Page 97 of That Same Old Love

“Ashu, can you go down and get Mahi’s cell phone,” Jhanvi asked and held Mahi tightly.

They tried calling Ananya a few times, but her phone was not answered.

“She’s not picking up. I don’t know if they haven’t heard anything or she’s ignoring the calls,” said Smitha.

“Try calling Sidhu,” suggested Parvathi.

“Good idea,” said Ashwini.

Mahi was sobbing in Jhanvi’s arms saying repeatedly, “I want him back. Oh God, I want him to be okay.”

Sidhu’s number was not stored on Mahi’s phone. They had to call Jhanvi’s husband who called one of their old classmates who was still in touch with Sidhu.

When they dialed Sidhu’s number, he picked up after a few rings. They put him on a speaker and they could hear some background noise that indicated that he was travelling on the road.

“Sidhu, this is Ashwini from your college. Listen, I’m with Mahi. Do you have more information on Samrat’s flight?”

“Ashwini—” Sidhu began.

“It’s all because of her. She broke my brother’s heart and drove him away from home… to go to that place… and now we have lost him!” Ananya began crying and screaming.

Mahi let out a very loud high pitched keening wail, raising goose bumps on her friends and also on Sidhu who was listening along with Ananya.

“No! No! Samrat’s not gone! Oh god, he’s not! I want him back! Get him back to me!” Mahi began to shout and cry hysterically.

Her friends tried to console her, but she couldn’t listen to them. The fact that Samrat was no more was too much to bear.

After a few frantic moments, they heard Sidhu. “Mahi, we don’t have any news yet. Anu, please… you need to be brave for your mother’s sake. Don’t assume things before we have any confirmation.”

Jhanvi shook Mahi a little until she made eye contact. “We don’t know if Samrat is okay or not, Mahi. He might be fine. Okay?” she told Mahi slowly.

Mahi stopped her wailing, but was still trembling.

“Sidhu, please keep us informed. I know your priorities are different, but please update us with text messages at least,” said Ashwini.

“Okay, I will. We are going to Anu’s parents’ village. Her mother heard the news and has collapsed with shock. I’ll keep you informed when we hear back,” Sidhu told them and hung up the call.

After an hour of crying and then alternately pleading and then shouting angrily at god, Mahi was made to take some medications that would calm her down and sleep for some time.

After a few hours, Sidhu called to let them know that the flight had crash landed in a remote forest and that everyone was mostly okay with only minor injuries. And the other good news was that Samrat wasn’t on the flight to begin with. He had taken a commercial flight a few hours earlier and would be arriving in India the next day.

When Mahi heard the news, she broke down in sobs—this time in sheer gratitude.

After she calmed down, she finally noticed that it was seven thirty in the morning. All her friends were in their night clothes with bleary red eyes and sleep deprived faces. Their faces were also slightly puffed up because they had cried along with her, and listened to her hysterical wails about how cruel and unreasonable she had been with Samrat by not wanting to marry him or have his child.

“Okay, I’m starving. I skipped dinner last night. Does anyone want any breakfast and tea or coffee?” Mahi croaked out. She had almost completely lost her voice due to the shouting last night and her eyes were almost swollen shut.

“I’ll make the tea,” offered Parvathi.

“I haven’t been stocking up groceries or food these days. I think I have some upma rava though,” said Mahi.

“Upma is fine. I’ll make it. You take some rest. You have lost a ton of weight in the past four weeks, and not in a healthy manner,” scolded Ashwini.

Mahi sighed. “Yeah. I was busy at work and I was too tired to pick up food or even order it home. I just grabbed some meals at work.”

After a while when they sat around her dining table having breakfast and tea, Jhanvi asked Mahi on what she was planning to do with Samrat.

“I know that I will beg him to take me back and marry me. I will even h-have his baby whenever he wants to. All I want to do… is to be with him on any terms,” said Mahi.

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