Angad lets the phone ring again before hanging up, it's obvious his dad is trying his best to avoid Angad and his questions at all costs. Angad curses under his breath before dialling Dilip's number again but this time allowing it to go to voicemail.
"Dad, I know why you're not answering your phone, you know I'm going to be angry with you so stop being a coward and answer your phone"
Angad disconnects the call and leaves it on the desk before picking up his jacket and leaving the room. He heads downstairs and opens the front door, he almost steps out but hears someone clearing their throat behind him, he turns on his heels to find Kripa standing against the kitchen door with her arms folded across her chest, he smiles while Kripa walks over to him.
"Where are you going?"
"Out"
"Yes, but where?"
"Kripa, I need to clear my head, so I'm just going for a walk, do I have your permission to go?"
Kripa nods her head, Angad smiles and waves bye before heading out of the house, he looks at the street before him then looks left and then right, he shrugs his shoulders and turns to the left and begins walking slowly.
Kripa shuts the front door and goes back into the kitchen where Kareena is having a small snack with Shilpa, she grabs a biscuit from the plate and bites into it, she glances at a very glum Kareena, feeling sorry for her she begins to think of how to cheer her up. After 5 minutes and 3 biscuits, she has an idea, her face beams with victory as she gets Shilpa's and Kareena's attention.
"Nani, are there any parks nearby?"
"There's one just 2 streets down"
"Does it have swings and everything?"
"I think so, why?"
"Because we're going to have a picnic in the park, now go get ready"
Kripa pulls the two women up and begins leading them to the stairs, both women look at each other confused, Shilpa tries to ask Kripa questions but Kripa hushes her up and sends them both upstairs to get changed. As soon as they're out of sight, she runs into the kitchen to get a picnic basket ready, she rummages through the fridge and gets out salads to make some sandwiches, she then grabs drinks and looks for plastic cups and plates. It's while she's looking for some other snacks that she hears the front door opening, she glances out of the kitchen door and sees Angad taking his jacket off, he hangs it on the coat rack and heads into the kitchen, Kripa stands up and faces him.
"How was your walk?"
"Refreshing"
Angad replies while picking up a banana, he begins to peal it when he looks around the kitchen and notices the things on the table, he bites into the banana before speaking.
"What's up with all the food and stuff?"
"We're going on a picnic"
"Who's we?"
" Nani, me, Kareena and you, speaking of which, go upstairs and see if they're ready and get ready yourself, you might want to throw on some jogging bottoms"
"OK, so why are we going picnicking?"
Kripa places the fruits in her hand onto the table and sighs
"You should have seen the glum look on Kareena's face, I couldn't stand it so I thought she could do with some cheering up and this is the only idea I could come up with"
Angad nods his head and finishes his banana, he throws the banana skin away before leaving the kitchen. Kripa looks at the food on the table and smiles satisfactorily, she would ask Shilpa for a basket when she came downstairs but first Kripa herself needed to change. She heads upstairs and changes into a pair of light pink jogging bottoms with a matching zip up jacket; she brushes her hair lightly then puts on her trainers and leaves the room. When she goes downstairs she finds Shilpa, in a blue jogging outfit, putting the food into a basket, she looks at Kareena, wearing a black jogging outfit, helping her.
"Nani, we'll need a blanket as well, and where's Angad? Is he ready?"
"I've got the blanket, and I'm not sure about Angad, why don't you go find out"
Kripa nods her head and goes back upstairs, she knocks lightly on Angad's door and pushes it open, she looks around the room and finds Angad wearing grey jogging bottoms and nothing else, her mouth falls open as she stares at his bare chest revealing his killer six pack, it's more than obvious that Angad works out a lot, and well all the working out definitely paid off, Kripa snaps back to reality and turns around. She clears her throat before speaking.
"Hurry up and get changed, we're waiting downstairs"
"OK"
Kripa leaves the room while Angad grabs his white T-shirt and pulls it over his head then picks up his matching jacket and slips into it, he looks at his phone on the table to see if maybe Dilip returned his phone calls but finds nothing, Angad feels disappointed and puts the mobile back where it was, he also leaves the room and heads downstairs. He finds the women waiting for him in the hallway, he smiles.
"Shall we leave?"
Kripa nods her head and hands him the picnic basket then leads Shilpa and Kareena out of the house, Angad looks at the picnic basket and frowns, typical, as he's the only male there, he gets stuck with the lumping around of the basket, Angad shakes his head and follows after the women.
*******************
Kripa stares in awe at the scenery as she sits down on the blanket next to Kareena, she looks up at the sky and breathes deeply. It's a nice clear sunny day, perfect for a picnic. Kripa wonders why she hadn't thought of this idea in the morning, she glances to her side and sees Angad sitting by Shilpa happily talking away, and she sees Kareena looking glum, Kripa reaches out and places her hand on Kareena's shoulder snapping Kareena back to reality, she gives Kripa a faint smile. Kripa shifts closer
"Everything will be ok Kareena, I can guarantee that"
"I know Kripa, it's just come as a shock, we were supposed to be going to America, but now…"
"Stop thinking about all of that, you're here to have fun ok? Are you hungry?"
Kareena nods her head and Kripa digs into the basket pulling out the box of sandwiches, she hands one to Kareena then calls out to Shilpa and Angad who also take one, Angad gets up from next to Shilpa and sits by Kripa, he takes out two packets of juice from the basket and hands one to Kripa and has one himself. He watches as Kripa sips the juice as she stares at the kids playing around in the park, Angad smiles to him self as he sips his juice. After he's done he stands up and looks at the women
"OK, I know we have not come here to sit around, so let's do something"
Kripa stands up while nodding her head in agreement; she helps Kareena and Shilpa up.
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Tig and Tag? Hide and Seek?"
Shilpa smiles at Angad's childishness
"Aren't you a little old for those games Angad?"
Angad smiles and puts his arm around Shilpa's shoulders
"As long as you're here Nani, I'm always going to be a kid, so Kripa what do you say?"
Kripa looks around her and spots the play area
"Honestly speaking, let's go play on the swing set"
Angad looks over to the area and rapidly nods his head, he stands next to Kripa and nudges her
"Race you to it"
Before Kripa can react, Angad sprints towards the play area, Kripa quickly races after him while Kareena and Shilpa watch happily; the two women pick up the basket and the blanket and follow them.
Angad reaches the play area first and jumps onto the first empty swing, Kripa arrives shortly and sit son the empty swing next to him, both take a minute to get their breath back while swinging lightly. Angad glances over at Kripa lost in her thoughts, he grins to himself as he jumps off the swing and stands behind Kripa and begins to push her, Kripa screams slightly and turns her head to see Angad.
"Angad stop it!"
"Why? Stop being a grown up and be a child for once, let me push you"
Angad continues to push the swing despite Kripa's many threats that she would kill him if he continues but soon enough the threats die down and Kripa allows Angad to push her, he eventually pushes her high enough causing her to laugh out loud, Angad sits back on the other swing and watches as Kripa giggles to herself, he watches with love as he sees the child within Kripa come to surface, he looks over to Shilpa and Kareena who are deep in conversation, he jumps off the swing again and runs over to them and pulls Kareena with him and makes her sit on the swing and begins pushing her and Kripa at the same time.
Soon enough both girls are giggling like school girls, Angad smiles to himself as he watches Kareena forget all her problems, Kripa had been right, Kareena definitely deserved some cheering up.
Angad snaps out of his thoughts as he sees Kripa jump off the swing, she grabs hold of Angad's hand and drags him and Kareena over to the slide where a few young children are playing, they wait their turns and begin sliding down the slide yelling in joy, when they're done with the slide, Angad takes them over to the jungle gym where he helps both women climb to the top them climbs up himself and begins to jump around despite Kripa yelling at him that he'll fall.
Shilpa watches the three grown ups playing around like 5 year olds, she looks at Angad and remembers him when he was younger, today after so many years does she see the child Angad used to be before Naina passed away, a single tear drops down her cheek but she brushes it away. She looks to her left as an elderly woman sits next to her, she greets her politely and continues watching as Angad pretends to fall off the jungle gym and Kripa holding on to him to stop him.
"Angad stop it!"
Kripa screams as Angad stands on the edge of the jungle gym, Angad looks over and sees the scared look on Kripa's face so he backs away from the edge and slowly gets down, he helps the two women down, who watch as Angad jumps up and hangs from the monkey bars.
"Bet you can't do this Kripa"
Angad swings from bar to bar until he gets to the end, he smiles victoriously and ushers Kripa to try, Kripa jumps but can't get hold of the bar, Angad laughs and picks her up, Kripa grabs hold of a bar and Angad lets go. Kripa screams for Angad to get her down but Angad stands on the other side
"Angad, come on stop it, get her down"
Angad shakes his head at Kareena, who walks off to Shilpa. Angad looks at Kripa and puts his arms out
"Kripa, I know you can do this, come on just swing from bar to bar and come to me"
"But Angad…"
"No buts, just trust me"
Kripa looks at Angad's face and breathes deeply, she forgets everything around her and puts her hand out and grabs hold of the next bar, soon enough she's at the end and is holding on to the last bar.
"See you did it"
"Yes, now let me down"
"OK let go of the bar"
Kripa lets go and falls into Angad's arms, he puts her down and both run over to Shilpa and Kareena who stand up
"Let's go home now"
Angad nods his head at Shilpa and picks up the basket. Kareena stops Kripa before she can go anywhere and hugs her. Kripa is taken aback but hugs her back and looks at her
"Thanks Kripa, I know the only reason we came here was so you could cheer me up, and you have, so thanks"
Kripa smiles and takes Kareena's arm in hers and follows Angad and Shilpa.
*****************
Angad flops onto his bed as soon as he gets into his room after dinner, he sees Kripa about to go into hers so he calls out to her and she comes into his.
"That was fun Kripa, you do have some good ideas"
"Of course I do Angad"
Kripa sits on the bed and watches as Angad's chest moves up and down slowly in rhythm with his breathing, she watches as he closes his eyes and lays his head back, thinking he's going to fall asleep, Kripa gets up to leave but stops when she hears Angad's phone ringing, Angad scowls and gets off the bed, he grabs his phone and looks at the screen and sees Dilip's name flashing, he curses under his breath before answering.
"Angad?" comes Dilip's sad stricken voice
Angad sits back on the bed before answering
"Dad"
Kripa closes the door and leans against the cupboard waiting for the conversation to end, even she wanted to know what Dilip had to say for him self.
"Angad, I know you're angry"
"Naturally dad, where are you?"
"I'm somewhere"
"I don't know where you are, but I know where you're not, you're not here, why dad? Why did you leave? Weren't you the one who wanted to come here in the first place?"
Angad avoids asking anything about Kareena straight away as he knew the answers his dad would give would make him angrier than he felt right now.
"Angad, I just had to leave, I'm in Birmingham, and I will be going back to London soon"
Angad breathes deeply
"And what about Kareena? Weren't you supposed to be going to the US? Or have you forgotten about your wife?"
"That has nothing to do with you son"
Angad stands up as he yells
"The hell it doesn't dad! Wasn't it you who wanted me so badly to accept your relationship? What was it you said to me dad? That you loved her truly, that she was the only person you felt came close to mom? What happened to that dad? How can that suddenly disappear?"
Dilip's silence causes Angad to fume with more anger
"Answer me dad!"
Again Dilip stays silent.
"Fine, don't answer me dad, but you owe it to Kareena, you say you're going back to London, well mark my words dad, I'll bring her there and make you answer her every question, I won't let you ruin her life dad, not when you went against your own son to marry her"
Angad harshly presses the cancel button and throws his phone on the bed, Angad feels Kripa's hand on his shoulder, he turns and hugs her and rests his head on her shoulder. Kripa offers him her support and gently brushes her hand through his hair. Angad breathes deeply and moves back, he kisses Kripa's forehead
"I'm tired Kripa, I just want to sleep, I'll speak to you later ok?"
Kripa nods her head and kisses Angad's cheek before leaving the room and closing the door behind her. Angad flops back onto the bed and closes his eyes.
***************
Kripa is about to lie in bed when she hears her door opening, she glances up and finds Kareena standing in the doorway, Kripa ushers her to come inside and sit on the bed, Kareena obeys and sits by Kripa.
"I heard Angad yelling"
Kripa bites her bottom lip before answering
"It was Dilip Uncle; Angad's angry with him for what he did and wanted his dad to know"
"What did Dilip say?"
"Nothing other than that he's going to London, but Angad told him he would take you there so that Dilip Uncle can answer all your questions"
Kareena nods her head slowly
"Thanks Kripa, for everything, anyways get some rest, I'll speak to Angad in the morning"
Kripa wishes her goodnight and waits for Kareena to close the door behind her before resting her head onto the pillow and closing her eyes.