thoda aaram se bhai..." Aryan gestured through his hands. "Feel the dialogue Sameer. I mean, though you are flirting with the girl, tum uski tareef kar rahe ho... toh feel each line.... Take pauses... okay..."

Sameer pursed his lips and nodded. "Okay, agar mai karke batau, toh koi problem toh nahi?" Aryan raised his brows.

Sameer took some time but then shook his head in no and just smiled a little. It was his first time to get a demonstration from a director like this. The two commercials he had featured in were performed with his own interpretation or with hardly any help from the director. And it wasn't much. But here, Aryan was taking it upon himself to explain everything to him. Though he wasn't a director, he was helping with the scene. Otherwise, who else spends this much time for a struggling actor, calling him personally for a meeting or informing about the time change due to his own meetings? If there was any other person, he would have kept Sameer waiting outside his office and not even bother about informing about it. But Aryan had shown courtesy and had asked Sameer to come to his home despite being busy.


"Okay, come here..." Aryan grabbed Sameer's wrist without warning and pulled him near a big wardrobe. "Yahan khade raho aise..." He made Sameer stand against a wardrobe and kept his hand near Sameer's head.

Sameer was bewildered from the moment Aryan had grabbed his hand, but he couldn't process what was happening and utter a word. He took a deep breath as Aryan leaned a bit closer to him. And before he could speak, he was interrupted by Aryan, "ek baat batau Sameer... Kasam se... Ek din mai bhi director ban jaunga... Dekhna tum..." Aryan said.

It had been quite a few minutes since Sameer was answering only in nods. And so he did it again. "Mujhe dekho, mai karke batata hun... aur tumhe cues dene ki zaroorat nahi hai... okay..." Aryan instructed and Sameer nodded again.


Aryan took a brief pause and started with the dialogue. He looked straight into Sameer's eyes, "kahan gayi thi jaan-e-man... kitne din ho gaye tumhara haseen chehra dekhe hue... " Aryan smiled to see that Sameer appeared a little conscious. He continued with a husky voice, roaming his index finger from Sameer's jaw line to his throat, "kitne din ho gaye iss badan ko chhue hue..."


Sameer clenched his fists as he felt Aryan's finger on his skin, near his collarbone. He was feeling it awkward but couldn't comprehend how to confess this to him. Aryan leaned closer to Sameer and Sameer moved his head back further. But sigh!! There wasn't any space left for him to move and he kind of banged his head on the wardrobe. He realized that Aryan was standing so close and had almost caged him. Sameer breathed heavily and he could inhale the smell of scotch from Aryan's mouth and the recently launched Giorgio Armani perfume from his toned body. How many times he had picked that bottle in a showroom and put it back! Sameer mentally laughed at his destiny.

"Kitna miss kiya maine tumhe..." Aryan didn't break the flow of his demonstration. "Tumhare yeh raseele honth..." He stared at Sameer's lips for a moment and traced his lip with his fingernail and paused for a few moments.

Sameer squeezed his eyes shut at the touch of Aryan's nail on his lips and the moment he felt Aryan's palm on his shoulder, he turned his face to the other side. Aryan didn't have to explain everything in this much detail. This was not a final take of a film but a casual audition for a confirmation of a role. Isn't there any second round of auditions? There must be, just like the previous time he was called for a second round. He had seen a mass of people for this film's audition too. So there has to be a way to scrutinize good talent from this much number. Why does there have to be an audition at someone's home? Sameer wasn't able to fathom what was going on and as he felt Aryan's tracing his hand from shoulder to his wrist, his brain had almost stopped working.

"Yeh komal hath..." Aryan, unaware of Sameer's reaction, just continued with it. He hadn't even checked if Sameer was paying attention to him or not. "Yeh tumhari nazuk si kamar..." He placed his big palm flat on Sameer's stomach and spanned it across his waist. He was trying to move closer but instead sensed two big palms on his shoulders and felt a push.

"Aryan....." Sameer pushed Aryan back with just a little force but with a raised and firm voice. And though it was a slight push, it still made Aryan take two steps back.

"Relax man.... What happened?" Aryan blurted in astonishment.

"I... am... sorry... but I'm not comfortable..." Sameer stammered.

Aryan chuckled and took a step ahead, "okay relax... thodi der me phir samjhata hun..."

"Aryan..." Sameer interrupted him, "mujhe koi audition nahi dena... aur mujhe nahi lagta yaha mera audition ho bhi raha hai..." Sameer voiced with a stern face.

A wicked smile covered Aryan's lips and he smirked, "achchha no problem... tumhe nahi dena na audition, mat do..."

Sameer heaved in relief but paused seeing Aryan coming closer again. "Ek kaam karte hai Sameer..." Aryan said in a suggestive tone, "let's do a favour for each other..."

Sameer frowned, "what?"

"Mai tumpe ek favour karta hun... that I'll give you this film..." Aryan stated but Sameer was still perplexed and the expressions on his face were still the same. Aryan amended, "Okay, I'll give you two films. And in return..."

"Badle me kya?" Sameer asked. You should leave this place Sameer... His subconscious warned him but he actually wanted to hear the offer, so that he would be prepared for such a situation the next time.

Aryan looked at Sameer and smiled, "touch me Sameer!!!" His voice was hoarse and he walked closer, "Touch me the way I like..."

Sameer gasped and his eyes widened in surprise. He tried to leave but was blocked by Aryan as he put his hand on the wardrobe. "C'mon Sameer, it's such a small thing..." Aryan laughed. "ya phir... let me touch you..." Aryan put his palm on Sameer's stomach again and intended to move it upward to his chest.

Sameer closed his eyes as he felt disgusted with the touch. The touch he was thinking as part of the audition had now suddenly turned unpleasant and unwanted when the intention behind it got cleared to him. The stench of alcohol had already infused in his head and now the touch of Aryan with the dirty intention just put all his senses at work. He wasn't subtle and humble all this while by choice, but he had become one in these years. But that didn't mean the Sameer, who once upon a time would always be so enraged with the world, was gone forever. There used to be a Sameer who would just wear his red boxing gloves and take all his anger and frustration on a punching bag. And in a moment, his consciousness was taken over by anger, his subtlety was replaced by impertinence, his facial nerves expressed revulsion, all his body strength surged in his hands and Sameer pushed Aryan with all his might. The push was so powerful that Aryan stumbled a few steps back and collapsed on his bed. His feet slammed the hard wood of the big double sized bed and his back hit hard on the mattress.


"What the....!!!!!" Aryan looked at Sameer in bewilderment and what he saw looked threatening to him. Sameer was heaving in anger and his fists had clenched hard. Aryan fumed with rage and stood up. "You bastard..." A slang came from his mouth and his fist raised in the air to hit Sameer, which was again caught midway by his strong hand.

"Don't...!!" Sameer's infuriating eyes darted into Aryan's. "Don't... Aryan...!!" He uttered with the gritted teeth and pushed Aryan again with the other palm.

As Aryan fumbled a step back, Sameer immediately walked out of the room. He reached the door of the living room taking long strides and opened it when he heard Aryan screaming and he just turned to look back.

"You can't just go like that, Sameer..." Aryan yelled standing in the door frame of his bedroom.

"Aryan... agar mujhe chahe kaamyab banne me kitna bhi waqt lage, lekin mai naa hi kisi ka favour loonga aur naa hi kisi pe koi favour karunga..." Sameer stated and left the house banging the door behind him.




The moment Sameer kept his feet out of the flat 1002, the pretense of his anger ended and fear took over him. He rushed out of Aryan's house and ran towards the staircase. He was so scared to get caught by Aryan in the lobby that he didn't even think of waiting for the lift. He was hurriedly running down the stairs that he almost forgot that he was on the 10th floor. He wasn't in the state to process anything. All he needed was to get out of this building as soon as possible. After passing the 5th floor, he felt his calf muscles tightening. He was losing his breath, and his throat had dried. But he hadn't slowed down his speed, he just couldn't. He didn't fear skipping a step and falling either. All his attention was on his feet that didn't stop. He reached the ground floor and slowed down a little to see if the guard was there. But thankfully, there wasn't anyone and Sameer increased his pace again. After crossing the open space meant for parking, Sameer finally stepped out of the main gate of the building. He must have taken only a few steps ahead when his foot stumbled with something and as the effect of the speed he was running in, Sameer lost his balance and fell badly on the pathway beside the road. He somehow balanced himself on his hands to save from falling flat on face, but couldn't spare himself from the great jerk to his body after the fall. His palms were pressed hard on the granular soil, he felt an ache in his knees due to the hard impact on the ground and his eyes shut hard.

He turned slowly and sat on the ground. Feeling disoriented for a moment, he looked around and noticed that he had finally come out of that building premise. He was breathing heavily, his face and hair were wet with sweat, his black jeans and black shirt were smeared with the dirt from the ground. But he wasn't bothered about that. He looked at the place he fell from which was a few steps away from him. Wiping his face to his sleeve, he got up from the ground and strolled to the place. As he bent down on his knees, he found a stone that was half-rooted in the soil, to be responsible for his fall. He wondered how a small stone could make him fall. But as he kept on looking at it, he felt his anger building up again, and he couldn't figure out why. He stood up and looked for something pointed. He wandered on the pathway beside the concrete road, not paying attention to the heavy vehicles passing speedily, and finally found a pointed broken piece of a tile. He returned to the place again and started digging the stone out of the soil. His mind was crowded with anger, agitation, disgust, self-doubt, insecurity, fear, helplessness and what not. His hands worked faster as he realized that the stone was deeply rooted in the soil, not paying attention to the constant pricking on his palm by the other side of the tile. After a few hard attempts, he thrust his fingers into the soil and tried to push it aside. By gripping the stone with his thumb and fingers, he moved it a little to create more space and pulled it out with great strength.

Sitting still in the same position, Sameer stared at the stone. It was a long stone which was rooted in the ground vertically, where a small part of it was above the soil but a big one was hidden under. His vision slowly turned blurred as tears formed in his eyes looking at the stone. He found that stone resembling to Aryan's character, or how he had perceived it. He had seen only what was visible to him and had formed an opinion about Aryan. But he failed to see what was actually hidden behind Aryan's facade, the smile on his face or his kind voice. He blamed himself for falling prey to Aryan's attractive personality, his charming presence and blindly accepting whatever he said to get the role. He blamed himself for getting influenced by Aryan when he wished to smoke. He blamed himself for failing to read a person through his gestures. How often he would gauge a person's intention towards Naina with only a look into his eyes. How quickly he would figure out which man is staring at Naina in the bus and would immediately shield her with himself. Then why couldn't it happen here? Was it because Naina wasn't here and he wasn't on that alert mode? How did he miss to comprehend that cunning nature of Aryan behind his subtle demeanor? Not just him, but probably no-one could have guessed that by looking at how well-presented Aryan was. He smirked. How correct was that 12yr old boy yesterday!!

'Kaun achchha hai, kaun boora... yeh kisi ke shakal pe thodi likha hota hai...'

So true! Sameer laughed sheepishly amidst his tears. It was a laugh of defeat. A defeat by his own instincts, his gut feeling, his intuitions, which otherwise would work brilliantly but failed miserably today. Cleaning the soil stuck to the stone with his thumb, he stood up, shoved the stone in his jean's pocket and started walking on the route to his home, at the knock of a single bell from a nearby church, indicating the time to be 9:30 at night.



Sameer opened the latch of the door slowly, without making a sound. He had secretly kept the keys in her pocket when Naina was lighting the diya. As he stepped inside the house, he noticed all the lights of the house were stark on. He removed his socks and shoes by keeping a check on Papa, who was sleeping peacefully on the mattress, but without a duvet. He hung the keys in its place and his gaze fell on the wall clock. It was 12:30 at midnight. As he looked around, he saw the balcony door to be open, the desert cooler was on, and so were the kitchen lights. It looked like Papa and Naina were waiting for him, but then fell asleep. Wait!! He just wished Naina was asleep too in the bedroom. Covering Papa with a duvet, he stepped in the kitchen first, and saw all the utensils containing food right there on the countertop, but didn't take the effort to lift up the lids and check what was cooked tonight. He observed the sink and the washed plate which was kept reversibly on the counter. It meant only Papa had had the dinner and Naina waited for him. He switched off the lights and walked to the balcony, but as he was about to shut the balcony door, he saw his night suit and his towel hanging on the rod, which he had washed in the afternoon. Taking them off from there, he shut the door softly, switched off the living room lights and headed to the bathroom with the clothes in his hand.

The night suit and the towel were hung on the bar inside the bathroom and the door was locked. A glance at another bar confirmed about his dried underwear hung there. He gently pushed the plastic bucket aside with his foot and stood beneath the shower head while resting his palms on the wall in front of him and his head down. His throat was begging for water, but he didn't care about it. His stomach was rumbling due to hunger, but he had just stepped out of the kitchen without having a morsel of food. His legs were trembling and aching, but he hadn't had mercy on them. His whole body was dehydrated, but still a fresh pool of tears were forming in his eyes every now and then. He had never felt this much low in confidence. There was a time when he used to be so confident, whether it was in Nainital or in Ahmedabad, whether in school or in college. He had always dealt with things smartly. He had always carried an aura around himself that people would be conscious while talking to him and none could dare to talk rudely to him. His mere charm used to solve problems for him and Naina. But everything seemed to be failing here in this city. He didn't feel confident at all. He heard a little sound that felt like he sobbed, and he instantly turned on the shower to conceal the sound. The cold water ran in rivulets all over his body, and within a minute, he was completely soaked. Soaked in water... soaked in exhaustion... soaked in self-doubt... and soaked in repugnance. The water falling on the floor must be salty, he mused, as it was mixed with his tears and he saw all his dreams, all his hopes sinking. The visuals of Aryan standing so close to him and touching him appeared in his mind again. How his finger had stayed for a while on his collar bone, how his thumb had applied a slight pressure on his forearm and traced down. He felt disgusted for the nth time since he left Aryan's house. He unbuttoned his shirt and quickly got rid of it, throwing it on the floor. Shedding the rest of the clothes too, he stood naked under the shower, trying to wash away not just Aryan's touch but also the memories.


Sameer walked out of the bathroom ten minutes later, clothed in his night suit. There wasn't any sign of movement outside or knocks on the bathroom door. It meant Naina was indeed asleep and the moment he entered his bedroom, he got the confirmation. Naina was sleeping, turning to her side, again without a duvet. He locked the door, keeping a dim light on, he switched the lights off and sauntered to sit beside her. She was wearing a new dress, he couldn't recognise it when they had bought it. His brain had stopped functioning long back. Her hair was open, unlike the other nights, when she would either braid them or tie with a hairbow. She looked in a deep sleep and there was a beautiful smile on her face even in sleep. This time, the smile didn't affect him. Her hand was enclosed in her diary and the pen was lying on the mattress. Was she writing something? He took the diary and read with a little strain on his eyes-


Mai jaanti hu Papa ki neend tutne ke darr se, tum dheere se darwaza khatkhataoge. Par tum chinta mat karna... mai wahi khadi rahungi tumhara intezar karte hue...

Mai jaanti hu tum meri tabiyat ki wajah se thode pareshan rahoge.... Par tum chinta mat karna... mai bilkul thik hu... aur darwaza khulte hi tum mere chehre par ek pyari se muskurahat dekhoge... waisi hi jaise tumhe pasand hai... zabardasti wali nahi... dil se...

Mai jaanti hu tum thode thake hue rahoge... lekin bhulna mat, khana khaye bagair mai tumhe sone nahi dungi... Aur haan, khana Papa aur maine milke banaya hai... lekin please gussa mat karna... tumhare liye khana banane ki khushi alag hi hoti hai...

Mai jaanti hu, tumhe dher saari baatein batani hogi mujhe... tumne kaise Aryan Sir ka dil jeet liya ye batana hoga tumhe... mai bhi woh sunne ke liye kab se bekarar hu...

Lekin unn baaton me hamne kharidi hui iss dress ko dekhna mat bhulna... mai kaisi lag rahi hu yeh bhi batana... Aur haan, aaj hairclip nikal ke rakh di tumhare liye... tumhara mann kar raha hoga na baalon ki uss ek latt ko mere chehre se hatane ka... kar dena... aur usi bahane inn jhumkon ko bhi dekh lena... woh mujhpar kitne pyare lag rahe hai yeh batana...

Yeh sab sirf tumhare liye hai Sameer... yeh nayi dress, yeh jhumke, mere chehre ki yeh muskurahat... aur mai... sirf tumhare liye....

Jaante ho, mai jab bhi tumahre liye tayar hoti hu toh lagta hai


He frowned for a moment to see the incomplete line. She must have fallen asleep while writing this, he figured from the bad handwriting at the end. He looked back at her beautiful face. There were indeed some strands of hair fallen on her right cheek. He slowly stroked them back to her ear, with no excitement or any emotions to be precise, and saw the earrings. They were the newly purchased one on the day of Akshay Triteeya. And he suddenly realized that her suit was also from the same day shopping. But none of it affected him. He kept the diary as it is on the mattress, covered her with the duvet and lied down beside her turning to his side, with his back facing Naina. His pillow kept on getting wet with the tears falling from his eyes.



************

Let me know your thoughts on it in the comments.

Suggestions and feedbacks are always welcomed!

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen247.Pro