The Heartbreak: Suhani and Mohit #3
The frantic knocking on the door made me reluctantly leave my bed. I spend most of my days in bed these days.
On hearing the knock, I wipe the tears and try to shake the sadness away. I try, but fail. I go to open the door. It is my friends. I have been avoiding them for 3 months now. To be honest, I haven't been out at all. I haven't been to any open mic. I just work on my proofreading job at home and order food. These food apps have made life so much easier. I talk to my parents over call. After one week of that unspeakable evening, I told them that Mohit wasn't the one. They did try to reason it out but I simply said that I don't want anything to do with him. They didn't pester me any more. They trust me, and perhaps, know me better than anyone else.
I have five good friends. Two of them are married to each other- Kishan and Sara. One is engaged to be married- Nehal. One is married with child- Rakesh. One is in a long distance relationship with a girl in Australia- Sid.
Nehal got engaged to Hitesh 6 months back. Hitesh met us once. He just couldn't gel with us well. We like him for Nehal but don't think he could be our friend. That is our mutual consensus. Rakesh's wife, Aarti, is a sweetheart. We have known her for two years. She hasn't been to these get-togethers for one year now. She has to tend to her newborn angel, Tara. Sid met May online. They have been dating for one year. Sid visited her 7 months back. May plans to visit this December. We will meet her then. Kishan and Sara were childhood sweethearts. They started dating at the age of 14 and got married at the age of 23, as soon as our course got over. We all have known them as a couple always. They live life one day at a time and are in no hurry to start a family as yet. Equations have been quite clear between us. We all share the idea of being clear headed and to speak our minds. I like that about us.
My friends don't know that I met someone named Mohit or what transpired between us. Ever since college we planned a monthly night-out over some random weekend. We meet at someone's house. It is usually Kishan and Sara's place. The weekend that followed Mohit's departure from my life was the weekend we were supposed to meet. I made the excuse of being unwell that weekend and the month after that. I knew the excuse is not going to fly by the third time but my heart was too broken to let my brain come with a better excuse. When they called me day before yesterday, I said the same thing. And now, they are all here, at my doorstep, with booze and food.
As soon as I see them, I am happy but I think my mind has forgotten what a smile is. My eyes well-up. Sara immediately hugs me and I move aside to let the rest of them in. All of them must have sensed that something was not quite right as none of them seemed surprised by my tears. The other four move to my dinning table and place food. Nehal takes out plates and glasses. The boys help her set everything down and they move to sit on the couch and chairs. I see all the movements with a blurred vision over Sara's shoulder. She isn't speaking anything. Neither am I. Finally, I stop. Sara lets go. She then holds my hand and takes me to the couch. I sit in between Nehal and Sara. The guys are sitting on the chairs.
Sid is the first one to speak, "We know something went down with this dolt named Mohit."
I look up at him flummoxed. I look around. They all have a knowing look. They all know.
Nehal answers what I couldn't ask, "Kishan called your mother yesterday after you bailed on us again. She said she doesn't know much but guessed something didn't go well with Mohit."
I look down again in embarrassment. I think I am out of tears now.
Rakesh finally asks, "Tell us what happened. Since when do you grieve alone? You should have told us everything when it happened. Did we get so busy with our lives that you decided to walk away?"
I look up and immediately say, "No! That is not it. You guys have always made things so simple for me. When I met him, for the first time, I got sucked in to something very complicated. I didn't know what to do."
I then go on to tell them how he made me feel when we first met. I told them how I knew he was a perfect fit for my life but how when I thought it was a kissable moment, he revealed his complicated relationship with a married woman. Just then, I break down. I thought I had no more tears left in me and yet, here we are.
Kishan says, "Do you want us to beat him up? You know where he lives. We can all cover our faces, ring his bell and just beat him up. We will do it late at night to avoid any witnesses."
Rakesh joins in this scheme and says, "Yes! Let's do that! Even if we get caught, I will ask Aarti to come bail us out."
Nehal interjects and says, "Hello? Hitesh is a lawyer. Shouldn't he be our first call?"
Sid laughs and says, "He hates us. He will only bail you out and let us all rot in the cell."
Everyone laughs. I laugh, too. It's been months since I last laughed or even smiled. The silly scheming my friends have come up with sways me away from the hurt. They sound like a bunch of kids. Who could say these are married individuals with stable jobs?
Sara hugs me and says, "We are here for you always. Now, let's have some food and drinks. You missed out on two months of gossip. Kishan got promoted. Sid broke up. Nehal has had her first fight with her mother-in-law."
My eyes open wide at the brief she just handed me down. "Please tell me everything. All three of you", I say sounding like a big time gossip-monger.
We chat for hours. We have our laughs. I feel like I have a normal life again. Around 4 in the morning, we decide to go to bed. Kishan and Sara take my bedroom. The rest of us pull out the extra futons into the living area. We make space by moving the couch. I had eventually bought futons when I moved here. I knew these get-togethers would be a regular thing. After a long time, I sleep peacefully. It feels a lot lighter, emotionally.
Next day, we get up around noon and order brunch. Everyone leaves by 2pm to avoid traffic. They all reassuringly tell me that I can call them anytime. Sid warns me to not bail out again otherwise he and Rakesh would kidnap me for the next get-together. We all share a good laugh.
After they all leave, I realise, being alone in the apartment isn't so bad anymore. I open my laptop to work on my proofreading. I am not sad anymore. I have little perspective of what I want. I spend hours editing document after document. I suddenly hear a pickup truck move in the driveway. I look at the time. It is 8:30pm. I peek out the window and see Mr. Kulkarni standing next to the pickup truck which is right behind my car. His car is behind the truck.
Mr. Kulkarni owns the house next to mine. We share a common driveway. Since it is just the two houses and Mr. Kulkarni stays in other corner of the city, I usually leave my car parked leisurely.
I think Mr. Kulkarni is moving in and so I decide to move my car to a side. I am picking my keys when the bell rings. It is Mr. Kulkarni. I greet him with a smile and he is equally kind. He says, "Hey Suhani! I found a new tenant for my house. He is moving in today. I know its late but hand me your keys, I will move your car."
I politely reply, "I am so sorry, Uncle. I should have parked better. Don't worry I will park to a side so that they can park as well." I hand him the keys.
He smiles and says, "Not needed, kiddo. He doesn't have a car. Just a bike, which he can park anywhere easily. You may park the way you usually do. I am sure he will not bother you. He is a silent guy. Some professor. As far as I can tell, he minds his own business. But do me a favour! If he bothers you at all, let me know right away." He turns away and leaves as I close the door.
My mind is trying to draw conclusions that aren't realistic.
Thought: Is it him?
Counter-thought: It can't be. It is not a meet-cute. Even he cannot have that audacity.
Thought: Maybe. But what if?
Counter-thought: You can take a peek to check.
After a long debate in my head, I decide to not look. I was afraid I would be disappointed either way. It was hard to explain. I did not want to deal with it, right now. I pick my phone and order dinner. I watch a sitcom on my laptop. I hear the pick-up truck leave. The bell rings. I think it could be Mr. Kulkarni, returning the keys, or my food delivery guy. I open the door. It is Mr. Kulkarni. He smiles and hands me the keys. I thank him and try to close the door but he says, "Suhani! I want you to meet my tenant."
A man emerges from his side. He continues, "This is Mohit Malik. He works at Central University as a Chemistry Professor."
I gasp. My lungs have been cut-off from the oxygen supply. My heart has stopped pumping blood. Mr. Kulkarni tries to carefully read my weird response. Mohit has a straight face. He has guilty eyes. I feel like there is remorse on his face. To break the awkward air, Mohit casually says, "Hi!" and looks away.
It is then that the food delivery agent shows up. I direct my attention to him. Mohit walks away and Mr. Kulkarni follows him to the door of his house. The delivery agent, while handing me the food, says, "Ma'am, please rate me well!" I smile and nod. I see Mr. Kulkarni shake Mohit's hand and leave. The delivery agent follows Mr. Kulkarni in the driveway. I don't know why I stayed at the door so long. I should have immediately shut the door. Mohit turns to look at me with much more remorse in his eyes. It could have been pity. I don't know. I do not want any more mess. I dismayingly shake my head at his audacity and shut the door.
I direct my focus on the food. I watch movie after movie to avoid thinking about him at all. I move to the couch and check my phone. There is a message from Sid. I have a missed call from Mom. I decide to call my mother first. We talk. She asks me about my friends. I thank her for understanding even without knowing everything. She behaves like it's nothing. I love her superpower. I cut the call and check my messages. There are two messages now. One from Sid and one from an unknown number. Intrigued by a late night message from an unknown number, I open it first.
"I am sorry that I rented your neighbour's house. I really needed to move away from the apartment after I ended things with her. I promise to not bother you. I would want us to be friends someday, though; that is why I moved here. I want to apologise again. Sorry! -Mohit"
I never saved his number and deleted all texts that he had sent me in those two days. I didn't feel like I had block to him because he never called or messaged after that day. Until today. I don't know if I have anything to say to him. I choose to not reply.
I check Sid's message. "Hey, Suha! I was glad to see you after such a long time. Don't disappear. Don't tell anyone but I like you the most in the group. :D"
I smile at the text. I reply: "Sid! I am so glad you people showed up here. Don't worry! Your secret is safe with me. I like me the most in the group as well. :D"
As I am about to keep my phone aside, it buzzes. Sid: "LOL! What are you up to? Had dinner?"
Me: "Just watching some movies. Just had dinner. And you?"
I want to tell him about Mohit but I am not sure how he would react. He might call the gang and they might actually work on their little scheme to beat him up.
Sid: "I am sitting in my car outside my apartment. My idiot roommate thought I would be gone for the whole weekend and called his girlfriend over. He said he will try to politely ask her to leave after dinner. I ordered burger. Had it but she still hasn't left."
Me: "Ask him to take her to a hotel. It is your place, too."
Sid: "Suha! Bro-code, man! Don't you know that?"
Me: "LOL! Listen! Come over. You can wait here till she leaves. I still have the drinks from last night. We can watch a movie together."
Sid lives 2-3 kms away from my place. He was my first friend in college. He was school friends with Kishan and Sara. He introduced me to them. He went out on one date with Nehal and almost immediately knew she was going to be a better friend. Rakesh was Nehal's project partner and soon became the life of our group. I have always trusted all of them. I know them all too well to ever get uneasy with them. Until May, Sid had never been in a serious relationship in his life. He hardly spent time with us during college. He showed up at the parties with some new babe in his arms. He always called me his 'bro'. He has previously spent a couple of nights here because his roommate's girlfriend has made a few surprise visits to their apartment. He used to previously crash at Rakesh's house but after Tara was born, I became his go to guy.
Sid: "You are life-saver, Suha! I knew I liked you the most for a reason. See you in 10."
I keep my phone aside. In roughly, 10 minutes I hear his car. I lazily leave the couch. I tip-toe barefoot to the door. I open it and see Sid. He parked his car right behind mine. I smile at him. He is in his own jolly mood. Just as he is about to step on my porch, Mr. Kulkarni's main door opens. Mohit steps out and eyes Sid. Sid looks at him in a funny way, not knowing what his problem was. Sid stops in his steps to turn and ask him. I rush to Sid and hold his hand to bring him in. Sid follows me. After we are inside my house, I close the door and hear Mohit bang shut his door.
Sid immediately says, "Who was that? When did you get a neighbour? Why was he looking at me like that?"
I smile and say, "He is Mr. Kulkarni's tenant. He moved in today evening. He is a teacher and maybe he doesn't get the idea of two friends hanging out this late. Who knows? Crazy people don't need reasons to act crazy." I laugh uncomfortably. I just lied to my friend.
Sid didn't press the matter and walks with me to the couch. We have a few glasses of wine and watch The Dictator on my laptop. We both love this movie. It has right amount of satire and funny. After the movie, he checks his phone. His roommate didn't message. I tell him that he is welcomed to sleep on the futon. He takes up the offer. I go to my room.
Next morning, I wake up at 9 and walk out to check on Sid. He has already left. He had put the futon away. I check my phone, he left a message at 6 am stating that he didn't want to wake me so he left. He had to drop his roommate's girlfriend to the airport. I smile and open my playlist. I play the music really loud. I sing and dance as I prepare my mid-day meal. I am perky today. Maybe Mohit moving-in next door and that jealous look did some healing for me. I think I did hurt him a little when Sid came last night.
I cannot wait to get back at him. I can make him jealous so many more times now that he is here.
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