Sorry for updating so late. But hope you guys like it. (p.s- this part isn't romantic, but i hope you like it anyway.)
Part 6:
Gunjan just pondered over the link for a few minutes. It seemed like an article. Sharma Industries, Las Vegas, Mayank Sharma?
"Could this be....?" Gunjan wondered, her eyes fixed to the screen.
"Samrat!" she called out to him, still pondering over the link. "Samrat, come here for a sec!"
Samrat came into the living room, disconnecting the call, looking intently at Gunjan. "What is it? You found out something?"
Gunjan just nodded. She didn't remove her gaze from off the screen. "Look at this" she slowly pointed towards the screen.
Samrat walked up behind her, and rested one of his hands on her shoulder, and looked intently at the screen. He acknowledged what the link mentioned, and slowly sighed. He looked away from the screen, facing his back to Gunjan. "I wish it was true, but it isn't."
Gunjan suddenly broke her gaze and turned around to look at Samrat. "What do you mean?" she asked him.
Samrat didn't bother to turn around and instead walked up to the window, resting his hand on the window pane. "That cannot be my brother, Mayank Sharma." He then turned around to read her expressions. He sighed on looking at her confused expression.
"Why not?" she questioned, unable to take in Samrat's sudden pessimism. "Why on earth are you being so pessimistic? Why can't that be your brother?"
Samrat just kept a straight face. "It is because I know my brother really well! He isn't someone who took interest in business! He was a failure in school for God's sake! There's nothing pessimistic about this. It is a well known fact."
Gunjan just shook her head in disbelief. "But Samrat, people do change for the good." She walked up to him, and placed her hand on his shoulder.
Samrat had already been too occupied with all the stress and tension, and was simply not able to bear with this optimism any longer. He just lost his cool. "Gunjan, for god's sake, please just stop this bloody optimism! It's just sickening me to the core! I have enough to worry about than to think positively each time! Being optimistic just means being insane! If I become insane, then hell with finding Mayank, and hell with that impossible promise I made to ma!" he just stormed off into the room, leaving Gunjan in complete shock.
*********
Nupur just entered her house, and suddenly felt someone holding on to her tightly. She stood like that for a few moments, and then looked down, only to find Dia hugging her tightly.
"Nupur, you fool, where have you been!" she said, squeezing Nupur further.
"Dia let me breathe!" Nupur pleaded, trying to free herself from Dia's tight hug.
Dia suddenly let go of her and looked up at her with moist eyes. She suddenly turned around and began walking up to her room.
Nupur stared back in amazement at Dia's strange behavior. One moment she was hugging me, and now she looks like she could kill me. "What is with her?"
Dia sat down on her bed, covering her face with her palms, and began sobbing. She heard a soft knock on the door but didn't bother to look up and continued crying.
Nupur slowly walked up to Dia's room, and knocked on the door. On receiving no response, she decided to simply barge in. Not that entering your best friend's room without permission was called barging in. Dia was more like a sister to her, and her only family. She slowly turned the door knob and entered the room, only to find darkness everywhere. Dia was always fond of dark colors, which always made her room to appear all dark. Nupur slowly walked up to where Dia was sitting, and sat down quietly beside her. She rested her hand on her shoulder, and looked at her with a confused expression.
"What's wrong Dia? Why are you crying?"
Dia didn't bother to look up at Nupur, and continued crying. She jerked away Nupur's hand from her shoulder, and turned her back to Nupur.
Nupur was simply confused. Sure Dia was emotional, but wasn't she going a little overboard with the emotional thing. Nupur slowly got up and sat down on her knees in front of Dia. Dia had her face buried in her hands. Nupur slowly moved them aside and looked at Dia. "What's wrong Dia?"
"You're so damn insensitive! You don't even know how worried I was!" Dia said, and broke into sobs.
"Dia, will you please stop crying and tell me what's wrong?" Nupur requested, patting her gently on her shoulder.
Dia slowly wiped away her tears and looked back at Nupur. "Where were you last night?"
Nupur hesitated for a moment. She didn't know how to frame an answer. If she told the truth, Dia would surely over react. "Er, actually, I was at my friend's house."
"Which friend?" Dia asked, eyeing Nupur skeptically.
"Uh, Mayank." Nupur answered reluctantly.
"You spent an entire night at a guy's house?" Dia widened her eyes in shock.
"Oh come on Dia, it isn't what you think. Please let's talk." Nupur said quickly.
"Yeah sure, you owe me an explanation." Dia said and then walked off into the living room.
----------------
"Mayank! Mayank!" Nikki yelled on top of her voice, but got no response. She looked around the house, but couldn't see him anywhere. "Where the hell is he?"
"What is it?" Mayank asked, walking into the living room, adjusting his tie.
"Where were you? I've been calling out to you since the past fifteen minutes! And why was the door left open?" Nikki asked, glaring at him.
Mayank looked up at Nikki, and bit his tongue. "Uh, I must have forgotten to close it while getting the newspaper from outside."
"And where were you? What took you so long to respond?" Nikki asked, walking into the kitchen, taking out a bottle of water from the fridge.
"I was getting ready." Mayank replied, still trying to get his tie right.
"Ready for what?" Nikki asked, now turning around to look at him. "And what are you doing with that tie?"
"I thought I'll leave for office early. There's a little work that's still pending." Mayank replied, and pulled out the tie angrily after his unsuccessful attempts. "Man, I hate these ties!"
Nikki chuckled at his reaction, but also felt happy that Mayank was finally taking his work seriously. She slowly walked up to him and hugged him tightly. "Mayank, I love you. Please remain like this."
Mayank smiled and hugged her back. "I love you too Nikki. Now please don't start crying for god's sake."
Nikki pulled out of the hug and punched Mayank playfully on his shoulder. "Here, let me put the tie for you."
"You know to put a tie?" Mayank asked, confused.
"Duh, how do you think Abhi has managed all these years?" Nikki laughed. "Now stand straight, and don't move."
Mayank obediently did as Nikki said, while she tied the tie around his neck. Once she was done, she smiled at him. "Mayank, you know, you aren't really spoilt. You just need a girl in your life, and everything will be sorted. Then you wouldn't even mind me marrying Abhi."
"Nikki, now please let's not go to the marriage discussion. I'm not ready for it." Mayank said.
"Who's talking of your marriage?" Nikki giggled, and then walked away from there.
Mayank smiled, and as Nikki left from there, his thoughts involuntarily drifted away to that one girl who recently entered his life. Nupur Bhushan.
---------------
"What? He kissed you thrice?" Dia asked, unable to believe what she just heard. "How did you even allow him?"
"Well, he just did it abruptly. I had no time to think." Nupur defended, feeling like an accused victim.
"Yeah, but knowing that he's such a guy, you still spent a night at his house?" Dia asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Dia, he isn't bad. He didn't take advantage of my drunken state. How many guys you know would be so decent?" Nupur said, taking a sip of her coffee.
"True, but he kissed you!" Dia seemed to be stuck on one particular line.
"Dia, I've forgotten about it. We're friends now." Nupur said, trying hard to end the discussion but to no avail.
"Hold on, you didn't even pull away when he did that?" Dia asked. "You kissed him back?"
"Dia, please end this discussion. I have given you the deserved explanation, and now off I go." Nupur said indignantly, and got up and left from there.
Dia just stared at her wide-eyed, still unable to come to terms with what she just heard.
************
"Lunch's ready." Gunjan said, opening the door of her room. Samrat was seated on a chair, and was thinking hard. He looked too lost.
"Samrat, I said, Lunch's ready." Gunjan repeated, but got no response back. "Fine, do as you please. Starve to death for all I care!" she then stormed off from there.
Samrat slowly came back to his senses, and looked at the entrance of his room. He slowly got up and walked over to the dining room. Gunjan was already seated, silently eating her lunch. She was lost deep in thoughts too.
She saw Samrat a few feet away from her, and angrily looked back at her plate.
Samrat seated himself beside Gunjan, and attempted to hold her hand, but Gunjan simply got up and walked into the kitchen. Samrat simply sighed.
"Gunjan, stop being a kid. We need to act mature here."
"Samrat, no one's being immature. Do you mean that being optimistic means being immature? If that's how you put it, then fine, I admit I'm immature. But you know what; this immaturity of mine has worked wonders before." Gunjan called out from the kitchen.
Samrat got up from the chair and walked into the kitchen. Gunjan was washing the already sparkling dishes, scrubbing it harder as Samrat approached her. "Gunjan, those vessels are sparkling clean."
"Oh, I'm sorry, it's just; I'm so immature you know." Gunjan snorted.
Samrat pulled the plate away from Gunjan's hand, and looked at her intently. "What is wrong with you? You are over reacting."
"I am not over reacting Samrat. You're acting as though the entire burden is on your shoulders. I don't want you to think that way. Why the heck am I there then?" Gunjan said, pulling the plate back from Samrat's hand.
"Gunjan, I know you're just trying to help. But we need to keep reality in mind too, right?' Samrat said, holding Gunjan gently by her shoulders.
"Samrat, I'm not helping. This task is as much mine as it is yours!" Gunjan clarified, now looking deep into Samrat's eyes.
"I'm sorry. I was just a little too stressed. I feel like the whole world is resting on my shoulders." Samrat said.
"I know that Samrat. That's exactly why I'm telling you keep some optimism within you. Just keep faith. I know it that we'll definitely find Mayank, and we'll bring him back with us too." Gunjan said, and smiled reassuringly.
Samrat just hugged Gunjan tightly. "I love you so much Gunjan. No one can understand me better than what you do. Me neither."
"I love you too Samrat." Gunjan said, and tightened the hug.
*************
"Ma'am, you have a visitor." Koel said, entering Nupur's cabin..
"Visitor? Or a client?" Nupur asked, looking into the file she was holding.
"He said he's a friend of yours. And a client too." Koel said.
"Fine, send him in." Nupur said. Koel nodded and made her way out of the cabin. A few moments later, Nupur heard someone knock on the door. "Come in."
"Hi Nupur" she heard someone say. She slowly looked up from the file, only to be shocked.
"Mayank?" she said, rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was getting bored, so thought I'd discuss the contract with you. There are a few clauses I'd like to be changed." Mayank said, in a complete formal tone.
Nupur stared wide eyed at him. "Mayank, are you serious?"
"Duh, what do you think?" Mayank replied, winking at her.
Nupur shook her head. "I should have known. Now tell me, why exactly are you here?"
"I was honestly getting bored." Mayank said, seating himself opposite Nupur.
"And what help am I to you?" Nupur asked, looking back into the file.
"Well I thought maybe you'd like to come out with me?" Mayank asked, looking at her intently.
Nupur didn't bother looking up this time. "Mayank, I'm busy with work. I don't have time for a date."
"Who said anything about a date? I was just talking of a cup of coffee." Mayank said.
Nupur looked up from her file. "But I have to work."
"Hey, I'm your client too. So while you're out with me, we can discuss the contract too. That would be work too, right?" Mayank said, looking at Nupur expectantly.
Nupur just looked thoughtful.
"Oh come on, for the sake of our new friendship? Just one coffee." Mayank insisted.
"Fine." Nupur smiled at him.
------------------
"So, tell me something about your family." Nupur said, as she took a sip from her cup of coffee.
"I have no family. Nikki is my only family." Mayank replied.
"Nikki?" Nupur asked.
"Yeah, my sister. She isn't my real sister though, I had rescued her from some goons, and she said she had no family, so I asked her to come and live with me, since I lived all alone too. Since then, Nikki has always taken care of me, she's everything to me." Mayank replied.
Nupur stared at him. There was a humanly side to Mayank too? "Wow, I'm so sorry. So you're an orphan, just like me." Nupur said, staring at her coffee. "You know, I never even got a chance to see my family. I don't even know if I have a sibling, the only childhood memories I cherish are the ones at the orphanage."
Mayank looked at Nupur. So she knew how it felt to live without a family. "Actually, I have a family. But I consider myself an orphan." Mayank looked at Nupur's confused expression and sighed. "My parents never loved me, especially my dad. They always loved my brother more. They sent both of us to New York to study, but I kept failing. It isn't that I'm a loser or something; I just, always missed that parental affection a teenager longs for. Sadly, I never got that. So I left New York and shifted to Las Vegas. It's been ten years since I've been in touch with them now."
"You don't miss them? Your brother?" Nupur asked, looking at Mayank curiously.
Mayank shook his head. "I never considered them my family, so I never really missed them. Yeah, I do sometimes miss my mom. She was the only one who loved me in that house. Dad and Samrat never bothered about me."
"And don't you think your mom might be missing you?" Nupur asked.
Mayank shrugged. "I don't know."
"Mayank, can I ask you one more thing?" Nupur asked him. Mayank simply nodded. "Why are you telling me all of this?"
Mayank stared at Nupur. He had been asking himself the same thing. He didn't know why he said all that to her. He just knew hat opening up to her made him feel a lot better from the inside. "I don't know. I just thought I could open up to you. And I feel really good to have done that."
Nupur smiled back at him. "You know, I never thought you had another side to yourself."
Mayank smiled back at Nupur. "Well, till now, only Nikki knew about this Mayank."
"And now that makes two of us" Nupur laughed. She looked into Mayank's eyes, and placed her hand on his. "And to be really honest, I really like this Mayank a lot."
Guys, hope you liked it. Please do comment. And my silent readers,please don't forget to press the liketab so i know you've read it.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
