Part 6: His true Feelings

Part 6: His true Feelings

The last time he sat beside his Papa was when he was 6 and now, 10 years later, sitting beside him feels different yet the same.  He looked at his papa who was busy driving. Abhir noticed that his left arm was kinda skewed. It looked as if it was not that flexible.  Barring some scars, his face was still the same

'How did he get those scars?'

'What happened to him?'

He had so many questions but did not want to ask them now. He wanted to hear Papa's story but his mind was not ready.

His mind is already filled with things he wanted to say. Something he wanted to say since the day he first learned about his mother's and father's marriage annulment.

He learned those hidden feelings only after continuous counseling sessions with Ted Norman, his school counselor.   A weird American guy who was way too fascinated by Indian culture and wanted to settle in India. He spoke Hindi fluently. but couldn't properly digest Indian food. He helped many students in the boarding school, including Abhir and Shivu. He was not exactly on board with the coping mechanism Abhir and Shivu made for themselves, but he did not stop them.

 In one of these sessions, he said a strange thing.

"Abhir, Let's do an experiment... Imagine you have a time travel machine.. and now you go back in time to meet your 'papa' before he died.. what do you want to say to him..."

13-year-old Abhir took a lot of time.. in fact, he took days and couldn't exactly say everything. He was faced with many complex emotions. and that was the first time he realized that he resented his papa also.. somewhere deep down in his heart. He felt guilty for feeling such negative feelings and he locked those feelings inside.

After crying in front of strangers, Abhir felt a new perspective.  As if someone opened his heart with the key he threw away. All the feelings pent up from childhood came bursting out and then it became quiet. His heart became quiet.. it was the silence created by that clarity.  He was hurt by his father's actions more than anyone else.

"So... you still ride a taxi?" Shivu's voice came knocking Abhir out of his thoughts. He looked at Shivu with a curious expression. Shivu was not the one to start small talk. Shive shrugged and pointed toward Roohi and Aanchal. They both looked uneasy.  Aanchal was sitting so stiffly as if expecting something really bad thing was going to happen. Roohi on the other hand was staring fixedly outside but her hands tightly gripped her skirt.

Abhir saw Papa blink and smile at Aanchal through the rearview mirror... That smile... He used to smile the same way at Abhir whenever he wanted to assure him that everything was going to be ok. Abhir would always get assured by it.. just like the little Aanchal now. Abhir shook his head.

"Shivuji... I actually work in a paper factory just 14-15 km away from here..". The taxi service is a side business I run with my Papaji.. we have 3 taxis now and 4 drivers under us... And Papaji also has a small driving school.. near the R.K mall... Today all the drivers got a holiday, that is why I am riding it."

Abhir just listened. So that old man they met was his father but he calls him 'papaji'... he is working in a paper factory... Driving School?

"Wait? you remember me?" Shivu asked surprised.

"Why not?" Abhinav smiled. "We talked on video calls many times right?"

Abhir remembered those days... when he would wait for it to be 8 pm. Shivu and Roohi sometimes joined him.

"You remember me... even though we only talked like 4 or 5 times?" Shivu asked.

"You looked so cute back then.. now you look good even now... A young handsome man... Roohi too... you look pretty." Roohi looked startled.

Abhinav smiled at her through the rearview mirror.

"Yes, Papa... This didi looks so pretty.. look at her har.. so curly" Aanchal said excitedly.

Roohi smiled at her little admirer. "Thank you!! you also look so beautiful..."

Anchal's shoulder slumped. "No... " her voice became slightly low. "No.. not like you... I want to look beautiful like you.. with curly hair... All princesses have curly hair"

"But you have big doe-like eyes.. just like princesses"

"Really?"

"Yeah... you have Papa's eyes.." Abhir said slowly. Abhinav looked at Abhir. He was happy that Abhir noticed this detail. But he noticed the moment Abhir spoke he looked pained. Abhir avoided Abhinav's gaze.

 Anchal was too young to understand the turbulence in the atmosphere Abhir's statement caused so she happily joined. "yes, I have Papa's eyes, mama's hair, Nani's nose, and Nanu's ears.." She said counting off from her hand.

Roohi took this opportunity "I also have my mom's hair... you know... let me tell you a story...when I was small..."

Roohi distracted Anchal with her talk while keeping an eye on her brothers.

Shivu didn't know what to do. He looked at Abhir. He looked tormented. The 'eye' comment must have affected him. Abhinav was peeking towards Abhir's side. He looked worried for Abhir. Shivu sighed

"Geez...If you were this concerned about him, why were you not near him?" Abhinav reminded him of his mother. His mother also left him in Birla house to fend for himself.

Thinking about his mother irritated him.

"I am sorry Shivu... I am really sorry Shivu..."

Abhir knocked on the car door two times. It was their code. Shivu answered with 2 knocks from his side.

"Stop the car," Both of them said.

Abhinav stopped the car. "We will be back in 5 minutes," Shivu said as Abhir got out of the car

After they were pretty much out of sight, Abhir extended his hand so that Shivu can give him one cigarette.

They both smoked in silence.

The grey cloud of smoke looked so contrasting against the dark night sky.

They both started smoking because of their friends but after some time smoking helped them to deal with stress. Be it Abhir's national football match.. or Shivu's investments going up and down.

Shivu had great business acumen from his early teenage years. After  Parth's death, Shivu inherited Parth's private savings account. Shivu, as a minor, could not handle this account till he reach adulthood. But he found a loophole. He made a deal with the bank manager to be the official adult to handle his finance till he reach adulthood. The contract was signed and the manager was allowed to invest on behalf of Shivu. Everyone thought it was the bank manager who monitored the investments. but He always just followed Shivu's instructions. After that Parth's account saw 63.23% profit in the first year itself. This system continued till Shivu became an adult this year. It was only then revealed to all adults in the Birla household that Shivu was the one who took the decisions on investments.  Shivu was now the owner of 12.5 crores worth of assets by the age of 18.  All that was his money. He earned them.  The bank manager got 6 crores for his 7 years of cooperation. "He also actually got 10 % of net profit every year.. damn that...Bast**d.. I was too young... I had no other option other than to agree to his terms.." Shivu cursed the bank manager one day when they were drunk.

"He reminds me of that woman," Shivu said after some time.

"At least she fought to take you with her.. this guy just left me.." Abhir said after making a smoke ring.

"A lone woman fighting against the great Birlas only to lose." Shivu scoffed.

Abhir remembered the day his Papa said bye to him. He wanted to cry but he didn't. He wanted to show his papa that he was strong. His dad held him to comfort him. Mom made his favorite dish. Everyone expected him to cry a lot. He cried though... but he cried only in his room to not show them.

"Abhir? Shivu?" Abhinav's surprised voice came from behind.

Abhir turned to look at him.

"You both are so young? You both.."

"Yes, we smoke," Abhir said. His voice was cold.

"Abhir... You are just 16.."

"And I smoke... I also drink..."

Abhinav became silent. Abhir stared at him as if challenging him to continue. They stared for some time and then Abhinav relaxed and sighed.

"I came to ask if you both were ready to leave," Abhinav said in an official voice.

Abhir was irritated with the lack of response.

"No... I need to take another smoke.. can you wait for 5 more minutes"

Abhinav looked sad but nodded and walked towards the car.

Abhir crushed the cigarette under his shoes and cursed. It was one of the dirtiest words he knew. Abhinav stopped walking but didn't do anything else

" 'Nikkiji... Cigarette causes very very big health problems... That is why we should not smoke..' Isn't that what you said to me one day 10 years ago?"

Abhinav turned.

"So why are you not stopping me now?"

Abhir walked towards Abhinav.

"I swore in front of you... just now.. why didn't you scold me"

"I told you I drink... Why didn't you glare at me?"

Abhir stood in front of him. He was slightly taller than his Papa.

Abhinav was not at all shaken by Abhir's challenging tone. But Abhir could see that he was really sad. He had no right to be sad.

"You call yourself my father, but you are not fulfilling your responsibilities towards me... Or do you not consider me your son?"

"Why are you silent?"

"If Anchal wanted to smoke? would you let her?... I know you wouldn't let her... Because she is 'your' daughter.. real daughter..."

Now that Abhir started to talk.. he could not stop.

"What did you say to me that day?... Oh Yes!! 'Nikkiji... I am not your RWP real wale papa.. but I love you so much... I can never live without you... But for your own good future... you need to stay with your RWP'... well..."

Abhinav still looked at him. Abhir pulled his collar.

"So what happened now? I am in the future you wanted... How am I now? Tell me... Dammit.. open your mouth.. don't stand like a statue. How do I look?"

"You look hurt," Abhinav said softly. He did not try to stop Abhir from pulling his collar.

Abhir left the collar. As usual... His Papa knew what to say.

"Yes, You hurt me"

Abhinav did say anything.

"You know..." Abhir started but he saw his papa's eyes. Abhinav still looked sad. Why was he still affected by his Papa's feelings?

"Forget it..."

 "Abhir...." Abhinav said softly

"No... No... I give up!! What should I feel now? Tell me?"

"Should I be happy? Sad? Confused? Angry? Betrayed?Hopeless?" Abhir

"I felt all these 10 years ago... I was happy with you... I was sad when I found out you were not my real father... I was confused with the new dynamics when Docman became my real wale papa... Angry when Mom and you decided to annul your marriage... Betrayed when you left me in Udaipur even after you promised me that your and mom's separation will not affect our relationship... hopeless.. when..when... I heard about the acci...accident" His voice became heavy.

"You have no idea what I was going through... You have no idea what I am going through NOW... Seeing you with that child... Knowing full well that... She will not face the things I faced because of you... You will never leave her... You will fight for her... You will never let anyone else take her away from you... She will never be asked to learn to live without you... She will never be asked to forget you.."

"Abhir... I.."

Abhir laughed horribly.

"'Nikkiji... I cannot live without you... Nikkiji.. you are my whole world... Nikkiji... you are my only ray of hope...' Remember? These lines... These and more... You never stopped loving me... You never made me feel that I was not a part of you... But all these were false right?... Your love was not strong in front of real relationships. Real blood relationships"

"I know you were hurt when you had to leave me... for mom's happiness... for my future... but... but... I hated your decision. Even with that amount of love for me... not even once... not even once it crossed your mind to fight for me... You were ready to give up on me... All because I was not your real son... You never felt that you had any right to me right? Your love was selfless...You loved Mom and me deeply without expecting anything in return... I love you for that... But my love was not selfless... I was expecting you to fight for me... Take me back to Kasauli... Tell everyone confidently that you are my father... But you did not do any of that...You never felt that I was truly yours... What was I supposed to feel about that? What was I supposed to understand from your love?"

"It was all fake, right? You were cheating me with that mask of a father... I know... You .... You were trying to ged rid off me right? As long as I was there you wouldn't have your perfect family right? That is why you could leave me... You wanted to live your life... Actually Now that I think of it...you never loved me right? "

Abhinav slapped Abhir stopping his accusations.

"Bholenath knows Nikkiji... How much I loved you" Abhir looked at his Papa, who looked extremely angry.

***

Akshara felt disgusted with herself. The bag consisted of many letters.. and many gifts... The letters all told many stories.. all the stories were overflowing with love. Did she ignore this love?  Why? So that she can live happily. So that she could make her life simple again?

She heard familiar footsteps.

"Abhi... What did we do?" She asked without even turning back.

"Akshu.. what?" Abhimanyu stopped when he saw the gifts and letters

"All these letters?"

Akshara nodded.

"But why? I mean... who... What?" Abhimanyu was so confused.

"We should not have done this Abhi... We cheated both of them... They trusted us..."

Abhimanyu took one of the letters and started reading.

"Nikkiji... Today your sister started her school... You know... I was the one who cried when you were going to school... Then you consoled me. That day when you walked alone towards your class I remembered your first time walking without any support. You walked 5 whole steps and fell when you lifted your leg for the sixth step. You looked so shocked at what happened. For a full minute you stayed silent with a shocked expression then you started crying all of a sudden... Your mother and I tried to cheer you up so much... finally, you stopped crying when I made you fly like a bird... That day the Abhir who walked to class without holding his parents hands really looked brave. You became brave enough to face the world yourself.. I hope you and your sister brave this world with the same level of confidence that you showed when you walked for the first time. Don't worry if you fall or fail, I will always be there to support you like I did that day..."

He took another letter.

"Today, I took Papaji to the physiotherapist. The doctor's grandson wanted to be an astronaut just like you... Nikkiji... I want to meet you... Are you still not ready to meet me... It's Ok Nikkiji.. I'll wait.."

Another letter

"Today is your favorite festival Nikkiji!!! Happy Shivrathri!!! You have to see the Shivrathri here in Rishikesh... It is wonderful.. But we will be leaving soon.. Like I said in last letter...Nainital is not that far..."

Abhimanyu's eyes teared.  There were many letters. As if there was one for every week maybe even for every day. Sharmaji continuously wrote to his son but also patiently waited for his Nikkiji.

"Akshu... I didn't know about this... I swear..."

"It doesn't matter Abhi... We were the ones who lied first... We told Abhinav that Abhir's mental condition was not ready to accept him... We made him wait for his son's love for 3 years... Even after knowing what he went through... We were stone hearted"

"Akshu..."

"No Abhi.. we were wrong..."

"Yes, but we had our reasons..."

Akshara scoffed at that.

"We were just scared to accept the truth, Abhi..."

Abhimanyu closed his eyes. Why were things always like this? Why couldn't he be happy without hurting anyone.. why was his happiness causing someone pain... Why was he cursed with this constant state of guilt-filled happiness? When will this cycle of him making mistakes and feeling guilty ever end? His wedding with Akshu caused pain to many people. But still they thought they will win.. But it didn't happen.. They always failed. Why? When they were separated.. everyone were happy in their lives.. Even Akshara with Sharmaji... But he was never happy. Why couldn't he be happy with everyone else.  His decision to remarry her when their love won again only caused more pain to others.. Roohi.. Abhir.. His mother... Why? Where was he going wrong? He loved everyone but why was his love cause of pain for many people?

"Abhir will never forgive us" Akshara whispered.

"Akshara?"

"My son will again lose trust in me... I broke his trust once... it took these many years to build them back... only to be crushed again." Akshara continued to whisper to herself.

"Maybe Abhir will also avoid me like Shive avoids Shefali Bhabhi"

"Akshu! get a hold of yourself," Abhimanyu said as he held her shoulders.

"No Abhi... Abhir will never forgive me for this... I know him..."

Abhimanyu knew that was right. But he just wished there was a way out of it.

"Whatever it is... We need to face it... At least we could do it for our son right?"

Akshara wiped her tears and collected all the letters and gifts back into the bag. These were for Abhir... And he should get them.  After few hours, The 3 birlas got into the private jet to Dehradun.

****

The hotel gift shop was really good. Krish didn't know what to do with all the free time he suddenly got, so he came here. Well.. it was his mistake that he didn't go to the mela. But what was he supposed to do? Being beside Roohi was weird. Shivu and Abhir can be free with her because she was their sister. He was the middle child of a family of 3 boys. Most of his interactions with girls were when they met in athletic meets. And he was a competitive gorilla when it comes to sports.. so he never thought of dating the 'enemy'. He should have taken arts instead of football. No.. he corrected himself,  His parents should have sent him to a co-ed boarding school. Then he would not have felt this awkwardness in front of a cute girl.  He will send his son to a co-ed school for sure.

"AHH!! Why am I thinking about my non-existent children's future all of a sudden?" He said aloud attracting other customers' attention. He looked around at the crowd feeling embarrassed.

Get it together. He should actually help Abhir now, instead of dwelling in his confusion. Abhir's papa... That man looked confused the whole time. Why did it feel like Abhir's life was like a CID episode? What is with the mystery? Do normal people have these many mysteries in their life? Abhir's plate is already filled with many things. He was worried about his future. He didn't want to be a doctor like his family wanted. But he also didn't know what he wanted. At least Krish did not have that problem, he knew what he wanted to be.. an architect. But Abhir couldn't figure out anything. Abhir was always jealous of his cousins who knew what they wanted to be. They both were talented in their fields. Shivu was already successful in his business and Roohi, he heard, was a wonderful Kathak dancer.

He never saw her dance.. but Krish assumed it would look beautiful.. after all, Roohi was also really...

"Stop" He stopped himself from thinking about his friend's sister. He needed to distract himself

He looked at a keychain. A football keychain. Abhir will like it. But he also liked that. It would be super weird to buy two similar keychains. He sighed as he looked around for another gift. Then he saw an awesome Deadpool t-shirt and decided to sacrifice the keychain for Abhir. He bought a fidget spinner for Shivu.

"Would it be weird if I bought gifts for them and did not buy anything for their sister or would it be weird if I bought something? " He voiced out his confusion only to attract the attention of a customer beside him. He smiled awkwardly at the man after he realized what he had done. The man in the suit smiled at him back. He left the place. He was just plain unlucky today. He should just not be near people this whole day

He decided he would not buy anything... Roohi was not his friend yet.. she was his friend's sister. No confusion whatsoever. While going towards the cash counter he saw a gold butterfly locket on a silver-colored chain.  That would suit her. Maybe he should buy it. No.. don't make things weird..but there feels no harm in buying it.  He went towards the chain and he and another person held the chain at the same time. It was the suit guy who smiled at him just moments before. The embarrassing moment automatically replayed in his mind.

"Oh! I am sorry... I thought this would be perfect for my daughter... you can buy it... I'll look for another."

"No... It's ok... I was buying it for...." Krish hesitated and cleared his throat "Nobody"

"Are you sure? Maybe Ms. nobody will like it..." That man winked.

Krish's face became the color of a tomato.

"Nope," He said quietly.

"Hey, don't feel bad young man... I was just teasing you... So I'll take this..." He took the chain. They both walked towards the cash counter.

"So.. you have a crush on your friend's sister huh?" The man asked abruptly when Krish was scanning the QR code.  The question surprised Krish that the mobile slipped from his hand.

"Dude!" He looked reproachfully as the man sniggered.

"Sorry... I am used to teasing my daughter.. and besides you somewhat remind me of myself when I was young." He said as he paid for his purchase.

Krish wanted to be away from this man so he tried to leave "Hey, can we have a coffee together... Looks like my daughter will be late.."

"I don't even know you" Krish responded.

"Let's know each other now... I am Yash Bundela" he said extending his hand.

Krish sighed. Well, he was not exactly busy. There is no harm in drinking coffee with a random stranger.

"Krish Gupta... Nice to meet you" He said as he shook Yash's hand

They both went to the hotel restaurant. Yash was an advocate. He heads a law firm in India. As his firm have tie-ups with London-based law firms, he shifted to London with his wife. Their daughter stays in India with his mother.

"You know... I had a crush on my friend's sister once." He said as they waited for the coffee.

"I don't have a crush on anyone"  Krish responded stubbornly.

"Yeah.. but I had...  Want to hear?" Yash asked with a wink.

"Nope" Krish was irritated.

"Too bad.. I love to gloat about my love life to strangers..."

Krish groaned. He was really unlucky today.. he should have remained in the room. The man started after a mischievous chuckle.

"It was one of the study breaks we got before my law exams... Instead of studying.. naturally, I went to Goa. There I met my school friend. We had so much fun and then he invited me to his house. He lived in Udaipur. That was when I first saw her. A 17-year-old studious girl preparing for her medical entrance exam."  Yash looked far away as though reliving that moment.

"She had tied her curly hair in a messy bun.. concentrating on her books so much that she did not even look at me while passing me the glass of water."

"What to do? I was smitten... but her brother was an overprotective one.. so I never even dared to talk to her when he was around. I could never ask for her number and I think she also did not notice I lived in her house for 1 week... you see... her head was full of organic chemistry, mitochondria, and other stuff"

"So that was how my crush ended.. totally one-sided."

The waiter served them their coffee. Krish smiled. Well, at least Roohi knew about him. He was not invisible to her. She smiled at him yesterday night. He blushed as he remembered the smile. Wait.. why was he again thinking of Roohi.

"Later after some years, I got married. Her name was Payal. An IT professional. It did not work out... We divorced after one year. I then drowned myself in my work. Then I met Juhi. A really smart journalist. We kinda hit it off immediately. We almst decided to tie the knot but waited for some more time.  It was going smoothly until I had to go to London to start the expansion of law firm and she had to go to Australia. The long-distance did not work out much... we kinda got separated naturally one day."

Krish sipped his coffee. If such a handsome man can have relationship troubles, then Krish would definitely suffer in the future. Maybe he should consider celibacy.

"Then one day, My mother became hospitalized after an accident and I came rushing back to Delhi."

Krish didn't know where the story was going. Why did the genre change from Romance to Tragedy?

"Thankfully she was safe. But she had a serious fracture. we had to take her to Udaipur for her Physiotherapy. I started traveling to and fro from Delhi to Udaipur for my work... It was a hectic time... I was always busy and tired.  During this time, my mother befriended her co-patient. A small 7-year-old girl. She fell from the stairs and fractured her legs. She was so sad that she wouldn't be able to dance anymore.  My mother was a famous Kathak dancer, and she knew the girl's pain.. so she encouraged her to recover soon. They became so close during their recovery period. I, who was busy traveling also befriended her. I became fond of her little cute talks. It was relaxing when she called 'Yash Uncle!' When I came back from a tiring day. We play cards. I always won. But she would never give up and always ask for a rematch. Strangely I always missed meeting her mother. She had a big family... I met some of them sometimes."

"Then one day I slept in the kid's room sofa as her uncle had to leave and the mother was late... And that was fate."

"It was a full moon night... The moon colored the room in a soothing blue color... I don't exactly remember why I opened my eyes but there she was... Years after I first saw her.. again her curly hair was tied in a messy bun.. again not looking at me.. her eyes were only on her daughter who was sleeping peacefully. I couldn't believe it... She was still really beautiful. Her wide brown eyes were much more expressive than before. Those eyes reflected pain, resentment sadness loneliness, and love for her daughter... I don't know how long I stared at her that night..  or if I even slept again.. Maybe I slept and continued to dream about her.. But I knew one thing for certain..."

"I fell in love with her again.."

"And then what?" Asked Krish who became way too invested in the story for god knows what reason.

"Well, I just couldn't go and propose to her. She was a mother and a widow. I was at a loss as to what to do. She was still staying with her in-laws. She didn't look like she was going to date anyone. Her whole life revolved around her daughter. I couldn't get into her life directly. But as if fate didn't want me to quit this time, things worked in weird ways. Arohi liked me because I played with her daughter. My mother liked her daughter so much that she wanted to train her in Kathak dance after her recovery. So she shifted to Udaipur and forced me to stay with her. At first, Arohi treated me as her daughter's acquaintance.. then slowly I became her acquaintance.. then her friend, and later, her nice friend... I knew that she considered me her friend when she confessed that she emotionally tortured her sister because she was jealous. Gradually, She shared her past.. her pains, her happiness.. listned to my story.. supported me emotionally.. Somehow.. somewhere along the road of life we started travelling together. And things went smoothly for 1 year until one day I proposed to her."

"How did she answer..."

"Well, shocked would be an understatement... She was frozen on the spot.  I guess, she never thought of me that way. But I had to tell her... She rejected me politely. To be fair, I knew she would reject me.. but I still wanted to be honest... "

"Things became much more complicated when her in-laws found out about my feelings... People accused her of leading me on. Her mother-in-law was scared that she will take her granddaughter away after marriage. Even with these many complications we somehow always met in odd circumstances as though it was destiny. Arohi was getting affected by the constant taunts and glares. I couldn't see her in pain so I tried to cheer her up whenever I saw her depressed. Slowly she felt comfortable with me again. I don't know how.. but slowly even she started to reciprocate my feelings. And one day she confessed her feelings to me."

"I was not just happy... Arohi's love gave me the strength to fight for her and fight with her. And we got married. This year was our 7th anniversary."

Krish felt touched. There were so many love stories everywhere. Well, everywhere except for his family.. every generation in his family had an arranged marriage. Krish was sure he would also get arranged marriage.

"We shifted to Delhi after marriage. Her daughter became my daughter. It was a beautiful time. Well, there were legal problems.. custody battles.. business shares but somehow we managed to survive."

"I was stopped from legally adopting her daughter. She was still not a Bundela. But My wife was her legal guardian... But even if she was not my daughter in legal or biological terms, she was still my world of joy... And I know, She considers me as her father."

"My friend also considers someone his father who is not related to him in any way.." Krish spoke. "He always talks about how that man raised him with utmost love and care... They got separated for a long time..but he never forgot about his papa"

Yash smiled.

"Well, my life is not exactly a smooth sailing boat. It has its turbulence. I came here to bribe my daughter. You see we made a plan months before to go to Dubai.. to have some family time... She is looking forward to it.. but now.. her paternal grandmother wanted to spend some time with her... so we have to cancel the trip... I am here to convince her of her that."

"Yeah.. that would be awkward," Krish said as he sipped for the last time. "Well... all the best... Hope this turbulence gets away from your life. "

"All the best for you too!! Hope you have a nice time with Ms. Nobody..."

"Can you please stop with that... I was about to like you...dammit... I don't like people teasing me about  my non-existent crush"

And the boy went out with a red face. Yash sniggered, "Ah!! Young love!!"

He went towards the hotel lobby to wait for her. Why would she come to Nainital without informing anyone? Well, she is with Shivu and Abhir.. so he didn't exactly worry about her. The brothers liked her. If she is in a good mood then it would be easy to convince her. Well, she was Roohi, she would silently accept it like always to nuse any fight. Yash sighed. How long will this go on?

He saw a Taxi parked at the entrance. The driver came out and opened the passenger seat. Two girls came out. One of them was having trouble walking. The driver was supporting her.

"Roohi?" Yash shouted and ran towards her.

"Yash Papa? What are you doing here?" Roohi looked surprised.

"What happened?"

"Nothing.. really Yash Papa... I fell down the stage and sprained my leg... That's it.. don't worry.."

She left the driver and came towards him. Yash supported her.

"Where are your brothers? how come you are alone?"

"Yash Papa... They left in the middle.."

"What? But how could they? What happened.."

"I'll tell you everything.. but first let me introduce you two..." She turned towards the driver.

"He is Abhinav uncle... You remember.. I told you about him .. Abhir's Papa?"

Yash looked at the man.

"Wait Abhir's Papa? The one from Kasauli?" Roohi nodded. "wasn't he? " Yash stopped the question in the middle.

"Abhinav Uncle this is my Yash Papa." Roohi introduced.

"Namaste" Both men greeted each other.

"And she is Anchal, Abhinav uncle's daughter" Roohi indicated towards a sleepy girl behind Abhinav.

"Na--aaah--Na--Ahh--maste" She greeted Yash in between her yawns.

"It is good to meet you... Abhir and Shivu may come to my place today... Please don't worry they will be safe... They are waiting for me under the bridge now... Meethiji is also tired... I will meet you next time properly" He then picked up his daughter and left.

"He is not dead?" Yash Asked he helped her sit on the sofa.

"We don't know yet... So Mom and you also didny know about this?"

"No... Arohi rarely talked about him."

"So.. no one knew..."

"Maybe some people knew..." He suspected Majiriji.. but did not want to say it in front of Roohi.

"Whatever... Let's take you to your room... I'll also book a room here... I think we need to call you Mom also here...Somehow I smell something fishy going on here."

Roohi nodded and leaned against her Yash Papa. Hopefully, things won't be messier. She was really tired of all the drama. Maybe because she was tired or maybe it was because of Yash Papa... she immediately fell asleep on his shoulder.

Important Note: From next part onward things may start getting little dark.. Topics like PTSD, child abuse, serious medical conditions, etc may be talked about. Actually This chapter was changed in middle to avoid the dark topics. If anyone feels uncomfortable with that kind of topics please to tell.. I will make sure not to tag you. Maybe I am just over reacting... It might not be that dark for many people.. who knows.. Just telling in advance