As soon as the phone rang, Trupti woke up. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around clearly. Realizing that she was in someone else’s lap, she quickly sat up in shock. Adjusting her scarf, she widened her eyes and stared at Dihan. He was sitting silently, looking directly at her.
Did that mean he had stayed like that the whole night? She couldn’t think any further. Instead, feeling a bit embarrassed, she said to Dihan,
“You? You sat like this with me all night?”
Dihan frowned and replied,
“No, absolutely not.”
“What do you mean ‘no’? I saw it myself.”
“Then why are you even asking? As soon as you woke up, you saw your head on my lap.”
“But that doesn’t mean you had to hold me like that all night!”
“Look at that! The one I did this for is the one blaming me. This is why people say it’s pointless to do good for others these days.”
“And what good have you done for me?”
“Unbelievable! If I hadn’t kept you on my lap, you would have fallen straight off the sofa onto the floor. Would that have been better?”
Hearing this, Snigdha said,
“Yes! Dihan is right, Trupti. He did it for your good. You are overreacting for no reason. Stop fighting and answer the phone. It’s been ringing for a while.”
Trupti fell silent at Snigdha’s words. Then, picking up her phone, she looked at the screen and saw that her father, Ahiyan Ferdous, had called her 36 times. She held her head in her hands before quickly answering,
“Hello, Baba!”
“What’s going on, dear? I’ve been calling you for so long, but you didn’t respond. Is everything alright?”
“Oh no, Baba! I was so deep in sleep that I didn’t hear anything.”
“Oh, okay then.”
“When are you coming home? You’ve been away for two days. The house feels empty without you. Come home soon, dear.”
“Yes, Baba. I’ll leave in a while. Don’t worry. I’m fine. I’ll call you again after freshening up.”
“Alright, take care.”
As soon as Ahiyan Ferdous hung up, Trupti let out a sigh of relief. Then, looking at Ruhan, she suddenly burst out laughing. Ruhan was still lying sprawled out, just like last night, and was on the verge of falling off the couch.
Snigdha had called Maria and sent her to the washroom, but she was exhausted from repeatedly trying to wake Ruhan. So, Trupti got up herself, picked up the water jug from the table, and stood beside Ruhan. Then, she poured the entire jug of water on him.
Ruhan jolted awake in shock.
“Trupti, you brat! Why did you pour water on me?”
“Because I wanted to! We’ve been calling you for ages. Were you sleeping with cotton stuffed in your ears? Look at yourself—you were about to fall off the couch!”
Realizing his situation, Ruhan muttered,
“Oh, you’re right.”
As he descended the stairs, Ranbir called out,
“So, are you guys finally done sleeping?”
Saying this, he came and stood beside Snigdha. Dihan looked at Ranbir and Snigdha out of the corner of his eye.
But before anyone could say anything, Ruhan blurted out,
“Hey dude, so… how was your night? Had fun?”
As soon as he said it, he clamped his own mouth shut. The words had slipped out without him realizing that Rafia Begum was standing there. Everyone suddenly felt extremely awkward.
Trupti looked at her phone, Dihan stared at the wall, and Ranbir and Snigdha lowered their heads in embarrassment.
Without saying a word, Rafia Begum simply walked away into the kitchen. As soon as she was gone, Trupti smacked Ruhan hard on the back.
Ruhan yelped in pain,
“Ouch! What was that for?”
“You idiot! Do you not know when to say what? You embarrassed all of us because of your nonsense!”
Ruhan rubbed his back and said sheepishly,
“What was I supposed to do? The words just slipped out. How is that my fault? You hit me for no reason, you little demon.”
“I did what you deserved! And if needed, I’ll hit you ten more times!”
“Oh yeah? Then go ahead, try it!”
“Oh, just you wait!”
As Trupti lunged at him, Ruhan ran behind Dihan for protection. Trupti tried to reach around Dihan to catch Ruhan, but she couldn’t get a hold of him. Instead, in her attempt to grab Ruhan, she lost her balance and fell onto the sofa—taking Dihan down with her.
