The forgotten truth, that I was scared of was settled when I was not present. Prakash had gone out there, met Ashmit and told him that we were Reema's friends. Even if it was bound to happen, it was still unsettling in a very—kinda apologetic way, I would say. I couldn't help but sigh, I didn't know if it was out of relief or embarrassment. I did not utter a word about it further, just nodded and asked him, "How's your wound?"
"I guess Ahim had something to do with hiding the scars, but it still stings…", he had bruises all over his face, if he were to show up with that face, we would never be able to answer Tom, Angad and Swara's questions. While I was busy preparing breakfast for him, he waved at Tom who was leaving for the classes. Swara had left home earlier saying she had an important pitch that day. Angad on the other hand had been too busy on his business trip. Prakash's classes were over so he had final exams for postgraduate coming up soon, he was reading his notes.
"Don't fail this year!"
"Uh??? I do not have any arrear in my university life!", he snorted.
"Nanananayyyy!", I mocked him in response. It had become a regular thing for me to act hateful towards him and I found that becoming more frequent ever since I was rejected.
"Your graduation day might become the last thing we do as a normal human being…", his eyes came off from the book getting distracted as I kept on chatting to avoid the silence. I heard his sigh behind me, he moved the chair and the sound of his steps approaching me was so clear. 'Can I let my heart race like this?', I closed my eyes again and pretended to be unaware of his presence closer than earlier. He helped himself with getting the breakfast I made for him and tapped my head gently to say, "You already are not quite normal…"
"I hate you…"
"Thank you!", he grinned.
"Wel...come…", my tooth gritted.
When I was washing the vessels after breakfast, he offered to help me and since it was just the two of us, I guess we couldn't avoid interacting and helping each other out. While he was in the room studying, I watched some movies and read books outside. He came out for relaxing every now and then, we threw insults at each other and go back to what we were doing. It was abnormally quiet since Ahim decided to give us a break to help Prakash revive after the accident. But guess what? It was extremely boring and I was frustrated to be the only person who had no job to do.
"Let's go out for dinner…", I barged in.
"WHat the…!", his right leg was halfway up in the air in panic, "Could you please make some noise or knock on the door before entering?"
"I intended to barge in...exactly like this…", I was still holding the knob of the door.
"Now answer…"
"Go out with Swara.."
"Angad is coming tonight…"
"Be a third-wheel then…"
"Ahhh!!!", I whined, "Please! I am bored…"
"What about Tom?"
"We three shall go if you agree…", I pierced him with expecting eyes.
The eating house was not like the regular modern restaurants serving in elegancy. It was an old one with years of serving experience. I was prejudiced at first but it only took one bite to make the page clear and the first thing I did was to thank Tom for taking us there. It was not too far from our place, Tom was beside and Prakash in front, he was mostly quiet and so focused on the food. Then there was Tom nudging me and eyeing me to pass dishes to Prakash and it was too clear that he was trying to set us up. I mouthed 'STOP'
He started, "Have I told you about a friend of mine?"
"Who?", Prakash seemed uninterested.
"You might know him...or might not…"
"Then don't say…"
"Prakash, that's rude…", I turned to Tom but I knew looking at his grinning face that I should have let Prakash shut his mouth up. It was not too late to stitch up his lips.
"Anyways, he has this cute little old friend… I am sure he likes her… But due to his insecurities, he's denying the fact…"
Prakash's eyes were on me and his mouth stopped chewing the food. Regardless, Tom continued, "He's gonna regret if it continues…".
"Haha, you can't know what your friend thinks…", I shrugged and took another bite of the hot fried rice in front of me.
"How do you say that?", Prakash interrupted before Tom could come at me.
"How did you feel watching over Angad acting around Swara when they were off for a while?"
"What??", it was news to me, "They did what?"
"Yeah, they broke up for about a month, was it last year?", Prakash nodded to the question. "But it was the most frustrating thing, we already became close friends to Swara, so we knew both sides' stories and also the fact that they still liked even when they were off.", he closed his eyes looking back at his memories. "It's a funny past to them right now."
"I remember that…But I believe your friend will decide it for himself."
"Ah, this guy frustrates me more than that..", Tom pointed his finger at Prakash who resumed his eating show.
I took out the mobile and started typing: I get that you're tryna help me… Thanks, but I guess it's okay if you don't get any stress.. :)
"I gotta leave now…", Tom stood up in a hurry, "It's about that friend I told you about…", he winked at me, "Seeya at home!", just like that he fled.
I stopped myself from cursing Tom for leaving us all alone once again after spending almost forty-eight hours together. This was not something I was hoping for. The night was very active and the mob fled throughout the place and the tall standing buildings made me wonder how we looked from up above from the rooftop of those buildings. I wouldn't be able to tell which head was mine. Prakash as he walked matching my pace was looking deeper into the crowd as if it was saying something that only he could hear, with his eyebrows narrowing to a frown.
There was a high schooler running in between and was about to clash with my shoulder, Prakash pulled me to hit another rangoli powder seller on the sidewalks. His black shirt was smeared with yellow and green colours, he tried to dust off the colours but it got worse to his method. I felt sorry for the shirt, "Sorry." That's why I hated crowds, especially during rainy seasons.