Pani – a story we wish were true – part 25

It’s my 25th part !! And it has to be special ! I have tried to make it as special as possible. I hope you like it !

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Recap: all the others fall asleep at parth’s place after the party and niti and parth left alone.

He rushed towards the kitchen only to find her fallen on the floor with few vessels around. He quickly helped her get up.

Parth: what happened ?

Niti: actually I was feeling hungry so came in to look for something to eat. I saw that box full of Maggie packets on top and tried to climb up with the help of this stool but still could not reach and then my leg slipped and I fell over.

Parth: ohh okay okay. You do one thing. Take these clothes, go to my bedroom and get changed till then I’ll prepare Maggie for you to eat.

Niti: you sure ?

Parth: yes of course. Go ahead.

As she starts moving towards the bedroom, she again slips but this time as soon as Parth hears her scream he holds her and protects her from falling.

Parth: What happened ?

Niti: I can’t move my leg. Its paining a lot !

Parth: Oh okay let me see.

He bends down to check her leg while she stands on one leg, holding his shoulders for support. As he bends, he sees her bare feet and quickly turns his face away.

Niti: What happened ?

Parth: Nothing, i’ll just check.

He again turns to face her leg and starts feeling nervous on seeing her beautiful feet. He touches her ankle with his hand and suddenly removes his hand with a jerk.

Niti: What’s wrong ?

He felt a magical spark on touching her feet that got the reflex action.

Parth: Nothing. Sorry.

This time he controls his emotions and takes her ankle in his hands and tries to twist her leg. But, just as he starts doing so, she gives out a scream that scares him and he suddenly lets go of her leg which makes her fall over him.
He falls on the floor and she falls in his lap. He lifts her in his arms and then carries her towards the bedroom. He carefully places her on the bed and then again bends to check her leg.

Parth: I think its a sprain. You need to take some rest. Do one thing, sit here and get changed. I’ll close the door and go to the kitchen to get some pain killer as well as maggie for you to eat.

Niti nods in agreement and Parth leaves the room, closing the door behind him.

Although he did have so many maggie packets at his place but he did not know how to prepare it. Usually his cook used to prepare it for him whenever he wanted. But this time he thinks to himself that he would have to do it as it is a question of his abilities. Also, he cannot let his guest stay hungry.

He keeps all the vessels that had fallen on the ground on the kitchen counter and gets the box full of maggie packets down. He opens the box and takes one packet and starts reading the instructions on the packet. He keeps reading the instructions for almost 5-7 minutes.

Niti had changed into his blue track pants and the white oversized tee shirt he had given to her. On successfully getting changed into those comfortable clothes after a lot of struggle, she waits for some more time and when Parth still does not arrive she decides to try and walk to the kitchen in case he might be needing some help. She tries to get up but the pain fails her ! She then finds her phone lying beside her. She realises Parth must have got it from the drawing room. She quickly dials his number.

In the kitchen Parth is still struggling with the amount of water to be taken in the vessel when his phone rings in his pocket. He takes his phone out of his pocket to find it Niti calling. He immediately realises it had been a very long time and he is still struggling with the amount of water. He picks up the call after a long time.

Parth: Hey ! How are you ?

Niti: What do you mean ?

Parth: I mean your leg. How is the pain ?

Niti: It’s still the same. But where are you ?

Parth: I’m so sorry I’ll just get the pain killer for you.

He disconnects the call and takes the pain killer and a glass of water to the room. He first knocks on the door and on hearing her call out, “Come in”, opens the door and goes in. She had been sitting on his bed wearing his clothes and was looking too cute was the first thought that entered his head.

He moved towards the bed and gave her the pain killer and the glass of water. She took the medicine and then asked,

Niti: So, is the maggie ready ?

Parth: Yeah almost !

Niti: Great ! I’m starving since long ! Accha do you have that pink bandage used for sprain ?

Parth: Oh yes I completely forgot about that ! I do have it. Wait I’ll get it.

He moves to the other side of the bed, the side where he sleeps and takes the bandage from the drawer of the side table on that side. He comes to her and sits on the bed opposite her.

Parth: Do you want me to help you put it ?

Niti: Yes please.

He carefully takes her leg in his lap which gives her a shiver, due to pain as well as nervousness. He notices the sudden jerk in her body and starts keeping her leg aside but she indicates him through her eyes that it’s okay and he can continue. He again takes her leg in his lap and starts applying the bandage. Each time the bandage is to be moved over her leg, he has to lift her leg which hurts her and she jerks with pain. Seeing her in so much pain causes an ache in his heart. He feels helpless as he can do nothing to reduce her pain but realises he can at least take care of her wound and decides to do so. After finally finishing off with applying the bandage he decides to tell her the truth that he has not been able to prepare maggie yet.

Parth: Listen, I’m sorry.

Niti: For what ?

Parth: I lied to you. I’ve not even started preparing maggie. Actually I’ve never done it before and was reading the instructions on the packet when you called.

Niti: Oh ! That’s really bad ! You wont even feed your guest ?

Parth: (feeling embarrassed) I want to but It’s just that I don’t know how to. I even looked for something else to eat but there’s nothing kept in the refrigerator as well.

Niti: Ha Ha ! Why are you feeling so ashamed ? It’s okay ! Lets do one thing, I think I would be able to walk now that I have this bandage on, so I’ll come to the kitchen with you and then we can prepare it together.

Parth: You sure ?

Niti: Yes of course.

He then helps her get up from the bed and start walking. He holds her right hand and his left hand is around her shoulder helping her to slowly walk. She takes 2 steps and then it starts paining which is clearly visible on her face. He is not able to see her in so much pain and immediately lifts her up in his arms which leaves her surprised ! She keeps staring at him with her big eyes wide open while he is carrying her towards the kitchen. He takes a look at her face staring at him and blushes at her constant gaze ! She still keeps staring till they reach the kitchen and he places her on the kitchen counter beside the stove.

Niti: Okay now, take a vessel and fill in 2 cups water and place it on the stove at medium heat.

He starts doing as instructed. She finds that he is not even aware as to where are the vessels and other items are placed in his kitchen.

Niti: How often do you come to this area of your house ?

Parth: (while filling the vessel with water measuring exactly as instructed) Very rarely. Why ?

Niti: I thought so.

Parth: (engrossed in his work) What ?

Niti: Nothing. Okay now that you have placed the water to boil, take a packet of maggie and open it.

He keeps doing as instructed.

Niti: Now as the water comes to a boil, put in the maggie in it.

Parth: How do you know if the water has come to the boil ?

Niti: (laughs out loud) When you see some bubbles forming in it.

Parth: (embarrassed) Oh okay. I think it’s ready. Should I put this in ?

Niti: Yes. And now wait for few minutes. Till then please open the refrigerator.

He moves towards the refrigerator and opens it enough for her to be able to look inside.She takes a look and her eyes shine bright !

Niti: What were you saying ? Look there’s some cheese spread waiting for us to eat it away !

Parth: Yeah but what will you eat it with ?

Niti: You come to this area of your house very rarely ! But I have come in for the first time and see I found what you should have. Turn around.

He turns around to find a packet of bread lying on the other side of the kitchen counter and he quickly picks it up and gives it to her. He also hands her the packet of cheese spread from the refrigerator.

Niti: Okay, now you add the maggie masala to the maggie and I will make few sandwiches till then.

Few more minutes later, the maggie and sandwiches are ready and they decide to sit in the bedroom and eat it as it would be comfortable for her wound. He once again lifts her in his arms and takes her to the bedroom. He carefully places her on the bed and then goes to the kitchen to get the food. He comes back and places the plates on the bed and sits beside her.

She does not wait for him and starts off instantly as she had been starving since a long long time. He does not start so soon and watches her as she eats like a hungry kid. He keeps adoring her innocence without even blinking his eyes. The scene that he had been watching was too sweet to be missed even for a second. She is looking so adorable, he thinks to himself !

Few minutes later, she feels a gaze on her face and turns to look at him. He immediately starts looking in other directions as he does not want her to know he had been admiring her for such a long time. She starts laughing at that and he again starts gazing her innocent beauty !

Niti: parth, I don’t mind finishing this off but it’s actually tasty. It’s your first time at cooking, I think you should at least taste it.

Parth: yes of course I should and I will.

He looks at the plate and finds that he forgot to get another fork for himself. He starts going towards the kitchen to get another fork when she offers her fork. He takes it from her and gives her a smile. He picks up some from the plate and puts it in his mouth.

Parth: ohh it’s actually yummy ! Wow I can cook !

Niti: (laughs out loud) yes of course ! Preparing Maggie is the toughest milestone and you have achieved it ! Bravo !! (Starts clapping)

Parth: (sarcastically) ha ha very funny ! Just wait and watch, one day I will serve you a full course dinner prepared all by myself, Mr. Parth Samthaan !

Niti: sure ! I would be waiting for that day. But please make sure that it comes before my death !

Parth’s face drops instantly on hearing the word death !

Niti: what happened ?

Parth: why do you have to talk about death ?

Niti: I was just joking !

Parth: no ! Promise me you would never talk about your death ever again ! Not even as a joke ! Promise me !

Niti: (surprised at his concern for her) okay I promise.

She takes a pause and then asks,

Niti: parth, can I ask you something ?

Parth: yeah !

Niti: this death concern was only for me or you generally dislike death !

Parth: who likes death Niti ? What a stupid question is that !

Niti: it’s not stupid ! I want to know ! If it would have been someone else talking about death here, would you stop them the same way ? Would you take that promise from them ?

Parth: I don’t know what you are talking about ? You finished with this ?

Niti: (looks at the plate) hmm..

Parth then takes the plates and moves towards the kitchen to put the plates there and get water for her. He comes back with a glass full of water and offers it to her. She looks at him with questioning eyes as he had not replied to her question but then let’s go of it as she had understood how stubborn he was at times. She knew if he did not want to answer something, he won’t and nobody could force that out of him !

Parth: I think you should go to sleep now. You can use the bed, I’ll sleep on this couch here.

Niti: but that couch is so small. How will you fit in ? Let me sleep there and you can take the bed. I’m as it is very short so I would easily fit there.

Parth: madam, in case you have forgotten let me remind you, your leg needs rest and so you need to use the bed. I’ll be fine here.

Niti: okay.

Parth switches off all the lights and gets settled on the couch when Niti instantly shouts !

Parth: what happened ?!

Niti: I can’t take in so much of darkness ! Please keep the lights on.

Parth: okay wait I’ll switch on this lamp over here.

He switches on the lamp on the side table between them and then settles himself on the couch to go to sleep.

Parth: good night.

Niti: no !

Parth: what ?

Niti: no good night. I’m not sleepy. Let’s talk !

Parth: Niti, we have to go for shoot tomorrow morning and besides your leg needs rest.

Niti: so my leg is getting rest Na ! I’m not moving around. I’m just asking to talk . That does not require any exercise by my legs.

Parth: okay fine ! Let’s talk. But what would we talk about ? Don’t you remember ? We don’t really get along well.

Niti: can I ask you something ?

Parth: yeah sure !

Niti: what happened between you and disha ?

Parth does not answer for some time and niti looks up at him. The faint light of the lamp had been falling on his face and she could see she had disturbed something really bad inside him.

Niti: I’m sorry I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just asked because I thought I was the reason for your fights. I have had this feeling for a long time now that I have indirectly created problems between the two of you.

Parth: when there is lack of trust between two people then any third person does not have to do anything to break that relation.

Niti: oh ! So you…

Parth: yes we broke up ! And you know what ? I feel relieved !

Niti: that’s so selfish of you to say..

Parth: maybe ! But that’s the truth ! No more fights on irrelevant issues, no more proving yourself correct when you have done nothing, no more trust issues.

Niti does not say anything on that and just keeps looking at him. She could see the pain he had been hiding inside him through his eyes. He had not been looking at her while talking and when she did not respond for some time, he looked up at her only to find that she had tears in her eyes. That concerned him and he quickly got up from the couch to come and sit beside her on the bed.

Parth: hey what happened ?

Niti: (not looking at him and still crying, tears not stopping flowing out of her eyes) nothing. I can understand your problem about trust issues.

Parth: how ?

Niti: because I have had a tough time trusting boys after that incident.

Parth: what incident ?

Niti: I trusted him, I loved him, I fought with my best friend for him and he left me shattered !

She burst out crying and hid her face in her hands to not show it to him. She had never cried for Rahul in front of anyone because she did not want to fall weak in front of others. She wanted to show it to the world that she was strong and nobody can break her apart ! She did not love him anymore but the hurt, the pain was still there in her heart ! All these years had brought so many changes in her life but it could not change or remove or even reduce that pain.

She was still crying and parth could not take it any more. He could not see her falling apart. He did not realise but even he had tears in his eyes, watching her crying. She had not narrated the whole story yet but he could still feel her pain. He felt a strong connection between their hearts where they could understand each other’s emotions without having to explain them. He quickly wiped his tears and then kept his hands on hers that had been covering her face. He softly removed her hands from her face and wiped her tears and looked straight into her eyes.

Niti: why does this always happen to me ? I hate him I really do hate him !! But then why does he affect me so much ? Why can’t I stop crying ? I was so young when he gave me that scar and it’s been many years but that pain is still the same !

Parth: you need to let him go ! You do not realise but you have been holding on to him all these years ! You might not be having any contact with him, you might not have met him after that but your mind still sees him everyday ! And that is the reason you fall weak ! Don’t do this to yourself ! Believe in yourself, have faith that you yourself can fight the world and you don’t need these tears. If he is responsible for your pain by giving you that wound then you are equally responsible for holding on to it for so long. He does not deserve your tears Niti. Move on and let go ! Trust me you will feel much better !

Niti keeps staring at him for a very long time and keeps thinking about what he had said. She does not respond for a long time and just keeps staring into his eyes that had been trying to get her out of the pain ! He understood her and so did nothing to stop her gaze. He looked back into her eyes and tried to explain each and every word he had mentioned once again. After some time, she spoke up,

Niti: thank you !

At that her eyes again started brimming with tears and he started wiping them out.

Niti: let them be. These tears are not for him. These are for my bad memories to escape my heart through my eyes ! This is the last time these are coming out for him. Thank you for making me realise my mistake and healing my wound !

Parth just give her a soothing smile and puts on the blanket for her to stay warm, indicating her to go to sleep. He then gets up and starts moving towards the couch when she stops him by holding his hand. He turns around to look at her questioningly to which she just gives him a smile and let’s go of his hand. He smiles back and then settles himself on the couch. Both of them fall asleep in no time.

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So friends I hope this 4 parts back to back was not too much to handle ! Now onwards I would be following my schedule ! Now no change unless I mention it…some of you suggested few changes in the schedule and I have considered them but please don’t mind guys I’m not changing the schedule as of now. If this does not suit few days later then I might change it and will definitely keep you informed ! For now, please keep supporting ! Thank you !