Kcris & Jeena

Finally, both meet once again.

Upon reaching her house, Jeena takes a quick shower and goes straight to bed. It is already 4 in the morning and Jeena is still tossing sides. Her mind is still stuck on what she saw in the restroom. She desperately wants to call Kcris and ask about it but also knows that Kcris ain’t gonna take any of her calls. Jeena has been calling Kcris for almost a month now, but none of the calls were answered.

As exams are over, Jeena thinks of starting her dance practice again. Two days later, she goes to the dance studio. Today, not only Kcris but Sky is also missing. So after the practice, Jeena texts Sky asking about her whereabouts. There isn't any reply so Jeena decides to wait for the reply and not call her. After this Jeena goes straight to her house. She uses her keys to enter the house as Alex has already left for the office. She fixes something for her to eat and then sits in front of the TV. As the semester has ended and there are no upcoming auditions or modelling assignments, Jeena has a lot of free time to kill. After watching TV for some time, she starts to look for part-time jobs online. In the middle of this, Sky replies to Jeena telling her that she is visiting her hometown and will be back by tomorrow evening.

Today Sky is back and both Jeena and Sky practice together. After the practice is done Sky asks, "Jeena, do you have some work after this, or are you free?"

"My exams just got over. I have lots of free time on my hand. You tell me, what do you wanna do?"

"Actually my brother drove me this morning so, I don't have my car. Would you mind giving me a ride? I have to give these papers first and then we can go for lunch and catch up."

Jeena smiles and says, "Fine by me. Let's go. But before that, if you are not rushing, can we grab a coffee."

Sky and Jeena both get their coffee and are set to roll so Jeena asks, "Where are we heading to?"

Sky puts the address in the GPS and Jeena starts to drive. Sky like always had a lot of stories to share, so the entire road she is busy talking. Both are already in the elevator when finally, Jeena has a chance to ask, "What is this place and whom are we meeting?"

Sky doesn't say anything and drags Jeena by her hand straight into the office. When both are sitting on the sofa Sky tells Jeena, "Don't worry. You know her. We're in Kcris' office."

Before Jeena can do anything, Kcris is already here.

Kcris is checking the documents in her hands when she gets inside her office and goes like, “Little girl, you didn’t have to come by yourself. You could have texted me and I would have sent someone to collect the papers.”

The moment Kcris raises her head, she sees Jeena standing next to Sky. It is almost two months since Kcris has seen Jeena. Kcris is a bit startled, but she still tries to fully ignore Jeena. Kcris gives the document that she has to her secretary standing behind her. Kcris then takes the one Sky is holding and turns, to place it on the table. Without turning back to face Sky and Jeena, Kcris asks, “Little girl, have you had your lunch yet? If not, you both can have it here only.”

“No, we didn’t. I and Jeena were thinking of eating after giving you the papers.”

Kcris turns to her secretary and orders her, “Take these ladies for lunch. Let them have whatever they want. Please do take good care of them.”

After this Kcris gets back to her work as she is trying to pretend to ignore everyone. The secretary requests both, “Ladies please follow me.”

The moment Kcris hears the sound of the office door closing, she takes a sigh of relief without realizing that Jeena is still there. Kcris grabs the glass of water from the table and gulps it down in one go. The moment Kcris turns she is shocked to see Jeena standing right in front of her and drops the empty glass she had in her hand. In the spur of the moment, Kcris slightly pushes Jeena away to prevent her from getting hurt by the broken pieces.

Kcris immediately asks her, “Are you alright, Jeena?”

Jeena stands there dumbstruck. Kcris is worried about Jeena. So Kcris instantly goes around the broken pieces to reach Jeena as she is still standing mum. Kcris asks again, “Are you hurt somewhere, Jeena?”

Jeena is still not answering which makes Kcris worry more. Kcris sees tears coming out of Jeena’s eyes and this panics her. So, Kcris starts to check Jeena’s arms, legs, etc. to find if she is hurt or not. Seeing Kcris in such a state of turmoil and panic, Jeena starts to speak in a low tone, “Do you hate me this much, that you had to push me away even when I wasn’t standing that close to you?”

“Huh.”, Kcris is still confused and a moment later asks, “What do you mean, Jeena?”

After a few moments, it strikes Kcris that Jeena is crying not because she is hurt but because Kcris has pushed her. Kcris right away wipes Jeena’s tears with her hand and apologizes saying, “I am sorry. I did that because I didn’t want you to get hurt by broken pieces of glass.”

Kcris makes her sit on the sofa and then, herself sits squatting on the floor, still holding Jeena’s hands. Kcris gently puts her hand on Jeena’s thigh and tells her, “I don’t hate you. I can never hate you. It’s just that I was worried that you might get hurt.”

“Then why didn’t you take any of my calls? It has been more than a month now. Actually, two months. You don’t even come to the studio. You are deliberately avoiding me. So why should I believe that you don’t hate me?”

“Jeena, I promised you that I won’t let you see my face. Even when I saw you arguing with the nurses in the hospital, I wanted to step in. But, I didn’t.”

“Kcris…So you were there at that time and that’s why your message was right on time. And here I thought it was a mere coincidence.”

“I am sorry Jeena, for not taking your calls. Even if I tell you the reason you would think of that as an excuse. I knew that the moment I’ll hear your voice; I would rush to meet you.”

“Why Kcris? Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know why. It is what it is. I am sorry for today. I shouldn’t have broken my promise. I was totally unaware that Sky would bring you to my office. Can you please forgive me?”

Jeena starts to stare at Kcris out of anger. This is because Kcris still hasn’t realized that Jeena didn’t want her to keep the promise instead, she wanted to meet Kcris. Kcris with a sad face asks Jeena, “Won’t you forgive me? Just tell me what can make you forgive me. I’ll right away do it.”

“Kcris, how can you be so dumb? Only God knows how you became such a successful business person. You still are not getting, why I am so angry with you.”

“Please, just explain it to me once. I’ll definitely understand this time.”

“Ok Kcris, this will be the first and last time I am doing this. Next time even when you don’t understand what I mean, you are on your own.”

“Ok, I promise. Next time onwards I’ll be diligent enough.”

“Kcris, I didn’t want you to stick to the promise. I have been calling you since then to apologize to you for my rude behavior. I was so wrong to accuse you and that too, without giving you a chance to explain yourself.”

Jeena’s phone starts to ring. Kcris picks up and goes like, “Little girl, Jeena is not feeling well. Let her take some rest here. After having lunch, can you go home by yourself?”

“Kcris, we came by Jeena’s car. If I go by myself, she would have to drive. Will it be ok to let her drive when she is not well?”

“Little girl, you don’t worry. I’ll take good care of your friend. And wait, I’ll ask someone to drop you off.”

“No need for that, Kcris. I’ll get a cab.”

“Sky, do as I say. Let my office car drop you off wherever you want to go.”

“Ok…ok…Don’t be angry, Kcris. I’ll do as you say. And please make Jeena eat something. She only had a coffee since morning.”

“Ok, I’ll. And little girl, you better text me when you reach.”

“Okay. Bye.” And the call is disconnected.

Jeena with glaring eyes asks Kcris, “Oh really? Why did you say that to her? I am not sick. I was just shocked when you pushed me.”

“This was the fastest way to convince Sky to leave first. And we need to finish our conversation first, right?”

“But still you shouldn’t lie like this, Kcris.”

“Okay. I won’t do it again. Anyway miss Jeena can we continue our chat over lunch, please? I don’t want to be labeled as a liar twice in one day. Sky asked me to make you eat something first and I said yes so, please. Shall we?”

Both go together for lunch in a big room and they sit across the table.

“Jeena, are you feeling better now?”

“Yes, I am ok and I am sorry for making you worry.”

“It’s okay. It’s a good thing as because of you, I can finally take a break. It has been a rough couple of weeks. (After a pause Kcris tells Jeena) Hey, I ordered two Japanese dishes for you. Is that okay? If you want something else, you can tell.”

“Kcris, it’s okay. Anyway how come you know that I like Japanese cuisine?”

“When Ray’s parents were in town we went to dine in a Japanese restaurant as his mother is of Japanese descent, thinking she might like it. That’s when Sky told me that you also like Japanese food.”

“Huh… dinner with Ray’s parents and… Sky told you.”

“Ah! Sorry. I forgot to tell you that Sky is Ray’s younger sister.”

“My bad. I knew it already but forgot just now. Sky told me the first time when we met.”

“Kcris, what are you having for lunch?”

“Umm… spaghetti with bacon and chilies.”

“Aww. Then why didn’t you order the same for me? I also like spaghetti.”

“You like it, so you should have it, Jeena.”

“No. Don’t order more food else it will be wasted.”

“You don’t worry about food wastage, Jeena. I too am totally against it. But what I meant is you can eat from my plate and I’ll eat from yours.”

“Are you sure, Kcris?”

“Yes. Of course.”

A lady brings the food trolley and silently starts serving the dishes. Both Kcris and Jeena continue to talk.

“You know what Kcris, I love spaghetti. Alex doesn’t like it at all so, I usually don’t cook it. But whenever I am cooking only for myself, I make spaghetti only. All dishes with spaghetti, I love them all. But my favorite is one with bacon and chilies.”

“So, you can cook. That’s great. Alex is so lucky that she can have your hand-cooked meals whenever she wants.”

“You can also have them but only when you don’t ignore me as you did in the past two months. And Kcris, can we eat now? I am starving.”

“Yeah sure. Dig in.”

“Jeena.”

“Huh… what Kcris?”

“I am sorry for that day. I shouldn’t have walked out on you like that. I should have explained it to you. Actually, Ria isn’t my daughter. I am just taking care of her until she is adopted. That totally doesn’t mean that I treat her as a stranger. For me, she is like family.”

“Kcris, don’t worry. I know it now. I won’t misunderstand you again. I am sorry for that time. I don’t think that you are just doing it as a responsibility rather you actually love her. Can I ask you something? If you are not comfortable, feel free not to answer.”

“Yeah… shoot.”

“How did you meet Ria? How does she end up being with you?”

“It’s a long story.”

“You can tell me while we are eating, Kcris.”

“Ok. A few years back, I was coming out of a funeral and it was raining cats and dogs so, I thought of waiting outside till Paraam could get the car. Across the road, I saw a blue-colored shirt kinda cloth. Usually I or for that matter, anybody wouldn’t even notice. But because of the rain, nobody was outside and not even a single vehicle was on the streets. So, I went to check and to my surprise or rather I should say shock, I found a small child wrapped in that cloth. I picked up the child and rushed for some cover. There was hardly any pulse so, we immediately took her to the hospital. Only God knows for how many hours that child was left in the rain. That was a horrible day. But finding Ria was a blessing. I myself don’t know what I would have done after reaching my house. I lost someone that day. Because of Ria, I was in the hospital for two days straight and this helped me forget about my grief, though momentarily but it helped. I mostly stayed in the hospital until her recovery. All my pain, grief, and suffering were diverted into concern for Ria's life and finding her family. I might have gone insane if, I hadn't found her. I gave her the name Ria."