It has been only 15 minutes, but seemed like hours, since Khanak and Rishav have stopped talking when Khanak’s mother arrived with the one person Rishav hated and was thankful to at the same time – Aarav.
“See, who I found near the bus stop” Khanak’s mother announced uselessly as soon as she and Ankan entered the shop. Rishav could see Ankan’s car and both of them getting out of it. Rishav turns toward Khanak to see her reaction on seeing Ankan, considering what they were talking about few minutes ago. But he gets confused seeing the frown on her face.
“What were you doing at bus stop? I thought you said you are going to take a cab?” Khanak asks her mother and then he realizes the foundation of her frown. Her mother gives only a guilty sheepish smile in reply making Khanak glare at her mother.
Khanak opens her mouth to chide her mother but before she could utter a word Ankan walks up to her, puts his arm around her and whispers something in her ears making Khanak smile. And Rishav’s hatred for his friend grow some more.
Khanak looks at her mother and gives her a smile, “Don’t do this sort of thing again Mumma. You know you get sick”. Whatever Anakan has whispered to her has surely calmed her down, Rishav thinks sarcastically.
“Before your friend finds another mess of mine to reproach me over, I am going home to rest.” Khanak’s mother winks at Ankan and leaves after ordering all of them to order some lunch.
**
“Sorry, I am late. I got busy with some hospital work” Ankan says, his arm still wrapped around Khanak’s shoulder. Rishav takes a step to unglue his friend’s arm from around Khanak but then stops himself when Khanak, herself walks away from Ankan. Rishav looks down to hide the smile that comes onto his face at Khanak’s action.
Looking down, Rishav doesn’t realize that Khanak has walked up to him until she took the register from the table in front of him. His smile turns into a confused frown at her action which later turns into a fake smile when she gives the register to Ankan and says, “Do your share. I am already done with half of mine”. She has a teasing smirk on her face. Does she really not know or just doesn’t care about how much she has just hurt Rishav with her action and words, Rishav wonders.
“I will still complete it before you” Ankan challenges.
“Regular wager?”
“Done!”, accepting the challenge, Khanak nods her head and heads back to do her work.
Feeling liking an intruder and not liking the feeling, Rishav walks up to Ankan and takes the register back from his friend’s hand. “Don’t worry about it. I have already started it and I will finish it up”.
“It’s okay buddy. I do it every time and after all I have a bet to win” Ankan winks at Rishav and continues, “again” looking at Khanak, making her narrow her eyes at Ankan.
“Let me do this, this time. I will win the bet for you, okay?” Rishav tries for a fake calm tone but even he knows that he has not succeeded.
Ankan takes a deep breath in attempt to stay calm but even that action infuriates Rishav. Why the hell does Ankan have to always try to be perfect. Always the understanding one, always the calm one, always the one who will solve the problems instead of losing his head over it. Why?
Call him masochist but Rishav, for once, wants his friend to lose his calm and show the anger that he always manages to hide. Maybe because Rishav wants to show Khanak that her so called ‘always have been there’ friend is not so perfect after all or maybe because Rishav is really a masochist and wants Ankan to hurt him.
**
Noticing the increasing tension in the room, Khanak decides to takes the matter in her own hand before her friends (friend and ex-friend, she corrects herself) do something stupid which will ruin their friendship forever. Khanak can see Rishav is itching to get his guilt and sadness out with a fist fight with his best-friend and she can see Ankan holding onto his infamous calmness with a thread which can break anytime. It’s never a good situation when even Ankan loses his calm.
“Okay, enough! As you seem so interested in doing the books, Rishav, you can keep doing it” the smile that her decision brings onto Rishav’s face is the one she hasn’t seen in over one year. The shadow covering his eyes clears up and he looks the best she has ever seen him. For a moment, all she could do was look at him and feel like a queen for bringing that smile on his face.
It takes her few seconds to control the nervous flutters in her stomach and come back to the world of living. When she does, she notices the heartbroken look on her best-friend’s face. He looks like he was betrayed by the person he trusted most and she can see that he feels the same. Ankan shakes his head and smiles to cover the sadness she has just witnessed on his face. If she had not looked at him at that exact moment, she never would have realized that he is so…. so sad.
When did her friend become such a nice expert in hiding his emotions? Or he has always been so and she has just never noticed? How many times has he done the same and why?
Rishav has always been so upfront about his moods. Even if you didn’t know the reason behind his specific mood but you’d always know whether he is angry, frustrated, lonely, sad or happy. She has always thought that Ankan was the same. If he appears happy, he must be happy. If he appears calm, he must really be calm. But what if that’s not the case?! Khanak can’t help but wonder that what if the reason he has gotten so good at hiding his emotions is because no one arounds him takes time to look behind his fake smile and calm exterior. The guilt replaces the nervous flutters of her stomach.
Ankan smiles at her and starts to walk toward the exit of the shop. But before he could even take a step, Khanak calls out. “Ankan, where are you going?”
Ankan turns back to her and answers in what anyone would call his natural tone but Khanak knows better, this time “Rishav will help you with accounts”.
“I know that. I just asked him to do that. But that doesn’t mean that you can get out of doing hard labor. Mum has just brought fresh materials from Sharma Uncles’s shop and you will help me to arrange all that” Khanak orders, teasing her friend. The smile she gets in reply brings her world back to its axis.
It just feels wrong when Ankan is upset.
Khanak smiles back at him in reply. “I think the bags are still in your car”.
“Shit, I totally forgot about them. Sorry. Aunty has said to bring them back when she has already left”.
“Why?” Khanak asks, confused.
“They are quite heavy and she knew you will nag about it” Ankan gives her a sheepish smile.
“Don’t act cute!” Khanak tries to glare at her friend but his smile doesn’t let her.
After getting the bags from Ankan’s car, both of them start tackling the mess her mom has made and then putting the new stuff in their allotted space, whole time teasing and joking with each other. Khanak smiles because she doesn’t ever want to see the same look on Ankan’s face that she has seen few hours ago but that doesn’t stop her eyes from going back to Rishav every few minutes and from wishing to bring back that rare smile on his face.
Khanak waits for Ankan to include Rishav in their conversation just as he was doing in the car yesterday but Ankan must not be in the mood to talk to his friend after their confrontation.