Knock Knock: Surprise Guest

In the evening, Kaaya packed a bag, took the necessary items, and was ready to leave. Kriya nervously, "You're moving out already? I thought we still had time, Ki and Kaa. You haven't found a new place yet. Where will you stay?" Kaaya replied, "I still have time for a week. But I am sorry, I cannot stay here any longer." "Hmmm... Have you found a new place yet? Your uncle and aunt are out of town for the next 15 days or so. Even Grany and Grams are not here for a week." "No. I haven't. I'm staying with Nimish and his family." "Won't it be weird?" "Weird, what say you? Why will it be? After all, he's Samartha's friend, and she's okay with it. Even Aunty and Aai find it safe for me to stay at their family's house. His family, too, has no issues." "No. I mean. Forget it. It's good you're staying at someone's house." Nimish rang the doorbell. Kaaya moved with her bag. Kriya from behind, "Leaving already? Let him come inside and sit for a while. Let him have something, and then maybe you can leave." Kaaya wanted to leave as soon as she could, but she understood it was so mean to leave this fast. She asked Nimish to come inside. However, Nimish understood Kaaya. He denied the offer and made an excuse. He also guessed Kriya's nervousness, but he couldn't help. While being in the lift, he left Kriya a message. Kriya was all alone at home. Akaay was back in Jaipur to prepare to move to Bangalore. Aaji Aajoba was out of town, and her only roommate moved out, too. Although she had friends in Bangalore, it wasn't easy for her to digest the fact that Kaaya had left. She knew she had done wrong to Kaaya by withholding the fact she knew about Akaay and Kaaya, and still agreed to have Kaaya as her roommate.

For a week, Kaaya had the best time with Nimish and his family at his house. She could feel the warmth of their love at every second. Every day, she could wake up to the radio playing in the hall. It reminded her of her maternal grandmother, who used to tune in to Aakashavani every morning. For Kaaya's parents, it was sleep-breaking, but for her, it was her alarm. Followed by Nimish's grandmother preparing meals for all of them, packing tiffins and saying bye as they left home. Post work in the evening, they all sat together and discussed how their day went over a cup of coffee or tea; they would share frustrations, disappointments, successes, stories of random strangers they observed throughout their day, etc. It was mind-refreshing for Kaaya. Kaaya assisted Nimish's mother as they cooked dinner. They all had dinner together, followed by a walk enjoying the late-night breeze. 

A week passed by, and it was time for Kaaya to move out finally. Akaay's also ready to move in with Kriya the same day Kaaya was leaving. He had already come the night before. The packers and movers helped Kaaya move her stuff. While they were taking down the boxes, Kriya impatiently supervised them to carry them down swiftly and carefully, while Kaaya was standing calmly. Kriya was playing with her fingers and moving her hair often. It was confirmed she didn't want Kaaya to move out. Akaay swiftly held her hand to make her calm, but in return, she gave him a disappointed stare. For a week, she pursued her, but Kaaya didn't agree. 

"Do the needful, and you still have time, Kaaya. Please think again, mind consider changing your mind, and do not go. I get it. We three are stuck in an odd situation. But the relationship with Akaay changes nothing between us; we are soul sisters, right? In the coming days, it's your birthday. Please. I want to make it special." As Kriya was hopelessly convincing, Kaaya Nimish came in. "All the boxes are in. We're ready to go. Shall we?" 

Kaaya held Kriya's hand, "I understand what you and why you did, no hard feelings. But we cannot stay under one roof after all this; at least I cannot be in this mess. I don't want to find myself in the same chaos again. For friendship, we'll be in touch do not worry, the distance will strengthen it perhaps will save it. For my birthday, you better prepare a good surprise, or else I'll haunt you with taunts for the rest of your life." Both laughed. Nimish gave a warm smile while Akaay was point-blank. Kaaya wiped Kriya's tears and bid her bye. They all came down. Kaaya, before getting in the car, turned around and bid Kriya goodbye. She and Akaay had brief eye contact for 10 seconds, and they exchanged a lot of unspoken thoughts. She was gone. Akaay and Kriya stood till the time their car didn't vanish from their eyesight. With heavy hearts, they came upstairs. The void started to scream loudly to Kriya.

Kriya and Akaay started moving Akaay's stuff. Kriya, after moving 6-7 boxes, was tired, so she went to sleep. While moving one last box, it came to Akaay's knowledge that Kaaya had left one of the boxes. It was packed and labelled with the tag "personal". Akaay had the urge to open it, but he didn't. As he was moving the box due to poor packaging, it opened, and things scattered all over the floor. He, one by one, started picking things. It consisted of a few letters, things which meant highly to Kaaya. He randomly picked an eyewear case; he remembered gifting it to Kaaya. He was happy finding it inside the box; in search of belongings related to him, he checked other stuff. He found letters written to him by Kaaya. He started reading those ones after another. He couldn't believe the emotions narrated in letters. By that time, I knew Kaaya was all drawn in guilt, hurt, anger and disgust as well. He also found her T-shirt, which he had bought. Her old wallet. He remembered putting his passport-size photo in that same wallet, and he checked. To his surprise, the pictures were kept intact as they were placed. Akaay smiled to himself. He later found a few childhood pictures of Kaaya on the beach. He was adoring little Kaaya, it reminded him of the fact that he had seen a little girl's photo in Nimish's wallet, which was similar to that of Kaaya, and the reference he made to having fallen in love with her. This fact shook him to the core. He couldn't make himself believe what he had discovered about Kaaya being Nimish's love for all these years. He was startled and had many questions. He angrily put the things inside the box and threw it in the corner. He had to ask Kaaya if she knew about the fact, but how? He ended up dropping a text to Kaaya about the left box. Kaaya replied to him, with Nimish coming to get it and handing it over to him.

Kaaya and Nimish arrived at his home. Nimish's parents were already there. His mom gave refreshments to them. They all talked for a while. Kaaya was supposed to stay with Nimish's parents, who lived next door. She went there. Unlike Nimish's house, their house was filled with more empty spaces. Only needful things were surrounded. It was a typical house with minimal decor. They all had dinner in the evening and gossiped for a few hours. This became their night schedule for 4 days. One night, Nimish's parents had gone to their relative's wedding and were not supposed to return till early morning. It was the weekend, and Nimish had to stay awake to receive his parents in the early morning. Kaaya accompanied him. They watched movies, played cards and a few other games, and gossiped for hours. A few hours went by, and Kaaya fell asleep in Nimish's arms on the couch. Nimish was still awake. He randomly patted her head and moved his fingers from her hair. He was calmed by Kaaya. Eventually, he, too, fell asleep. Still, 3 hours were left to receive his parents.
At 2.45 in the morning, a random girl arrived at Kriya's place. Akaay went to open the door. The girl yelled, "Surprise!" Upon seeing each other, both said in sync, "Hell no, you, not again" The girl aggressively came at Akaay and hit him with a bouquet. Akaay was standing firm, unbothered. "Where's Kaaya? What have you done? What are you doing here in the first place?" She was trying to hit Akaay, but due to her small height, she couldn't reach him. Akaay held her hands and bent her from her back. "You jerk. The last person on earth I wanna deal with. She moved out 6 days ago." As they were talking, Kriya came from behind. She was surprised to find Akaay holding a random girl's head stuck in his arm while her hands were held together. She yelled; this made Akaay loosen her grip, and the girl hit him back. She continued her failing attack to hit Akaay. 

Around 3 in the morning, Kaaya's phone rang. She received a call in half-sleep; it was Kriya. She was scared, "Kaaya, please come with Nimish. Some random girl has arrived at our doorstep, and she's having a fight with Akaay." The girl overheard the conversation and asked Kriya to put her on a call. Kriya did, "I've come here to surprise you and I'm surprised finding this SHITHEAD in your house, what is he even doing here, why you're not here..." Kaaya was stunned with the girl's voice. "How on earth did you come unnoticed?"Kriya from behind, "That's not the concern. This girl has created havoc here. Come soon." Akaay was effortlessly stopping and dodging this girl as if she were a child who couldn't make moves, he was having fun seeing the girl unable to hit him. He was amused while Kriya was scared. Kriya held her from behind, requesting Akaay to spare her face from his hand, which he had blocked. He held her face at arm's length while the girl effortlessly kept trying to reach her hands to Akaay's face. Kaaya woke Nimish, and they hurried to Kriya's home.

Who might this person be who was so angry at Akaay? 

09/03/2025
05/05/2025