CHAPTER 22
ABIR'S POV
Once Mishtipie left the room, there was pin-drop silence in the room. The only sound that I could hear was the noise made by the fan and the occasional gasps and heavy breaths taken by Kuhu and Kunal.
I slight chuckle escaped my lips before I could contain it.
Poor soul, she is going to be tainted for life.
Watching her own brother kissing someone?
No. Thank you.
For the next 5 minutes, I watched the two of them giving nervous glances at the door and Kunal occasionally glaring at me accusatorily.
After what seemed like an eternity, he took a huge breath, "So. I can't believe that the two of you are here. I mean, I'm super happy that Mishtu and you are here for my birthday, I feel special and shit, but God, it's super embarrassing for her to see me like that. I don't know how to face her now. You could have told us about you guys coming to visit me. I would have been prepared. God, this is so embarrassing.", Kunal started his usual ramble.
I scoffed, "What part of the meaning of the word 'surprise' do you not know?"
He rolled his eyes, "But still, I slight hint would have been fine."
I gave him a very blank stare which literally meant 'Are you mad?'
Kuhu piped in, "Should I go talk to her, if you don't want to?"
He shook his head, "No, I've always waited to introduce you to her. Your first ever proper interaction with her shouldn't be embarrassing. I'll talk to her now and you can talk with her after that."
He sighed and ran a hand through his dark brown hair, "I'll- ah- I'll go check on her. Ugh I'm so embarrassed.", he kept mumbling to himself and then he gave himself a 5 minute-long pep speech on how to go talk to her, without embarrassing either of them, while Kuhu and I stood there snickering to ourselves.
He patted his shoulders repeatedly, and took a huge breath and walked towards the door. When his hand was on the door handle, he turned and walked back inside. He walked upto Kuhu and kissed her forehead before leaving outside again.
Deep inside, I knew it was very cute, but right now there was something else nagging my thoughts and I needed to think about it. I sighed and plopped myself down on his bed and buried my face in my hands. Too many thoughts were running inside my head and I didn't know which ones to listen to, and which ones to throw away.
My new-found feelings for Mishtipie are very alarming. For a person who can bring havoc to other peoples' lives, I sure as hell can't spoil the life of a person who is as pure and innocent as her. And also, it feels utterly impossible that a girl like her can like a guy like me. She is smart, sassy, funny, cute, beautiful, all rolled into one. She has one of the purest hearts I've ever seen. She is so generous, helping and also very loving. She is everything a guy would ever want.
Suddenly, an image popped in my head. Mishti wearing a saree with vermillion filling her parting, having a small child on her hip. She was smiling lovingly at a guy beside her, who I assumed is her husband. The thought of me being the guy, made me feel very excited and at this thought, tingly feelings erupted in me.
I sighed as I realized that I was in a dead end. If I acted on my feelings now, there is a possibility that it could actually become true. But, do I want it?
Yes, I do.
But do I want that for Mishti?
And that question put me on a stand still. I am a lot of baggage for her emotionally. Even though they are less frequent now, I still get recurring nightmares and no one can deny the fact that directly or indirectly, I am the reason my dad is not in this world today.
I would not want that for her. But it doesn't make sense anyway, since we are talking about the possibility of if she likes me back, which she most probably won't.
"So, I assume that my future sister-in-law has stolen your heart finally?"
I turned towards the source of the voice and stared at Kuhu dumbfoundedly, who had an all-knowing smirk on her face and her hands crossed across her chest.
"Wai- um- wha- what?"
I tried and put on my best blank face, void of any emotions.
She raised on eye brow and walked towards me and sat on the bed beside me, "I never thought that I would witness the day the great Abir Rajvansh stutters. Tsk tsk, how sad."
I rolled my eyes at her drama.
She chuckled slightly and continued, "I can tell by your demeanor that something is bothering you. And I can also sense that this is about Mishti. So spill."
Should I tell her?
But that means complicating things. If she blurts it out to Kunal, I am done. Especially because he thinks I am like a brother to her.
To Mishtipie.
I scoffed, "What do you mean? There is nothing going on between us!"
She seemed as if she was at the verge of her laughter, "I never said there is something going on. I just said that you are thinking about Mishti. So that means, something, something!", she wiggled her eyebrows at me suggestively and had an evil smile on her face.
I took a deep breath and spoke in my calmest voice possible, "Nothing of that sort. She wanted to surprise her brother, so brought her here."
She raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? So, when Tara wanted to join you on your way back to Rajkot from here, you said no because apparently you don't travel with girls but you bring Mishti all the way from Rajkot to Mumbai only because she wants to? Come on, you are running out of excuses."
Tara is a girl from college whose hometown is also Rajkot. She wanted to join me on my ride home, but I said no. She wanted to come with me only to hit on me.
I sighed frustratedly, "That is Tara and this is Mishti. There is a huge difference."
She nodded her head, "A huge difference indeed. So why don't you just propose her?"
I looked at her as if she was mad.
Which she is.
"You've gone nuts.", I got up to get out of that room.
She laughed aloud and pulled me back beside her, "Just kidding. If at any point you need any advice, I can help you, you know. If it helps, I would like to give you my experience on love and relationships."
She looked at me hopefully, waiting to check on my reaction. A little advice would be nice for me, right?
I nodded at her and she gave me a huge grin and continued, "When I first met Kunal, he seemed like a guy who would have thousand women falling at his feet. Broad shoulders, a hot physique, beautiful eyes,-"
I interrupted her, "Okay, okay, I get it he was good looking."
She chuckled, "Yeah. Me? I was this poor girl who got into the college with a scholarship. I had to work day and night to have my life going. I had a very difficult childhood and an even more difficult teenage. The college life was new for me and then all of a sudden, I had this random breath-taking boy talk with me at every lunch time and walk me between classes. After sometime when he proposed to me, I told no. Because everything felt like a dream to me. The happiness, the peace, everything. I was scared that if I wake up from that dream, everything would vanish, he would vanish. I also could not believe that he would want to be with me. He felt like a mirage to me. I continuously rejected him for almost two years and yet, he was always there for me when I needed him the most. Not my friends, not you, but him. Only him. But the best part is that whenever I am with him, everything felt so right. As if it was meant to be."
She chuckled and continued, "You know right, a lot of girls at college would look at me with envy, but I didn't care because Kunal gave me a hope for a normal life. Kunal made me believe that just because I had a troubled past didn't mean I don't deserve every bit of happiness in this world. I too deserve to be happy, and I too deserve love"
She looked at me with a meaningful gaze, "You deserve all of that too."
I sat there dumbfounded at her advice.
Damn. She's good at giving advice.
I nodded slightly at her. She gave me a comforting smile and got up and walked towards the door.
She stopped and turned back to me, "Also, I have been thinking about what to name your children with Mishti. How does Misha or Amish sound?", she gave me a teasing smile and wiggled her eyebrows.
I took hold of the first thing my hands could reach for and flung it at her. She screamed and ran out of the room, as the pillow made contact with her body.
I chuckled at her antics and also thought about what she said.
And what she said actually made sense.
***
Hey guys! This is Chapter 22!
So Abir is getting some relationship advice ; )
Anyways, I hope you guys liked it!
Thank you! <3