One More Time

11

Ria readied herself draping a saree with the help of Titli, came downstairs.....in the morning,her mother-in-law had already informed her to come downstairs after getting ready, Koustav was wearing his shoes,he had eaten already and there was no lunch box beside him today......he gestured her to come outside, Ria nodded and hugged Titli and her MIL, Titli had already made a deal of going there each day....

Ria was walking behind Koustav, soon they were in front of her house, Ria saw that Koustav was turning back....she said," Can you enter and just say hello to everyone?....I promise, it won't take more time". Koustav replied nothing and entered her house......he only smiled meeting her parents, Soma went to call Tuhin, Ria saw, Koustav took this opportunity and left the house....she hurriedly came behind him and asked," As you have dropped me here, can you pick me up tomorrow while returning from office?" and offered him a packet of chocolate cakes she took from her home....Koustav huffed and nodded.....Ria saw Koustav going towards the bus stop.

A slight touch on her shoulder brought her back from her thoughts, turning behind she saw Tuhin, he asked if everything was alright with her and reminded her that she could share anything with him,she smiled and they closed the door....coming back in the her house, she saw her aunties,uncles, and cousins had arrived....everyone chatted the whole day, like her childhood days.....Ria was surprised to see Titli had come there in the evening, her cousins gathered her as well....time passed and they did no t noticed night arrived. Soma told Titli to have dinner with them, later Tuhin went to drop Titli home....Entering her own room, Ria saw her room was already packed up with relatives....even there was not a space left for a person to sit. She went to Tuhin's room, saw Tuhin was in a video call with someone,she faked a cough....Tuhin smiled turning towards her, gestured her to come near the webcam, Nabila was smiling on the screen looking at her from the screen, that situation neede no explanation....it was clear that....Tuhin was dating her best friend Nabila....further fake arguements carried on among three of them.....around midnight the call ended. Ria was happy for Tuhin, she felt good coming back here, while walking towards another side of Tuhin's bed, she again bumped her knee with the bed, she hissed in pain, Tuhin hurriedly applied some gels for pain and after much tries,Ria was able to convince him and had sent him to sleep.....though she was in pain, but she slept that night peacefully....

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Soma came to wake her children, Tuhim was already up and speaking on the phone with someone, so she came to Ria's side, seeing her sleeping like a
baby she caressed her hairs,cheeks, kissed her forehead....Ria woke up, she felt nostalgic.....

She was having breakfast ,when Mita called, asked about her knee, if she had breakfast or not...etc.

Her relatives started to return home one by one after lunch....getting her alone, she asked: Are you really ok there?

Ria: Yes, why I would not be.....my new family is really good to me....

Soma: Think several times,before taking any decision.....be a responsible person, think about your career while taking care of your new family....I know, you will never fail us....

Ria smiled a little, started to put her documents, books, and useful stuffs in her backpack....from the time of evening, she started waiting for Koustav....the thought of him forgetting about her, crossed her mind and made her restless....in between Tuhin returned from office....Ria put on a mischievious grin and asked Soma about Tuhin's marriage,if they arranged or something.....Soma smiled and told her that she knew about Nabila.......The clock read 8:30 pm, there was still no sign of Koustav, sighing she bid bye to her parents and was about to   exit her house, saw Koustav coming towards her, he stopped seeing her, she followed him towards her new home..

Reaching there, she got upstairs, kept her backpack,laughed seeing Titli hopping towards her room, she was excited to get her back.....they were coming down, Titli was telling her about her sleep being interrupted by snores of the Mullick couple, both of them were laughing, realising Koustav was behind them,they abruptly stopped.....During dinner, Mita and her husband asked about Ria's parents......she answered while serving the food.....Koustav ate and left the table.....finishing dinner, Ria went to Mita's room for discussing her upcoming university schedule....it took her quite sometime, by the time she left for her room,she was sure that Titli would be half asleep, but to her surprise,she found Titli was arranging her books according to their sizes......this little loving acts gave her some hopes for living here. Titli started to tell her how Koustav had taught her to arrange her books....Ria remembered that book rack was well maintained in Koustav's room though his other things were scattered everywhere....She was about to put off the lights,suddenly she remembered that she had forgotten to switch off the kitchen and hall lights....she walked towards the landing, the sound of someone groaning ,came to her ears, she got scared first.....then found the sound familiar,as if she had heard it earlier....she moved towards the staircases of Koustav's floor.....she was lucky that the door of Koustav's room was not locked from inside...she pushed it a little,the mildly lit room came to her view, Koustav was lying on his back,groaning continuously grabbing the pillow, she turned on the lights, looked for water in the surrounding, she shook him softly, after a few times, Koustav woke up and Ria passed him a towel to dry off his sweaty state, he left for washroom silently, she took the time to fetch a bottle of water from kitchen, she found Koustav sitting on bed after returning,passed him the bottle of water....noticed that his hands were shaking,so helped him to sip the water by holding the end of the bottle.......She was keeping the bottle on his bedside table,he asked

Koustav: Why did you come here?

Ria: Actually, I was going downstairs,heard your groans,so came here..

Koustav: Don't you have any other work other than cooking and serving food?You are in graduation course right!? Concentrate on that..!!

Ria: I am in Post graduation course now.....Sleep on your sides, it helps....Do you need something to drink? I have other things to concentrate on as well,beside you.....

Ria switched off his room lights,closed his room door and left a confused, angry Koustav behind......She was getting used to his harsh way of behaving....her goals were in front of her eyes...

Reaching kitchen, she brought out a bottle of cold water,drank some from it, putting off the lights,went to sleep in her bed beside Titli.....

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