Chapter 4

Teaser pg 1

Part 1: pg 3

Part 2.: pg 7

Part 3: 

“sorry mai bina knock kiye andar aagayi, tum dono ko disturb toh nahi kiya na?” asked Devika teasingly jumping her brows...

When both Anu and Anuj looked uninterested, she said something that would definitely catch their interest  “waise bhi iss dosti se zyada aur pyaar se kam wale rishte mein ho bhi kya sakta hai” and they both looked at her curiously wondering what she was upto...

And when Devika finally managed to get their attention she continued her taunt saying “haan aur kya, yeh jo tum dono ki ‘unique deal’ hai na ...jo by the way meri samajh ke totally baahar hai but anyway... ismein toh Anuj bas tujhe door se nihaarta hua shayari karta rahega ya phir tujhe selflessly support karta rahega teri har problem mein aur tu Anu...bas thenk you thenk you karti reh jayegi agle 26 saalo tak”

The long monologue got them both irked and worked and before they could tell Devika off for judging their relationship she threw a complete googly at them “waise iss rishte mein allowed kya hai batao? sirf ishaaro wali flirting????... ya phir thodi si shy hand holding? hmph...how very 1995 yaar!!!!!” 

Turning a deep shade of red with embarrassment, Anu and Anuj shot daggers at Devika which she easily dodged and couldn’t care for their irk....she was only interested to see how they reacted to each other when she made her check-mate comment  “ accha please mere liye iss ‘pavitra prem’ ki list mein hugging bhi add karlo? kyuki... “friends” ko toh hug karna allowed hota hai na?”

“Devika!!!!” yelled the two and looked away to hide their faces....Devika chuckled and gave them ample time to recover while she planned her next move...she was full of surprises as always.

Unable to speak or make herself useful, Anu started fidgeting with her bag, while Anuj picked his laptop and started to leave...

“Anu tu bhi Anuj ke saath kyu nahi jaati?” Devika knew she had to be consistent with her efforts to get them anywhere...

Anu looked at Anuj meekly and hoped he would say yes to the offer...

Anuj looked at Anu hesitantly and when he mistook her coy look for something else, he said “nahi, Anupama kaise jaa sakti hai mere saath”

he continued watching Anu who was a little miffed with the refusal and confused about the reason for it...

“kyu nahi jaa sakti Anu? pichli baar bhi toh gayi thi tere sath toh ab kyu nahi? “ Devika asked on Anu’s behalf and Anu was glad she did this time.

“wo baat nahi hai, Anu jaa sakti hai mere sath par usey toh Vanraj se milne jaana hoga?” 

Anu stopped listening at the mention of Vanraj and wondered what was going on in Anuj’s head and linked it to his unusual behaviour earlier.

“Vanraj se milne? kyu Anu? “ asked Devika confused about the new angle to the story...

“par mai toh Mr. Shah se....” before Anu could finish her sentence, Anuj walked out of the door saying “ it’s ok...bye” his jealousy got the better of him and he didn't want her to see him like that...

After all that had happened in the last few days from Kavya ousting the family from Shah house to Vanraj having a heart attack, Anuj supported Anupama tirelessly and provided for the Shahs without hurting their dignity. 

Though they were undeserving, Anuj put his annoyance aside and did it all for Anu, who was still deeply involved with her ex-in laws. He didn't mind her caring for the family, he infact supported her in every way but when it came to her caring for Vanraj, Anuj couldn't bear to see Anupama be the dutiful ex-wife and it broke him to see his hopes being crushed once again...

He felt insecure and painfully anticipated loosing Anu to Vanraj once again. He feared that the 26 long years of his unrequited love will fall short of Anupama’s relation of 25 years. He didn't know if he could bear the loss again...

Deeply engrossed in his thoughts he drove all the way without realising he had forgotten an important document he needed for the meeting that afternoon.

Annoyed with himself he called GK to ask him to send the documents with the driver and decided to visit the mandir in the meantime.

******

Totally baffled with Anuj’s comment on seeing Vanraj, Anu sank into the sofa and tried to understand what Anuj might be implying...

Devika had to prep for a client visit and couldn't help Anu this time. Anu was left to figure it out all by herself and she soon realised she wasn’t good at decrypting.

Juggling between work and her thoughts, she was getting nowhere and with both Devika and Anuj missing,  she couldn't make head or tails of the files she was asked to read. With no point in staying there any longer, she decided to head home and spend some time alone with herself, to contemplate, to undo the nagging knots and to think of life onwards...

*******

Thoughtfully sitting on the steps of the mandir, Anuj mused over the wonderful memories of his last visit where he had opened up to Anu and she had bared her feelings to him, with her theory of not falling in love again bothering him the most. No matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t part with the hope that one day she would love him back, perhaps in a parallel universe, perhaps in their next life.

The painful yet happy thought made him smile as he rested his head on the pillar and closed his eyes when the cool winter breeze sang him a soothing lullaby...

*******

After spending most of the early afternoon thinking fruitlessly, Anu got herself busy with cooking lunch when Devika called to inform that GK and her are on their way to see her and Samar had just walked in after his dance practice...

Sitting around the table they had a good laugh over lunch but she couldn't stop thinking about him...of how on Diwali day, he sat in that very chair and enjoyed the chocolate halwa she had made, his words resonated in her heart, about how the halwa was different yet perfect, just like their relationship.

Samar noticed the longing on her face and hoped Devika would help his mum understand her feelings for Anuj. He wanted Anuj to be her ‘someone special’.  And since it was a known secret between them, he gestured Devika to work her magic on Anu and took GK with him to the other side of the room to give the two some space to talk it out.

While Anu sorted the dishes, Devika hopped on the kitchen platform and slyly asked  “toh kya socha phir tune Anu?” 

“kis baare mein? “ asked Anu nonchalantly

“MaAn ke baare mein” said Devika pointing to the message board on the wall that read the hashtag Samar had coined for them.

“MaAn ke baare mein kya?” said Anu trying to sound dispassionate.

But Devika wasnt going to give up just yet and vexedly said “Anu ye teri nautanki mere sath nahi chalegi huh, tu maan kyu nahi leti ke tujhe Anuj se pyaar hai! “

Just as Anu opened her mouth to reply Devika’s phone rang and Anuj’s name flashed on the screen.

“kya???? accident?????”

*******

so so so I liked writing this one, had a lot of Devika in it cause main apni favourite hoon☺️ ....iss show ke characters ki narcissist tendencies are rubbing off on me🤣 anyways so the next part will be intense, I’m still unsure of how I want to end this story, happy or sad you’ll know by tomorrow.

please please please let me know your thoughts and comments, hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing...please tell if you liked any particular bit more than the others, I know writing long comments is not always fun but please just this time☺️

thanks chat_3 for you know what😉

See you tomorrow or perhaps tonight if I get done with my dinner date early...thanks for reading and commenting, love you all🤗

see you laters, alligators!