Chapter 1

2 years ago

ShiriHoonMain

@ExoticDisaster

They were sitting there at the corner of the bar in a club, gulping down their drinks one after another. As their eyes drifted toward the dance floor, a smile crept into their faces. They remember how dance and music were once a part of their life. Everything was just so perfect. Dance, Music, happiness, and family. Damn, at least they had a life before!

But everything was changed now. Dance and Music weren't a part of their life anymore. 

"Raavi."

"Akshara, Stop it now. "

They heard the voices of their two men, standing at a distance. But they ignored them and kept drinking. They were fed up with their life.

Raavi is living like a zombie all this for the last two years. She didn't want to dance anymore, even wanting to be happy felt foreign at this point. She was broken from the inside and no one could fix her fractured heart. 

In the past couple of years, Akshara had not only lost her mesmerizing personality but also her soul. She had lost her dreams; lost her music. As much as she tried, she couldn’t sing the way she used to before. Her music would help people find peace, but now, even her music was lost, just like her soul. 

The first time they came to this bar, they drank to forget their sorrow for some time, but neither of them realized when they got addicted to alcohol.

"Enough Raavi," he held the glass and put it back on the counter.

Raavi looked at the man who was trying to stop her from drinking.

“Go away,” she said to Swayam, meanwhile, Akshara had pushed away Varun's hand who was trying to grab hold of her glass.

The day they reached Mumbai to start a new life, Akshara had got a panic attack. Raavi had taken her to the hospital where she met Varun. He had understood their predicament and had offered to help them. He had later introduced them to his younger brother Swayam. They had become good friends.

Swayam was a nice man. A gentleman, the complete opposite of Shiva, Raavi thought. Shiva had broken her heart. He could never understand her. The only thing he gave her was pain. And here was Swayam, who understood her so much and couldn’t see her in pain. Raavi wanted to acknowledge his efforts for winning her heart but every piece of her broken heart was still engraved with Shiva's name.

As Akshara started to know Varun better, she realized that he was just like some she never wanted to meet again. He reminded her of someone she wanted to forget. His attitude, his personality, his care, everything reminded her of Abhimanyu. And to add to her woes, Varun was also a doctor. She tried her best to stay away from him but he wasn’t ready to leave her side, not let her forget him.

Realizing that the girls were not going to listen to them, Varun ordered the waiter not to serve more drinks to them. Finally, they agreed to go back home.

_________

Akshara opened her eyes and sat on the bed. She felt tired and wanted to drop back on the bed. Her eyes hurt and her head felt like someone was hitting it with bricks. But she pushed herself out of the bed and rushed towards the washroom to get ready. She was finally going to give her life another chance.

Raavi wore her business suit and tied her hair in a ponytail. She chose a no-makeup makeup look. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. A husk of her old self looked back at her. Life had turned upside down but she hoped that her ability to fake confidence and command the room was still not lost.

"Raavi." she heard and turned towards the door to find Akshara smiling at her. She had worn a sandal-colored shirt and black skirt. She looked like every bit of a professional businesswoman, who had her life in control, but only she knew that that was far from the truth.

Raavi sighed and nodded. They both had the same sorrow and understood each other in every moment of their life. For the last two years, they were each other’s support system. They lived together, worked together, and laughed together but never cried together. They knew that they were going through similar pain and both needed each other.

"Nervous?" Akshara asked.

"A little," Raavi smiled.

_______

As Akshara entered her cabin at the hospital, she saw Varun sitting in the cabin. She sighed. As much as she tried to ignore him, he always found excuses to be with her. She had nothing against him, but she didn’t like to be reminded of Abhimanyu all the time.

She was grateful to him, he offered her music therapy sessions at the hospital when he knew about her research on the same. But at the same time, she remembered Abhimanyu. 

She walked past him and sat on her chair, a small smile on her lips. 

Akshara never initiated any conversation with him. Even if she did, she only spoke of work, but nothing about her personal life.Varun never asked too many questions. He knew her heart did not belong to him but he also couldn’t help from losing his heart to her. He was just grateful that she let him stay close to her despite knowing about his feelings for her. He had not confessed, but he knew that she knew about it.

“All the best, Akshara.”

She nodded and headed towards the seminar room. Today they were going to meet up with several hospitals across Mumbai for promoting Music Therapy and give an opportunity to youngsters who were working on the Music and it's healing power. She was nervous, she was going to speak at a seminar about the introduction and application of this therapy.  Suddenly, Varun's mobile rang.

“Hello?”

“Sir, he is on the way, will reach in a few minutes.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Varun smiled sadly. He was coming for the seminar.

Dr. Abhimanyu Birla.

___________

"Come in," Raavi replied as she heard a knock on her cabin's door while she was going through the list of companies they were going to deal with.

She saw Swayam coming in and she smiled at him. Raavi was really grateful to Swayam and Varun for being there with them in every ups and downs. She could rely on him, whenever Akshara couldn't be there for her}. He was very polite and gentle. They had instantly clicked the first time they met and they were now best friends.

During their struggle to survive in Mumbai, Swayam offered Raavi to work in their factory. They manufactured all kinds of edible items and even had a business of import and export with foreign countries. Raavi assisted Swayam in the beginning for 2 years and now she was in charge of the dealings in India and Swayam would be taking care of foreign ventures.

“Ready?” Swayam asked.

“I think I am,” Raavi replied nervously. “This is the first time I am leading any project. You have given me a huge responsibility.”

“I am sure you’ll be amazing, all the best!’

Raavi smiled and left for the conference.

Swayam picked up a copy of the names of the clients from the table. He knew it wasn’t right but still, he didn’t add the name to Raavi's list. Their new dealing was in Somnath, with the Pandya Store.

_________

I hope that was good