chapter 10: guilty memories
Maanvi made her way to the quiet room in which she could hear her sister silently sobbing... She stood outside the door trying to compose herself, attempting to organise the many emotions that were surging through her head, confusing her more and more by the minute.
She slowly pushed the door open, if there was one thing manvi couldnt bear, it was the tears in her di's eyes and right now, jeevika had been crying so much that her eyes were bloodshot.
'Please di...' manvi pleaded 'hes changed give him a chance...pleasee.'
'no mannu, i dont want to hear it... Dilip had his chance and he blew it' jeevika answered barely looking at manvi just in case her little sisters eyes made her weak.
'di, im begging you pleasee... Hes not so bad, pleaseee... If not for you, for my sake' manvi kept begging, she would not give up... She would hate to fall into virats trap and dilip was the quickest way out.
'i love him' ...manvi regretted lying but she knew it was the only way jeevika would even consider her sisters pleading,
'you know what mannu... If its for your sake... Bring him for dinner tonight, i will see for myself if he has truly changed.'
Jeevika did not look happy about it but that was the least of manvis worries. She embraced her sister with all her might and ran out the room dialling on her mobile as she left.
'dilip... Listen i need you to come at 8 sharp, come for dinner with the family, dont embarass me'
Manvi didnt bother listening to what he had to say... Rather, she ran to her room to ponder all that had happened so far.
Staring at her reflection, manvi thought back to her relationship with dilip. He had been so good to her at first, but he would often get so angry that it was hard for manvi to believe it was the same guy. Dilips jealousy was the worst part... He wouldnt let her out of the car in crowded places. if someone even glanced at her he would become aggressive and violent, fighting in the street then later blame manvi refusing to talk to her for days on end... "your a shameless flirt... You dont respect me or our relationship...you just want to embarass me" manvi recalled his cold words and how she would end up in tears whenever they were together in public.
While she was with him she would never have even dared to follow her dream and become a dancer... And even now she knew life with dilip meant sacrificing her true love... Dance.
Manvi stared at her reflection lost in thoughts of her past. She put on a baby blue churidar salwar kamees and tied her hair in a delicate bun.she adorned her forehead by putting on a sparkly blue bindi. She then carefully applied a dark kohl along her eye and this made her brown eyes look even more wide and beautiful. Finally, manvi applied a bit of blush to her already pink cheeks and a touch of shiny pink gloss on her lips. She looked at her reflection with approval and made her way down the winding stairs to wait for dilip to arrive.
Manvi could hear the sound of the large gate of the vadhera household open. Quickly, she got up and ran towards the metal gate... As she ran... Manvi bumped into a large figure at the door. The smell of musk and aftershave meant it could only be him.
'Sorry' manvi said looking at her silver chappals.
But virat was not in the mood to forgive
"watch it next time" came virats husky voice
Manvi lifted her head to answer back, but when she looked at his eyes, the deadly bloodshot eyes left her speechless. What she failed to understand is why she felt guilty... He deserved it... But why was it bothering her so much?
'virat?! Oh my godd!!! I missed you.' manvi and virat both snapped their heads up and looked towards the door, both unsure how long theyd been standing there.
Manvi noticed virats sudden change in spirits. His eyes sparkled and he walked towards the door and embraced the beautiful girl standing at the step.
She was absolutely stunning, with raven black curls that reached way past her shoulders and green eyes that were almond shaped and lined with dark kohl and long lashes that reached her perfectly trimmed eyebrows.
'malika' virat said looking at the 5'5 perfectly proportioned princess who was looking gorgeous in a yellow summer dress...
'i cant tell you how glad i am that your here' he told her while leading her into the house.
As she stood in front of her, manvi couldnt help but envy how good she looked standing near virat. Virat was in a crumpled effect white shirt and black jeans and next to malika, they looked like they belonged on a magazine cover.
'virat, wont you introduce me?' malika asked smiling... Displaying a gorgeous set of perfect white teeth and dimples.
'Manvi...malika,malika...manvi'
'manvi is my bhabis sister and malika is my'... He glanced over his shoulder and smiled 'good friend'.
'hi'...malika held out her manicured hand to shake manvis 'your a cutie aren't you?!' she exclaimed as manvi returned her hand shake trying hard not to blush and be awkward.
'thank you' she stammered back totally taken aback by what had just happened. She was meant to be making virat jealous but why was she so confused by malikas presence when it shouldnt be bothering her emotionally at all? And why was malika being so nice?
'manvi' came dilips deep voice... '7.57, im not late am i?' he asked sarcastically.'you look stunning by the way' he bent down and kissed her cheek as she tried not to look uncomfortable in front of virat.
Manvi noticed the stench of alcohol on his breath and this scared her.
'dilip, when did you get in?' manvi asked both shocked and confused at the sound of his voice.
'ohh so you were so busy with mr loverboy rockstar here that you didnt even notice me?' he said as he looked hatefully at virat.
'Dilip... This is jeevikas brother in law virat and his friend malika' manvi replied dodging the question, realising that this was going to be a looong night.
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