Did not check for mistakes. Sorry for the delay
"Actually Aastha, I had to tell you something very important. And I just want to say it before it becomes too late" Aastha's grip on his hand weakened. Abhay put his hand into the pocket of his coat and retrieved a tiny velvet box. "Abhay..." she gasped, as he opened the box and showed her the shiny yellow gold ring, adorned with tiny three delicate diamonds on it. He blushed to a shade of mild pink, as he looked at the ring. "Aastha, do you like this ring?" he asked with the utmost sincerity in his eyes. Aastha was speechless, as she cupped her mouth in surprise. She could not fathom the fact that Abhay was showing an engagement ring to her. "Her name is Jyothi. I met her in London. She'll be coming to India after two weeks, so that I could introduce her to you and Badey Papa, formally." Aastha's happiness knew no limit. She grabbed the box from Abhay's hand and jumped in glee. "Oh gosh Abhay! This is absolutely stunning! Jyothi is one lucky girl. Can't wait to meet her" and then turning serious, she whacked his arm. "Motu? You are telling me after everything is confirmed?" Abhay grinned like a lovesick puppy, to which Aastha only shook her head. "It's okay, I forgive you." And they hi-fived each other, after which, they asked the waiter for their bill.
Shlok parked the car in the parking space with an ear-piercing screech and barged into his house. He saw a familiar lady sitting on the couch. As soon as she saw him, she ran towards him and threw herself in his arms. After pressing herself up against his body, she pasted her devil-red lips on his, and indulged in a shameless smooch. Unwillingly, Shlok responded to her with a slight peck while she kept nibbling on his lips. He parted from her and went upstairs into his room. Undressing himself, he stood under the shower, letting the warm spray of water from the jets relax his muscles. He recollected the whole day, the main focus being Ms. Aastha Kirloskar. He had seen the hurt in her eyes, and he knew he was the one responsible for it. The way he treated her in the elevator was wrong on so many levels, and while his conscience screamed it out loud to him, his huge ego refused to accept it. When she had walked into the office to put down her papers and resign, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. But that could have been due to acidity as well. But when she was convinced to stay back, he felt some relief. He felt tiny sparks rise in his chest as she agreed not to quit her job. But again, he had an acidity problem, off recently. And then he almost felt his whole body burning up when that friend of hers - Abhay, Nirbhay, whatever- held her hand and proposed to her with a ring. Why did he feel so irritated? Why did his body tremble in anger when she smiled at his proposal? Why didn't she appear happy when she spoke to him? Why was she so timid and wound up around him? Shlok's train of thoughts were broken when he felt two soft hands creep up his back and proceed to his chest. She turned him around to face her naked figure as she placed heated kisses on his upper frontal, proceeding her way down south. He shut his eyes and leaned against the wall as he felt her mouth place some wild pecks on the below-the-belt area. "Aastha..." he moaned and immediately realized what he said. He looked down at the woman kneeling in front of him, who was now on her feet. "Priyanka" she corrected him, and walked out of the bathroom wrapping a towel round her. Two minutes later, he heard the bedroom door shut with a loud thud, by which he knew that she had left the house. "Why the hell did I take her name?" he punched a fist into the wall as mixed feelings of irritation, anger, annoyance, confusion and acidity overtook him. He finished off with his bath, wrapped himself in the bathrobe and walked out. After gulping a peg of scotch, he decided to call up Aastha. He wanted to hear her voice. Moreover, he was guilty of hurting her. But what if that worthless fianc of hers picked up the phone? So what? I'll ask him to hand over the phone to Aastha. But what will I speak to her? You're Shlok Agnihotri, I'm sure you can come up with something. But what if she doesn't want to talk and cuts the call? Shlok's mind couldn't come up with an answer. Trying to push all thoughts aside, he blindly dialed her number.
Aastha and Abhay were watching TV, and Aastha's phone began to ring, flashing Shlok's name on it. "Abhay, it's Shlok" she whispered. Abhay grinned and playfully hit her with his elbow, and then pulled the phone from her. "Do not pick. Wait till he calls again and then pick" he gave her a broad grin, while Aastha only looked in confusion. "Abhay, Shlok Agnihotri was already annoyed with me. Now if I do not pick his call, he'll think I insulted him again and will do something else tomorrow to make me pay for the insult. Please give me my phone" she reached out to grab it, but was in vain when Abhay dodged the phone away from her. The phone stopped flashing Shlok's name.
"What the..." Shlok cursed. "She is so busy that she cannot even pick my call" He muttered a few more curses, and dialed her number again. If she did not want to talk, then it was her problem, not his. She was expected to pick the call when he called her, because he wanted it that way. He composed himself with every single ounce of patience left in him, and waited for her to pick his call.
The phone screen lit up and Shlok's name flashed again. Abhay grinned as he waved the phone in front of Aastha. "Now Aastha, I'm going to put the phone on speaker and speak to him. You will talk only when I "pass" the phone to you. Okay?" "But..." She protested, and Abhay gave her that assuring smile. "Trust me on this Tweety. I can almost read his mind about you." And he answered Shlok's call and put it on the speaker mode. As soon as the call was answered, Shlok forgot his virtue of patience and yelled, "What took you so long to pick my call? How dare you ignore my call, Ms. Aastha Kirloskar?" Aastha's mouthed formed a perfect O. She could almost imagine Shlok coming right out from her phone and yelling at her face. Not good at all she thought. Abhay first smiled at his impatience, but then switched on to a serious tone. "Excuse me, but may I know who's this?" He asked this question on purpose, even though he saw Shlok's name flashing on her phone, quite successfully giving him a picture that she had deleted his contact from her phone.
She deleted my number? Shlok controlled his anger and irritation. "Shlok Agnihotri here. Aastha's boss. May I know whom I'm talking to?" he did know who was on the other end, but wanted to confirm. "Abhay here." Shlok felt the acidity rising again. "Oh hello Abhay. So may I talk to your fianc?" Shlok asked bluntly, causing both, Abhay and Aastha to be shocked and appalled at what Shlok was talking. "Excuse me?" Abhay asked in a stern voice. "Oh, seems like you guys did not want to tell anyone. I happened to pass by the caf this evening and saw you proposing to her with the ring." After a brief pause of shock, Abhay smiled as he identified the hint of jealousy in Shlok's voice. He could relate to that feeling. After all he had gone through the same jealous sensations whenever Jyothi spoke to her so-called best friend - Bob. It was much later that Abhay had come to know that Bob was gay and was in a live-in relationship with another man since a year and a half. "Oh that!" Abhay sounded casual but amused as he recalled his own experience, shocking Aastha all over again. How could he be amused when this Shlok was accusing him and Aastha to be in a relationship? Abhay was more like a brother-figure to her. Aastha shot daggers to Abhay though her eyes, causing the amusement in his smile to increase. "Well Shlok, we decided to keep the relationship under wraps until Aastha is done with the internship. And then, we would have the engagement" Aastha slapped her forehead with her palm. "Congrats to you both" Shlok wished and ground his teeth as his hands shivered in anger. "Thanks Shlok. By the way, Aastha is here. I'll just give the phone to her" he was about to hand over the phone to an upset-looking nervous Aastha, when Shlok said, "Nah, it's okay. Nothing important. I can talk to her at office. Goodnight" and he cut the call without waiting for Abhay to respond.
Abhay cut the call and looked at Aastha, who looked like an agitated wild animal. "What is wrong with you Abhay? Now he's going to be mad at me. Why would you do such a thing?" She screamed from the bottom of her lungs, to which Abhay smiled and tossed the phone back to her. "He likes you Aastha. He seems to be developing some feelings for you" to which Aastha stared at him blank, and then laughed her heart out. "He's a jerk, Abhay. He can love only himself, no one else. To like someone, you need to be human and have human feelings. But that man! He cannot have feelings because his heart is made of stone. He's a complete screwed-up case, Abhay" and then turning serious, she asked him, "Why didn't you deny about his assumptions of us both being in a relationship? What would he think Abhay?" Abhay rose from the opposite sofa and sat next to her. "Accept it Aastha. You too have begun to feel for him. The liking is more than just attraction or infatuation. You both have begun to feel drawn towards each other. The fire is on both sides, but you two are just too ignorant and egoistic to accept it" "Abhay, don't start all over again..." Aastha rose to protest, but Abhay made her sit back on the sofa.
"Aastha. I could sense jealously in his voice. If you were merely his employee, why would he get so freaked out and then go all "J" over me? And if he called to talk something important, wouldn't he talk to you and then cut the call? If he could wait to talk to you tomorrow at the office, what made him call now? Why should it concern him if you are getting engaged to someone else? And Why do you care what he thinks about you? Why should it concern you if he thinks you are in a relationship? Why Aastha? Answer me!" looking at her silence, he knew that his words had an impact on her. "you are a big girl now Aastha. I'm sure you'll figure it out and then take a wise decision. Whatever be your decision, I'll be by your side Tweety." he rose and went upstairs to his room, leaving a confused Aastha behind. After hours of battle between her mind and her heart, she decided it was best to go according to her mind. Abhay did not know Shlok Agnihotri as much as she knew. Her heart had landed her in enough trouble, and it was time to get serious. If Shlok played dirty games, then she could not afford to be so nave. She had to buck up and be strong, to face whatever Shlok threw her way. She would not allow Shlok to manipulate her with his wicked ways. Meanwhile, Shlok gulped down few more glasses of scotch and was battling his thoughts. Why did Aastha suddenly seem to be of so much importance in his life? Why couldn't he get her off his mind? After an exhausting war with his shrewd mind, he fell asleep on his easy chair with the empty glass rolling on the floor from his hand.
Varadh leaned against the headboard and pulled out a picture from his drawer. It seemed like just yesterday that they posed for this picture. He looked so happy standing next to her. Seven years had passed ever since she had refused his proposal, and it hurt him even today. He had vowed to keep her happy at all times, then why did she have to break his heart. The pain hurt him and he felt a sharp sword pierce his heart through and through, each time he thought of her. He loved her. He hated her. But he could not decide which feeling was greater. She still affected him so easily after all these years. Did she feel the same? Where did she go after she refused to accept his proposal? Was she alright? Was she married already? Was she happy with another man? Did she bear his children? Was that man better than what he was? Varadh put the picture frame back in the drawer and lay down to sleep. He hugged the pillow next to him, and a lone tear fell off his eye. "It hurts so much. Why did you leave me Sojal? Why did you show me what the feeling of love is? Why did you have to break my heart after that? Why?" wiping off the tear, he turned to face the other side of the room. "I will not cry for a person like you Sojal. I'm happy you went away from my life at the right time. And today, I am better off without a gold-digger like you" He forced himself to sleep and dozed off in a few minutes.
Hindi TV Shows
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
16