20. QUESTIONS!

Shehnaaz is waiting for her turn at the billing counter while particularly glaring at that Salesgirl continuously, making her scared. The images of her touching HER SHY BOY are roaming in her mind. The urge of breaking her hands which dared to touch what is her, and to crush her ( Salesgirl ) lips on the hot frying pan is beyond anyone’s expectation. If god gives her a chance then she would teach her a lesson FOR STARING AT OTHERS’ PROPERTY. 

Unknown to everyone, Sidharth is dealing with another problem. He is standing beside Shehnaaz in the billing queue with tension written all over his face. The four digits written on the clothes’ tags are enough to give him a heart attack. He calculated the sum thrice and the total was making his throat dry. He wanted to tell Shehnaaz about his misery of not having enough money to buy those clothes but alas his mouth is not even opening in front of her. 

He took out his old-torn wallet and counted the notes hiding it from Shehnaaz. The money which he had is also not half of the bill total, making him cry on his poor faith. He is a middle-class boy who works part-time to earn his expenses and his father is an ordinary employee in a bank. So, he can’t ever dream of spending much on shopping but now he is stuck in this situation. Sweat is forming on his forehead because of nervousness. Right now, he just wants mother Earth to swallow him. 

His frowns and sweating forehead caught Shehnaaz’s attention, making her concerned for him. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed his acts of calculating money and checking his wallet at least three times which cleared the whole situation. She understood that Sidharth was worried about the bill. She smiles seeing his state and chuckles at her shy boy’s nature. 

Shehnaaz:- ( murmurs while chuckling ) Stupid he is! No…. No… CUTE-STUPID! 

Now it’s their turn, Sidharth handovers the clothes to the employee on the cash counter and moves back while biting his lower lip. 

The employee:- Sir, your grand total is one four triple nine. ( 14,999) Would you like to pay in cash or with a card? 

Sidharth nods nervously and before he could do or say anything, Shehnaaz took the charge while hiding her smile. She takes out her card from her back pocket and forwards it. 

Shehnaaz:- We will pay through the card. 

The employee nodded and took the card from Shehnaaz’s hand while she gracefully hid her name from the card, not wanting Sidharth to know that it was her card. 

Sidharth:- Shehnaaz, why are you paying for my clothes? 

Shehnaaz:- Uff Shy boy, I am not paying for your clothes. It’s the company’s card. Boss is paying for your clothes. 

Sidharth:- ( confusingly ) But why will Boss pay for me? 

Shehnaaz:- Simple! Because you are our coming rockstar so the company is entitled to bear your concert charges which include your outfit too. 

Sidharth looked convinced with this excuse and Shehnaaz signed in relief as she didn’t want him to have a clue that she paid for him owing to his self-respect. Till now she understood that Sidharth is a self-made man who doesn’t like any kind of charity. In short, she didn’t want to hurt his sentiments. 

With this, one more question arises in her mind “WHY DIDN’T SHE WANT TO HURT, SIDHARTH?” This is not the first time that she is assisting a singer but this is the first time she is paying someone else’s bill unknown to his knowledge. Now she is assured that she needs guidelines in this matter from her Bhabhi and Pihu who are mature in these matters. 

Both of them fulfilled the billing process and Sidharth picked all the bags like a gentleman. The same salesgirl again comes toward them and thanks them for visiting. But all the time her eyes are on Sidharth which makes Shehnaaz furious.

Shehnaaz:- ( extra sweetly with narrowed eyes ) Am I invisible, Miss Salesgirl? 

Salesgirl looks at her surprisingly and replies politely while Sidharth is witnessing everything with frowns. 

Salesgirl:- No mam, Why did you ask? 

Shehnaaz:- ( sarcastically ) No… you just thanked him ( pointing at Sidharth ) for visiting your store, not me. So, I thought that I was invisible or what! 

In the end, she laughs, faking her happiness while the Salesgirl is unable to understand her sarcasm. 

The Salesgirl apologizes with the fakest smile and again turns towards Sidharth. Shehnaaz’s eyes pop out seeing the visiting card that the girl handed over to him. She snatched the card immediately and dragged him out like a lioness. 

Sidharth:- Shehnaaz, What happened? 

Shehnaaz:- ( roared ) you happened! 

Sidharth:- ( innocently ) What have I done, Shehnaaz? 

Shehnaaz grits her teeth and shows him the card’s backside which had a phone number with a beautiful message for him. 

91******** YOUR’S ANJALI, CALL ME SOON. 

Sidharth rubs his nap slightly while blushing, making her madder. Like a real lioness, she grabbed his collar. 

Shehnaaz:- ( angrily ) Sidharth Shukla, you have no fuc*ing right to blush on another girl’s acts. Did you understand? 

Sidharth nods scaredly but his eyes are locked with hers’ while his mind is not able to understand the reason behind her anger. At this time, both of them are not aware of the feeling they feel for each other. 

Shehnaaz:- And why the hell did she check you out? WHY DID YOU ALLOW HER TO TOUCH WHAT IS MINE TO TOUCH? WHY? 

Sidharth:- What is yours to touch, Shehnaaz? 

Sidharth asks keeping his shyness aside for a while only to get clean bowled with her reply. 

Shehnaaz:- ( roared ) YOU!………. YOU ARE MINE TO TOUCH! 

She didn’t know what she confessed and why she confessed this. The reason is still unknown to her but Sidharth got some idea about it. Being an innocent child, he asked. 

Sidharth:- Why?….. Why is it your right to touch me? 

Hearing his question Shehnaaz comes out of her zone and realizes what she just confessed but she didn’t have the slightest regret. She understood that those words come out from her heart and the heart is never wrong. But still, she chose to divert the topic until she understood the reason behind her behavior. 

Shehnaaz:- ( with a lip-tight smile ) Am I entitled to play MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION ANSWER ROUND with you? 

Sidharth nods his head in denial instantly with fear. 

Shehnaaz:- Then why are you asking questions again and again? 

Sidharth apologized again without any fuss, making her heart flutter with his submissive nature. He is also not able to understand why he always loses his mind in front of her. He never apologizes to anyone if it was not his fault but in front of her, he is always ready to bow down no matter whose fault it is. 

With this calm and humble nature, Shehnaaz always melts down as she did right now. But now she is determined to know the reason behind her weird behavior. She leaves his collar and looks here and there to avoid his innocent eyes which are piercing into her soul. 

Shehnaaz:- ( hesitatingly ) So… Sor…. Sorry! 

Sidharth gasped after hearing her sorry, which is rare. 

Sidharth:- Did you have the word “SORRY” in your dictionary? 

Shehnaaz looks at him with narrowed eyes, making him gulp. 

Sidharth:- ( meowed ) Sorry…

Shehnaaz chuckles at his cute tone and starts dragging him again with full authority. He also lets her drag him, innocently. After a minute, Sidharth is standing in an optical shop with a frown. 

Sidharth:- What are we doing here? 

Shehnaaz:- I am thinking of buying some Victoria’s secret inners for you. Would you like to try it for me? 

Sidharth looks at her with wide eyes as he knows that Victoria’s secret is a ladies’ shop.

Sidharth:- But Shehnaaz, we are at the optical store not at the Vic… Vict…. I mean that store. 

He is even feeling shy to pronounce the store name, making her go all aww on him. 

Shehnaaz:- keep quiet! Let me do my work. 

Sidharth keeps quiet like an obedient kid and just watches the show. 

Shehnaaz:- ( to the salesman ) Sir, we want lenses for ( pointing at Sidharth ) him. 

The salesman nodded and made Sidharth sit on the stool. Shehnaaz removes his specs before the Salesman or Sidharth could remove them, making him blush. Don’t know why but she is obsessed with his specs. She adores him more whenever he wears them. 

After spending an hour in the store and checking almost 50 lenses, she bought the most expensive and comfortable lenses for him without showing him the actual bill. 

Shehnaaz:- ( excitedly ) Now, we are ready for tomorrow’s concert. 

Sidharth chuckles at her excitement. 

Sidharth:- Shehnaaz, you are behaving like you are going to perform on the stage. 

Shehnaaz:- You perform or I perform, what is the difference? 

Sidharth:- ( lovingly ) NOTHING! BOTH ARE THE SAME! 

Shehnaaz:- Didn’t I deserve a treat, shy boy? 

Sidharth:- definitely, so let’s go to the food court. 

He turns around to go to the food court but Shehnaaz stops him as she knows about the high prices of the food there and she doesn’t want to burden him. So she smartly diverts the topic.

Shehnaaz:- No, I want to have street food. 

Sidharth nods not knowing the real reason behind her demand. 

Sidharth:- ok, What do you want to have? 

Shehnaaz:- ( licks her lips, childishly ) give me a GOL-GAPPE treat. 

Sidharth:- Let’s go! 

Shehnaaz’s excitement reaches another level thinking about her favorite GOL-GAPPE. 

To be continued…