I know I told you all that I'd give you a hint, but since I'm posting the update, I'll let you figure it our for yourselves 😆 Anyways, Happy Birthday Radhika! This one's for ju! 😛 😆
Part 36
"Who did you see Radha? Radz, who was it? Arre bata na!" I shook Radha by her shoulders in an effort to get her to speak. I was worried sick when I found out that she'd been gone from campus for so long without telling anyone. I tried calling her so many times, but her phone was off. I then decided that Sagar, Rohan, and I would split up and look for her. Thankfully, Rohan finally found her at Central Park and he immediately called me and Sagar there. We'd been trying to get her to spit out a few words ever since then, but all she managed to tell us was that she saw someone. I was tired and a bit frustrated at her, but, more than that, I was worried for Radha. It was already evening and the sky was pitch black. And to top things off, I was starving like a hyiena.
"Radha..." Sagar sat down next to her on the bench and put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, tell us something. Kuch toh batao. If you won't tell us anything, then how will we help you? Come on, please?"
Another tear fell down her face as she slowly looked at Sagar and then at the ground. She opened her mouth and stuttered, "Sa...Sa...."
"Yes, that's it. Come on, you can do it. Don't be afraid of anything." I encouraged her.
"San-Sanju." She said and broke out into more tearful sobs.
I stared at her in shock as did Sagar and Rohan. "San-Sa-Sanju?" I stammered after what seemed like an hour. I looked at Sagar and he looked back at me with the same question in his face. Could this be possible? I was instantly pulled back two years into the past as memories enveloped me like fog...
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Radha's blushing face was getting redder and redder by the second. "No, I'm not going to say it. Vidya's right here." She whispered into her cell phone. Her smile told me what was going on.
"Say what Radha?" I yelled loudly. "I love you? What's wrong with saying that in front of your best friend? It's not like I'll mind or anything." I burst out laughing at Radha's surprised face.
"Ok, bye." She hung up abruptly. "You, nah!" She grabbed ahold of her pillow and hit me with it. I retaliated with my own cushions. We laughed on and on until our bellies hurt.
"I don't get one thing, Radz. Why do you get so shy whenever Sanju starts being romantic? If I were you, I'd smooch him right then and there." I snickered.
"You won't understand. You see, our love is much more different than your average Bollywood films!"
"Aye hayeeee! Much more different? How cute!"
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A few months later....
It was a chilly October afternoon as Radha and I were making our way back to our dorm after our morning class. I spotted Sanju walking towards us from across the street.
"Oh, hey! Look, there's Sanju!" I waved at him. Radha looked up and something that seemed like fear flickered across her face, but it turned back to normal in the next second.
"Hey, Vidya. How's it going?" Sanju asked as he slid his arm around Radha's waist. Radha looked very uncomfortable. It was as if she would give anything to vanish from there.
"Oh, nothing much. Same old, same old. What's up with you?"
"I'm doing good. I was wondering if I could steal your friend away for lunch. Only if you don't mind, that is."
Radha's face was slowly turning pale. "Oh, no no. Why would I mind? You two lovebirds should spend some time together!" I winked at Radha.
"Um... uh, I actually have a lot of work to do. How about some other time?" I could sense some tension between the two as they looked at each other. Sanju smiled and said he was ok with that.
"What was that all about?" I asked Radha as soon as Sanju was a good thirty feet away. "I've been noticing some changes in your behavior in the past few months. You haven't smiled in a long time and it's almost as if you've forgotten how to laugh. And every time Sanju comes near you, you get all nervous and jittery. Is something the matter?"
"No, nothing's wrong. Don't.... don't worry.... about it." She said. Her voice faded away and she started breathing unusually. She covered her mouth and ran to a nearby trash can and threw up into it. I ran after her and held her hair for her as she leaned over.
"Are you okay?" I asked worriedly. She shook her head slowly and silent tears poured down her face. I hugged her and stroked her hair. "It's ok. You can tell me."
It was then that I found out that, three months ago, Radha had been raped by Sanju. I was unable to believe Radha as she narrated what happened. Apparently, Sanju had been behaving a bit unusually for a while and he would keep on insisting that Radha should sleep with him. Radha was puzzled by his behavior, but she managed to say no to him every time. Then one night during summer vacation when we had gone to Sanju's condo at the beach, he came back drunk. I had gone out somewhere that night, and that was when Radha had been changed forever. That was when the happy and joyful Radha who would do the craziest things imaginable and who could make you laugh until you cried was never returned to me.
I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what to say. How could she have hidden such a thing from me? "Come with me." I said. I led her to my car and we drove to the hospital. I made her recieve a check-up. I don't know why I did that instead of taking her to the police to file a report. Maybe by doing so, I would be satisfied that my best fried was alright. I didn't care about anything more than her safety.
I was in a complete mess. I needed to talk to someone else about this. Someone who would care and would be able to help us. Someone who would be able to keep this matter confidential. Only one name came to my mind then: Sagar.
I left Radha at our dorm room after the hospital, and I told her I'd be right back. I ran to Sagar's dorm and burst through the door. I scared Rohan so much that the papers he was holding went flying and he screamed like a girl. On a normal day, I would have found this funny. But this day was certainly not normal. Sagar looked from Rohan to me. He was in the middle of blasting at me for not knocking, but he stopped as soon as he saw the tears on my face. In a rush, I told him what happened. His face changed from shock to anger. Rohan was just staring at me the whole time in disbelief.
"Please, Sagar. You need to help us. Please.." I sobbed.
"Don't worry. I'm going to make Sanju pay for what he did." said Sagar fiercly.
What happened next was a vague blur. We filed a report and lawsuit against Sanju. The hearing for the case was about three months afterwards. Sanju was sentenced to 128 days in prison. That seemed like hardly enough of a punishment. I had many versions of punishments for him in my mind, but I managed to somehow control my anger. We hadn't heard from Sanju since then.
Radha's reports showed that, thankfully, nothing was wrong with her. I was extremely relieved at that. And as for Sagar and Rohan... their help was a huge support for me. I was on the edge of falling apart, but I was saved because of them. We all tried our best to get Radha out of her sadness, but she never was the same Radha we all once knew.
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Well now you know who that mystery man is! And I'm sure you don't like him very much 😆 Me neither! And yes I know, poor Radha. But this was essential to the story, you see. You'll find out why soon enough.
Happy Birthday again Radhika! Hope you liked it 😛
Ariba 😛
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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