Evening at avni's house,

Avni was sitting in her room and thinking about neil,

Avni : neil asked me to meet him at XYZ place at 7 o'clock.....uff neil k dimag mei chal kya raha hai....ajeeb hai....jau yaa nehi...

then ali called avni , avni pick up the call,

Ali : avni r u ok?......neil ne tere sath kuch kiya to nehi..

Avni : no , but pehle tu bata wo log tujhe kaha leke gaye the...

Ali : unke apartment mei...and u know they just let me go....but r u ok na?

Avni : ha but wo neil.....( but call disconnected suddenly)...hello ali...(checked her phone)....oh god phir se phone off hogya...(huffed)...stupid neil....huh i am going hah....dekhte hain kya karta hai...

Just then neela came to her,

Neela : baccha , kya abhi hum shopping pe chale

Avni : kya...maa iss time pe shopping

Neela : to kya bas 6 hi baje hai.....aab chale..

Avni : accha thik hai

Later after 20 min avni and neela maa left for shopping mall , avni wearing a red sleeveless long frock....

After two hours 30 min,

Neela was looking for a dress for avni ,

Avni getting bored,

Then neela maa liked a dress and show it to avni,

Neela : baccha, what do u think of this one..

Avni : yeah nice mamma...( without looking at it)

Neela : dekho to sehi

Avni : maa hum yaha kab se hai , but abhi tak apko kuch nehi pasand aaya..

Neela : aree we can't rush shopping , it will effect ur decisions

Suddenly neela's eyes fell on a black  jacket , she pick it up..

Neela : avni , isn't this nice one...here try it on..

Avni took the jacket in her hand and check the price

Avni : itna expansive hai mamma

Neela : oho don't worry about that , now try it

Avni smiled then wear the jacket,

Neela : wow bohot acchi lag rahi hai

Suddenly neela looks outside and saw it raining ,

Neela : barish

Avni looks outside and smile..but soon her smile vanished,

Avni in mind : kya neil mera wait kar raha hai..

Avni is feeling restless

Avni : maa mujhe kahi jana

Neela : kya is waqt..

Avni : haa.....don't worry main aa jaungi , u go home

avni hurriedly took out a umbrella  from neela's bag and went out from the shop,

Neela : avni.....( but avni left)....oh god ye ladki....ek hi umbrella layi thi main....uff

Then a shopkeeper came to neela,

Sk : mam wo jacket..

Neela : yeah yeah main abhi pay kar deti hu....sorry meri beti thodi jaldi mei thi to...

Sk : its okk

*****

In XYZ place,

Neil standing in the rain and shivering,

After sometimes avni reached and shocked to see neil...avni immediately went near him and held the umbrella over his head,

Avni : r u mad , why r u standing there

Neil slowly looks at avni then hugs her tightly...avni gets shocked..

Avni : what r u doing, let go

Neil : its cold plz....(whispered to her ear and snuggled more into her to feel her warm).....itna der kyu kiya , pata hai main yaha kabse khara hu.....

Avni : i...i never said i would come..

Neil : u lost , so u don't get to decide..

Avni stay quite...then neil notice her jacket's price tag , neil smile widely..

Neil : u bought new clothes for our date....wait only Rs. 799....that cheap...(pouts)

Avni pushed him slightly,

Avni : u should go home , why did u keep waiting..

Neil : i was worried u came and couldn't find me or if u get into trouble.....so i couldn't leave even when
it started to rain..

Avni looks at him

Avni : fine.....accha aab chalo..

Neil : kaha

Avni : chalo to sehi...

After sometimes they went to a restaurant but its off ,

Avni : aree ye to band hai..

Neil : itni tej barish ho raha hai sab shop closed hi milaga na...

Avni : wait mujhe ek aur jaga pata hai

Avni then take neil to a Six storey building,

Avni : u know 4th floor pe bohot hi acchi hotel hai.....and they have delicious food....

Neil : but lag raha hai ye bhi off hoga...

Avni : aare chalo to sehi..

Neil : mujhe accha nehi lag raha , i can't climb stairs....

Avni : yaha lift hai , chalo

Then they went in the elevator but suddenly it stopped and was stuck..

Neil : what....is this stupid elevator broken?....

Avni : oh god.....( started pressing the alarm).....hey anyone here..helpp.....god bahar to barish hai koyi hamare awaj nehi sunega.....

Neil : r u kidding me

Then neil starter kicking the elevator...avni stops him

Avni : pagal ho gaye hogye , if the elevator falls we will die...

Neil : then what are we supposed to do now?

Avni thinks

Avni : where's ur phone?

Neil : my phone is dead

Avni : then, we will have to wait here...

Neil looks at avni....

later they sat down when no one respond......then suddenly neil fell on avni's shoulder...

Avni : neil.....( hold him)....ur clothes are drenched....( then put her palm on his forehead).....god u have a fever...

Neil is trembling....avni quickly placed neil's head on her lap then removed her jacket and put it on his...

Avni : u should get some rest...someone will come for us soon...

Neil : i want to sleep....( arm his arm around her waist and snuggled to close to her and closed his eyes)

Avni looking neil then caresses his hair...

*****

At avni's home,

Neela is crying

Neela : hello mahira , yeah i am avni's mom.......did avni call u?..........no i have been calling her but her phone is off....ok ok if she calls u , let me know.....yeah ok.....(and cut the calls)

Then neela called ashish ,

Neela : hello ashish , something wrong....tum jaldi ghar aao...no she hasn't come yet.....( crying)

*****

Next morning,

Avneil were sleeing....neil hugging her waist and avni leaning against wall...

Neil first opened his eyes , lifted his face and saw sleeping avni then neil noticed how he holds her , he smiled then slowly leave her and sat in front of her...

Neil was staring at her then slowly cupped her face and started caresses her cheeks , his eyes fell on her lips...

Feeling someone's touch, avni woke up and saw neil looks at her intently and caressing her cheeks..

Avni : what

Neil leave her ,

Neil : i am sorry , this is all my fault

Avni chuckled , neil looked at her

Neil : hasne ki jarurai nehi😒 ,  r the one who insisted on coming here.....otherwise we wouldn't be stuck here...

Suddenly neil's stomach growling ,  avni laughed softly ,

Neil : whats so funny?....i am hungry and tired and i was in the rain , so its normal that my stomach is growling...

Avni : okk , but now i am the only one that can take care of u......then when u get home , ur mom will take care of u

Neil then thinks about his mom,

Neil : i haven't seen her for two years..

Avni : two years....( shocked)

Neil : hm...actually my dad died when i was in middle school......my mom had to work in london......when we called her, we always got her assistant instead....isiliye humne call karna hi band kar diya....

Avni was silently listening him ,

Avni : then it must be lonely living in such a big house by urself

Neil : nah i'm never lonely

Avni : if i were u , i would feel very lonely.....i would probably become rebellious..

Avni looking at neil

Avni : ok ok , i admit it was my fault this time......umm how can i make it up to u?.....( raised her brows)

Neil looked at her then leaned close to her and looking at het lips,

Avni eyes getting widened

Avni : oye that's not what i meant...

Neil doesn’t said anything and about to kiss her but suddenly someone opened  the door...

Avneil looked at the doorsteps and saw some elevator mechanics standing there and were looking at them weirdly...

Avni looked at neil who is now very close to her ,  she quickly pushed neil and ran from there...

Neil looked at her retreated figure then signed and picked up avni's jacket in his hand and came out from elevator,

The mechanics smiled at him and patted neil shoulder then neil left for home...

M : it's nice to be young.....

The others nodded and smiled...

*****

At avni's house

Neela and ashish , were talking on the phone with the police..

Neela : yes plz dundiye meri beti ko.......ok ,  thank u...

Neela cut the call

Ashish : tumhe usse jane kyu diya

Neela : u know how she is , when she listens to us?.......ekbar mil jaye acche se khabar lungi mai uski

Just then avni came and standing beside them

Avni : mamma, papa

Ashish and neela looks at each other then at avni ,

Ashish : avni , u r home?

Neela doesn't said anything , she just picked up a broom....avni saw this is widened eyes...

Avni : mamma , pehle meri baat to suno
( hide behind ashish)

Neela : kya suno.....hum yaha pe pareshan ho rahe hai , couldn't u make a phone call?

Ashish : neela pehle shant ho jao...

Avni stay silent

Neela : aab chub kyu ho , bolo to sehi kya huya tha....

Avni came out...

Avni : vah i was stuck in an elevator the whole night...

Neela : what!....u didn't u call us?

Avni : wo...my phone is broken

Neela : wow the elevator broke and ur phone broke too?.....avni jhoot to bilkul bhi mat bolna

Avni : nehi sach mei....( then took out her phone and gave it to neela)....see

Neela : tumhara phone tut gya , why didn't u tell us?

Ashish : chodo na neela , princess

Ashish side hugs her

Ashish : u didn’t come home all night , do u know how worried we were....tum kyu akale gayi...

Avni : sorry papa ,  phir se aisa nehi hoga..

Ashish : its fine , u must not have eaten anything since night.....neela jaldi se khana lagao....

Avni looked at neela

Avni : mamma sorry na plz

Neela : its okk.....( then picked her phone and gave it to avni).....u can use my phone for now...

Avni smiled and hugs neela

Avni : thank u mamma..

Neela smile and kissed her forehead

*****

Next day at university,

Avni's classroom

Ali and mahira were taking ,

Ali : why hasn't avni come yet ,  i don't know what that neil would have done yesterday....

Mahira : yeah aunty ne kal mujhe phone kiya tha...

Ali : main neil ko chounga nehi

Just then avni came and sat one the first bench...

Ali and mahira saw her and went to her,

Ali : avni tu thik hai

Avni : haa ali

Mahira : avni ,  aunty ne bola tum raat ko missing thi...

Avni : haa vah....

Just then they heard the rest of the classroom started muttering ,

" neil yaha kya kar raha"

"Omg neil "

Hearing them avni looking at the class entrance and saw neil..........

To be continued....

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Next : mujhse dosti karoge

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