ShraMan TS: A Blessing in Disguise [Complete] - Page 9

I wish they hire u anjali. Ur writing is sheer brilliance👏

I love your Aditya ,Anjali..Bas😆
Let's just hope CVs Aditya figure out things like your Aditya did!

"Wait, wait, wait. So Shravan ko pata nahi hai ki aap uske dad ki wajah sai usko chodkar gayi thi...aur usse lagta hai ki aapke aur mere dad ke beech mein kuch tha?" Aditya asked, his head was pounding with all the information he was getting. Nirmala and Suman both nodded. "Toh Shravan ko koi batata kyun nahi?" Aditya asked, it was literally that simple to him.

"Koshish ki thi, par Ramnath uncle - Shravan ke liye uske dad hi sab kuch hain, itne saalo sai woh yehi mantaa araha hai ki uski mom galat thi aur uske dad sahi. Woh apne dad sai bahut zyada pyaar karta hai - aur yeh expected bhi hai kyunki uncle jaise bhi hai, unhone Shravan ke liye bahut kuch kiya hai aur Shravan unke baare mein kuch galat sun-na nahi chahta. Aur Ramnath uncle bhi nahi chahte ki Shravan ko sach pata chale, kyunki agar aisa hota hai toh Shravan ka unse aur unke rishta said bharosa toot jayega aur Shravan - " Suman's voice broke at the end just at the thought of how hurt Shravan would be.

"Isliye woh nahi chahte ki tum aur Shravan ek saath-" Aditya mumbled and Suman's eyes grew wide at his words.

"Tumhe kaise-" The words slipped out of Suman's mouth before she even processed what she was saying.

"Aande ko bhi dikh jaye ki tum ek dusre sai pyaar karte ho, mujhe toh bas yeh nahi samajh aa raha tha ki tum Shravan ko aise avoid kyun kar rahi ho, par jab tum uss din bhaag gayi, Shravan kai dad kai aane ke baad toh mujhe shaq hua ki kuch garbar hai " Aditya said looking at Suman sadly.

"Suman, Ram nai kuch kaha tumse?" Nirmala asked, her voice grim, she knew her husband well enough to know that he would go to any length to keep her away from Shravan, and since Suman supported her, she was sure that he wasn't too happy with Suman either. "Mere jaane ke baad kuch toh hua hai." Nirmala continued when Suman didn't answer. "Suman please, batao hua kya hai."

Suman didn't know what to say, what would she tell Nirmala, that Shravan had refused to see her reasons, that she had wanted him to believe her but he didn't, that things got so bad that they couldn't even talk to each other, that his father had all but told her that she could either pick her family or pick Shravan - that despite the fact that she loves Shravan she had chosen her family. There was so much to say, so much that she had bottled up, things that were eating her on the inside. And now there was someone who would understand, someone that wouldn't judge her, someone that could be instrumental in fixing everything. So she took a deep breath and told Nirmala all that had happened since she had left, sparing no detail.

"Wait wait wait, unhone tumhe kaha ki Shravan sai door raho nahi toh Preeti ki shaadi rokdenge?!" Aditya asked surprised, he was in awe of the woman in front of him. Her words drove home the point that she was in love with Shravan, had been for a long time, the fact that she could put her family's happiness above her own flabbergasted him. Suman nodded. "Toh isliye tum Shravan sai door reh rahi ho?"

"Yeh sab meri galti hai, agar mein-" Nirmala sighed.

"No! Aap dono ki koi galti nahi hai, galti hai toh Shravan ke dad ki hai! Unko kyun nahi dikhta ki Shravan Suman ke bina khush nahi reh payega." Aditya said, he had never really hated a person but he was sure that his feelings towards Shravan's father came pretty close to it.

"Uncle ko lagta hai ki mein bahut ziddi aur independent hoon, Aunty ki tarah, aur isliye mein Shravan ke liye sahi nahi hoon." Suman murmured.

"Sahi toh woh insaan nahi hai, yaar. Yeh kaisa aadmi hai?! Galti aap karta hai, meri mom ko badnaam karta hai aur apne hi bete sai itna jhoot bolta hai - ek taraf toh Shravan sai pyaar karnai ka dava karta hai aur doosri taraf usse manipulate karta hai. Shravan ko kehta hai ki agar tumhe Suman se shaadi karni hai toh theek hai aur tumhe-" Aditya stopped short when Suman's eyes widened and her face paled.

"Shaadi?" Suman asked taken aback. "Shravan nai kaha? Tumhe...?"

Aditya took a deep breath and turned towards Suman. "Accident ke baad mujhe laga ki kuch theek nahi hai, toh maine Pushkar aur Kamini Aunty sai baat ki. Aur Kamini aunty nai mujhe bataya ki Shravan ke dad nai Shravan ko kaha tha ki woh tumse door rahe, par Shravan nai unko bataya ki woh tumse pyaar karta hai aur tumse door nahi reh sakta, apparently tab toh unhone Shravan ki baat maan li par phir woh tumko usse door rehnai ko keh gaye - yeh kaisa dad hai yaar!" Aditya groaned, his annoyance increasing every minute.

Sumo's knees would have given out from under her if she had been standing. Shravan loved her. Shravan told his father that he wanted to be with her. She had suspected that he still loved her, but she thought he hadn't realized it yet and thus she didn't let herself believe it, but hearing about it made it so real. And then she remembered how she had been treating him lately, and how much that must have hurt him, because he wasn't just loosing his best friend but the girl he loved.

"Suman. Suman. Tum theek ho?" Nirmala asked wrapping her arm around Sumo who had tears streaming down her face at this point, the last few weeks had taken a toll on her, she had tried to be strong but she was so tired. And the fact that Shravan had told his father that he loved her was her breaking point.

Aditya's eyes widened and Nirmala shook her head at him and motioned for him to leave as she wrapped her arms tighter around Suman, letting her cry, and rubbing soothing circles into her back.

"Shhh, sab theek hojayga Suman."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Kamini Aunty! My favourite Malhotra. Aapki madad chahiye." Aditya whispered to Kamini as she stepped into the kitchen.

"Madad?" Kamini asked skeptically.

"Haan, Shravan aur Suman ke liye. Shravan toh apne dad sai puchne se raha, aur Suman bhi usse bataye gi nahi. Toh hume hi kuch karna padega."

"Nahi nahi puttar. Agar Bhaisaab ko pata chal gaya toh mein toh gayi."

"Chill Aunty, kuch nahi pata lagega, aap sirf unse baat kijiye jaise normally karte ho, aur mein make sure karunga ki Shravan ko sab kuch sunjaye."

"Puttar, yeh sab na filmo mein hi hota hai."

"Aunty please, aap chahti hai naa ki Suman aur Shravan ek saath-."

"Haan." Kamini sighed. "Theek hai. Par karna kya hai?"

"Bas unke muh sai itna nikalwana hai ki unhone hi Suman ko Shravan sai door rehne ko kaha hai."

"Bhaisaab nai khud kaha usko?" Kamini asked intrigued and Aditya nodded. "Hai, meinu pata si, Bhaisaab nai hi kuch kiya hoga."

"Haan, unhone Suman sai kaha ki woh Shravan sai door rahe aur usse apni dil ki baat naa kahe nahi toh woh Pushkar aur Preeti ki shaadi rukwadenge." Aditya said, he failed to realize that he had revealed something that he shouldn't have told her but Aditya didn't know that Kamini would do anything to break Pushkar and Preeti apart.

"Bhaisaab nai aisa kaha?" Kamini murmured, her mind working a mile a minute.

"Jee."

"Puttar, mujhe lagta hai ki mujhe hi Shravan ko sab kuch bata dena chahiye." Kamini said, this was the perfect opportunity for her. Telling Shravan would create a rift between Ramnath and Shravan, and then she could blame it on Suman and Bhaisaab would stop Pushkar's wedding.

"Haan, aunty, but pehle usse apne dad sai hi yeh sab sunna padega, nahi toh woh maanega nahi, yeh Suman ka kehna hai." Aditya said and Kamini nodded realizing that Suman was right.

"Theek hai puttar, bas yeh sab karna kab hai?"

X-X-X-X-X

"Ek cheez meri samajh ke bahar hai, tum pyaar karte ho naa Suman sai? Toh phir aise kyun act karte ho?" Aditya asked Shravan the next day as he worked out in the courtyard, Aditya was leaning against the post munching on chips.

Shravan looked at him appalled, he didn't know what to say to Aditya as he did bench presses. "Mein kaise act karta hoon?"

"Yaar, agar Suman meri best friend hoti aur mai usse pyaar karta naa, toh mai usse mujhe ignore nahi karne deta, uske ghar par hota, uske kitchen mai. Usse tab tak akela nahi chodta jab tak woh mujhe bataye naa ki problem kya hai."

"Mein tum jaisa nahi hoon, usse space chahiye aur mein usse space deh raha hoon, jab woh mujhse baat karne ke liye ready hojaygi tab woh bata degi."

"Nahi aaye toh? Tumhe lagta nahi ki tum kuch zayada hi egoistic ho." Aditya mumbled hitting the right nerve.

"Mein? Egoisitic?" Shravan scoffed putting the barbell on the stand and getting up.

"Haan, tum. Purai angry young man ke avatar mein ghoomtai rehte ho." Aditya rolled his his eyes.

"Kuch pata chala? Tumhare dad sai baat ki?" Aditya asked and Shravan shook his head no. "Arre yaar, koi pandit ka wait kar rahe ho, ki woh aaye aur muhrat nikale?"

"Tum itne excited kyun ho rahe ho?"

"Abhi chalo Shravan, tumhare dad ghar par hai, tum bhi yahan ho. Chalo." Aditya said as he motioned to Kamini who was standing at the kitchen door overlooking the courtyard and she nodded.

"Abhi nahi."

"Yaar, tum yaha par exercise karte raho aur jab Suman ki kisi aur ke saath shaadi hojaygi naa toh yahan hi bethkar rona." Aditya snapped.

"Tumhe nahi lagta ki tum kuch zyada hi-."

"Nahi! Shaadi wala ghar hai yaar, uppar sai Suman Preeti sai badi hai, tumhe nahi lagta ki uske liye rishte par rishte aane shuru hojaynge aur agar koi acha rishta aaya toh Suman toh gayi." Aditya said playing on Shravan insecurities. "Isiliye, abhi kuch karo Shravan. Baat karnai sai kya jata hai?"

Shravan hated to admit it to himself, and he would definitely never admit it to Aditya, but his words made sense to him. Shravan sighed and nodded at Aditya. "Fine, at least isse tum chup toh hojaoge."

Aditya smiled at Shravan. "Waise thank you kehnai ka tax nahi lagta India mein."

Shravan rolled his eyes and walked towards his dad's room, Aditya in tow. Shravan was about to knock on the door which was ajar but Aditya's hand sprung out and stopped him.

Shravan looked at him confused but Aditya shook his head and lifted his finger up to his mouth.

"Listen." He whispered.

Shravan was about to tell Aditya to shut up when he heard Sumo's name and stopped to listen.

X-X-X-X-X-X

"Shravan? Shravan! Open the door yaar." Aditya said pounding on Shravan's bedroom door.

"Bhaiyaa! Please, darwaza kholiye, hua kya hai? Aap subah se kamre mein- Bhaiyaa! At least mujhe toh andar aane do!" Pushkar begged.

"Shravan?" Ramnath yelled but to no avail. Everyone was seated in the Malhotra living room, at first no one had picked up that something was wrong but when Shravan didn't come down for lunch or dinner everyone got worried, and started knocking insistently on his door but he didn't answer.

"Just throw it open!" Aditya groaned and pushed the door, his eyes grew wide when he realized that the door had been unlocked this whole time.

"Bhaiyaa?" Pushkar asked looking into the room.

On the other side of the door the room was empty, Shravan Malhotra had left hours ago after speaking to Kamini Chachi who hesitantly told him that everything that met the eye wasn't necessarily true. The way she said it made Shravan believe that there was more to his father than he saw, and he wondered what else his father could lie to him about if he could threaten Suman to stay away from him - offer her money and tell her to choose between her family and him.

Shravan thought about how he had asked his father about Sumo, he had told him that he wouldn't pursue her if he had objections. But his dad had agreed, he could have said no to him rather than letting him believe that Suman wanted nothing to do with him - he had to see how much that was hurting him.

Shravan had walked out of the house and no one was around to notice at that time, his car was now parked on the road across the Tiwari Villa and he had been sitting there for the past few hours trying to muster the strength to go inside, to go to her. His mind kept going back through the last few days as the reason behind her aloof behaviour clicked. She didn't show up to the coffee shop because of his father, she ignored him because of his father, she found reasons to fight with him to alienate him - she was doing it all on purpose.

Shravan sighed looking out at the busy street, the sun was setting and everyone seemed to be rushing home, but right then home was the last place Shravan wanted to be. He knew he was running but he couldn't deal with all of this right now, especially since Kamini's words had planted a seed of doubt in his mind about his father's and mother's relationship. Kamini Chachi didn't mince words, and he knew that she wouldn't say something about his father unless she was sure of it - and her words about his father lying to him and intentionally keeping him away from his mother and now Suman rang deep.

Shravan put the car in drive and drove towards the park by Suman's house, the one that they had frequented when they were kids. He was working on auto-pilot and didn't realize when he parked the car and found himself sitting at the exact same spot he had sat at months ago with Sumo - when he had failed to understand her during the Khosla case. Shravan realized that he always seemed to take the easy way out, it was easy pay Khosla, it was easy to walk away from Sumo when she brought his mother into his life, it was easy to think that Sumo was still that selfish teenager that was obsessed with her self-image/self-respect more than anything else in the world - it was easy to think that she hadn't changed. His heart had tried to tell him that something else was bothering her, but he never explored it because he couldn't see past his own prejudices.

Sumo watched him from afar and her heart broke a little, she never thought her 6'4 best friend could look small, but his shoulders were hunched in, his head was bent and his body was slumped as he sat on the edge of a step. She had figured he would be here when Aditya had told her that he wasn't in his room. Suman was angry with Aditya, she hadn't known of his plan until he had called a few hours ago, she thought they were waiting until Preeti's wedding but he refused to listen. But now that Shravan knew why she was staying away from him there was no reason for her to continue, he would come to her eventually, she knew that - but she also knew that he needed her right then and she couldn't wait for him to come to her.

She walked up to him slowly and took a seat beside him quietly, he didn't give any indication that he knew she was there. He didn't move or speak, so she waited.

"Tum yahan kya kar rahi ho?" He asked a few minutes later, his voice above a mere whisper.

"Kaha tha ni ki tumhe akela nahi chodungi." She mumbled remembering that day in his office, it seemed like it was so long ago, everything seemed right then.

"Toh ab tak kya karnai ki koshish kar rahi thi?" He asked, the tears evident in his voice.

"Tumhare aane ka intezaar kar rahi thi, jaise pichli baar kiya tha."

"Mein yahin tha Sumo."

"Shravan Malhotra yahin tha, par mera Shravan kahin khogaya tha."

"Faraq kya hai?"

"Shravan Malhotra par shayad mera koi haq nahi tha."

"Sumo - yeh tum - mujhe bata nahi sakti thi?"

"Tum mujhpar bharosa karte?" She asked knowing the answer was a resounding no, it hurt her but she knew that his father meant a lot to him so she couldn't be angry with him for it. "Koshish ki thi ek baar." She sniffled remembering his response to seeing Nirmala with her.

"Mera dimaag pehle sai hi kharab hai, tumhe toh pata ha-." His voice broke at the end and she couldn't help but turn towards him and wrap her arms around his shoulders and just hold him. His own arms wrapped around her and he buried his face into the crook of her neck, she felt the tears against the skin of her neck and let out a staggered breath of her own trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall.

They sat there for a long time, Suman felt her back stiffen as her arms started hurting due to the awkward position but she didn't move an inch, she didn't want to let him go right then. It was many minutes later that a word left Shravan's mouth, "Maa?", he spoke against her neck.

"Humare ghar par hain." Sumo answered with a sigh as he moved away from her and looked at her for the first time since she had gotten there. She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, she was sure her eyes were red just like his.

"Sumo - I - mujhe tumse-." Shravan started to say but he couldn't finish the sentence and he just looked at her helplessly. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, but the words wouldn't come out, it didn't feel like the right time, but he wanted to tell her.

"I know, but iske baare mein hum baad mein baat karenge." She said wiping away his tears with a small smile, she knew he loved her and as much as she wanted to hear it she needed him to hear everything Nirmala Aunty had to say first. "Ab ghar chale?" She said motioning towards his car and he nodded.

"I'm scared." He admitted as they walked side by side to his car.

"Me too." She admitted grabbing his hand in hers and intertwining their fingers together giving him the silent reassurance he needed, his heart was going to break and she hoped that they would be able to handle it. He looked down at her with a questioning look and she smiled back up at him. "Kaha tha ni ki tumhe akela nahi chodungi." She reminded him a with a small smile.