"Look who's back!" Shehnaaz chirped seeing Sidharth waiting for her, outside the elevator.

He smiled wishing her morning and they left for the ground. They had made it a routine to go together, where she would stretch and skip ropes while he would exercise and complete his run and the two would jog together at last. She was smiling and he returned the favor, but kept thinking about last night, her words last night had disturbed his sleep as well. She was an insomniac! It meant she definitely had something troubling her up her head, which was so hardly visible on her face, were her almond eyes holding back a story?

He wanted to ask, he wanted to ask right away but he knew that would make her pull back and their brewing comfort will disappear into the air if he invaded her privacy and he would never do that, they still hardly know each other.

It was a Monday again, he smiled recalling that it had been exactly a week he had seen her. Done with his run, he turned to locate her, she was standing at the aloof rotating her arms in circular motion and called out loud for her.

"Aaj.. dhoop bahut hai na..?" she panted, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"Hm" he nodded, continuing to jog.

"Shehnaaz.. Kal jab tune bola tha tujhe neend nahi aati.." he began with the main topic.

"Since when are you not able to sleep?" he asked.

"Um.. Kafi time se.. Al..almost 2 years.." she said, keeping her eyes on the track, he was shocked with the answer but managed his expressions.

"Oh! Aur konsi pills le rahi ho?" He asked again, keeping eyes on her facial expressions, they weren't hard, she looked fine.

"Doxepin" she answered. As far as he knew, it was an antidepressant, something to deal with anxiety and for those who had troubles while sleeping. He wasn't wrong when he had thought that it could be her past, something could be troubling her,

"Prescription hai tumhare paas?" he asked.

"Umm.. Nahi.." she mumbled, it had been months she saw her doctor.

"Don't tell me you're taking them on your own!?" he warned.

"Nahi! Maine doctor ke bolne pe hi liya hai.. Bas wo prescription vala paper nahi hai.." she answered.

"Okay. So do you want to talk about it?" he asked, very calmly.

"About what?" she asked, faking innocence.

"About what makes you take these.. Koi reason hoga na jo tujhe neend nahi aati.. Shayad tere man me kuch baat ho.." he looked at her intently as she finally faced him, her heart beats increased involuntarily, he was damn right! But she didn't want to talk about it, not now at least, it was going to be an important day for her, she would join the school today. Her first day at work, she wanted to stay all positive, happy, confident and new.

"I'm fine Sidharth.. Koi bahut badi nahi hai neend ka na aana.. Common hai.." she shrugged.

"Sure.. Hoga common.. But my point is.. You'll feel good if you talk.. Only if you're comfortable.." he elaborated, she nodded.

"Hum raat me baat kare? I don't want to talk about it now.." she requested. He agreed, knowing that patience is the key.

In baby blue kurti paired with skinny jeans, Shehnaaz stepped out of her cab, Wish me luck Amma.. With these words she entered the building of Babylon Public School and asked the peon about Mrs Reddy, the Head Mistress, to whom she was supposed to report. "Hello dear.." a middle aged lady dressed in a white saree appeared.

"Good Morning mam" she stood up to greet her, then followed her into the staff room where she introduced her to the fellow teachers and they finally made their way towards the classroom corridors.

"Shehnaaz yeh bache ache hai.. Thodi badmashi karenge.. But I think you can handle them.." she assured, showing her the way into the class.

"Goood Mooorning Maaaaam...!" the students of class 6th, section B stood up in unison to wish them.

"Good morning students.. How are y'all doing?" she smiled

"Here.. Meet Shehnaaz miss.. Aapki new science teacher.. Be good to her, you kids!" and then Mrs Reddy made her way out. Shehnaaz took a breath before keeping her book on the table meant for teachers.

"Hello everybody! Acha chalo padhai toh hoti rahegi.. Tell me.. How many of you actually like science?" she asked, passing her beautiful smile to those kids. They looked here and there among themselves and kept quiet.

"Batao batao! Chalo mai batau.. Mujhe na bachpan me science bilkul achi nahi lagti thi.. Mujhe toh dance me interest tha.." she said with a pout that made the kids chuckle and with this began their introduction. The kids were sweet and cute of course, but then she entered class 7th. These teenagers might give her a hard time, she felt. Anyways, her first day went quite better than expected, everybody was good to her.

Sidharth in the hospital has been operating, Akbar didn't show up today and wasn't answering to the emergency calls either. It was almost 8 when he replied to the texts sent in morning hours.

'Was caught up bro..' That's it? He wasn't there when the patients needed him, there were many appointments that went unattended today!.

'Where?' He asked, which went unattended again, was he okay?

Akbar was his very good friend, a very close one, they had met during their training period. Back to home, Sidharth finished his dinner in time and checked a couple of messages, waiting for the clock to strike 10, so that he could leave for the terrace.

His phone rang with Akbar's name flashing on top, "Ha bhai.. Tune call kiya tha?" he asks, so casually.

"Kaha tha tu? Hospital kyu nahi aaya?" Sidharth questioned.

"Busy tha.." such a short reply, it didn't go well with him.

"Kya hua? Sab theek hai?" he asked again.

"Ha.. Bas.. Ammi.." Akbar paused. "Kya hua aunty ko?" he gasped.

"Abey Ammi theek hain! Unke sath kaam se bahar gaya tha.. Actually abhi bhi bahar hu.." he replies properly now.

"Okay.. When are you coming back then?"

"Kitne sawal karta hai saaley! Aa jaunga 2 din baad.. Lucknow me hu.." he clips.

"Hm.." Sidharth keeps talking while making his way to the terrace.

"There you go!" Shehnaaz chirps, raising her hands in the air, that held bottles. He was startled, not expecting her to jump all of a sudden and she giggled looking at him, the tall and dark man, she just made him flinch.

"Who's she?" Akbar's voice brought him back.

"Ha.. Neighbor.." he answered.

"Sahi hai beta.. A girl next door ha.. Tune bataya nahi iske baare me?" his friend teased, Sidharth felt annoyed with his tone.

"Chup be! Phone rakh!" with that he hangs up.

"Hii! Darpok padosi.." Shehnaaz chuckles, receives a 'whatever' look from him and pulls out a bottle opener to begin with their mini celebration.

"Bas?" he quirks up his brows, after she handed him a bottle.

"4 aur hai.. Kam toh nahi honge?" she asked, pointing at the small cartoon box. He chuckled impressively, rather smirked.

"I think kafi hai.." to hear her giggle again. They relaxed themselves, leaning against the railing where she told him that her day was amazing and she's so looking forward to it, she was so happy. He doubted if it was the right time to ask the same question again, it would spoil her mood, also, it might seem he was getting into her things too much.

"Tujhe pata.. Aaj meri Mummy hoti toh phirni banati.." she says, breaking his chain of thoughts.

"Phirni?" What was that?

"Kheer jaisi hoti hai.." she answered.

"Tujhe aati hai banani?" he further asked.

"Nahi.. Maa chahti thi sikhana.. Lekin.. Mere paas time nahi tha.." she sighed.

"I'm missing you Maa.. I miss you everyday.." she whispered, she did miss her mother everyday, while cooking, while setting up her room, her mother's words would clog her mind.

Flashback:
"Maa.. Mujhe late ho raha hai.. Jaane bhi do!!" Shehnaaz whined.

"Bas ho gaya.. Yeh dekh.. Aise dheeme aanch pe chamach chalana hai.. Kesar dalne se dekh kitna pyaara rang aa raha hai.. Bata kaisi bani hai kheer?" Maa asked.

"Ummm.. Bahut tasty hai!!" she answered, taking a spoonful of taste.

"Chal agli bari phirni sikhaungi.." Amma said.

"Nahi Amma.. Phirni sirf aapke hath ki achi lagti hai.. Mai jaa rahi..bye!" She kissed her cheek and escaped the cooking session.
..................

"Kya hua tha unko?" he asked slowly.

"Accident..vo.. Vo mere paas aa rahi thi.. Mujhse milne aa rahi thi vo.." she revealed, looking away.

"College me event tha.. Meri performance dekhne aa rahi thi Amma.. Accident ho gaya us bus ka.." she fisted her palms, digging nails to herself, fighting back tears.

Sidharth opened her fist, taking her hands in between his, "Don't.." he whispered.

"Maine hi bulaya tha unko.. Meri wajah se hua sab.. Nahi bulana chahiye tha na?" she asked him, letting the tears make their way out.

"Nahi.. Teri wajah se kuch nahi hua Shehnaaz.." he replied.

"They think I did this to her..!" she sobbed, looking down, her mother was her everything.

"No! No..you did not!" he said, loudly and who was she talking about?

"I loved her.. I still love her.. Mai kyu karungi aisa..?" she cried.

"Nahi kiya tune sweetheart.." he pulled her close, wiped her tears and held her face. She looked up, into his eyes.

She looked weak and in pain, suffering actually. Shehnaaz felt nice when he said that, not the sympathy but the comfort, she was glad he didn't ask any further, this much was enough for today, it had been two years since that accident but her scars still fresh, anything related to her mother only aggravated it.

"Who are they? Hmm.." he asked slowly. She tucked her hairs behind her ear, parting away from him once done crying and collected the empty bottles back in the cartoon box.

"Jaa rahi hai?" he asked.

"Ha.. Jaane se pehle yeh box hatana padega.. Kisi ne dekh liya toh complain kar denge.." she replied, fumbling slightly.

"Itni jaldi?" he asked again, they usually stayed up late.

"Han.. Ab kal school jana hai.. I don't want to be late.." she said, picking up the box when he held her hand.

"Shehnaaz..kya hua tujhe achanak?"

"Kuch bhi nahi.." she shrugged. Why was she being so hard? She wasn't ready to open up entirely, surely there was more to this story.

"Okay..I won't ask.." he said. He kept staring at her, she attempted to free her hand but failed and kept the box aside.

"Sidharth.. Bas itna jaan le ki meri family me Maa ke alava aur koi nahi tha.." she sounded so firm.

"Okay.." he nodded.

"Aur please mujhe bechari mat samajhna.." she added, to see him simply nod again and with this silence filled the gap.

"Sidharth?" she called out.

"Ha" he turned to her.

"Rude ho gaya kya?" she asked, realising her change of behavior wasn't required. He nodded yet again.

"Sorry.." she pouted, taking a step ahead and just stopped right in front of him, he was just being cordial with the situation. Her heart wanted to hug him, but her mind isn't agreeing to this new feeling.

"Thank you! It really felt nice" she said, talking did help.

"Hm" he curtly hummed.

"Sidharth sorry na.. Mai bas nahi chahti sympathy.." she tried to coax.

"Maine di?" he asked, she shook her head.

"It's okay to have a past.. Lekin usko apne andar rakh ke sirf hurt hota hai.." he said.

"Nahi bhool pati mai.. Jitna try karlu.." she replied.

"Ha kyuki bhoolna toh possible nahi hai.. But you can accept it.. Jo ho gaya usko hum abhi change nahi kar sakte.." he said, he was right, only if he knew this is not it. She had a handful of past with her mother's family.

"Hm.. Isiliye to Mumbai aayi hu.. Ab jo hai.. Yahi hai.. Because Amma will always stay here.." she said, pointing at her heart.

"Yeah.." he smiled, she was so raw, innocent and beautiful. The moonlight and the wind added more beauty to their moment, she hugged him without any further thought and he welcomed her indeed. 

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