Continued from previous part Nargis Mini Mischief read here…
Abhishek was a shy catholic school student and decided not to confide the matter to his friends in the department of Commerce unless he received a confirmation from Araina. Nargis was now well acquainted with him, with his likes and dislikes and she talked more about him to Araina. It was easy for him to pen down his feelings than to confess in person but he could no longer hold back his rapaciousness and requested her to catch up with him.
Every Friday during morning; assembly Abhishek had his gaze fixed on Araina and Nargis had her eyes on Abhishek, her cheeks turned scarlet but alas! She could not spill the beans. It was “good Friday” and being a devout Christian Araina went to the church to pray and later on joined Nargis in the evening. Beads of sweat made their way through her forehead when she met Araina and it did not take too long for Araina to find out why.
Araina wanted to put an end…
… to it but Nargis wanted to go with the flow. Araina somehow managed to convince Nargis that veil-playing is not the option and if she had developed a predilection for him than she must let him know. Insecurities loomed large and Nargis was utterly disappointed with Araina’s conduct for she feared that Abhishek might turn her down.
Monday Morning brought new hopes, and Abhishek could not cop out his excitement, and decided to catch a glimpse of her during recess. Early that morning Nargis informed Araina that she would not be able to attend class, as she was sick, Araina could see through her tricks but at the same time, she wanted to give a wide berth to squabble and remained silent, the matter about the meeting Abhishek escaped her mind.
Abhishek meet Araina
Abhishek on the other hand was on edge to meet her, he went upstairs to the Humanities department and looked for Araina, Araina was on her seat busy with the pending home-assignment she had left incomplete for she as too busy looking after her pet Juno in the weekend. Ashima entered the classroom and informed Araina that someone from the Commerce Department was waiting for her outside the class.
Araina was caught between two mediating hemispheres; her best friend had ditched her. Had she been present in class she would have confessed to Abhishek but she was not present in the class and Araina met him and shared a casual handshake with him but before she could reveal the stark truth, the bell rang and recess was over.
Abhishek felt butterflies in his belly and Araina was a bit embarrassed. After school Abhishek waited for her at the bus-stand but she did not turn up contrary to his expectation, and returned home with a heavy-heart. Hours later, she texted him and apologized to him for not turning up on time. She accounted it to be a phenomena of fear; fear of being caught in the act.
Nargis cooking up story…
Nargis cooked up a story with the aplomb of a professional that Araina’s father came to receive her. Hence she failed to show up as promised, and Abhishek’s blind faith on Araina was restored all over again. Nargis hoodwinked his suspicion whenever he met Araina for their was a sharp contrast in the way she behaved and the way Araina was supposed to. Araina would barely talk and Nargis would make up for her misconduct over text messages.
Farewell was round the corner and Araina came to sleep over at Nargis’s home. None of them slept that night except for the little Rottweiler Juno, they had a conversation with Abhishek, and Araina turned out to be Nargis’s mouthpiece for the romantic conversation.
Without haste, Abhishek confessed his feelings for Araina. They planned to catch up at the Jogger’s park the next morning. Nargis chalked out the plan that Araina and Abhishek would spend some time while she would be around taking care of Juno. Everything was working according to their plan until Juno decided to interfere and attack Abhishek. Juno’s pearly razors tore into his flesh welling up in the resulting wounds. Araina tried to get Juno off him and Nargis was in tears. People gathered around them and Abhishek was rushed to the nearby medical clinic.
Final Touch
Nargis was with him throughout as she was well acquainted with her well-knit plans that led to his breakdown conscience pricked her hard. A week later, she confided the matter to him for the best way to combat fear is to confront them. Yes, the tug of war between destiny and destination had finally ended and Abhishek and Nargis had come to terms. Although Araina wanted to settle scores with them for blaming Juno; but some years later she became the maid of honor to bear testimony to Abhishek and Nargis’s alliance.