Chapter 7 - The Hard Goodbyes
Shivaay was on the terrace sitting all alone by himself. He liked sitting alone sometimes with just his thoughts.
It had been 2 months since Kaka's birthday and a lot had changed in thier lifestyle. They had more furniture in their house now, for instance.
For once Shivaay was happy. Everything seemed to be going just the way he wished.
Kaka's new job paid them more than enough than what they required. OmRu were happy with their school and lifestyle. And kaka was also happy to get 3 cute sons.
And Shivaay...Shivaay was happy to see them all happy. He didn't wish for anything more than his family's well being.
Of course he wanted his real family to come back but that didn't mean he wanted to get rid of kaka. In fact, he had decided that he would take kaka to Oberoi Mansion with him whenever his family comes to take them.
"Shiv ?"
A soft voice interrupted Shivaay's train of thoughts. A smile came across Shivaay's lips and without taking his eyes off of sky, he said. "Kaka, aayiye na, mere sath baithiye." ("Kaka please come, sit with me.")
"Shiv kafi der ho chuki hai. Apko ab sona chahiye." ("Shiv it late you should sleep.") Kaka said but sat beside Shivaay nonetheless.
Shivaay laid down on the terrace floor and placed his head on kaka's lap.
Kaka smiled and caressed his hairs. None of them said anything yet they knew what other was feeling and thinking.
-
Next day was Sunday. A fun day it's should've been and it was until Jay arrived.
"Hey Jay ! Aao na, mein, Om aur Ru Ludo khelne wale hai, lekin ek player kum hai. Ab tum aa gaye ho toh chalo khelte hai." ("Hey Jay! Come, I, Om and Ru, we 3 are going to play Ludo but one more player is required.") Shivaay smiled and took out the yellow pawns for Jay.
Jay nodded but he wasn't enthusiastic as usual. He looked sad and depressed.
During the entire game Jay was silent. He didn't jumped when he reached the house or killed the other player, he didn't tease or made fun of Shivaay when Shivaay lost or got his pawn killed and neither did he pouted or complained like child when someone killed his pawns.
He just played quietly, trying his best to keep his tears in and not breakdown.
After the game Shivaay finally asked Jay. "Jay, kya hua ?" ("What's wrong?")
Jay sighed.
"Kya hua Jay bhai ?" ("What happened?") Om, who had now noticed Jay's sadness, asked worriedly.
"Shiv, Om. Baith jao." ("Shiv, Om. Please sit.") Jay looked at them and said.
ShivOm looked at each other and then sat down on the sofa chair.
"M..mere papa ka tra.. transfer ho gaya hai. Hum ab Delhi mein nahi rahenge." ("My father...just received a transfer letter. We won't be living in Delhi anymore.") Jay said and tears started streaming down his eyes uncontrollably.
Rudra who was listening to their conversation silently was confused. "Matlab ?" ("Means?") He asked innocently.
Jay couldn't help but take Rudy in a hug. "Matlab ab hum roz nahi mil payenge." ("It means we won't be seeing each other everyday.") Jay replied while still holding Ru close.
Jay's reply hit Shivaay like a truck and tears brimmed into his eyes but he didn't let any one of them escape.
Om, on the other hand, was crying. He was a sensitive boy and he didn't let his emotions bottle up. He expressed them.
"Bhai." Om said unable to say anything else and hugged Jay making it a group hug, Jay held OmRu close and closed his eyes in an attempt to save that feeling in his heart forever.
Over the years, OmRu were no less than brothers for him. In fact he was more close to ShivOmRu than Nishant.
Shivaay was frozen on his spot, his mind had stopped working and he felt like someone had just snatched away the floor from beneath his ground.
Shivaay saw the trio in front of him sharing a hug and without another word, he stood up and left.
He went to the terrace, the place which knew and had seen all his pains, sorrows and happiness, and let his emotions out.
He dropped to his knees and cried. He kept his voice low and cried his heart out. He couldn't even imagine a life without his best friend.
Jay was the person who had seen Shivaay's that side which was still unknown to the world. Jay was the one who had pulled him out of the shock of his family. He was the one who stood by him, who made him laugh...who made his childhood memorable.
"Shivaay." Jay came there and saw his best friend on his knees, crying.
Without another word, Jay ran towards Shivaay and wrapped him in a hug. Both the best friends cried in each other's arms until they both managed to calm down.
They both sat on the terrace just enjoying each other's presence.
"Tujhe pata hai, jis tarah hum roye hai na aj, kisi ko bhi lagega ki hum best friends nahi, couple hai." ("You know , the way we have cried today people might mistake us for a couple.") Jay said with a small laugh at the end, after a long streak of silence.
"Jao jao, tumhe date karne se accha hai ki mein single rahu." ("Oh buzz off, I would rather die single.") Shivaay retorted with a smile.
"Accha ? Mein bhi koi mara nahi jaa raha tujhe date karne ke liye, samjha na ?" ("Is it? I'm not dying to date you either, do you understand that?") Jay narrowed his eyes at Shivaay playfully and both burst out laughing.
"I'll miss you, Shiv." Jay mumbled with teary eyes and a warm smile.
Shivaay nodded. "Tum kaha jaa rahe ho ?" ("Where will you be relocating?")
Jay looked ahead, he didn't have the courage to look at Shivaay. "Mumbai." He replied shortly.
"Nice." Shivaay smiled with a heavy heart. "Kya pata yar, kal mera bhai star hi ban jaye." ("My brother might become a film star in near future.")
Jay chuckled softly.
"Kab j..jaa.." ("When w..will..") Shivaay gulped down his sobs and looked away to secretly wipe his tears. He took a deep breath. "Kab jaa rahe ho ?" ("When will you be leaving?")
"Kal shaam." ("Tomorrow evening.") Jay silently replied.
No words were exchanged after that.
Both the friends sat on the terrace until the evening. They hadn't talked much cause they both knew that they would breakdown if they accidentally hit a soft spot.
-
Next day,
Evening...
ShivOmRu and Kaka were standing outside Jay's old house. Jay, his brother Nishant and Jay's parents were there too.
Kaka was talking with Jay's parents, Rudy was with Nishant while ShivOm were talking to Jay.
Actually it was Om who was talking to Jay. Shivaay just stood there silently listening to their conversation.
"Yeh apke liye bhai." ("This is for you.") Om said and extended a small gift wrapped box to Jay.
Jay mumbled a quick 'Thanks' and unwrapped his present. A smile crept on his lips when he took out the little keychain.
It was a keychain which looked like the sheild of Captain America, cause Jay loved Captain America.
Jay smiled when he remembered how Shivaay and he always fought about who's the best avenger, Captain or Iron man, whenever they watched a Marvel movie.
"Yeh khulta bhi hai." ("You can open it.") Om said and opened the shield revealing a picture.
The picture held ShivOmRu, Jay and Nishant. Shiv was wearing an Iron man mask on his head with a smile, Om was holding Thor's hammer with a smirk, Ru was wearing Spiderman costume and giving a grin showing his 31 teeths with one hole, looking cute as ever. While Jay was holding Captain America's shield and Nishant was grumpily standing there cause he had to wear Loki's horn-helmet cause no other costume was available for him.
Jay's eyes teared up at the memory. The pic was clicked 5 months ago when ShivOmRu, Jay and Nishant had visited a theme park. It was one of the best days of his life.
"Chalo bacchon, jaane ka samay ho gaya hai." ("Come kids, it's time to leave.") Jay's mom gave them all a sad smile.
Jay looked at Shivaay. Shivaay looked like he's going to breakdown and sob like a baby any minute, so Jay took him in one last bone crushing hug.
"We'll stay in touch. Mein tujhse phone pe baat karunga, hum video call karenge. Itni jaldi tera piccha nahi chodunga mein." ("We'll stay in touch. I'll call you and also video call you. I won't spare you so soon.") Jay said, his voice cracking in between.
Shivaay forced out a chuckle and nodded.
Even though they both knew that whatever Jay said was lie. Long distance friendships don't last long and anyway, Jay was growing up, he'll be having some friends of his own age, his own maturity.
Both of them pulled apart. "Yeh mere jaane ke baad kholna." ("Open it after I leave.") Jay said and handed Shivaay a small gift wrapped box.
Jay ran towards the car and sat inside without looking at Shivaay.
Shivaay wiped his tears and masked his sadness with a smile. "Bye Jay ! I'll miss you !" He yelled, managing to keep his voice steady.
Jay looked at him and gave a smile too but he had tears down his cheek unlike Shivaay. "Bye." He whispered and waved at ShivOmRu.
ShivOmRu kept waving at the car until it disappeared.
Shivaay sighed. Another one of his favourite person had gone out of his life.
Some chapters of the book are too good to last long but still Jay's chapter lasted in Shivaay's book of life for 4 years.
"I'll always remember you, Jay." Shivaay whispered and kaka guided the kids back to the house.
Once they reached home, Shivaay ran to the terrace and sat there. He didn't cry cause he knew it was useless to cry. Jay had already left and crying would only signify his weakness and he didn't wish to show that he's weak to his brothers.
Shivaay took out the small gift Jay had given him and opened the packing. A note fell from the packing, Shivaay unfolded the paper and read.
Dear Shiv,
I know you're missing me already but don't worry I'll come to see you soon. I won't leave your back this easily.
Shivaay smiled and shook his head slightly.
Yeh ek music box hai (This is a music box)...You've guts Shivaay. Dance karna kabhi mat chodna. (Don't ever stop dancing.) We'll meet soon.
Yours Childishly
Jay, Jay Kumar Sharma.
Shivaay lifted up the wooden box which was a present from Jay and opened it. As soon as he opened it, music started playing through it.
It was a normal piano music but with a beautiful melody.
Inside the box's lid was a picture of ShivJay with Shantanu sir.
It was clicked when Shivaay and Jay had performed in a competition and had achieved 1st runner up position. They couldn't win the competition but they didn't mind it at all.
Next few days were very hard for Shivaay. As Jay would always be there with Shivaay from morning to night, he missed him a lot.
Kaka was there to make Shivaay feel better and Om too.
It took a week or two for Shivaay to come around the fact that Jay had left.
After that, Shivaay invested his time, energy and heart, all into OmRu.
He taught them both different things like cooking, a few dance moves and also made sure they both studied well.
Shivaay got many new friends after that as well but no one could replace Jay.
Jay called Shivaay occasionally and Shivaay called him too but it wasn't same anymore.
At times they had nothing to talk about, cause they both were unaware of what's happening in others life.
Eventually the contact died cause they both had nothing to talk about except for the same old memories.
“ Life is all about people coming and going and it hurts the most when people leave so it's better not to get attached with anyone rather than being heartbroken afterwards. „
~ Shivaay Singh Oberoi.
-
Shivaay sighed as he dropped on the sofa.
It had been a long day indeed. First, he had to run behind Rudy cause he was refusing to eat, then he had to do extra efforts to make him study a bit. Then, he had to bug Om to study instead of drawing. He had to teach Om some maths and some Geography and at last, he had to cook the food cause Kaka was going to be late.
After that, he had to make up a story and narrate it to Ru to make him fall asleep.
Shivaay was just shuffling through channels but none of it was interesting so he just switched off the TV.
Shivaay slumped in his chair and made himself comfortable. "Kaka ko aane mein abhi bhi ek ghanta hai, tab tak mein newspaper hi padh leta hu." ("I've an hour till kaka comes home. Let's take a look at the newspaper to pass the time.") He muttered to himself.
He picked up the newspaper and was going through it when a particular picture caught his eye.
It was Oberoi Mansion's black and white picture. The Oberoi Mansion which was situated in Mumbai.
"Oberoi's ki akhiri sampatti ki hogi nilami." ("Oberoi's last property will be auctioned soon.") Shivaay read the headline and a tear escaped down his eye.
-------------------
Hey guys !
So yeah, Jay finally left cause he was growing up. And believe me or not, after a certain age a person cannot befriend another person younger than his age. There are age differences, wit differences, understanding differences, etc.
You may not like me sending away Jay like that or you may just accept it...Let me know what exactly you think.
So that's all for today.
Did it all shock you ?
If it didn't then I might have to give you another 440 volts shock in the following chapter... 😉😆
Till the next update,
Have a safe and great life 😇
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