Chapter 29

LadyMeringue

@LadyMeringue

A/N: Hey there everyone! :D :D Here is the next update! :D :D

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"Ah, Mr. RV!" exclaimed the doctor as Ranveer entered his cabin eight hours later in a regal three-piece black pinstriped suit.

He'd come straight from his office, making his way to the case doctor's cabin first and inquiring about Ishaani's condition before heading towards the other doctor that he was in search of. To whom he'd written out a special request earlier in the day once he'd left Ishaani's room, to be more precise. It had been something that had been upon his mind ever since he'd seen her bloodied and bruised with the scalpel in hand and he needed to get a few things clarified. The doctor in question put down the file he was studying and turned to look at RV rather keenly.

"I thought you weren't going to come back to the hospital today since you fixed an appointment for tomorrow."

"Well someone needed to sign her discharge papers. How is she now?" asked RV, the concern of Ranveer breaking out in his tone immediately as he shook hands with the doctor. The latter gestured him to take a seat.

"She's perfectly fine. Got the reports from her case doctor. Needs to take care of her throat because it'll be a little sore for a day or two but otherwise she's perfectly fine."

"Not anaemic or anything?" inquired Ranveer further, noticing that she'd been looking a little paler than usual. The doctor gave him a reassuring smile.

"No, funnily enough. Although there's an unusual amount of scarring upon her hands. Would you like to elaborate on that, Mr. RV?" asked the doctor with a knowing look in his eye. Ranveer shrugged his shoulders hesitantly before he letting the doctor know the entire picture.

"She's had episodes of self-harm, from what I know. I witnessed the worst one three days ago, and I've only got back in touch with her since the past six days, so..." he trailed off, unsure of how to continue further.

"So what, Mr. RV?" asked the doctor, wondering what the man before him had in mind, especially since he was the one who'd requested him to do a psych evaluation of the patient in question in the first place.

"Would you like to give me an idea about what's her status?" asked Ranveer uncertainly, wondering whether to sit back and let the doctor conclude his evaluation or to run away from there before the doctor could start speaking. The doctor seemed to understand his plight for he gave Ranveer a small smile.

"In case you're wondering whether she got suspicious about the questioning, no. I spoke to her case doctor to let me ask her a random set of questions since she did have the scars upon her hand. That was a red flag already, but thankfully she was co-operative. Coming back to my conclusion, she doesn't exhibit symptoms of clinical depression so far, although there are definite traces of compulsive and impulsive behaviour," he added, and Ranveer didn't know whether it was a good sign about her behaviour.

"She's always been rather reckless with her emotions even as a child. Didn't know what to do with them," he emphasized and the doctor nodded.

"I thought you knew her since the past six days only," exclaimed the doctor sharply, suddenly looking halfway between suspicious and confused. Ranveer sighed, thinking about their complicated history and how he was to surmise it best in the simplest way possible.

"It's a long story. But I've known her for nineteen years now," confessed Ranveer and the doctor didn't ask anything further. Instead, he opened a file with the header 'Ishaani Parekh' and read out his observations from it.

"I've done a normal psych evaluation on your personal request. She's in the clear like that because as per her answers, she's had her first encounter with the scalpel back on the 20th of March, 2009 like she dated it to me, and the next one after a year and eight months, following which she regularly indulged in one scar per week for a year until she gave up the addiction. Until she started it again on the 1st of this month, after a span of four years. And I think the incident you were witness to was the only time she's lost control."

"There's got to be something you can do to get her to stop it," requesting Ranveer, the beseech in his tone making the doctor look at him sympathetically. The date of the inception of her scarring seemed to feel like a harsh slap against his face.

"Mr. RV, the human psychology isn't as simple as that. The reason most people take to self-harm is because they need a coping mechanism for the issues they face, be it low self-esteem or depression or anxiety or PTSD or perfectionism or any other kind of disorder," explained the doctor and Ranveer remained silent just out of politeness in spite of knowing what the doctor had said. He couldn't wait for the doctor to throw more light upon it.

"What's her issue?"

"Her issue is primarily chasing perfection so that she can be in control, but that isn't the only motive driving her to do so," remarked the doctor suddenly and that perked up Ranveer's interest. The other motive was exactly what he was looking for in the first place.

"What do you mean?" asked Ranveer curiously. The doctor gave him a patient explanation in a layman's language.

"There's a guilt that her psychology is suppressed underneath that renders her incapable of bearing any sort of imperfection or any instance when she loses control upon her emotions. It could be due to a traumatic incident or incidents from the past, whatever fits the situation, and that's rendered her incapable of handling any kind of emotional anomaly than usual. And you need to be very careful about that, Mr. RV because it could lead to a lot of complications in the future if she doesn't get a hold upon them right now."

"Is there any way to get her any kind of emotional stability for now?" asked Ranveer, his heart feeling the same usual anxiety brew in its hollow depths once again, praying for the doctor to give him something that'd help him get her out from the dreaded habit once and for all.

"Try easing out whatever guilt it is that she's being repressed under. Easing that guilt off is what will help her overcome her emotional issues eventually. Because from my evaluations, the main issue that I can detect with her is the guilt that's egging her on to the compulsive behaviour with the scalpel. And something must have instigated her the other night to take it a step further."

"But she's not suicidal?" asked Ranveer worriedly, his heart already sinking with the fact that he knew what was the only thing that would assuage her guilt in the first place.

"No, neither suicidal or delusional. She's very well aware and practical about everything that's happening around her. Which means that she's in control of her mind except for those moments where her guilt is triggered and that leads her to indulging with the scalpel," explained the doctor and this time, Ranveer felt himself relax considerably.

"So, it's a clean chit then?" inquired Ranveer, his returning spirits evident enough in his voice. The doctor wasn't too quick to smile this time though.

"Yes, a clean chit with my advise on the situation. Try easing her out from the guilt she's being punishing herself for because she's been living with it for too long. And if you don't ease her out from it soon enough, she'll have to face its repercussions and I'm afraid it won't be pretty," warned the doctor and the seriousness in his tone didn't go amiss by Ranveer as he understood the depth of the situation. And it only heightened the fear he felt in terms of a decision he knew he'd been cornered to take.

"Um, doc? One last question... Or rather, I need your opinion on something," asked Ranveer suddenly as he remembered about the net he'd been sewing for now. 

He needed to have a sound judgment from the doctor on whether or not what he was about to do would be advisable. The doctor nodded his head and Ranveer explained the entire scenario, at the end of which the doctor remained pensive for ten minutes straight.

"It's not very wise what you have in mind and it's risky. But yes, if it works in your favour, you get to test how deep the waters are as well," he replied finally, and Ranveer nodded, realizing that what the doctor had said was something he'd assumed as well. It was a make-it-or-break-it situation, he knew, but it was essential for more than one reason.

"Thank you so much, doc," said Ranveer in a gratuitous tone as both he and the doctor stood up and shook hands warmly. It was an unspoken fact that Ishaani Parekh was not to come to know about this particular meeting anytime soon. Ranveer was about the leave the cabin, somewhat relieved by the doctor's reassuring responses when the latter called him back.

"Mr. RV, if you don't mind, can I give you a word of advise?"

"Sure," replied Ranveer as he halted in his tracks and turned around, letting the doctor speak what he had in mind. 

It was more than evident in the eyes of the doctor that the man before him who seemed frantically worried about the behaviour of his friend was actually the one who looked close to a nervous breakdown himself. And an insomniac as well from the way his eyes kept staring into space occasionally or the unnecessary bags that were beginning to form underneath them in a shade of purple or even the light tremors that kept making his hands shake in spans of ten minutes.

"You really need to sleep, sir. You look like you'll faint any minute," remarked the doctor and Ranveer smiled sardonically, knowing that the doctor had surmised a whole psych profile upon him by just his appearance. He could feel the inky darkness of sleep caress his senses like the lullaby of a mother to a child, but the only thing that suddenly cast a charm upon his bewitched senses were the last verses of his all-time favourite poem, and something that he knew fit the story of his life as well.

"I have many promises to keep, and that's why there's miles to go before I sleep," was all he said before silently leaving the room, the doctor stunned by the effect with which he'd narrated the verses of the poetry.

And suddenly, the doctor feared for the man more than the woman in question.

"Is it done?"

It was eleven in the night as RV sat behind his desk, looking at the two men in front of him while the atmosphere of the room reflected the seriousness of the conversation. RV rubbed him temples in vexation as he could feel them begin to ache again due to lack of sleep.

"Yes, everything as per the plan," replied Rishi as both he and Puneet remained seated opposite RV, looking at the tycoon with the utmost respect for the intricacy he'd adopted to make sure that everything fell into place. They were still worried for tens and hundreds of things could go wrong but now that the sanction had been made and signed upon today, they all breathed out a considerably easier sigh of relief.

"How's Miss Parekh?" asked Puneet while Rishi nodded his head in unison. Both the employees worried about the woman in question after RV sent a message to them stating that she'd been hospitalized on account of an anaphylatic attack from an unknown allergy.

"She's better and resting at home right now. She'll be resuming work from tomorrow," replied RV briskly, noticing the worry lessen from across the faces of the two men opposite him. No questions were asked about how RV had been there both the times to call in sick for Miss Parekh on her behalf. It was not their business to know either.

"Sir, is it really advisable to rattle her up like the way you have planned to? It's very, very risky," asked Puneet once again, worried that Miss Parekh's ailment had come at a very, very bad time for their plan, especially in terms of trying to predict her exact reaction.

"There's no reward without risk. If we need to get that duopoly in London, we have to sew the net intricately," replied RV sternly, almost fed up of the same question that the two employees kept asking him umpteen times in a day.

"It could very well backfire, sir. Especially upon you," added Rishi, knowing that it was the same thing that he'd told RV even the previous day to which he'd received a not-so patient response. Today, however, seemed different. 

For the first time in six days, RV looked like he was human.

"And that's why I trust you and Puneet to make sure that it won't. There's no margin for error over here, Rishi. Neither for the Parekh Empire nor for the RV Group of Companies," he emphasized, the seriousness in his voice gaining the attention of both the men.

They didn't know why they trusted him so much except for the fact that they did because Miss Parekh did so. And they knew from those six days alone that RV knew what he was talking about right from the day he stepped foot into the Parekh Empire and so far, his planning had been foolproof. They weren't comfortable keeping their boss in the dark about what RV had been concocting in her absence, especially when so much was at stake but they chose to trust RV nonetheless now that he was their boss by the principle of the JV contract as well. And they just prayed for the sake of their lives that it all fell into the loop at the end of the day. 

"We're sorry for being so untrusting, sir. We should be more so since you're a man of much greater stature even though you're younger than us-"

"Status never defines a man, Puneet. A man defines his own status," replied RV and both the men stared at him in awestruck reverence. But RV was above taking amusing pleasure from this tonight for his mind was travelling far, far away.

"Sir, if I might be imprudent enough to question something?" asked Puneet suddenly, managing to snap RV out from his tiring train of thoughts. He considered the question for a minute, guessing what it might be in relation to.

"On any normal occasion, the only response you'd have gotten out from me would have a cocked eyebrow, but since you've been doing a remarkable job so far and I have a headache preventing me from giving my fullest performance with the eyebrow, fire away," replied RV and both the men laughed upon his joke in spite of feeling their heart going to stop with the fear that they felt warped in whenever they were in his presence.

"Why do you enjoy tormenting Miss Parekh so much?" asked aloud Puneet, unable to resist anymore. He felt Rishi kick him right under his calf but it was too late. RV looked at the two men, who now had expressions alike the one of a person just moments before being guillotined, and gave them a painful smile.

"When you love someone, truly love them, friend or lover, you lay your heart open to them. You give them a part of yourself that you give to no one else, a you let them inside a part of you that only they can hurt. You literally hand them the razor with a map of where to cut the deepest and most painfully on your heart and soul."

"I'm afraid I don't-" began Rishi, wondering whether RV was trying to imply what they both were certain of, but the man of the hour didn't wait for him to complete his question as he continued in the same wistful tone.

"No matter how much I yearn to hurt her for the ways that she's hurt me in, the fact is that at the end of the day I can't. Even today, I do exactly what I used to do all those years ago - hurt myself instead as long as it bought her back her sanity. And I've learnt to live with that pain. I kill myself a hundred times before killing her once, Mr. Oberoi."

"Is it really necessary to kill her at all?" asked Puneet, suddenly feeling his heart bleed for the man before him, understanding why it was that Miss Parekh was so crazy behind him.

"It is if I need to save her," replied RV, his face as blank as his tone. 

He had to be another place tonight, he knew. It was the place from where no one ever walked away empty-handed. 

Puneet and Rishi stared at each other in silence as they tried to understand the depth of an equation they had no idea about, wondering why it was that life was so difficult upon the two of them from what little they did know.

"Why would you put yourself through something like that for her after what she did to you? Anybody in your place would have hated her and made sure to make her life living hell, no matter what the real picture then," added Rishi, eyeing RV with an anticipation that he'd get an honest reply even though he didn't hope for one. He was direly surprised.

"Because that's the deal about unconditional love - it is always going to hurt you, break your heart into shatters and leave your soul lifeless eventually. But it's worth suffering for her anyway."

Ishaani walked into her room and sighed. The doctor had finally given her the discharge by eight in the evening, saying that her papers were already signed for by her 'husband' since there was no other next of kin to take responsibility for the same. And it was no surprise when she saw Ranveer's signature beside her own when the same papers were handed over to her to sign. What he was playing at, only he knew. She was tired of trying to decipher the same.

She let the driver take her home in spite of her mind's protests for she didn't want to create anymore drama, not after knowing how much all of it had been affecting Ranveer. And somewhere down the line, she agreed with him silently even though she'd never admit so to him - there was no margin for any kind of distraction at all. There was a lot of tinker with once her revenge upon Chirag and her father's legacy were both completed, she knew.

And through the course of her liquidated and cool special dinner, Ishaani couldn't help but ponder upon Ranveer's words with the practicality of Miss Parekh, knowing that everything Ranveer had spoken was true - not just about himself, but about her as well. He was always the better analyst from between the two of them. And say what she might, she knew that it was going to be a Herculean task for her to try and move ahead of a past that had defined her present existence. But that didn't mean that she was going to give up without even trying.

This was definitely going to be much harder than she'd thought it to be. Nineteen days to do the impossible. But she'd always done the impossible before, and she knew that she could do it even now. But that didn't mean that it wasn't going to be a challenge. It was probably going to be the biggest challenge of her life. Extracting a marker from the upper drawer of her bedside drawer, she walked towards the calendar that sat aloofly upon the wall. She stared hard at the dates ahead of her before pulling off the cap from the marker, letting its thick point mark a cross across the current date.

One down, eighteen to go.

Ranveer slipped off his shoes outside the temple at one in the morning as he walked into the grand Siddhivinayak Temple, staring around the place in nostalgia. This place had been one amongst his few places of solace whenever life was too troubled. And after eight whole years, his feet had finally found its path towards the abode of Lord Ganesha. Ranveer couldn't help but muse that the last time he'd walked down the same path, he'd been a nobody in life wanting to become a somebody. A somebody able enough to make the moon his own.

Noticing the thin crowds, he couldn't help but thank his stars that it was one of those rare days when the temple was almost empty at this time of the night.

As he neared the barrier beyond which the humongous idol of Lord Ganesha stood tall upon the pedestal, Ranveer felt a gush of warmth at the thought of how he'd never left this place empty-handed. Whatever he'd wished for, he'd been granted with much more abundance than he could have ever hoped for - his parents to lead the remainder of their lives with dignity, to achieve his dreams and live up to his Mota Babuji's expectations, to become an influential name in the stock markets, and to watch his parents look at him with pride as he continued to remain the apple of their eyes and their greatest source of happiness.

And yet, the one person who he had staged his entire life around was the one he had to reap the fruits of hardwork and determination without. Years ago, the moon had been stolen away from his life and had forced him to live six and a half years of his life in an amavasya. What had been his fault that night, really? Let slip of something that he'd meant to protect Ishaani from? And yet she had so mercilessly run dagger after dagger upon his heart until all he had to do was crash upon his knees and die.

But life had been a foul bitch.

He'd always believed that the day Ishaani walked out of his life would be the last he ever breathed in this world for there was no world that existed without Ishaani. And yet life had made him cruelly watch upon the scene as she trampled upon his heart and soul alike. She'd walked out of his life, killing him effectively yet keeping him alive just enough to spend every single day of his life reliving that same moment over and over again. And no matter how much alcohol he consumed, it was never good enough.

And here they were after six and a half years, the amavasya lifting away from upon his life suddenly as the moon dazzled brightly before his eyes, turning him blind. The moon had more taints than usual but she had never been more radiant. And no matter how much he wanted to embrace the moon back and never let its light and warmth leave his life ever again until his last breath, he found himself afraid of the light after all those years of solitude and darkness. 

It was easy for Ishaani to judge him and think that he was being difficult and pessimistic when life was giving him another chance. It was easy for her to judge and believe that her life had definitely been much more terrible than his own because she'd been the ultimate victim who'd lost everything in her quest for love. It was easy for her to judge and say that life was full of second chances - he'd give her a hundred chances to make wrong into right as long as it meant her being in his life. 

But it was life he didn't trust - not after that night.

It was easy for her to kiss him and show him how much she loved him and yearned for him. It was easy to show him how he'd always been an exception to her orthodox approach of physical intimacy. But she never realized why he resisted her touch. It was not because he didn't want to show her his love. It was because he was afraid that if he walked down that path, there would be no stopping him as he ached to give her a love that would fall short of an entire lifetime. A love that blazed even stronger than before as his weakened soul remained alive just by the warmth of that love for it had long forgotten its essence that lived in the soul of the woman he loved.

It was easy for her to challenge him and tell him that nineteen days was all she needed to make him see why he should give her... give them a second chance. But she didn't realize the agony of a lifetime that she'd subjected him to when she'd shattered away a hope that he'd lived with all his life - that she was in love with him and it wasn't difficult to achieve what he'd set out to make his own after all. Especially that night when they both knew somewhere deep down that she loved him, until she suddenly didn't.

That night, she'd lost her father and her best friend in a single stroke.

He?

He'd lost his entire universe in a single go.

And his life had been a gaping void ever since where his only mistress had been the stock markets who gave him the zest of living in all those hours that he remained on the trading floor, acquiring sells that would have been fantasy to normal traders until he redefined the term 'fantasy' for all his peers. It was easy for her to say that she'd watched him die four times and she knew the agony of it better.

But she didn't realize till date if he were a part of her life, then she was his life. And watching her die like that had only meant him dying alongside in the same agony that she was dying with, if not greater with the fact that he couldn't sacrifice his life to keep her breathing. And he knew that it was the one thing that he'd never let happen. He'd never let the breath of that person cease who'd made his breath cease in the first place.

Ranveer felt his knees buckle upon the floor as his head fell upon the bars of the metallic railing, the shock of what had almost happened finally finding its escape in the form of tears that wouldn't cease as they kept falling down his face, his body too tired to cope with any of it anymore. He wanted everything that Ishaani saw for the two of them for it was a dream he himself saw for thirteen years of his life. But pain and fear were paramount, both of which he couldn't let go of.

"I'm tired, bappa. I'm just tired... I cannot do this anymore, I cannot live like this anymore... All- all my life I hoped for her to reciprocate my love... It was the only thing I dreamt about and yet- yet today... I do not know what to do with my love, bappa. I don't know what to do about the fact that our paths met again when I still hadn't even begun overcoming my past," he spoke in a whisper as everything faded away from his view except for himself and the idol before him.

He let a few more drops of remorse-filled tears leave his eyes as he continued.

"Help me, bappa... I do not want to hurt Ishaani like this... I do not want to hurt like this... But no matter how hard I try, I cannot help myself... Give me the strength to save her, bappa, for she is dying in the fire of a revenge that she cannot walk away from... Give me the strength to be her shield again and to protect her from herself... Give me the strength to break her fall when she realizes that it's not going to be easy... that she can never trust or love like before unless and until she doesn't forget those eight years of her life for she can never move on from them... She doesn't realize any of this but I do... I know her, bappa... I know her soul..." he ended in a faded whisper as he held the bars of the barrier tightly, hoping that if he squashed it hard enough, it would ease his pain.

And the tears he'd held back in the hospital was what he now let flow unabashedly.

"Ye- years ago when I bared my heart before you and asked from you my heart's deepest desire, you gave me the path to it - my scholarship to Sydney. And eight years later, here I still am, with the same desire in my heart. I want her back in my life. I need her back in my life. I do not know whether it is a second chance or another opportunity... I do not know whether it is even going to work... I do not know whether it is for the better or for the worst... but I trust you to show me the way. I've always trusted you, bappa, in spite of whatever may have happened. Maa tells me that whatever happens, happens for the best. I'm hoping for the best, bappa. And I trust you to show me the path to it," he emphasized as he looked up and stared at the benevolent smile upon the idol.

He felt out of breath as he clasped his hands together even tighter.

"And that's why, bappa, I need to become RV once again. So that I can save her and make her revenge my own. Give me the strength to become RV again so that I can stand in between all the pains and dangers her way and make them my own. I cannot let what happened today happen ever again. The fiery-coloured phoenix is never meant to stand in the path of mortal peril. The white phoenix is. And that's never going to change," he spoke with determination as he stood up, wiping away the tears from upon his face.

The panditji walked ahead and gently let his thumb stroke upon the center Ranveer's forehead with a trace of kumkum as he handed over a peda as prasad. Ranveer smiled at the panditji as he realized that he was the same person who'd lifted him up upon his feet years ago when he'd slumped against the same railing in prayer. The panditji had grown older and had changed with the passage of time just like everything else had. His eyes didn't recognize Ranveer from amidst the hundreds and thousands of faces he saw every day. And yet one thing remained the same - his assurance.

"No one leaves the abode of Ganpatiji empty-handed."

The dawn to the next morning came along with a newfound calm as Miss Parekh walked into the office at exactly eight in the morning, her strut only exemplifying the stunning orange of her full-sleeved dress that fell above her knees while her nude stilettos were a sight worth dying for in the eyes of all the female employees. No one could look at the cold-hearted Miss Parekh and say that she'd nearly died the previous day for her hair still fell in the same waves upon her back as she chose to pin up one side of her hair while her eyeliner remained as accurately applied upon her eyes as always.

She didn't bother walking up to Ranveer's cabin as she made her way directly into her own, Puneet hurriedly walking behind her and accompanying her into the cabin. She gestured him to take a quick seat, Puneet quickly fill her up on everything that she'd missed out on. Giving her the details about how Shanella was in Surat along with Rishi to sign over the consignment due, Puneet also informed her upon an extra few details about the three other consignments due to different parts of the world in the meantime. Miss Parekh heard on in silence, giving in her inputs wherever required.

Puneet found himself yearning to tell Ishaani about the mystery bomb that the acclaimed RV had been spinning around her and was due to exploding the next day, but remained silent in fright of having to face not one, but two mentally unstable tyrants should anything fall wrong. He knew that Mr. RV was right and that he was meant to keep his mouth shut, and yet he knew that Miss Parekh deserved to know the truth as well.

During one such mental tussle, Miss Parekh snapped out from her thoughts, instantly noticing Puneet perspire in spite of the chilly air of the room. She cocked her eyebrow up in suspicion, wondering what was the matter with her employee.

"Are you alright, Mr. Bakshi?

"Yes... Ma'am can I ask you one thing?" asked Puneet suddenly, knowing thay the best way to deviate the topic from upon his mental tussle was by talking about the next best thing that seemed to trouble both himself and Rishi ever since they came to know about the one from Miss Parekh's past.

"Yes, go ahead," she replied, wondering what was coming her way now. Puneet took a deep breath, ready to let the curiosity get the better of him in what he knew would either be a do or a die. He chose his words with precision.

"You believe that everything is driven by logic, right?"

"'Course I do. Why?" she asked, now intrigued at the look of mingled anxiety and worry upon Puneet's face. She prayed dearly that nothing was wrong with the consignment or with the working of RV on the consignment since he'd been the one primarily looking into the entire operation in the first place.

"I, uh, wanted to know something. A hypothetical situation, ofcourse," hastened Puneet to specify and Ishaani gave him an even-more suspicious look, unable to contain the explosion of scenarios that rammed in her head at the thought of what could be wrong.

"I'm all ears," replied Miss Parekh in a dangerously silky tone that made Puneet nearly faint in fear, but he mustered the courage to speak nonetheless.

"There is a guy. Nice, rich, polite like that. Influential name in the world of business. Seems like a good chap, albeit very intimidating too because he's got a whole other side to him because of his past. A girl once broke his heart, and he's never been the same again," began Puneet and Miss Parekh relaxed back into her chair, mentally heaving a huge sigh of relief. 

This was Puneet just being nosy.

"What happens next?" she asked, bemused at how lamely the situation was put before her. But then again, he was a normal human being; neither Ranveer nor Chirag with their fancy words. Puneet gulped nervously as he continued speaking, making sure to look anywhere but at Ishaani directly for she blinded him with her radiance as much as the sun streaming from the window did.

"They meet after a couple of years. The girl wants to make amends but he is cold. And yet he cannot hide the fact that he cares for her, irrespective of how rudely he may behave. He doesn't respond to her. But he's unaware about what's been the fate of the girl. She isn't the same anymore too, for her own past as been just as brutal. And yet she doesn't cave in and tell him the truth. She remains just as cold and aloof as he is even though she cares for him a lot. Why might that be, ma'am?"

Ishaani didn't bother clarifying that the 'guy' in question knew the entire truth and was still trying to be a noble ass, neither the fact that she did cave in and tell him the truth in spite of trying so hard not to. He'd made her spill like a hypnotized woman in less than two minutes as he tore down her defenses worth five years with just one word. 

Coward.

Oh yeah, she was certainly mad at him, even more so when she saw him pass her cabin outside without as much as even looking into her cabin at that precise minute.

"Every question doesn't have an answer to it, Mr. Puneet. Especially the equation with your Mr. RV and myself," she added rather forcefully as Puneet looked out to watch RV talking to David, noticing immediately what had irked his boss. He slapped himself mentally.

"I didn't-"

"You can try being a little more subtle than that the next time. Or not nose into my personal life at all, for that matter," warned Ishaani as Puneet felt his heart skip a beat, cursing his luck as he was once again seized by the sudden urge to tell his boss about the plan in action. But the moment of tranquility had passed as he could now see a vein throbbing in her temple, tipping him off that it was a terrible time to think about any sort of confession to make.

"Please don't fire me."

"You amuse me, Mr. Puneet," replied Ishaani as she realized the palpable tension upon his face. Puneet laughed hesitantly at first but eased out the moment he noticed her features relax as she let out an irritated huff.

"Thank you, ma'am. But ma'am, please... Why don't you talk to him when you have the chance?" urged Puneet suddenly as he remembered seeing the other side of RV, the side that once held a simple guy who's only mistake was to love someone unconditionally. He and Rishi had had a long discussion on the same on the way home.

"I won't use what happened to me as some form of pity from him," shot back Miss Parekh with disdain and Puneet hissed, as though stung by the vivacity of her words. Her eyes blazed at him rather harshly, as though he'd been the one judging him in the first place.

"But he deserves to know what happened. Maybe his approach will change once he-" began Puneet, hoping to convince her to atleast give it a shot as being her well-wisher but Ishaani put her hand up as a cue to remain silent.

"Enough. What happens between us is our lookout."

"But-" began Puneet, wondering why he couldn't shut up and kept pushing his luck even more but this time, a cold glare from Ishaani made him fall silent. If looks could kill, he'd have been dead upon her feet in that very instant.

"We couldn't stay apart for three seconds when we were kids and we once stayed apart for three months because we were too strong-headed to cave in first. He believed he was right, I believed I was," she confessed to him suddenly, looking at Puneet in satisfaction as his mouth fell open in shock. He could never understand what sadistic pleasure his boss derived from dropping bombs upon people like that. He suspected it shrewdly to be a fetish.

"Who caved in first?" he asked quietly, somehow suddenly sympathetic about the poor Mr. RV, who he suddenly felt had good reason to give her back some of the cruel sadism that she'd adopted in the first place. He realized on the spur of the moment that he didn't even know RV's real name till now.

"Do you really want to know the answer to this?"

"Not without being threatened to get fired," replied Puneet cheekily as he stood up, leaving behind the files that required her further inquisition. Ishaani cocked her eyebrow at him in wonder as he didn't look remotely apologetic for his slip in tone, but chose to say nothing except her usual note of dismissal.

"Good, so out you go."

"Someone looked brimming with RV today."

Ranveer, who'd been reading through a file, shut it abruptly at the sound of Finch's voice. The latter had been going through the legal aspects and proceedings for the stint that his friend was about to pull the next day. Ranveer turned around to see Finch look at him curiously as he shut his own file and sat upright on the chair at the coffee table. RV and Miss Parekh hadn't come face to face and neither had they as much as even tried to interact with each other in the office. All instructions pertaining to Ishaani's health were already handed out by Ranveer upon the phone during the previous evening itself.

"Well, can you blame me? It's a gorgeous day," replied RV in a slightly higher tone than usual that was too chirpy and smug for Finch to digest. He noticed that his friend had been in unnaturally high spirits ever since he'd returned back at three in the morning but he wouldn't say where he'd been off to.

"How many glasses are you on?" asked Finch, wondering whether the alcohol was finally making him drunk enough to increase his spirits or whether he'd just finally cracked under the pressure.

"Four," replied Ranveer grudgingly even though Finch could determine easily that it was above four.

"Thought at much. And how many hours of sleep?" asked Finch, suddenly kicking himself mentally as he realized that Ranveer's behaviour was in perfect sync to the times when he'd not sleep at the stretch for above three days during his phases for chronic insomnia. In the hullabaloo of the recent days, he'd completely forgotten to keep a tab upon his sleeping patterns.

"Ten hours," replied Ranveer rather happily and that only seemed to intensify Finch's suspicion.

"In?" asked Finch sharply and Ranveer flinched, as though whipped.

"Four days."

"That's it. You're going to Monica the first thing we head back to Sydney," exploded Finch as he sprung up from his chair, looking livid. The freckles upon his face looked more pronounced as his face flushed red while he beat his fist into his other palm, looking as though he was imagining Ranveer's head in between.

"In your dreams, Finch," was all that Ranveer replied calmly, amused by the fact that his responses only seemed to be irking Finch more and more by the passing minute. And it was an oddly relieving experience in Ranveer's sleep-deprived opinion.

"Well, I have other ways to take you to Monica and get that twisted head of yours sorted if you don't agree to come with me and put an end to these insomnia episodes once and for all," threatened Finch, looking like he meant business. Ranveer couldn't help but laugh mirthlessly.

"Really? And how will you take me to her? By carrying me on your head or in your arms?" he jeered and Finch suddenly fell calm, smirking at him with an evilness that sapped the stupid smile off from upon Ranveer's face.

"Neither. I'll just tell Ishaani about it."

"You're bluffing," whispered Ranveer as he sprung up from the chair in shock, letting the split-second panic betray upon his face even though he camouflaged it a second later. But the damage was already done.

"Watch me try," boasted Finch as his blue eyes shot him a disdainful look, Ranveer's chocolate orbs reflecting the same identical look for Finch as both friends glared daggers at each other.

"You are not going to tell her about this, okay?" spoke aloud Ranveer, more of an order than a request. All that Finch did was smile rather ruthlessly at him, hoping that the offensive behaviour would do what the defensive behaviour wasn't - snap back some sense into his friend's head.

"Worried that you'll come off as a hypocrite? Because you're doing exactly what she's doing - she just does it in a cruder way," Finch shot back, and he watched the colour drain out from Ranveer's face with satisfaction. He looked lost for words, the accusation too much for him to bear.

"How dare you-?" began Ranveer but Finch caught him by his collar and shook his entire frame in a single go.

"How dare I? How dare you, Vaghela?! I thought Monica warned you about the side-effects of the insomnia if you kept going on like this!" he yelled aloud before pushing Ranveer away as far as he could, the latter barely regaining his balance as he caught the coffee table just in time.

"I just can't sleep, alright! I can't!" roared back Ranveer in response but all Finch did was wave his hand in the air, vexed.

"What about the sleeping pills?"

"I'm not going to have them. I won't because I've never liked them and am dead against using them," replied Ranveer irritably. 

He had an entire bottle of them with him and yet he never used them in spite of Finch and Monica advising him to do so whenever required. Ranveer had never gone back to taking them after his three-month chronic insomnia five years ago for it deadened his intellectual skills in his opinion.

"So what do you want to do?! Wait for a brain haemorrhage or a cardiac arrest and then sleep in peace for eternity?! That's the plan?" yelled back Finch in response, who for some reason was having trouble keeping a check upon his temper. Ranveer wondered when was the last time he'd seen Finch this angry for he was an extremely sweet-tempered person.

"That's way out of line," replied Ranveer in a quiet voice as he could feel Finch's words sting. His reaction worked like a charm upon Finch, who felt his anger waver off, letting out a deep sigh. He now caught Ranveer by his shoulders and made him sit upon one of the chairs, taking a seat across him.

"Don't think you can fool me, Vaghela. Have you forgotten all your struggles and pains in life to reach where you are today that you just want to give it up in a single go, huh?" reasoned Finch, but Ranveer had fallen unresponsive as he chose to simply stare at the former without speaking another word. Finch waited for a couple of minutes until he knew that there was no answer coming his way anytime soon.

"Talk to me, damn it! Vaghela, I want an answer from you, you son of a bitch!" exclaimed Finch in chagrin as he shook Ranveer violently once again, hoping that if he kept shaking him like that, it'd return some kind of life into him.

"Get your hands off of me, Greg," said Ranveer in a small voice as he stood up, quietly freeing himself of his vest and his tie while he unbuttoned the first button of his red shirt. Finch stood up in tow, at a loss of words except for the only thought that kept running through his mind that he didn't shy away from voicing aloud either.

"You've lost it, Vaghela. You're out of control!"

"I've never been in more control," corrected RV, staring at Finch as he gestured him towards the door. Finch couldn't help but admit to himself that he'd never been more petrified in all his life about his friend's mental well-being as he was in that moment.

"You sicken me, Vaghela! So that's it? This is the choice you've made?" he asked desperately, wondering why his friend still chose RV upon Ranveer when the latter was clearly gaining control and life both.

Ranveer looked at him in silence as he understood what Finch was trying to imply. And yet all he did was smile in rue as Finch made to leave the room dejectedly with the conception that the conversation was over and that Ranveer wouldn't reply. Until he did, making Finch's blood freeze with the dark beauty with which he recited the verses as his feet came to an abrupt halt right at the doorpost.

"I have many promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep."

Constructive criticism will be more than welcome and sorry for any typos. :D :D

Next chapter:
Chapter 6