FF: Memories of a Lifetime- Mayur; Chp14-p65-NEW! - Page 49

^Alright thanks guys! Will probably continue it then..will try to make a vm for this FF too! :-D

Okay so the good news is, (or bad, can't say) that this FF will end in another few chapters. Still not sure how many though, but yeah, it will end soon. I'd also like to apologize for the lack of romantic scenes between MN. The thing is, in this fic, Nupur is really careful, not wanting to let her guard down at any time. And since Mayank has yet not realized his feelings, he can't get close to Nupur in a way we all want. ;) But in the next two chapters, a lot will get cleared up. Also, since I'm a chapter ahead, the updates won't be long, since I'll be ready with the next chapter! :D
And thanks to all those who do take out the time to read the ff and review it. It means a lot to me. I know I've lost a million readers due to my lack of updates, but I hope I'd get some reviews. This is the only ff i've been determined to complete. So rest assured, I will not abandon it! :D Anyway, enough blabber, here goes the next chapter.

Chapter 14:

"So," Nupur began, shutting the album and holding it in her hand. "Out with it."

Mayank looked surprised. "What do you mean by that?"

"Mayank, there's a reason you're here. Something you need to talk about. So; out with it."

Mayank looked hesitant. He didn't know how to start. He had never before discussed his sister or his personal problems with anyone, not even Mehek. He let out a small sigh.

"It's about Gunjan."

"Your sister?" Nupur asked. Mayank simply nodded. "Well, what about her?"

"She's seeing this boy, and I, uh--"

"You don't approve?" Nupur completed. "Is that what you were going to say?"

Mayank nodded his head slowly. "But I can explain why. It's not like I'm being over protective. I don't mind her seeing someone, but, I just don't approve of this particular guy."

"Why not?" Nupur questioned. She eyed him skeptically.

"Do you remember Deepak Shergill?" Mayank asked her. Nupur suddenly stiffened. Why was Deepak being brought into the picture?

"Yes, I do remember him." She replied reluctantly. She didn't quite want to think about him. The thought was pretty disturbing.

"Well, Gunjan is seeing his brother." Mayank said.

"What!" Nupur exclaimed in disbelief. She hadn't been expecting this. It clearly shocked her.

"Now you know why I don't approve."

Nupur took a deep breath and let it out. She then closed her eyes to think of something rational to say. Mayank did have a valid reason, but at the same time, he couldn't be sure that his brother would turn out to be the same. It was a little unfair to him. She then looked up at Mayank and spoke softly, "I know. But Mayank, don't you think we might be assuming things about his brother? We haven't really heard of or met his brother."

"His brother's a criminal Nupur!" Mayank snapped. "I have no doubts in my mind that his brother would be the same. A criminal."

"You're just assuming it Mayank. I mean, I'm sure Gunjan would know about his brother, right? If despite that she's with him, she must have seen something in him. Maybe he isn't like his brother." Nupur tried to explain.

Mayank shook his head. "No. Gunjan is immature. She is still a kid. She doesn't know what she's up to."

"Then let her grow up on her own Mayank." Nupur said softly. "How will she learn otherwise? You can't always be protective of her. She needs to be given the freedom to make her own choices."

"Well she of course has. She never consulted me before dating him." Mayank said bitterly.

"Mayank, your approval would mean the world to her. You're the only family she's got. Stop behaving so stupid."

"So now I'm being stupid. You're siding with my sister, being my friend."

"Stop being such a kid! You need to talk to her Mayank. Give her one chance." Nupur said. "You wouldn't want her to do something stupid, would you?"

Mayank shook his head. "I guess you're right. I need to talk to her."

Nupur smiled at him encouragingly. "Then go now!"

Mayank smiled at Nupur. "Thanks a lot Nupur." He leaned in closer and wrapped his arms around her. Nupur felt a warm fuzzy feeling inside her. She awkwardly wrapped her arms around his waist, unable to think straight. She quickly pulled away from the hug.

"No need to thank me." She smiled at him. "You should go now."

Mayank nodded and got up. He looked at Nupur one last look and then left from there. Nupur watched him go. She smiled at his immaturity, childishness and over protectiveness. She had always been asked the questions that why she loved him, and Nupur would simply shrug her shoulders saying she didn't know. But now as she looked at him, she knew exactly why.

Mayank was smiling as he entered the house. He always wondered what it was about Nupur that always made him feel so happy. He simply brushed it aside and walked up to his room.

He walked into the shower, hoping to freshen up and then finally talk to Gunjan about Samrat. He knew he had been wrong, and now he wanted to make things right. He had decided he would give Gunjan a chance to explain her decision, and he would listen. He would not be overprotective, like Nupur would put it. He smiled at the thought of her and started the shower.

----

Gunjan was quickly packing her bags, hoping to leave from the place before her brother came back. She didn't bother about organizing her things and dumped whatever she found into her bag. She hurriedly closed it and picked up her bag and walked downstairs to the living room as slowly and softly as she could. She felt lucky that Meera aunty was still not at home, nor was her brother. She slowly opened the main door, and looked around the house one last time. "I'm really sorry bro," she whispered sadly and then walked out of the door, closing it very slowly behind her.

---

Mayank was done with his shower and was now comfortably dressed in his night clothes. He went down to the kitchen, and poured himself a glass of water. He then walked upstairs to Gunjan's room in order to talk to her. He was half expecting her to be sulking in her room. He smiled as he opened the door to her room.

The room was dark. He thought she was sleeping and didn't want to wake her up, but he decided to try anyway. He walked up to wear the light switches were, and switched on the light. He didn't find anyone sleeping on the bed. He knocked on the bathroom door once, but on no response, he realized it was empty too. He could feel tension pulse through him. He was hoping she hadn't done something stupid. He quickly opened to see her wardrobe, and he immediately knew he was right. She had indeed done something stupid. Mayank banged the door shut in anger. He couldn't believe she would just run away from the house.

He looked around the room, his anger rising with every passing second. He intended to turn around and leave the room, but something caught his eye. It was a white piece of paper lying on the bed side table. Mayank walked up to it and picked it up. He knew who it was from, and opened it. He could feel disappointment and anger well through him as he read through the letter.

Dear Bro,

I know you have problems with Samrat. I tried talking to you about him, but you never listened. I hung around, hoping you would agree sometime. I was wrong. Don't get me wrong bro. I do love you, but you need to understand, I love Samrat too. I want you to know how amazing a guy he is. If only you could get past your ego you could see how wonderful Samrat is! He loves me, and I love him. I know what I'm doing is probably wrong, but if you'd put yourself in my place, you'd know where I'm coming from. I'm sorry bro. Please take care of yourself.

Love you always,

Gunjan.

Mayank crushed the piece of paper in his hand angrily, and threw it on the floor. Without thinking further, he walked out of the room, banging the door behind him.

Aditya was sitting in his living room, silently reading a book in his hand. He could not really focus on what he was reading and with an annoyed sigh he snapped the book shut. He didn't know how long he would have to continue this. Sitting at home and avoiding everyone was not helping him move on. He recalled what he had said to Nupur when she'd come to visit him.

I need my own time to get over it Nupur. And during that time, I would appreciate it if you would not come near to me. Not even speak to me, please.

He sighed bitterly. He hadn't intended to sound that way. He did need his distance from her, but he didn't like the way he'd put it across to her. There had to be a better way to say it. He closed his eyes slowly and thought of Nupur. He could picture her sad face in front of him. He didn't like to make her cry, when he'd always promised her he wouldn't make her cry, come what may. He had broken his only promise he'd made to her, and felt bad.

He knew then that he had been wrong too. She had never promised him anything. She was his friend, a special one, but she had never hinted that she loved him too. Her occasional 'I love you' meant nothing more than a friendly gesture. He had tried to read between the lines and he now regretted it. He shook his head sadly.

I am going to return to work. I am going to behave normally, even with Nupur. He decided. He then removed the letter Nupur had given to him on his birthday from his pocket and read it again. But this time, he read it with a different perspective. And instead of feeling hurt, he just smiled. How could he not speak to her? She was his best friend. He wouldn't lose that precious friendship with her for anything. Nothing at all.

The next day, Nupur dropped in early at office. She had to sit and work on her new project which Harsh had assigned to her. She cursed him for burdening her with so much work load, but he had tried to reason out with her, saying he couldn't be partial towards her at work. The other employees wouldn't appreciate it. Nupur had simply laughed and got back to her work.

She entered her cabin and seated herself comfortably on her chair. She quickly looked through her files, searching for the right one. She had just got hold of it and was opening it when she heard a knock on the door. Without looking up from her file she simply said a soft 'come in' and the felt the door open. She still hadn't looked up, expecting it to either be Tanvi or Harsh.

"Hey" the man said softly.

Nupur froze on hearing the familiar voice. She hadn't really expected to hear his voice. She immediately looked up from her file and saw Aditya standing in front of her, smiling sheepishly at her. "Adi!" she exclaimed happily.

Aditya simply widened his smile on looking at her. "Yeah" he then let out a small laugh.

Nupur got up from her chair, throwing the file back on her desk and flung her arms around him. "Adi! How are you? I didn't think you'd come to work anytime soon. Oh, but I'm so glad you came. Hardly a day or two and I was already missing you! I didn't think you would ever talk to me again! I am so sorry!" she could feel the tears well up in her eyes as she continued to hug him.

Aditya smiled as he hugged her back, chuckling slightly on hearing her say all that in a single breath. "Gosh Nupur, slow down." He then pulled away to look at her. "Well, here I am."

Nupur smiled at him happily. "I am so glad. I was worried you'd take a transfer or something."

"I'll be honest, I did think about it." Aditya laughed. "But then, I knew that was really silly of me. That would be like running away from your problems, right?"

"Just like I ran away from mine" Nupur said sadly. "I had been a coward Adi."

"You were just letting your emotions get the better of you" Aditya said softly. "Well, let me tell you, Aditya doesn't quite work like that!"

"I can see that." Nupur giggled. "I really am so happy Adi."

"Me too." Aditya said. "A small misunderstanding can't really end our friendship. It's much stronger than that."

"Yes, it sure is."

Aditya smiled one more time. He couldn't believe he was about to deny himself of this; the most beautiful part of his life.

"I must get going to work, Nupur." He said. "I'll see you and Tanu around." He then gave Nupur a quick hug before he left from her cabin.

Nupur couldn't contain her happiness. She had feared she'd lost Adi forever. But she was glad she hadn't. She would not do anything to hurt her friend, ever again.

Nupur hurried back to her seat to continue with her work. For some very strange yet pleasant reason, her life was finally falling back into place. She smiled at the thought and continued with her work.

Mayank dropped in late at office that day. It was unlike him to be late, but he didn't bother and stormed into his cabin. He banged the door behind him and threw himself on to his chair, slumping down instantly. He closed his eyes for a few long moments and took in deep breaths. He then released them slowly and opened his eyes. He felt himself relax finally. He carefully picked up the file kept on his desk and looked through it. Though he wasn't really needed to help Nupur with the project and merely guide her on it, he wanted to help her nonetheless. He knew she was being overworked, and he didn't quite like that. He was already disliked by many for coming out of nowhere and leading them with their already existing project; and on top of it Harsh had assigned an additional project to Nupur. Mayank just felt lucky in that moment that he wasn't on bad terms with Nupur anymore. They were friends again, and for that he was thankful.

He heard a knock on the door. With a small sigh he asked the person to come in.

"Hey," the voice said. Mayank didn't have to look up to see who it was. He was busy doing something on the computer opposite him. "Good morning" he greeted, while still looking at the screen in front of him.

"Mayank, where were you?" Nupur asked, sitting down on the chair opposite his desk. "I came in an hour back to look for you, but you weren't there."

"I got caught up with some work Nupur." Mayank replied. He then looked up at her concerned face. "What?"

"What's wrong?" Nupur asked him softly.

"Nothing."

"Come on Mayank, I know something's wrong. You can't just hide it from me." Nupur then looked at the file Mayank was now fiddling with. Indignantly, she snatched the file away from him and held it firmly in her own. "That's better now. Come on, tell me."

"Give me my file back." Mayank said indignantly. "You have no right to snatch my file away from me."

Nupur looked taken aback. She tried to calm herself down and looked at Mayank carefully. He looked worked up, something was bothering him, angering him, and she wanted to know what. "As much as you think your rudeness is going to make me stop, you're sadly mistaken. I know you too well."

"What do you want to know?" Mayank growled. "That my sister just ran away from the house the day I had finally decided to speak to her? That, she chose that god forsaken boy over her own brother? That she doesn't care about what I think? That she doesn't respect me?"

Nupur gazed wide eyed at him. The first sentence had shocked her. Gunjan ran away from house? That wasn't what she had expected. "What do you mean by she ran away?"

"What part of it didn't you understand?" Mayank snapped.

"Don't you dare remove your anger on me Mayank!" Nupur snapped back. "You have no right to do that!"

Mayank's face suddenly softened. He usually had the tendency of removing his anger on his friends. And he knew for a fact that he had most of the times removed his anger on Nupur in the past. "I'm sorry. It's just a habit."

Nupur sighed. "I should've known. I'm sorry."

Mayank shook is head in disappointment. "Gunjan ran away from the house last night. She said she couldn't stand being away from Samrat." Mayank spat out the last word. "She ditched her brother for that bloody criminal."

"You need to relax Mayank." Nupur said softly. She then got up from where she was sitting and walked towards Mayank. "We'll talk it out with her."

"I don't want to." Mayank snapped. "I have nothing to do with her anymore."

"Don't be such a fool Mayank!" Nupur scolded. "You know it was partially your mistake as well. You shouldn't have acted so stuck up."

"So you're saying this is all my fault?"

"Both you siblings have some sorting out to do, that's all I'm saying."

"I don't want to, Nupur." Mayank argued. "She has, she has--"

"Hurt your big ego?" Nupur completed. "You've always had a problem with that ego of yours Mayank. Your ego has broken too many relations before. Think about it. Do you want it to break your only family apart too?"

Mayank looked at Nupur. She had a sad look on her face. Something told him Nupur wasn't referring to just this instance. He knew he had messed up some things in the past due to his ego. He would never have given in to a lot of things before. He tried to shake away those feelings of regret and guilt and focus on the present. "Okay." He said.

"So you'll talk to her?" Nupur questioned.

"Yes, I suppose." Mayank answered. "You haven't quite left me with another option, have you?"

"Mayank, don't do it because I'm asking you to. Do it because you know you have to."

Mayank didn't say a word. He simply got back to his work, without acknowledging the fact that he was indeed wrong. Nupur simply sighed and walked out of his cabin, softly closing the door behind her.

When he was sure Nupur had left, he looked at the door behind which she disappeared. He knew he had to speak to his sister, and he knew that his ego was getting in the way. But he also knew that this was not what he had wanted to know from someone else. It didn't matter even if it was Nupur who told him this, he just felt stupid that he didn't realize this on his own. In that moment, a lot of other things began to clear in his head. He shook his head as if to brush away the thoughts, and tried to continue with his work. But he just couldn't.

"Adi!" Tanvi exclaimed happily when she saw Adi happily flirting with some of the employees in the canteen. Adi turned around to see Tanvi come happily towards him.

Adi looked at her and smiled. "Tanu!" he said and wrapped his arms around her.

Tanvi happily placed her hands around his waist. She felt really good to be able to hug him. She had been worried about him. But to see him back to his old self in hardly a day's time had taken her by surprise. She clung to him tightly, not willing to let go.

"Tanu, if I didn't know better, I'd have thought you're madly in love with me." Adi joked. Tanvi felt a sharp sting within but ignored it. She then pulled away and looked at him.

"Of course I'm in love with you." She said seriously.

Aditya looked at her wide eyed. Surely she couldn't have been serious. Tanvi was the last girl he'd ever imagine to fall in love with him. Tanvi noticed the mild shock on Aditya's face and felt sad. She then tried to cover up by bursting into laughter.

"Look at you!" she laughed. "You really thought I meant that?"

"Damn you Tanvi!" Aditya snapped. "You broke my heart!" He then winked at her playfully and hugged her again.

Tanvi could sense something wrong. She knew Aditya was trying to pretend he was okay. She could just feel it. She immediately pulled away and looked at him.

"Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Of course!" Aditya said. "What's gonna happen to me?"

"You seem so, normal." Tanvi emphasized on the last word. "As though nothing ever happened."

Aditya sighed. He had seen this coming. Nupur hadn't noticed it, and he was glad she didn't. "Well, you can say I'm dealing with it in my own way."

"What about Nupur?"

"I can't stop talking to her Tanu. It just seems so foolish. I love her, she doesn't. It's no one's fault. I can stop living my life because of that."

Tanvi knew that. After all, she did love him too, but he didn't love her back. She knew how that felt. No matter how bad she felt, she knew she just had to keep going. "I know. I can understand."

"You can't Tanu." Aditya said. "You haven't been in love."

"I have." Tanvi said softly. Aditya looked up at her in surprise. "What do you mean?" he asked her.

Tanvi was caught off guard. She hadn't intended to let that slip. She shook her head in an attempt to dismiss the topic, but Aditya persisted. She turned around and saw Harsh approaching them, and stared at him.

Aditya followed her gaze and saw Harsh standing a little away from them, looking at Tanvi intently. Aditya looked mildly shocked. "Harsh?"

Tanvi suddenly turned to look at Aditya. "What?" she asked.

"You're in love with, Harsh?"

"What? I never--"

"Hey Adi, Tanu." Harsh interrupted them. He smiled at Aditya. Aditya eyed him skeptically. "It's hardly been a day that I was away and you two are back together?"

"WHAT?" Tanvi shouted. She looked around to see many bewildered faces look at her and immediately bit her lip. "I mean, what?"

Harsh looked taken aback too. He looked at Aditya's skeptical face and laughed. "Dude, where did that come from?"

"Well, Tanu said she was in love with someone." Aditya said but caught Tanvi's expression that looked really panicked. He then shook his head. "Oh nothing, I must have misunderstood."

"Of course you must have." Harsh said. "Though I wish Tanu would think over it." Harsh winked at Tanvi and then walked off from there, leaving a very shocked Tanvi and amused Aditya behind.

"That guy's learnt to flirt." Aditya mused. "Well, he had to. He's friends with the expert."

"Shut up." Tanvi snapped. "And what on earth made you think me and Harsh are back together?"

"Well, you said you've been in love, and then you turned around to stare at Harsh. So I thought, you and Harsh were--"

"You really should stop thinking." Tanvi snapped, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes. "You know nothing Adi." She then walked off from there.

Aditya looked hurt by this. He didn't know what to make out of Tanvi's odd behavior. He had simply joked around with her. She had never taken to his jokes seriously before. He found the sudden change in her behavior strange. He sighed and walked off towards his own cabin.

Nupur was sitting in her cabin, thinking over many things. She thought of Mayank, Aditya, and her life as such. A lot had changed for her, and she knew there were things that remained unknown, things she was afraid to admit. There were questions she had always asked herself, and she silently knew that she wouldn't ever get answers to those.

Mayank was being exceptionally good to her. She held some kind of role in his life, whether important or not, she didn't know. She couldn't have asked for more than to be a part of his life. But a part of her also reminded her of the past. How he had simply ignored her altogether in a matter of a few days. They had been close then, and it had ended abruptly. They were close now, and she was crossing her fingers, wondering how long it would actually last.

She then thought of Aditya. He had forgiven her so easily. She was happy, but she somewhere also felt guilty. She knew she had given him the wrong impression many a times. She did like Adi, but she never looked at him as more than a friend. He must have misinterpreted her actions, just like how Nupur had misinterpreted Mayank's. Just like how she had thought that he felt for her too. She had been wrong. Nupur sighed sadly. So much had changed.

Nupur suddenly remembered something. She had still not told Adi and Tanvi that Mayank Sharma was the same Mayank from her past. She felt a pang of guilt rush through her as she realized she was openly lying to her best friends. She knew if she would ever admit it to them, they'd never approve of her being with Mayank. But she wanted to be his friend again, and if she had to, she would just have to continue lying to her two best friends. But for how long it would remain hidden from them, she didn't know.

Nupur tried to ignore the thoughts going on in her head and opened up her email to see if she had received anything important, or if a friend had tried to contact her. She looked at the screen in front of her, a sense of anger and betrayal surging through her as she saw the name in her inbox. This wasn't the first time really, but she still felt a sense of hatred within her. Mehek.

Nupur reluctantly opened the email and read through it silently.

Hey Nupur.

How have you been? Well, I sent you an e-mail before if I'm not wrong, but didn't quite receive a reply from you. I know I don't quite deserve one, but I'd be glad to receive a reply Nupur. I'm in Delhi. Nisha told me you're here too. I really want to meet you Nupur. Please can you give me a chance? I'd be grateful if you do. I'll be awaiting a reply. Cya.

Love,

Mehek.

Nupur didn't quite know what to react. Mehek wanted to meet her. And it was up to her whether she wanted to meet her or not. She was torn between the bitter past and her present. She had to decide if she wanted to completely let go off her past. It was to be her own decision.

Nupur closed her eyes and thought for a long moment. She slowly opened her eyes and read the email again. She would meet Mehek after ten long years, it was decided.

___________________________________________________________________________

Okay done. Sorry for any errors. I didn't proof read. And I'm sorry if it was too long. I can't help it, the chapters just turn out to be really long! But I really hope you guys liked it. Please do comment and press the liketab :D

Don' expect me to comment like right now.😆.i need to read all d chaps at one go n then get back here...😉 so-basically,this was to let u know that m resing n will get back.🤣 but,.Positive..will do. ASAP ..😃

OK,i simply HAD to comment after reading the first 3 chaps...its so AMAZING Rach...😍 The whole story,thw whole set-up and OF COURSE MN in this FF.😊I loved Nupur through and through ,she z simply amazing and u penned her so wonderfully..😳 and well, tho m not exactly into Flirtatious guys😆(u KNOW that)🤣,but still,Mayank's smile hooked me on to him as well..🤣The chap 3 was really amazingly written and of course,Nupur's friends back in Delhi are simply the loveliest lot ever.Me loves white btw n i can imagine how she looked in that gown..irresistible.. ❤️ ( For Mayank only)
I will b back soon after i m done with the next 3-4 chaps,or maybe more...i can't stop reading and get to know what EXACTLY went wrong between them.😳
will get back REAL soon...as i promised..lovely FF Rach.👍🏼.

Debzy🤗

P.S-Mera SIGGY...😎

Updated my comment after ..read d first 3 parts..😊

luved the update! plz continue soon