Chapter 25. Growling Gorillas

🎶 Tenu Na Bol Pawaan

Published on 15.07.2022

| AUTHOR'S POV |

"I'll pick you up from your classes."

"I'll take a cab."

"I'll pick you up." He repeats in a tone which let's her know that he isn't giving her a choice.

She sighs. "Okay."

It had been a month since Neha had brought her own apartment and shifted there. But since two weeks, she has been distressed due to work and other financial issues. Kabir has been worried for her, tried to help her but it didn't work. The boys feel she's taking too much stress, burdening herself by working overtime and desperately needs a break. Somehow, they've managed to convince her for a night out. She agreed reluctantly but asked them to come at her place because she isn't in a mood to go somewhere else. Ayansh was surprised to know from Inaaya that Neha had asked her too to come.

"I didn't know you and Neha were this close." He comments when Inaaya gets into his car and he starts it.

"We've actually gotten well together." She says excitedly. "We share similar views on many topics. Then, she's so honest about everything that it's fascinating."

"Oh, nice." He responds grimly.

"No need to be jealous." She turns her face to look at him and his stoic expression makes her want to laugh.

"You two follow each other on instagram as well." He remarks and she giggles.

"She sent me request. I accepted and followed her back." She explains. "You didn't."

"You didn't send me a request too."

"I have ego issues." She shrugs casually.

He rolls his eyes and huffs defeatedly. "You're impossible. But.... no offense, why does Neha want you to come? I mean, sure you two get together but still you can't be that close to her than we all are. As I said, no offense." He turns his face to show he's sincere.

Inaaya pushes his face and makes him look at front immediately. "Focus on driving and I'm not offended." She shakes her head and exhales. "I think she really misses some girl company. She had told me how she misses her roommate and then, at her work, she has colleagues but not friends. Y'all are great, no offense," she says intentionally to lighten up the moment, "but she does feel an absence of having a girl friend. I understand that." She adds softly.

"Hmm." He thinks deeply. "I never thought that."

"It's alright."

"On other note, I'm scared what plan does Kabir have."

Inaaya frowns. "Wasn't it his plan of having a night out? Isn't that the plan?"

"It is." Ayansh confirms. "But there's something more. And knowing Kabir, I know it's going to be something that will end up increasing Neha's stress than relieving it."

She laughs. "You're being paranoid. Chill, I'm sure he'll have some great idea for his girlfriend."

"You don't know him," he retorts in horror. "He's crazy and his ideas are just like him. Crazy."

"We'll see then."

Kabir and Dhruv had already arrived at Neha's apartment. Ayansh looks amused when Neha greets Inaaya with a more excited hug than she did to him. But it felt sweet to watch them being friendly when both especially Neha weren't fond of each other and all they needed was be honest about their feelings to bury all the previous judgements and opinions. Ironic, isn't it?

"So what's the plan for tonight?" Dhruv chirps when everyone except Kabir gets seated.

"I... really don't know." Neha answers. "And since I've been doing everything wrong off late, I decided to let Kabir have his way to go with the flow." She gives a sarcastic smile.

Kabir snorts when everyone laughs. "Babes, you'll remember this night forever." He says smugly.

"I hope it's a good memory." Ayansh comments.

"But pizzas and drinks first." He says, ignoring the comment.

Kabir goes to the kitchen to bring the pizza boxes and cold drinks while the rest talk about the happenings of their lives and catchup.

"So you like us now?" Dhruv asks Inaaya.

"Nope." She answers honestly. "Just Neha since I've interacted with her quite a lot now. My opinions regarding you and Kabir are yet to change."

As if on cue, Kabir enters carrying the pizza boxes and places them on the table and bed. Neha and Inaaya sat on the sofa while Dhruv and Ayansh rested on the bed. "And we've a whole night to get to know each other and form new opinions." Kabir says in optimism.

Neha doesn't even wait as she picks up a slice. "Your family knows you're here right?" She questions Inaaya.

"I've told Bhai I'm with you but he doesn't know about the guys. He wouldn't have allowed since he doesn't know anyone except Ayansh." She says casually.

Kabir brings the tray of drinks to Neha and she picks one.

"Me too." Inaaya tells him when he takes away the tray and was about to turn.

Kabir blinks and swallows inaudibly. "Sure." He says after a moment of silence and hesitantly pushes the tray forward as she picks up a glass.

"Here too, bro." Dhruv shouts at him, lying in the middle of the bed and he brings the tray to the boys and sits besides him on the edge.

"Don't drink it." Kabir whispers in Dhruv's ear when he sits and picks up a glass.

Dhruv turns his face and looks at him quizzically.

"It's spiked." He murmurs, squinting his eyes apologetically.

Dhruv's eyes widen in disbelief. He catches Ayansh taking a sip and quickly whispers. "The drink is spiked."

Ayansh's hand freezes, with the rim of the glass resting against his lips. His eyes dart towards the girls only to find Inaaya's glass already empty and Neha's glass half empty. "Kabir?" His voice low and calm.

Dhruv gives a small nod.

Ayansh throws a death glare at Kabir and he winces. Kabir tugs at Dhruv's sleeves and he looks at him with displeasure. "What?"

"I can explain. I wanted Neha to loosen up, forget her worries for one night. She- "

Kabir shuts up when he sees that Ayansh looks unmoved. Ayansh places a hand on Dhruv's chest and pushes him slightly so he could get a better view of Kabir. "So you thought it was okay to spike her drink? What did you think? That we all will clap for you and give you Oscars?" He seethes. "And not only Neha but Inaaya is going to be drunk too now. I don't even know if she has ever consumed alcohol or not. How do you manage to get more and more ridiculous every time?"

Kabir stares at him in shock. He has never witnessed Ayansh being so sarcastic and pissed off all at once. The girls were busy gossiping in themselves that they didn't notice or care about the commotion going on in hushed tones between the boys.

"Take a deep breath, Ayansh." Kabir states calmly which just makes Ayansh's glare intensify. "They'll be fine. And then, we're here with them, sober."

"Kabir, you've spiked their drinks without their knowledge. Do you even realise how wrong is that?"

"I was just looking out for Neha." He murmurs.

"By spiking drinks?" Ayansh cocks a brow. "Insane." He shakes his head. "What- "

A carefree giggle stops him and he slowly turns his head towards the source of sound. He clenches his eyes shut and sends a prayer heavenwards.

"You shouldn't laugh at me. That's rude." Neha glares at a grinning Inaaya.

"You're funny." Inaaya chirps. "My head spins," she does a circling motion with her hand, "but you're funny."

"No, I'm serious." Neha says stubbornly.

"See," Inaaya pokes Neha's nose. "You're funny." She smiles.

"I said I'm tired of everything. How's that funny?" Neha argues frustratedly.

"Because everyone is tired. It's not just you silly!" She explains in a duh tone. "Tired of people, tired of their jobs, tired of their studies, tired of their parents, tired of the same food they eat, tired of their responsibilities, tired of politics, tired with the whole freaking world!" She breathes out and gives a tired look for effects.

Neha tilts her head to a side and stares at Inaaya for a few seconds. Then, repeats the action by tilting her head to the other side.

"What should we do?" Dhruv questions as they all watch and listen to the stupid conversation.

"Sit and enjoy the entertainment I guess." Kabir answers sheepishly and then immediately ducks his head down when he receives two pairs of eyes shooting daggers at him.

"Neha is going to murder Kabir in the morning when she comes to know." A shiver runs down Ayansh's spine at the mere thought. "And I don't even know what would be Inaaya's reaction."

"She'll be even more infuriated than Neha." Dhruv tells. "Remember how upset and angry she was when me and Kabir approached her with your proposition." He gulps at the dreadful memory.

They hear a clearing of a throat and snap their attention towards it.

"Y'all better appreciate my singing." Inaaya looks at Neha and the boys before she starts singing.

They all don't know when did their conversation escalated to singing but they nod in unison.

She sings four lines of a song which includes restarting the song twice, giggling multiple times, going out of tune and trying to take high notes extra high which makes everyone's ears strain.

"Stop!" Neha screams. "Stop, top, top. Are you sure you attended singing classes?"

Inaaya looks at her, offended. "You don't know anything about singing so you top."

"You sound like a- " Neha thinks for a moment before her face brightens up, "like a growling gorilla."

Inaaya gasps. "Growling gorilla?" Her mouth falls open and Neha laughs.

"Growling gorilla." Inaaya repeats to herself. "Growling gorilla." Her voice is filled with joy this time. "Hey!" She slaps Neha's shoulder who stops laughing. "When I'll have a band, I'll name it growling gorillas." She claps merrily and looks dreamily.

Ayansh stares at her without blinking. "The last time I knew she wasn't even much fond of singing."

"Didn't know being drunk makes one change their career preferences." Dhruv mumbles in wonder.

"Kabir," Neha calls him out and he meets her eyes in fear. "I love you." She says sweetly.

Kabir's face breaks into a small smile. "I love you too." He turns to look at his friends. "She's being nice to me. I knew getting her drunk was a good idea." He gives them a successful look.

"Her being nice to you is the first hint that it's a terrible idea." Dhruv shrieks.

"Are you still tired?" Inaaya looks at Neha with care.

"A lot." Neha's eyes immediately wells up which worries everyone.

"Don't worry." Inaaya holds her hand in hers. "Everything will work out. You shouldn't get so stressed over work."

Neha scoffs bitterly. "Work doesn't stress me out. I'm not so weak to crumble under work pressure."

Inaaya stares at her with knitted eyebrows.

"Mom Dad are getting a divorce." Neha throws an empty smile. "It's draining me."

"Oh shoot!" Dhruv exclaims in shock.

Kabir freezes as the information throws him off.

"Dad was cheating on her since last six months and Mom didn't even find out until last month." She chuckles humorlessly.

"She'll hate herself for disclosing it when she regains her senses." Ayansh mutters.

"She didn't tell me." Kabir says, a lump forming in his throat. " And she would've never told me if not drunk."

"Cheating at this age?" Neha shakes her head in disbelief and she rubs her eyes to get rid of the wetness. "Embarrassing."

"She probably felt ashamed of it." Ayansh says in understanding.

"I hate him." Neha whispers, looking at her floor, lost. "I can't even take a leave and visit Mom." She adds guiltily.

Kabir goes near her and kneels down. He tugs at her wrist and she looks into his eyes which were sympathetic and sorry, warm and loving.

"Men suck." She sniffs.

"They do. Look at me." He chuckles, deep down feeling awful that he couldn't figure out and be there for her.

Neha slaps his forehead playfully. "You're stupid but you don't suck. Please don't suck ever." She pleads softly.

"Never." He mouths.

"But men do suck." Neha says firmly, looking back at Inaaya.

"They do." Inaaya blinks, feeling more giddy and difficult to keep her eyes open. "Men suck." She agrees. "Dad's suck. Men suck." She let's out a sad laugh.

"Yes, men suck." Neha says again.

"Men- " She turns her head and her eyes fall on Ayansh and her eyelashes flutter. "Men suck," the bitterness in her tone softens, "except Ayansh." A small smile involuntarily curves on her lips.

Ayansh hates how amidst a sad situation, his heart manages to skip a beat.

"Because he isn't a man." She adds with resolve and Ayansh's heart stops for a fraction due to dread.

No.

"Is he an alien then?" Neha leans in and asks curiously.

Inaaya shakes her head in denial. "He isn't a man." She grins goofily.

Ayansh immediately crawls down the bed and reaches her.

"You aren't a man." Her grin widens as she looks at him and he holds her shoulders.

"Enough. You should stop speaking now." He tries to cajole her.

"You don't suck because you aren't a man." She wraps her arms around his waist and lays her head on his stomach.

"What is he?" Neha nudges her.

"He isn't a man. He's- "

"Doesn't matter what I'm." Ayansh interrupts. His one arm come around her shoulder and other one holds her head in place. "I don't suck. That's what matters, isn't it?"

Inaaya nods against his body. "You aren't a man but..... it's okay." He hears her murmuring before her eyes close shut, holding him tightly.

Kabir picks up a frantic Neha in his arms and carries her to bed. "Sleep." He orders.

She ignores him and looks past him. "Inaaya," she cries out.

"God," Dhruv rubs his forehead in stress. "I'm already sick of their friendship."

Ayansh carefully removes her hand and picks her up, making sure he doesn't disturb her. She snuggles into his chest and his heart squeezes in an indecipherable emotion. He places her on the empty side of the bed and pulls the cover over her. He doesn't move, staring at her, memorizing her for an eternity.

On the other side, Kabir kisses Neha's forehead as she falls asleep.

"Let's go to the living room." Dhruv says, patting Ayansh's shoulder.

They pull the sofa cum bed that was in Neha's bedroom to the living room and switch off the lights.

Ayansh takes the half empty pizza box and resumes eating.

"You won't say anything?" Kabir questions, finding it surprising to find him calm.

"Will it change anything?" He asks instead and when Kabir doesn't respond, he adds, "thought so."

"Let's simply eat and go to sleep. Pray the morning isn't a disaster." Dhruv sighs, exhausted.

Ayansh couldn't fall asleep even after two hours of lying down. He looks beside him to find Kabir and Dhruv in a deep slumber. He gets up, takes his phone and with the help of flashlight removes two tablets of ibuprofen from the box in the drawer. He goes to the kitchen and fills two glasses of water and then enters the bedroom and keeps them on the side table beside the bed. He's about to leave when his eyes fall on Inaaya and his legs carry him towards her.

He has no reason to stay yet he finds himself sitting on the floor with folded legs. The curtains are open which allows the faint glow of moonlight to dimly illuminate the room. He grazes his fingers, brushing ever just slightly the side of her face. His hand find hers and he interlinks their fingers.

"I'm sorry." He whispers. "I didn't know the drinks would be spiked." He looks at their intertwined hands and smiles. "I shouldn't be watching you while you're asleep. It's kind of creepy." He admits sheepishly. "But you look really pretty and peaceful and I don't wish to lose the privilege to admire such a beautiful sight, something that I could imprint in my memory forever and think about it in times of chaos so I could feel a little calm." He continues. The words just flow seamlessly and he doesn't have to think twice before muttering them because he know there's no one who was actually hearing them. It was as if he was speaking into a void, the only difference being she was the kind of void he wouldn't mind losing himself into.

"I've lied to you a few times." His voice grows heavy with guilt. "I think about it a lot. My conscience keeps telling me to come clean to you but I just can't. What if you don't forgive me? What if I lose you? And then, a part of me questions if it really matters when my intentions and feelings towards you have been genuine. They were never fake, never a pretense. I think," he pauses and stares at her face before continuing, "it's alright to just go with the flow. I don't know where the flow will take us but I hope it all just turns out fine." He smiles and pushes an irritating strand of face away from her eye. "I'm sorry." He murmurs before he falls asleep gazing at her and with the warmth of her hand against his.

The voices of someone yelling from the other room wakes Inaaya up in the morning. She tries to stretch her hand and when she isn't able to move her right hand, her eyes fall on the hand holding hers firmly and the figure to whom it belongs. She lies back on the bed because of the dull throbbing in her head and groans.

"Ayansh," she calls out in exhaustion. "Ayansh," she repeats, increasing the volume of her voice and squeezing and shaking his hand.

"Ouch," Ayansh hisses in pain when he tries to move his head and his neck hurts.

"Why are you doing on the floor?" Inaaya asks with squinted eyes.

He blinks and rubs his eyes before he rotates his neck and then huffs. "I fell asleep?"

"In this awkward position?" She gestures towards him and then raises their interlinked hands.

He nods. "Are you fine?" He leaves her hand and looks at her in concern as last night flashes in front of his eyes.

"What happened?" She squeezes her eyes shut and presses her hands over her forehead. "My head is gonna explode."

Ayansh hands her the glass of water and ibuprofen. "Kabir had spiked the drinks. And you and Neha got drunk. I'm sorry." He apologizes.

Inaaya takes the medicine. "You knew?"

"Of course, I didn't." He denies immediately. "Nobody knew. I'm- I'm really sorry. I know you must be mad at me and Kabir and everyone and you're right at your place but I swear none of us except Kabir knew. If we'd known, we would have never let him do it. He wanted Neha to forget about her worries and he thought this is the best way. He's an idiot, biggest idiot. I- "

"Ayansh," she whines. "My head hurts. Silence."

"Sorry." He mumbles. "You can scold us, scream at us, don't talk to them ever but please forgive me. It's kind of selfish but please don't be upset with me. Please- "

"I'm not mad." She cuts him off, looking at him wearily.

He blinks. "You aren't?" He gives her a baffled look.

"I mean I should be. Spiking drink is a shitty thing to do but I just don't feel mad or upset particularly. Maybe a little upset with Kabir but nothing else."

"It's scary to think somebody spiked your drink, anything could've happened. How- how are you not mad?"

"Because you were there with me." She answers as a matter of fact. "Nothing could've been wrong."

The words were simple, spoken so simply yet managed to play with the chords of his heart and complicate them while she remain utterly oblivious.

"You trust me so much?" He asks, scared for her answer either way.

"Is it a bad thing?" She asks, feeling defenseless.

"Not until I break it." He states solemnly.

"You won't?"

"I won't." He assures her even if he isn't sure it's the truth or not.

Neha barges into the room and they jerk away.

"You two woke up? Great. Take your belongings and leave." She commands in absolute anger. "I want everyone out of my house."

Inaaya is about to respond when Ayansh holds her hand and stops her. "We'll leave." He retorts.

Neha goes back to the living room and Inaaya whips her head at Ayansh. "What happened to her?"

"You don't remember anything?"

"I can't think anything properly right now. I should go and freshen up." She gets up holding her head in her palms.

When Inaaya goes into the washroom and thinks hard about the last night, glimpses of it slither into her mind.

"Shit!"

Ayansh and Inaaya come to the living room after sometime.

"Are we really going? Her mom and dad are having a divorce. Shouldn't we stay and give her a shoulder?" Inaaya whispers to Ayansh.

"No." He answers.

She waits for him to say more but when he doesn't, she nudges his elbow for attention but he remains impassive.

Dhruv glances at Ayansh and then they both glance at Kabir. Inaaya looks between them in confusion.

"Take care, Neha." Dhruv mutters walking towards the door.

"I don't need your pity." She barks and he flinches at her tone.

Ayansh doesn't say anything. He grabs Inaaya by her arm and leads them both towards the door.

"Kabir, leave." Neha yells.

"I'm not going anywhere. Scream all you want till your vocal cords give up." He says back coolly.

"Shouldn't we wait for Kabir?"

"No." Dhruv answers as they walk down through the stairs.

"How are you feeling now?" Ayansh asks Inaaya when they sit in the car.

"Out of loop and I hate it."

"I was talking about your headache."

"And I'm talking about what's going on? Why didn't Kabir not come? Why did we leave Neha just like that?" She fires her questions.

"Kabir can handle her. Only he can handle her. She can push him but he's the only one she'll let in in the end." He breathes out and twists the ignition key.

"Even after he spiked her drink? She looked really, really mad." She says, resting her head against the closed window.

"They'll be fine. They might not look as the strongest pair but trust me they're. Kabir might be dumb and an idiot but he's also the most thoughtful person when the circumstances demand."

Inaaya doesn't respond anything and stares out as he drives. When Ayansh's phone rings, he stops the car on a side and puts the phone on speaker.

"I'm going to Chandigarh tomorrow to pick Neha's mother." Kabir speaks.

"How's she?" Ayansh questions.

"I haven't yet met her mother. How will I know how's she?"

"I'm talking about Neha." Ayansh corrects him with a bored tone.

Kabir let's out a defeated sigh. "Honestly, she shows she's fine but she isn't."

"And why are you going to pick her mother?" Ayansh asks dumbly and Inaaya hits his head, glaring at him, wanting to tell him how insensitive that sounded.

"Then what should I do?" Kabir frowns.

"I just mean you could've sent a ticket to her or arranged something. That's all."

He clicks his tongue in disapproval. "She's alone, Ayansh. Neha is her only daughter and she's here. Her husband cheated on her. I think she would appreciate some emotional support at this point. It's not a big gesture but atleast she won't feel alone in her journey. She'll have a sense that there are still people for her." Kabir explains gently as if he just imagined the situation by putting himself in her shoes.

"It's sweet." Inaaya tells him sincerely. "She would really appreciate it. Sometimes, people don't need reassuring or motivating words. Sometimes all they need is people."

"Now, we're getting too sentimental." Kabir chokes out a laugh. "By the way, I'm sorry for last night. That was really careless of me." He mutters guiltily.

"It's okay." She says softly.

"Wow." He says in surprise. "That was easy. I thought I would've to beg and grovel for forgiveness. So, should I take this as a clue that your opinion of me has changed?"

"It actually got worse when I came to know you spiked our drinks." She answers truthfully and he grimaces. "But what you're doing for Neha overshadows all." She smiles.

"She's my girlfriend. I love her." His voice reflect the sincerity and depth behind his words.

"You better do." Inaaya chuckles.

For the rest of the drive, nobody utters a word, not wanting to talk about last night events. When Ayansh halts his car outside Inaaya's house, she decides to break the silence.

"Last night, it wasn't me."

Ayansh looks at her blankly. "Ayansh isn't a man." He reminds her the line she kept repeating like a broken record.

Inaaya's face scrunches up in embarassment and she looks at him guiltily. "Let's...... ," she drawls, "forget it. Raat gayi, baat gayi." She says in hope.

"Growling Gorillas!?" He face twists into a weird expression.

Inaaya grimaces. "I'm telling you it wasn't me. I mean, why the hell would I want a band for fucks sake!" She scoffs.

He shrugs. "Nevermind. I'm glad atleast something good happened out of the night for Neha in some twisted way. Atleast, she isn't suffering alone."

"I agree." She smiles softly. "And you slept in a sitting position while holding my hand. Interesting." She smirks at him.

Ayansh stiffens. Oh, he himself doesn't know why he went near her and then held her hand and fell asleep while staring at her. "You weren't leaving my hand when I placed you on the bed. I tried a lot." He lies smoothly.

You're getting too good at lies.

His subconscious mocks and he curses internally.

"Me?" Her face morphs into an expression of horror. "I wouldn't do that." She laughs nervously.

"But you did." He asserts with more confidence. "Maybe you liked the texture of my hand."

"Haha." She says sarcastically. "I've better hands than you." She immediately shakes her head and makes a tch sound. "This is a very stupid conversation."

"Don't worry." He says to her hyper self. "Unlike you, I don't tease people and annoy them daily with the same thing. So, no need to be embarassed." He adds, referring to her constant chants of him not being a man.

Inaaya grits her teeth because she couldn't think of a reply. She forcefully opens the door and steps out. "I'll come back with a... ," She stops midway and presses her lips in a thin line as she adds, "comeback."

"All the best." Ayansh mock salutes her as she stomps away grumpily.

And later, when he opens his social media, a stupid smile breaks on his face when he sees that she had sent him a request.

***

Phew! Long chapter and a little messed up as well? My sense of humour sucks so sorry for all the lameness in the chapter 💀

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