Happy Reading,

Home is where the heart is but when the heart is at unrest, home isn't the place where you can find peace.

Naina's mind was clouded with thoughts related to her day. Swati's sudden announcement of love felt like a ball that had hit her out of nowhere, like a question out of syllabus. She had no clue what to do and in the middle of that there were her numbered days at her own home and that poem from an unknown writer.

She felt uneasy. She was someone who wanted everything planned and meticulous but life didn't always worked that way and Naina was yet to learn this lesson.

On top of that, Bela and Anand had fixed the dates of every function of the wedding. The engagement was scheduled in two weeks and the rest of the functions were going to take place in the coming month.

It felt like another sleepless night was on her way.

Mai jaag raha hu aur ye chaand bhi jaag raha
Iss sansar me hum dono jaisa koi udaas nahi

The words came rushing back to her mind. Why was a simple poem affecting her so much? She had been ambitious and straightforward all her life. Even if she had a Bollywood mania she wasn't a romantic. She used to brush all her worries away saying hawa aane de, then why was a simply worded but honest poem making her feel sad?

It wasn't the first time she had felt like sharing somebody else's pain. The first time when Sameer had opened up about his life and family she had this urge to caress his wounds.

Is this destiny? Is this what they call fate? Was meeting a stranger in the strangest way possible written to alter her life?

She walked out of the balcony and looked up at the stars and moons.

"Hi!" She raised her hand and waved.

Instead of calling it stupid and weird, this time she stayed outside and looked at the night sky a little longer. She gave her time to them. She marked out the constellations she had learnt as an elementary schooler, she noticed how you could clearly distinguish dark blue clouds from the darker sky. She saw how the moon's light pierced through the darkness and lit up the sky, not as brightly as the Sun but significantly enough to spread hope in the night.

She didn't talk to them but somehow got an answer to calm her heart down.

She was going to call Sameer.

"Hello!"

She heard his voice after several rings.

"Sameer?"

"Haan bolo Naina?"

But what was she going to say? She scratched her head.

"Hello?" He said again to confirm if she was still there.

"Tum kavita likhte ho kya?" She asked simply.

"Haan." He said, elongating the word. "Tumne padhi thi kya?"

"N-nahi ... Actually haan." She pressed her eyelids against each other. "Nahi padhni chahiye thi na? Personal hogi."

She wished they hadn't replaced the landline by a cordless phone. She was nervous and needed to intertwine the wire with her hands to engage herself.

"Kaisi lagi?" He said after a small pause. "Ab padh hi li toh bata do kaisi lagi?"

"I'm sorry, Sameer. Wo maine galti se-"

"Hone wale pati ka naam nahi lete balike." He tried to say it in a deep and heavy saint like voice.

"Tum ye sab maante ho?" Naina asked, aghast.

"Tum manti ho?"

"Nahi."

"Mai bhi nahi maanta. Sirf check kar raha tha."

He was just trying to divert her mind from the unnecessary guilt she was feeling because of accidentally reading his poem.

"Toh kaisi lagi meri kavita?" He repeated his question

Naina couldn't find words enough to express.

"Mujhe kavita padhne ka shauq nahi hai par shayad aaj mujhe mera favourite kavi mil gaya." She bit her lower lip in anticipation of what he would reply but Sameer burst out in hysterical laughs.

"Has kyu rahe ho? Maina koi mazak nahi kiya."

"Nahi ... Wo ..." Sameer tried to control his laughter.

"Tum mujhpe has rahe ho?"

"Nahi nahi. Mujhe apni tareef sunne ki aadat nahi hai na toh - matlab mujhe ... Tum samajh rahi ho na?"

"Nahi. Tareef ki aadat nahi hai toh aadat daal lo. Mujhe mere favourite kavi ki tareef karne se koi nahi rok sakta."

"Naina ... Tum na mujhe sar par chadha rahi ho, uss poem me aisa kuch bhi nahi tha."

"Tha."

"Accha? Kya tha?"

"Dard tha."

Silence followed.

"Dard tha, sachai thi." Naina continued. "Tumhe na apni kavitayein chapwani chahiye."

"Abhi ke liye ek tum hi reader kaafi ho mere liye."

She smiled. She felt important in his eyes and that made her very, very happy.

"Waise Sameer ..."

"Pati ka naam ..."

"Ye hone wali patni legi."

He chuckled.

"Mujhe kal Munna se milna hai, kuch baat karni hai."

"Kal dopahar me ussi park ki taraf aa jana. India Pakistan ka match hai, sadake khali hi rahengi."

"Theek hai. Kal 1 baje?"

"Done. Ab raat bahut ho gayi hai tum so jao."

"Haa. NAHI RUKO EK MINUTE!"

She had shouted loud enough to burst his ears.

"Kya hua?" Sameer asked but instead of Naina's voice he heard an introductory music to some song. He immediately remembered Naina's promise that she'll make him hear one Bollywood song per call to make him understand how great the industry was.

Tumse accha kaun hai
Dil lo jigar lo jaan lo
Hum tumhare hai sanam
Tum humein pehchan lo.

In between the music, he heard Naina's voice, "Hum tumhare fan hai, Mr. Sameer Kavi Maheshwari, tum humein pehchan lo."

And the line went off. She had hung up. Sameer couldn't wipe out the smile from his face that followed.

She really is something!!

No one was allowed to read his work because the poems he wrote were always a reflection to his thoughts. The pain in his soul was always resonated in his poetry and there she was bulldozing her way into his life, touching the most private space in his heart with an ease that it felt natural.

Naina Agarwal's recognizing the pain and honesty in his poem was natural. Maybe someday he would tell her why he wrote the poem but right now, all he wanted was her to be next to him, next to his poems, next to his heart.

He remembered all the dates of the functions and smiled. Even with all the tension, it was a good day.

At 1:00 PM the next day, Naina was already waiting near the park when Sameer and Munna showed up.

On seeing them, she immediately crossed her arms and straightened her back. She looked like an angry class monitor.

Munna and Sameer walked up to her, unsure about her sudden change in body language.

"Toh tum ho Munna?" Naina said in a stern monotone.

"Tum kal hi toh mile the." Sameer reminded her but she shot him such an angry glare that he decided against speaking anything for the rest of the meeting.

"Haa ... Toh tum ho Munna?" She asked again.

He nodded while giving worried looks to Sameer, who just shrug his shoulders not knowing why his friend was being questioned.

"Pyaar karte ho Swati se?"

He nodded.

"Shaadi karna chahte ho?"

He nodded again.

"Swati se pehle kitni girlfriends thi?"

"Ek bhi nahi."

"Kitni ladkiyan ghumai hai?"

"Bh-bhabhi ... Ek bhi nahi." Munna's voice was reduced to meek whisper.

"Toh zor se bolo na." She ordered like an army chief.

Sameer couldn't control himself and began laughing. Naina shot him another angry look and he held his face with both his hands to force himself to keep a straight face.

"EK BHI NAHI BHABHI. EK BHI NAHI." Munna replied like a scared cadet.

"Good. Family kaise chaloge?"

"Papa ka business hai ..."

"Papa ne toh ghar se nikal diya hai."

"...."

"Kahi job dhundho. Apne ghar walon ko dikhao ki tum kitne qabil ho, uske baad koi chale na chale hum tumhara rishta lekar Swati ke ghar jaayenge."

"Ji Bhabhi."

Munna nodded his head, trying to digest all that Naina had ordered him to do.

"Munna, tu Nanu se kyu nahi baat karta wo tujhe koi job de denge." Sameer suggested.

Munna just nodded. He was too scared of Naina to do anything else.

"Swati ko rulaoge toh nahi?"

"Haa haa Bhabhi jaisa aap kahe."

Naina stared at him, wide eyed and dumbfounded.

Sameer slammed his hands on Munna's shoulder and finally began defending him, "Arey dar gaya hai isliye aise bol raha hai. Nahi rulayega, meri guarantee hai."

Munna caught his breath and rubbed his hand over the left side of his chest, trying to normalize his heart rate. He finally found his voice and said, "Bhabhi aap toh Naina nahi Naina Devi ho."

Sameer finally lost his control, the look on Munna's face was priceless. He couldn't control himself from laughing so hard that his stomach hurt.

Naina had never seen him laugh before. She found his happiness contagious and broke into a laughter spree herself.

Munna joined them too.

Before leaving the park, Sameer bought all of them ice creams. Munna was still behaving like a small mouse in front of Naina.

Sameer couldn't help noticing how small her bites of ice cream were or how her cheeks inflated like a kid while eating. She was so cute!

And super adorable.

And such a little muchkin.

And Sameer needed to control his thoughts.

He saw a new side of her. A side that cared for all the people in her life. The side that made her his fan and the side that made her interrogate her best friend's boyfriend. Maybe it was too soon or maybe he had taken enough time but he was proud of the choice he made, the chance he took when he agreed to this alliance.

He liked Naina.

Precap - Falling for you

Thaaaaank you for your love so far!! I really appreciate it when you guys take out the time to comment and vote.

Dil le lo

Much love <3