She got one more Chance

She got one more Chance

Priya looked up from arranging the few left pastries when the bells of the bakery jingled softly. Her breath hitched as Ram entered the bakery, his eyes looking for people in the supposedly empty bakery. A part of her wanted to crawl and run to the kitchen. But her mother had raised her better than that. So she stood up to meet his green-blue eyes.

"Hi, Mr. Kapoor," She smiled softly and hoped she wasn't blushing.

"Hi," He replied after a few seconds, a dazed look on his face. Priya felt concerned at the dazed reply and had to stop herself from asking if he was ok.

"How can I help you?" She asked instead and immediately felt the need to facepalm at her stupidity.

Ram blinked and shrugged. He was still dazed, and the questions seemed to have reminded him that he was at the bakery.

"Would you like to try our almond cupcakes?" She asked him after a few awkward silent seconds, and he nodded. She passed him a plate and took the cash from him. She watched him as he chose a corner seat near the table and kept the plate with the cupcake in front of him but didn't touch the cupcake.

Was he ok? She had known him for almost a year and a half now, and had never seen him so lost. Priya couldn't deny the fact that the man affected her. He was kind to her and her family; he treated Sara with respect, and Maa practically smothered him. And it was a bonus that he was a good-looking man. Priya knew her emotions too well to recognize that she had a crush on him. Getting to crush on him had taken a long time. She had a hard time trusting him, which wasn't a new thing. She never trusted people easily. But when she did and saw him interact with her family, she started to realize how her heart would go crazy when someone mentioned his name or when their eyes met anytime he visited them.

Sighing, she pushed aside her thoughts and sat opposite him. Her brain's rational part scolded her for doing so, but Priya ignored it.

"Is everything ok, Mr. Kapoor?" She asked him softly. 

"Why?" He asked, to her surprise and confusion.

"Why do you call me Mr. Kapoor? Everyone else in your family calls me Ram or Ram Bhaiya."

"You want me to call you Bhaiya?" She asked as disgust filled her. She was crushing on a man who thought of her as his sister?

"What? No! Eww! I mean, I am older than you, but maybe you could call me Ram, like Sara and Meera aunty," He answered, his eyes on her.

"I guess I could, but you are my sister's future boss, and I cannot overlook that relationship," Priya answered honestly. Other than the fact that commitment and love scared her, the only reason why she steered off Ram's way was that she didn't want to put Sara ever in the position of taking sides because of her and her feelings for Ram.

"That's what I expected from someone like you," Ram mumbled without waiting a second.

"What does that mean?" Priya snapped. She may like him, but she didn't like being categorized by anyone.

"I mean, someone like you who thinks everything through. It's not bad, it's just that I wish we had more, but I guess you make sense. But then it's not compulsory that us being on a first-name basis, or even friends would lead to something tragic," Ram explained defensively.

"It will not, but..."Priya sighed and looked down at her hands.

"Sometimes, I think I am a black hole."

"Because you are...out of this world?" Ram asked in confusion, and Priya looked at him in exasperation.

"No, I am like a black hole because everything I touch, everyone who loves me is bound to get hurt or have something bad happen to them, and I don't want anyone else to suffer."

Ram gaped at her like a deer struck by headlights. He reached out to hold her hand, but then he pulled back.

"Have you ever said that to your sister?"

"No, she'll kill me for even thinking something like that."

"That's because it's not true. Pri, you are kind, funny, when you want to be and so brave. If it hadn't been for you, Sara would have probably married a man who didn't love her. Your mother would still have to rely on your father, who walked out of that house when you threw the Mehtas. You and Sara protected your younger sisters for so long, and Akshay looks at you like you hung the moon. And I," Ram's breath hitched, and he looked at her. Priya looked up at him, and he reached out his hand, and it hung in the air as if asking for her permission. She gave a small nod, and he pushed back a small hair strand.

"And I cannot wait to see you. Every time I come to pick up or drop off Ishaan and Sara, I hope to see you. Actually, that's why I am here, today, to ask you out. I know it's just a crush, but I wish it was more. I wish I could show you that you deserve more. I know you are just nineteen, but you are holding yourself back, and I hope one day, you find a reason to let go." 

Ram said and left. Priya sat there, not even having the courage to turn and watch him leave. She was scared of what the image of walking away would do to her already thudding heart.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's open," Sara said in reply to the knock on her office cabin. Technically, an assistant accountant shouldn't have gotten a cabin, but thanks to Virendra's sensibilities, he got HR to arrange one so that she could bring Ishaan to work with her.

"Hi, I am Vikrant, the new intern," The man in his early twenties threw a smile at her, and Sara rolled her eyes.

"Send those files to Nikhil Sir, please, thank you." She said dismissively, but Vikrant didn't move.

"Anything else, Vikrant?" She asked him in a slightly stern tone. She liked Vikrant. He was Ram's replacement after Ram left to join his father. He was fun to have around and would flirt with her a lot! That should have made Sara uncomfortable, given their age difference, but Sara couldn't deny that the man was charming.

"Yes, my heart! You have been hoarding it, and I would like it back," He replied with a cheeky smile.

Sara groaned.

"Please don't say such pick-up lines in front of my son. I don't want him learning such stupid stuff and ruining any chances he has in the future."

"Hey, come on, it wasn't that bad..."

Sara tilted her head, and he sighed.

"Fine, it was horrible." He said and picked the file from the table and left.

"But seriously, what is the problem in going out on dates?" Vikrant asked after a few hours as he plopped himself in a chair opposite her. Sara rolled her eyes and kept Ishan back in his crib.

"The problem is, I am a single mother who has commitments to her son. I don't think any man would be comfortable at the idea of being with me,"

"Then the man is an idiot," Vikrant answered. "Any man who decides to judge you based on your past is an idiot, Ms. Sood," He smiled a sincere smile, and Sara felt her heart skip a beat. "Any man who can't give you your happily ever after is an idiot, and that's why, don't choose idiots, Sara, choose me," he winked, and Sara rolled her eyes. But Sara couldn't wipe off the smile on her face. She had always wanted a happy, normal family, and one night with Dishant had thrown this dream to toss, but Vikrant's one statement made her hope again.

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