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"So what's the theme?", the question reflected confusion on Uday and Benji's face who looked at Dia as if she was speaking in French ... Uday finally questioned, "What theme?"Dia shook her head and rolling her eyes; replied, "Theme for the launch party of course ..." Benji twitched his face and shrugged, "Uski kya zarurat hai?" Dia glared at him before turning to Uday, "Let's have a masquerade party ..." Benji looked at his wife as if she had three heads while Uday contemplated on her idea for a moment, "Dia, saari arrangements tumhe karni padegi kyunki mujhe in cheezon ka koi idea nahi hai ..." She smirked, "Why am I not surprised, tum bas invitations par dhyaan do - wahi kaafi hai ..." Uday made a face at the comment while Dia and Benji laughed out loud and Uday smiled and hugged both of them ...
At night, Uday and Benji were sitting on the dining table with clear boredom on their faces as Uday finalized the invitation list for the fifth time on Dia's insistence - Benji stared at his wife, standing in the kitchen, who had lately turned into mother-hen and he knew it was time for planning the second honeymoon ... His plans got trampled as he heard Uday finish, "and Nupur Bhushan ..." He stared at Uday with shock clear on his his face and he could hear the sounds of utensils form the kitchen die - all this while Uday had an extremely casual expression on his face ... After a moment , Dia finally came out of the kitchen and pulled out the chair next to Benji, "Tum Nupur ko invite kar rahe ho?" Uday furrowed his brows while looking at her, "Of course, is mein poochne ki kya baat hai?" Dia looked at him with a tense look while Benji sat there; staring at the two of them with no expression on his face ... "To kya Mayank nahi aayega?" Uday frowned and looked at her with signs of irritation on his face, "Ye kaise sawaal pooch rahi ho Dia? Of course wo bhi aayega ..." Finally Benji decided to enter the scene, "To kya tum un dono ko phir se ..." But before he could complete his sentence, Uday interrupted, "Nahi, main unke replationship ke liye kuch nahi kar raha - agar wo dono ek dusre se ab bhi pyaar karte hain to unhe khud ek dusre ki taraf kadam uthaane honge - hum unhe ek dusre ki taraf kab tak dhakelte rahenge? Par jo kuch bhi hua uski wajah se main apna rishta un dono se kyun todun? Mayank mera sabse purana dost hai aur uske bina meri khushi adhoori hogi par Nupur meri behan jaisi hai aur ab jab itne saalon baad wo laut aayi hai to main use invite kaise na karun ..." Benji smiled and nodded while Dia bear-hugged Uday, finally approving his decision but still feeling deep inside that the winds were soon going to change their paths ...
In the evening, she sat at the window pane staring at the busy roads while the words spoken by Gunjan, churning her insides ... Her strong stance was shaking and her strength was weakening - the guilt and pain of the years gone; eating her insides and questioning her desicions - she knew she had lost everything but somewhere her heart had a hope that she had Mayank to turn to - she knew he would embrace all her pains and that she would find her peace in him but still she was scared because after all that she did to him and all that had transpired between them - she feared circumstances repeating themselves and it would break her heart again ... At the end, she was just a human and self-preserving was important and all she wanted to do was save herself from closing walls and entrapment of the never-ending cycle of pain ... She came out of her thoughts as she heard her doorbell ringing and contemplating o the visitor's identity, she strode towards the door ... As she opened the door, her heart pounded against her chest as she saw her father standing there with a bouquet of white lilies (her mother's favourite) and softly smiling at her,"Aap yahaan kya kar rahe hain?" He slowly walked inside while she stood at the door with disbelief on her face ... She slowly walked towards the couch where he had been sitting - he forwarded the flowers towards her and she softly accepted them while a pain was developing inside her - her heart was acheing with indisputed pain being subjected from all the sides ... "Nupur main jaanta hun ki maafi maangne ke liye ab bahut der ho chuki hai, beta par ho sake to mujhe maaf kar do ..."
She took support of the wall to keep herself from falling as her eyes got filled with tears, "Jab mujhe aapki sabse zyada zaroorat thi, tab aap kahaan the?" He tried to say something but she raised her hand to let her continue and he simply lowered his head, "Aap jaante hai ki maine aapka kitna intezaar kiya, intezaar kiya ki kab aap ek baar meri taraf dekhenge ... Aap jaante hai ki main kitna akela mehsoos karti thi jab aap mujhe chhod kar chale gaye the jaise main aapke liye kuch nahi thi ... Aapne ek baar mudkar bhi nahi dekha ki aapki beti ko aapke pyaar ki zarurat hai ... Bachpan se lekar aaj tak aapse mujhe agar kuch mila hai to wo hai rejection aur akelapan ... Inse darkar maine us insaan ko bhi kho diya jisse maine sabse zyada pyaar kiya aur jisne mujhse itna pyaar kiya ki mujhe kisi aur ke pyaar ki zarurat bhi mehsoos nahi huyi ... Par kahin wo bhi mujhe akela chhod ke chala na jaaye is dar se maine use khud hi door kar diya ..."
He looked at her with guilt and tears formed in his eyes as he saw how badly he had hurt her ... "Main kyun aapko maaf kar dun? Aapne to kabhi mujhe apni beti maana hi nahi ..." He immediately got up and cupped her face in his hands, "Aisi baat nahi hai beta - tum meri beti ho aur maine hamesha tumse pyaar kiya hai beta bas kehne mein bahut der kar di ... Tumhaari maa ke jaane ke baad maine sab kuch kho diya tha - wo meri zindagi thi aur jab bhi main tumhe dekhta tha mujhe sirf is baat ka ehsaas hota ki wo ab humaare saath nahi hai ... tumhaari aankhein mujhse poochti rehti ki Smriti kahaan hai - main wo sab nahi dekh sakta tha - haan maine galti ki, main nahi samajh paaya ki tumhe meri zarurat hai par main kya karta - us waqt mujhe bhi sahaara chaahiye tha ... Main bhaagta raha tumse - laut kar tumhaare paas aane ki himmat hi nahi bachi thi par beta ek insaan kab tak bhaag sakta hai kabhi na kabhi to use bhi apno ki zarurat mehsoos hoti hai ... Tumhaari kami to hamesha mehsoos hui par socha shaayad tum mujhse door hi khush rahogi - shayad tum mujhse nafrat kasrti hogi par kal ek ehsaas ne mujhe himmat di yahaan tak aane ki ... Main thak gaya hun beta aur bas tumhe apne saamne khush dekhna chaahta hun ..."
They were standing in the balcony, gazing at the night sky, "Nupur, aur ye tabhi ho sakta hai jab tum apne aap ko ek aur mauka do ... Beta bijli ek hi jagah baar baar nahi gira karti .. Mere kiye ki saza apne aap ko, apne pyaar ko mat do beta ... Main zindagi bhar pachtaave mein jeeta raha - tum meri galti mat dohraao ..." She sighed and turned her face away with tears rolling down her eyes, "Ab bahut der ho chuki hai --" He kept his hand on her shoulder and interrupted, "Smriti hamesha kehti thi, pyaar mein kabhi der nahi hoti - it's never too late in love and I don't want my daughter to keep saying 'what if' for the rest of her life ..." She turned to face him and saw tears rolling down his eyes ... This was the first time, they had had a heart-to-heart conversation; how much had she craved for the father's love - she bit her lip and lost the control over her tears and lowering her head, silently sobbed ... In this moment, he realised how wrong he had been all his life and seeing his daughter this vulnerable; broke his heart ... He embraced her in a hug and let her cry away her pain of years ...
A week later, she was sitting in her staffroom, working on some assignments when the intercom rang, "Hello ..." "Professor Bhushan - there is some Mr. Uday Kekre here to meet you ..." The pen dropped hrom her hand as her eyes widened and her lips quivered, after a moment she finally smiled a tear-filled smile and answered, "I'll be there in a minute ..." and rushed towards the reception ... As she reached the reception, she saw him sitting there busy with his mobile and smiled before composing herself and slowly walked towards him ... She finally found her voice and calmly called out to him ... He looked up and was stunned to see how she had changed in all these years ... He gently smiled at her before approaching her ... She side-hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder for a moment before looking at him with an apologetic smile ... "Nupur jo kuch bhi hua, mujhe usse koi matlab nahi hai ... Tum meri dost thi, ho aur hamesha rahogi isliye main chaahta hun ki tum meri zindagi ke important day par mere saath ho ..." She looked at him with confusion while he pulled out the invitation from his back pocket ... "Mere restaurant ki launch party hai aur main chaahta hun ki tum bhi wahaan aao ..." She grinned and gave him a tight hug, congratulating him ... "Main zaroor aaungi - thank you so much Uday ..." He shook his head while smiling, "Haan and its a Masquerade Party okay ..." She widened her eyes before giggling, looking at his expression, "Thanks Uday ..." He hugged her and patting her cheek walked out while she gazed at the invitation card with tears in her eyes ...
As Mayank hugged Uday, he thought of all the old days and shook his head at how things had changed ... Uday pulled out of the hug and as he started walking out of the cabin; he felt a nudge in his stomach and turned to look at Mayank who was looking at the invitation card with a smile and said, "Mayank, party mein Nupur bhi aa rahi hai ..." The expressions on his face faltered as the words hit him and he looked at Uday with disbelief while the latter walked out of the cabin ... Mayank could feel the anxiety within him rise - a struggle to fight the loneliness at the same time when his heart was fluttering on the context of seeing her again ... He wanted her - wanted to be with her but he was somewhere just too broken to appraoch her - he just couldn't see her getting hurt because of him or for that matter see tears forming in her eyes due to him ... For a moment he felt like skipping the party but then the guilt of hurting Uday overcame his sinful desire ... He didn't know what to do with his warring heart and brain where his heart was ready to break again and brain was putting all the efforts to save it from breaking and falling apart ...
Chapter 28 - Page 136
Note: Now we have finally reached the climax of the story - this update was necessary to pave the path for the end so I hope you didn't get much bored after reading it .. Three more updates to go ...
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