Moonlight washed over the derelict house bathing it in an eerie light. The leaves of the nutmeg and custard apple trees lining the drive way moved now and then in the slight breeze. Suddenly the rustled much faster as the CVR sped through the driveway. Reaching the shaded courtyard it stopped. As the sound of the engine stopped, the driver let out a sigh. She had been drowning her worries, her haunting past and many wounds on the drive to the house and loud metal music in her car. But now they all came rushing back with vengeance. There was no hiding from past. Changing your name will never change your past. Running away will never help. But at the age of fifteen, she had seen no other option.
Taking a deep breath she got out of her vehicle. Shutting the door she leaned against it. Her steel grey eyes roamed on the house's neglected front area. Climbers had made their way up the wall and mildew was covering half of it. The inside would be just as worse, she thought. Nothing decreased her love for the house though. This was her refuge when her family had become her tormenters. This was where she found peace. This and the man she was now waiting for. Thinking of him she smiled and looked down at her dress. She was a far cry from the fifteen year old he had protected.
Dressed in grey tank top and skinny black jeans with a brown leather jacket , black bondage boots and her long hair tied back in a sleek pony tail, she looked nothing short of fierce and gorgeous. A very far cry from the plump frightened Pooja Agnihotri that had run away from her home and family.
The sound of the car alerted her. She stood in the shadows for some moments, to confirm that he was indeed the one she was waiting for. She didn't need any unpleasant surprises.
"Pooja" the cheery voice of Vinayak Agnihotri called out and she smiled.
"You know chachu , I appreciate that name only from you now" she came into the light and saw her uncle being visibly shocked at her looks.
"Wow! You know that there are very high chances of me being duped now because you look nothing like I expected" Vinayak joked with a genuine smile.
"As if you would miss the uncanny resemblance I share with your dearest brother" his niece scoffed.
"True that" Vinayak conceded solemnly. He walked forward and engulfed his niece in a hug. The last he had seen her was eleven years before. Once he had helped escape her family and not so pleasant future that she would have had, he had kept minimal contact with her. His brother Niranjan Agnihotri was a very sharp man. Though he had least interest in Vinayak, he had an almost pathological liking for keeping up his image in public. No matter how beastly he was in private.
"Even if you were far from your home, I still worried for you" Vinayak said.
"I missed you the most you know since obviously I had no one else to miss" his niece replied.
"Not even your brothers and sister?" Vinayak questioned letting go of her.
"I did miss Tai. But soon I discovered that my brothers especially Shlok dada were not much better than my father" his niece said, with a disgusted look on her pretty face.
"How so?" Vinayak asked curiously
"I met Astha Kirloskar aka the ex - Mrs Astha Shlok Agnihotri" his niece said, giving her uncle another surprise for the evening "And the stories she said made me hate my father even more if that was possible"
"You met Astha. That means she left for UK after she left Shlok" Vinayak said
"I wouldn't say it as leaving chachu, I would say it was escape of another woman from Agnihotri mad house" Neena said , with a smirk "I am proud of Astha for achieving that."
"How is she?" Vinayak asked , remembering fondly , his tiny favourite Astha.
"She's back as well and we own the Akruti and Agnihotri Associates now. Irony much?" his niece's smirk widened "Oh the shock my father would get if he knew this" she gave out a mirthless laugh.
"You still hate them don't you? You haven't even asked about your Aai" Vinayak stated softly.
"They have never given me good memories to remember chachu. The only memories I have are of punishments, cuts and bleeds both physical and mental. So tell me , why I should bother about them chachu" his niece asked , her steel grey eyes turning cold.
"So much anger is not good nanhi" Vinayak reminded her mildly using the old endearment for her.
His niece gazed for long into his eyes. Right at the moment she resembled her father so much that Vinayak couldn't help the mental chuckle at the thought of his brother facing his long lost daughter. Niranjan Agnihotri would get a definite shock of his lifetime.
A phone's ringing broke their reverie. Taking out her phone his niece sighed.
"Can't stay for long chachu. I live with Astha now and I made up an excuse to stay out this late. She's calling me now" his niece showed her phone, were a photo of Astha in a business suit smiled at him.
"I can see that Astha changed as well" Vinayak said.
"She is the Astha Kirloskar that Shlok Agnihotri carved chachu" his niece said "Just like I am the Neena Deshmukh that Niranjan Agnihotri carved"
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