WILD HEARTS

Chapter 15

"Oh my god Shehnaaz I am literally swooning!" exclaimed an overexcited Shefali once her friend finished giving her details of her 'date' with Sidharth. "Yaaaaar I am literally jealous now! But in a positive way of course!" she winked hugging her friend. Shehnaaz laughed, returning the hug. They had a break before their next class and were just catching up.

"But tu zyada mat bol, hah! Tera weekend kuch kam nahi tha, ok? Woh bhi uske parents ke ghar pe! Toh zyada acting mat kar! After what you said I feel like Karan needs to buckle up because he's definitely in for a ride!" said Shehnaaz, rolling her eyes.

"Haan yaar. I can't complain actually!" replied Shefali blushing.

The rest of the free period went by peacefully and before she could feel it the day had already ended and she found herself back in her room. Feeling tired she decided to take a quick nap before she got busy with her books.

Unbeknownst to Shehnaaz, Sidharth had a tough time that day. With all that happened with Sonia, he was feeling massive guilt. This was a relatively new feeling for him. Added to that was Aly. Shehnaaz's friend. He didn't know why but this guy kept bothering him. He couldn't bear the fondness with which she spoke about him. Wasn't that supposed to be reserved only for him? You are such a Hypocrite. Shouldn't you be ashamed of thinking like this considering you kissed Sonia? You can kiss but if she goes out for coffee with another guy it's a problem! Sidharth as usual ignored his inner voice.

For the last 10 minutes he had been going through Aly Goni's social media. He was 27 and one good looking motherfucker. A rising model who had won a few awards even. He was a Muslim originally from Kashmir. Sidharth couldn't help but feel bitter about the commonalities between them. He closed the page letting out a sigh. What the fuck was wrong with him? Was he, Sidharth Shukla, feeling insecure? When did he ever stalk social media accounts of male friends of women he dated? Never. But then none of those women were Shenaaz. And he wasn't just 'dating' her. He felt things for this girl. Right now he yearned for her but he knew that, that the earliest he could see her was the afternoon next day. A full 24 hours away. He had asked her to send him her routine so he could work his timings around hers. Needless to say, Shehnaaz had happily obliged.

He looked at his watch and realised he still had 30 minutes before he left for a site survey. He dialled her number. Unfortunately it went unanswered. He dialled again. It went unanswered again. Frowning, he opened his WhatsApp.

Sidharth

"?"

The message was received and he saw the blue ticks. He waited a few seconds. Nothing. Again he typed.

Sidharth

"Shehnaaz? Where are you?"

He waited another 2 seconds and then saw her typing.

Shehnaaz

"Sorry I'm in class. It's been a crazy day. I'll call you raat ko, ok?"

Disappointed, Sidharth replied "Ok" with a 👍🏻 emoji.

He threw his phone on the table rubbing his eyes. He was not feeling good and he needed her. Needed those soft hands on his face, those soft lips on him. He closed his eyes leaning back on his chair. But the solitude seemed short-lived as his secretary knocked, informing the team was ready for the meeting. Sighing, Sidharth left his cabin counting hours till he would hear her voice.

******************************************

Shehnaaz sat down for dinner with the Jaswals praying it would be a peaceful one. But her prayers were short-lived. Ten minutes into the dinner Meera asked, "Toh Shehnaaz, tera house hunting kaisa chal raha hai? And tune baat ki uss Manoj ji se?"