She had risked her life for him....but did this support the assumed hatred between them?
“Roshni! Roshni! Wake up….open your eyes!” I shouted frantically, shaking her vigorously. Her unconscious state sent shivers down my spine….. I had never seen her so vulnerable before. Her body lay lifeless with her head on my lap, which was starting to irk me.
“Roshni! Get up...for God’s sake! How could you…..how could I let you do such an insensible thing!” I reprimanded at myself for being so irresponsible.
The silver wisps from her powerful aura had magically healed my injured hand within seconds. But the sudden jolt in her body awoke each nerve in me! She put her life in danger….for me? How could she take such a careless action without even discovering her aura’s characteristics and effects?
Not knowing what else to do, I decided to use my ancient methods and started rubbing her hands for her to gain consciousness.
“Nothing can happen to you, Roshni….nothing can! You are an ‘Exceptional’, you have one of the rarest auras…..nothing can happen to you!” I constantly repeated, assuring myself more than her. She had to be alright….I would never forgive myself if her health worsened.
The last time I saw her in this condition was when she was portraying her reel character; Ajabde. I grimaced as I realized the irony; her reel self had suffered because of me, and her real self was suffering….because of me!
“Roshni! Please wake up! I know you are mad at me….in fact, you have the right to. I owe you an apology….I know! I’ve been wanting to apologize for my intolerable mistakes…..for misunderstanding my best friend….my soulmate!” I tormented myself.
I had exactly two minutes for her to regain consciousness; I just remembered we had a dance to perform in seven minutes.
My strenuous rubbing did not show any effect, so I tried the water trick. My eyes searched till they found a half full plastic water bottle.
“Roshni?” I hesitantly asked as I sprayed some drops of water on her. Instantly, she began to come back to life. Her eyes squeezed open as she adjusted herself to the nearby surroundings.
“Roshni...are you okay?” I asked while assisting her to the sofa. She held her head in agony for a second, and then turned to check my once injured hand.
“Is your hand okay?” She spoke meekly, clearly indicating the level of weakness in her.
“You are actually concerned about my hand, Roshni?! Look at what you’ve done to yourself!”
“Me...what have I done?”
“Why did you have to transfer your aura energy to my hand?”
“Why not?”
“Seriously, Roshni?! You actually want to argue over a matter you already know you have lost?” I gave a bizarre look.
“Faisal, I hurt you….so it was my responsibility to heal you. Since it wasn’t a normal injury, I had no other way but to use my aura.” She reasoned.
“You shouldn’t have risked your life for a minor accident.” I rebutted.
It was my turn to receive a frown from her.
“What?!” I asked ridiculously.
“Faisal...you and I both know the real reason.” She spoke softly. I looked away and waited for her to continue.
“It wasn’t a minor accident….it was done intentionally, because I haven’t learnt how to control my anger. Not saying that it was entirely my fault, though.” She defended in between, to which I smiled inwardly.
“But it was partially my mistake. I could sense from your reaction that this was no ordinary pain….it seemed more of a poison like pain. So I had to compensate for what I did wrong.” She explained, blinking her eyes heavily and every once in awhile.
“But…”
“No more arguments...end of discussion.” She intervened. “We need to get ready for the performance; we don’t have much time to spare.” She informed, urgently.
I nodded in agreement and reminded myself to bring this topic some other time. I wanted to know why she did what she did…..what significance did I hold in her life? Or was it just the sake of formality?
Reaching out to the plastic packet, I grabbed the shimmery costumes. My attire consisted of a plain white shirt and pants while Roshni’s was something more complicated.
“What is this?!” She remarked incredulously, examining her dress carefully. My eyes widened as she showed her attire; her baby pink top exposed the left side of her abdomen and her left arm. Thankfully, her skirt was long and flowy, but consisted of strips of rouge pink that reassuringly covered her lower body.
“Seriously! Pink!” She retorted with a disgusted look.
“What’s wrong with pink?!” I tried to hide my laughter behind my confused expression.
“Faisal...you know how much I hate pink! How girly!”
Not able to hold any longer, I burst into laughter at her disappointed look.
“You know, you’re the first girl I met who doesn’t like the color Pink!” I commented in between laughs.
“Sexist!” She muttered under her breath.
“Excuse me?” I questioned, trying to act offended.
“Stop with your foolish drama, Faisal….because I know you better than you do!” She said approaching towards me.
“Really? So how well do you know me?” I grabbed her by her waist, minimizing the distance between us.
“Leave me, Faisal! Or else you know what I am capable of doing.” She threatened as she struggled.
“Oh yeah….I am very much aware of what you can do….like sacrificing your life to save me…” I smirked, hiding the guilt. I gazed into her eyes and gave a sly smile. Realizing the amount of time we had left, I let go of her waist and signalled her to get ready.
“Actually, there is a good aspect of this costume...just like there is to every matter.” She started to close the distance between us once again.
Matching her right wrist to mine, she revealed in exultance, “At least it can hide our permanently imprinted tattoos…”
“How did you know?” I asked, shocked by the revelation.
“I sensed you were hiding something the moment I saw you in the party….besides, now I know you are an ‘Exceptional’ too, so I could infer.” She casually shrugged.
Our tattoos were the same, only mine was in gold whereas hers was in silver; resembling our rare aura colors. I traced her trident shaped tattoo on the inside of her wrist, and she immediately reacted by pulling her hand away.
“Look away, Faisal!” She ordered, changing the topic.
“Why?” I protested.
“Just for your kind information, Mr. Faisal Khan, this room doesn’t have any changing rooms or anything as such….except for a shabby and dusty curtain which looks like it hasn’t been washed for weeks. So….although I will change behind those filthy curtains, I want you to look away for…..precautionary reasons.” She explained sarcastically.
Surprisingly, I obeyed her order, stoically turned around and waited.
“Are you done?” I asked impatiently. Vishal would knock at the door any moment, and she still wasn’t ready.
“Gosh….Faisal! Can you please let me live? As it is this costume is so difficult to get my head around….and you’re just adding yourself to my list of annoying problems.” Roshni scoffed.
My lips curved into a content grin as our memories flashed before my eyes. I remembered a particular interview by ABP, when we were shooting a scene where Ajabde had fallen unconscious due to being bitten by a deadly insect.
“ Pehle jab start start mein shooting shuru kiye the, tab maine kaha pata nahi kaun bachhi aagayi hai.” I started the interview automatically, just as we normally did. We no longer needed to verbally decide who would begin our frequent interviews with ABP SBS. One gaze, and I would get Roshni’s approval to start the conversation.
“Main isko bachhi bolta hoon toh bohot chidti hai….sachhi mein bachhi hain.” I teased.
“Kaunse standard mein ho?” I shifted the microphone at her. She constantly stared at me; not an angry glare like she gives every so often now, but a playful, sarcastic… a ‘my Roshni’ stare.
“10th.” She stated with a grin.
“10th?…” I questioned playfully.
“Jab yeh jhooth bol sakta hai…” She tried to defend.
“7th.” I revealed, interrupting her.
“Jab pata hai toh kyun poocha?” She cornered me.
“7th mein toh bachhe hote hain na?” I tried to play diplomatic.
“Haan chalo theek hai, bachhon ko nahi chedna chahiye.” I concluded while patting her head.
“Humara scene kuch aise hi chal raha hai….jahan Ajabde rooth jaati hai kyunki main khana nahi khata hoon...ab main 2 plate laata hoon...phir yeh haasi mazaak karti hai...phir main kehta hoon ki chalo...aur phir main usse mirchi khila deta hoon….” I scolded myself for hesitating again! For some random reason, I always stammered and dithered whenever I was with her. She had something in her which made me...nervous.
“Beech mein pata nahi iska chalu hogaya tha ‘Oh My God’ ‘Oh My God’. I changed the topic.
“Oh My Gosh! Oh My Gosh!” She corrected.
“Gosh ka matlab kya hota hai?” I demanded for an answer.
“It’s just…” I smirked as I left her speechless.
“Nahi, tumne upar wale ka naam bigad diya hai…” I concluded.
“Maine bigada hai?” She tried to protest.
“Oh my God yani ya mere God…”
“Dekho har baat pe God ko pareshaan nahi karna chahiye..” She intervened this time.
“Pareshan nahi...chalo phir ghost bol do. Oh my ‘Ghost’!” I suggested.
“Woh to tum ho na pehle se hi.”
“Main nahi hoon...main bohot achha hoon...sabse alag...one piece.” I complimented myself.
“Lo, khud ke hi muh se khud ki tareef.” Her voice echoed in my ears.
“Faisal?” Roshni waved her hand in front of me to grab attention.
“Huh?” I spoke, still in a daze.
“Where were you lost?” She questioned as I noticed her in her new costume. She seemed a bit uncomfortable by my stare, but as always, she wasn’t going to give in.
“Don’t I look stunning, beautiful and gorgeous? Just perfect!” She flicked her hair in absolute sass.
“Lo, khud ke hi muh se khud ki tareef!” I unknowingly commented, which made her stop midway. She turned around to face me in amazement as she confirmed,
“Maharana Pratap interviews right? When I fell unconscious because of you?”
The irony hit me once again. How could I cause her pain in both reel and real life? I felt so intimidated by my own actions….for I never intended on hurting her….at all!
Was I really a monster afterall?
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