Rishav leaves his brother’s room after bidding him good-night and goes inside his own, when he sees Ankan lying on his bed and whistling as if he doesn’t have any care in the world. And in Rishav’s opinion he really doesn’t have. After all he hasn’t screwed up the best thing in his life – no, that’s Rishav.
Rishav scowls at his friend and opens his closet to take out an extra blanket. Ankan smirks at Rishav in reply, knowing very well why his childhood friend is so angry at him. “So, did you… you know… manage to” Rishav couldn’t complete the sentence but he knows that Ankan is completely aware of what Rishav is talking about.
“Are we back to it, again?” Ankan asks and shakes his head, disappointed in his friend. “Rishav, I am going to ask her out when I think it’s the right time and I don’t need to give you daily updates on how I share my time with her. You don’t see me doing that with you. Did I ask whether you apologized to her or not and if you did whether she accepted it or not? No, I didn’t! Don’t act like this” Rishav has rarely seen Ankan burst out like that. Last time was when some idiots in college have fought with Rishav. Still, Rishav’s head is so wrapped up around only one thing that he is repeating only one thing in his head. He is going to ask her out. He hasn’t done it, yet!
“So, you haven’t asked her out?” As soon as Rishav voices his observation, he realizes what he has done.
“That’s the thing you noticed best from whatever I just said?!” Ankan asks rhetorically and takes a deep breath trying to calm himself down. “You know what, leave it! Let’s just sleep and talk in the morning” Ankan decides and takes the blanket from Rishav’s hand and lies down on the other side of the bed.
‘I must have done masters on feeling guilty and regretful by now’ Rishav thinks in his head and curses himself.
“You are right! I shouldn’t expect you to share the details of your…” Rishav has to stop himself from puking in his mouth “important moments with Khanak”. The thought that they share those moments without him being there makes Rishav feel really depressed. “It’s just that, in this one year and few months I have been so out of the loop that I want to know about everything that’s going on in her life” Rishav explains and Ankan just rolls his eyes at him as if to ask ‘really?’.
“And of course, it’s also because I am a selfish jerk who just wants to make sure that he hasn’t lost the most precious thing of his life forever” Ankan smiles at Rishav calling himself a selfish jerk. One thing Ankan has always admired about Rishav is, his unapologetic nature. Rishav is what he is and he doesn’t care to apologize for it. But this also gets Rishav in complications like the ones he is in with his family and their best-friend, Khanak.
“I am not a good person like you Ankan and I really admire you. I am so glad I can call you my friend. But I just don’t want Khanak to see how great you are and she not only sees it, she appreciates it which obviously makes me feel jealous of you” Ankan lets out a self-depreciating scoff at Rishav’s statements.
“Trust me, I would prefer to be like you”. Ankan shares and gives Rishav a sad smile.
“Would you, really?” Rishav asks and Ankan thinks back to how Rishav has behaved with Khanak last year. Would Ankan prefer to be someone who makes Khanak cry or to be someone who cheers her up? Latter one, any day!
Ankan shakes his head in reply and Rishav shrugs as if to say ‘told you so’. But Rishav won’t get why Ankan would want to be like him. He would like to be someone who affects Khanak so deeply, someone who Khanak likes and he will only ask her out on the day he becomes sure that she likes him too.
“Okay, enough of this serious shit! I promise, I won’t ask you about Khanak and your conversation with her again” Rishav promises and lies on the bed on his own side.
Just then Ankan phone rings, Rishav lets out a groan knowing very well who is on the other side and Ankan smiles sheepishly at him. “HI…” Ankan starts but couldn’t continue because Khanak starts talking. Khanak is so frantic and so loud that Rishav can completely hear what she is saying.
“Why didn’t you call me when you reached home? I was waiting for you to call because I didn’t want to disturb you while driving but you should have called, no?” Khanak chides him and Rishav turns his head, plugging in his headphones to block her voice.
It’s not un-natural, though it’s hurtful, for Khanak to worry about Ankan. Heck, she worries about everyone and anyone but it’s Rishav who is now looking at every aspect of Khanak’s and Ankan’s relationship with a pair of magnifying glass to figure out whether he still has the chance or not. And, he doesn’t want to break the promise he has just made, which he would have if he had listened to their conversation any more than he already did.
“Wake up!!!!!” Rishav jumps from his bed at his sister’s voice shouting in his ear. He loves his sister but he can’t help and wonder about where the hell does she get all her energy from that too so early in the morning. He and Anish are so silent type, it’s only Shaili who has been born with internal battery that doesn’t ever need charging. Rishav laughs at Shaili’s antics and runs to catch her.
When Rishav gets down he sees his best-friend enjoying breakfast and talking to Rishav’s mother and his mind instantly goes to making plan about how should he make Khanak talk to him. Yesterday, he managed it because Ankan was there but today Rishav wants to talk with her one on one but he knows she won’t talk to him unless she isn’t left with any other choice.
He sits on dining table and takes out a chapati to eat. “Maa, bhaiya is eating without even brushing his teeth” Anish complains and Rishav playfully glowers at him. Their mother just huffs at him and looks at him. Rishav gets up, grumbling and lightly smacks his brother on head.
Just one look from an Indian mother can make you do anything. Oh, amazing! Khanak’s mother! If Aunty is there then Rishav is hundred percent sure that Khanak will at least have to react to him, provided her mother doesn’t kick him out first. But that’s a risk he will have to take. And, as much as Rishav knows Khanak, she must have planned to help her mother out at their boutique today so he will have the whole day.
Now, he just has to figure out what Ankan’s plan is.
But when he goes downstairs after having brushed his teeth, he doesn’t see his friend and after asking he gets to know that Ankan’s grandfather called and he had to leave urgently. Awesome! It seems like everything and everyone is working on his side today.