“God, ab kya hoga? Main Avni se pyaar karta hoon, Avni Veer se pyaar karti hain, Veer Bani se pyaar karta hain aur Bani mujhse pyaar karti hain. Yeh kya siyapa hai, bhagwan ji.” Neil mumbled to himself as his fingers ran nervously through his hair.
“Aaj hi mujhe andaza hua ki main Avni se pyaar karta hoon aur aaj hi yeh sab ho gaya! Issey toh love triangle bhi nahi bula sakta, yeh toh poora ka poora love square hain!” He was beyond worried and had no idea how to untangle everyone from this mess, “Yeh toh Ekta Kapoor ke serials se bhi zyada complicated hain!” He groaned in frustration.
“What is complicated?” Bani, who had just found him doing actions to himself asked in confusion.
“You?” Neil asked, turning around in shock.
“Yes me, and not some ghost. Why are you so shocked?”
“No, nothing.”
“Neil, what’s wrong? You don’t seem fine to me.” Bani said in concern.
“Itne saare khulason ke baat main kaise tik ho sakta hoon? Yeh koi daily soap hota toh ab tak toh 100 transitions ho chuka hota, jisme mere shock wala chehra dikate. Aur piche se dumtanana dumtanana dumtanana baj raha hota. Aur sirf yahi nahi, pure duniya ke saare mandir ki ghanti bhi baj rahi hoti!” Neil mumbled to himself in tension.
“What did you say? Stop talking so fast and so low. I can’t understand anything.” Bani said trying to make sense of his words.
“When did I even speak for you to listen?” He again mumbled.
Bani kept her hand on his shoulder, “Neil, please stop talking nonsense and tell me what happened. I can’t understand anything. I’m concerned about you. You don’t seem fine to me at all.”
Neil looked at her hand that was on his shoulder, and that increased his tension tenfold, “Bani, you love someone?” He blurted out and almost immediately regretted doing it. How could Bani fall in love with him? That was just not possible, that Jay must’ve been crazy. He told himself.
Bani withdrew her hand in reflex and stared at him in shock, not knowing what to say. “Neil, I..erm…You….what…”
But on finding her struggling for words, the assurance he had a second ago fell weak. And he couldn’t help but wonder if she really loved him.
“Bani…tell me the truth.” Neil said softly.
“Neil..I…it’s nothing like that. You-”
“Don’t play with words. Do you love someone?” Neil asked.
Unable to lie to him, she confessed, “Yes.”
Shocked out of his wits, he gaped at her. The Bani Sharma, who had never even had a crush on a boy, was in love!? IN LOVE!?
“Who is it?” He asked in dread.
“Neil, listen this -”
“Bani, you know I’ll do my best to set this up for you, right?” He asked, hoping that she would say someone else’s name.
“Neil, you won’t be able to do it.” Bani said, looking away.
Does that mean it’s me?
No Neil. What are you thinking?
“Why?”
“Because…because..he already likes someone else.” She said with a hint of pain in her voice.
Does she know I love Avni!? Oh God, does that mean… no no no Neil, stop jumping into conclusions.
“Who is it, Bani?” Neil asked nervously. He genuinely didn’t want her first love to be a bitter experience for her. “Do I know him?”
“I can’t tell you, Neil, I’m sorry. You know him well, and I don’t want him to know I have feelings for him.” Bani said, shaking her head.
Neil felt his whole world breaking apart. Things were way too complicated now, and that wasn’t all. He couldn’t discuss it with anyone!
*****
“You both gave your names for the tour that’s coming up, right?” Avni asked Bani and Neil.
They nodded in their heads in yes, and while the girls went on to talk about something, Neil couldn’t help but think about the complicated love cycle that was spinning around him. He had to talk it out to someone. Otherwise, he was sure to go crazy. And pretty soon, he found himself interrupting Bani and Avni.
“Guys, I have a doubt.” He announced, making the girls exchange glances at each other. “See, there are four people w, x, y, and z. So w loves x, x loves y and y loves x. I mean- hold on, let me get it straight.” He paused to think for a while. Avni and Bani exchanged glances, mentally commenting on his weird behaviour. “Ok, got it. W loves X, X loves Y, Y loves Z, and Z loves W. Now, how do you solve this puzzle?”
“What are you even blabbering? W, x, y, z, and all. Have you lost your brain cells, Neil?” Avni asked with a frown.
“You do realise I disliked maths because of this whole xyz things, right?” Bani asked. “And you are bringing forward an algebraic sum?! I left maths ages ago, Neil!”
“This isn’t any maths sum. And no, I didn’t lose my brain cells, at least not yet. But if this goes on, I probably will. Anyway, I’m serious. I don’t understand what I should be doing now.” Neil said helplessly.
“Why do you even have to be doing something?” Avni asked in confusion.
“Because W loves X, X loves Y, Y loves Z, and Z loves W!” Neil exclaimed.
“Again, the same thing!” Bani muttered.
“Ok, wait, give me a moment. I’ll give them names, okay?” He said, “Ram loves Sia, Sia loves Shyam, Shyam loves Radhika, and Radhika loves Ram.”
Avni and Bani took a whole minute to process this newfound information.
“Ok, now come to the point. Who are these characters in real life?” Avni asked.
“Huh?” Neil exclaimed in surprise. He wasn’t expecting her to understand it this quickly.
“Exactly. Stop beating around the bush and tell us the matter.” Bani said in a serious tone.
“You guys are no help. I’ll just go ask someone else.” Neil said and got away from there before they could even raise their questions at him.
“What’s wrong with him?” Avni asked.
“No idea, he’s been behaving weird lately.” Bani said, shaking her head.
“Dal mein kuch kala hain..” Avni said, furrowing her brows.
“Kuch kala hain!?” Bani asked in surprise, “Mujhe toh pura dal hi kaali lag rahi hain!”
“But how do we find out?” Avni asked, lost in thoughts.
“He will spill it himself. Wait and see.” Bani said.
“I don’t know why I get the feeling that this time, he wouldn’t spill it so easily.” Avni said thoughtfully.
~To be continued~
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~Stay safe!~