3. The Ultimatum
Aryan sat confused in his office as he saw Imlie leave. Well, that was clearly not what he was expecting. He knew she had objections and he was ready to reason it out if she used that brain of hers and proposed a good enough deal, but she just agreed to it and walked away. He expected her to fight him at least but all she said was 'This wont be the end of it'.
Aryan Singh Rathore was not afraid though, after all he did love a good competition. But he knew there was something going on beneath those calm waters. A storm brewing, a plan hatching. He just had to find out, What ?
Imlie agreeing to part from the Tripathi's so easily was as much a shock as a relief. He'd keep an eye out nonetheless, plant some more eyes if he could but since she did agree to it now, he will make sure she follows it to the T.
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1 month later
Imlie walked into her room at Rathore mansion with a smile on her face and sunk into her bed after throwing her bag on the couch. An onlooker would assume her to be dead tired after the day she had but not Imlie. She was tired, Yes. Very, but she was happy. There was nothing more peaceful than going to bed after a fruitful day knowing you did your best and her exhaustion did nothing to deter that.
She couldn't remember the last time she felt this content before going to bed. Maybe the worry of half the world never let her but now all she did was work, study, assignments, research and the list went on and on. That's all she remembered doing for the past few weeks since she rejoined BT on that Akkadbagga's orders.
If she took a moment to acknowledge it herself then she would see her personal growth more prominently. Her suggestions were now awaited during a decision, Aryan for a change accepted her word without arguing for half an hour (he still gave his expert advice time to time), she now had confidence that her post as the featured writer was not a favour but a well deserved position, her colleagues had started including her in their lunch time discussions, some even asked her to help them edit their article and above all she felt much more independent and stronger than ever before.
What she did not like though was Aryan bossing her around, giving her an evil eye the moment her phone rang with someone other than Kakima and Arpita Di calling, citing the deal the moment she attended one, made her ignore and cut several calls to the extent that he now held her phone the entire time she was in the office. She would never tell him that his endless assignments for her throughout the day had benefitted her and she sure as hell didnt plan on telling him that she felt strong and confident because of that.
She would never tell him because although her career was now promising a bright future she was still not allowed to share the achievement with her family. She needed someone to share her daily achievements with and while she could do it with Aryan, she chose not to. His packed schedule for her throughout the day made sure she had little to no time for unnecessary phone calls or texts and it also ensured that by the time she came back home she was so tired that she couldn't even move a muscle.
She went to sleep with these thoughts because the next day was Sunday. Sundays were a respite. He gave her small assignments and research work but he had also made it a point to let her cook lunch and dinner on a Sunday on her insistence. She loved these little activities she did for her family and it made her curse Aryan more for not letting her meet the T's even on Sundays.
She did have an hour long phone call with them sneakily twice in this month but that wasn't enough. It had almost been a month now and she wanted to meet them at any cost so on this opportune Sunday when Aryan had gone to Mumbai on a business trip, she left saying that she was meeting a colleague for an article discussion but landed right outside the Tripathi's doorstep.
She rang the bell with the excitement of meeting them after so long and her plan on telling them about everything that she experienced this month. She waited a while before she was greeted with the face of a tragic looking Sundar. She walked with him to the living room where everyone was sitting with a similar expression on their faces.
When they looked up at her, they didnt seem very happy. Radha was the first one to speak "Aa gayi tujhe humari yaad"
"Ma, what is this, why are you all so sad. Did something happen ?"
She looked around at everyone expecting an answer but she received none. Then she walked to Rupi didi and repeated her question. "Mai nhi bata paungi" she said.
"Someone plss tell me whats going on" Then she realised that Aditya was missing from the room so she asked where he was.
Harsh was the one who answered. "Jab tujhe sirf apni kaam ki fikar hai abhi aur parivaar ko bhul gayi hai toh yaha aa ke ye sawaal puchne ka kya faida. Humne pure hafte teko itne phone kiye tab toh tune ek bhi nhi uthaya toh ab kyu yaha aayi hai"
"Sorry, wo phone mere paas rehta hi nhi hai par hua kya."
Aparna was the next "Adi jail mai hai..... Usne ek hafte pehle apne new job pe kisi ke saath jhagda kiya work ethics ko lekar. Next day Adi ka murder wala article bahaut bold tha newspaper ke hisaab se toh fir se unn dono mai approval ko leke jhagda hua. Boss ne Adi ki baat nhi suni and usko suspend kar diya. Usne peena shuru kar diya fir se and abhi drink and drive ke case mai wo andar hai" Aparna was reduced to sobs till she reached the end.
Imlie moved forward to hug her but she moved away. "Hum samajhte hai ki tera kaam important hai parr aisa bhi kya hai ki tu ek phone nhi kar sakti thi. Kam se kam itna hi puch leti ki yaha sab kaise hai"
Pankaj intervened and said "Hume teri zarurat thi beta, ye pura hafta"
"I am so sorry papa meko pata hi nhi tha warna mai bhaag ke aa jati. Aplog please niraash matt hoiye sab theek ho jaayega. Aditya sir 2-3 din mai bahar aa jaayenge."
Nishant answered, "Nhi aayega wo bahar. Drive karte wakt usne footpath pe ek aadmi ka accident kar diya. Wo aadmi ko 2 fractures hai and hum paise bhi nhi bhar sakte.Tujhe toh pata hai humaare paas paise nhi hai aur Adi bhai ki job bhi gayi"
"Aaplog tension matt liejiye, ye month ki salary aate hi mai bhar dungi paise and Aditya sir ke liye ek lawyer bhi hire kar denge. "
"Koi zarurat nhi hai. humne humaari saari jewlery bech di hai. Kal tak paise mil jaayenge. Uske baad hum Adi ko bhi chudwa lenge" came Radha kaki's pat reply.
"Kya? Iski zarurat nhi hai, mai manage kar lungi plss aplog aisa matt boliye."
Harsh sadly said that, "Humne manage kar liya hai beta. Tu nhi thi toh hume karna pada. Tu wapas jaa apne kaam pe dhyan de ab hum teko pareshaan nhi karenge. Tu waise bhi bahaut busy rehti hai"
"Aisi baat nhi hai, plss aaplog aise baate matt kariye. I am sorry, I am so sorry"
When no one looked at her, she waited for a while in awkward silence and finally gave up and left. She had tears streaming down her face when she walked out. All she could think was that how she failed in supporting her family, how she was absent when they needed her. How her work had separated her from her family, how Aryan had separated her from her family.
She hid herself from Kakima and Arpita Di and closed the door of her room. She cried on the bed for not being able to handle both things and felt useless. She remembered their words and felt bad for disappointing them. She cried herself to sleep that night and prepared herself for yet another Monday.
Aryan had arrived back in BT on a Tuesday expecting what he saw on his table. He had known Imlie visited the Tripathis because he had planted a camera outside the front door. Not to spy, just to see whether Imlie entered or not and sure she did. Obviously on a day when he was not there, he had also seen her leave from there with tears in her eyes.
Imlie had worked like a robot on Monday, her passion and interest was lacking somewhere and as a result Aryan did not see Imlie's article on the Tuesday edition of the paper. He knew it was the Tripathi spell that had affected her otherwise excelling perfromance so he had called her to his cabin.
"Ye kya hai Imlie, ek din mai yaha nhi tha aur tum unn Tripathi's se mil ke aa gayi wo bhi meri permission ke bina. Sirf wo hi nhi, tum waha se aayi aur yaha tumhare performance pe asar padna shuru ho gya"
She looked at his shocked that he knew. "Tum meri jasoosi kar rhe ho. How do you know what happened"
"I am Aryan Singh Rathore Imlie."
She rolled her eyes and said, "Right. Anyways it was you who affected my performance. You didnt let me meet them and you tried to control my life. If I had known what happened, I would have helped them and they would not be so dasappoined in me and my mood would not have been miserable so to see, this is entirely your fault."
"Of course it is. Why would you ever blame the T's. Fine since you broke the deal which I warned you not to, I am sending you to Mumbai. To complete your masters in journalism and it will be a BT payed trip so dont bother with What, when, where and how. "
"What the hell. As it is my family is angry and now you wat to send me away that to for a masters I never asked for. Are you even in your right mind. I am going nowhere and the deal is off, I wont do anything you say."
"Oh really, if you go I will release your precious Babusaheb from the jail on bail"
"You will? Fine then release him and let me meet them then I will go to Mumbai"
"Oh so now you can open that mouth and not when those Tripathis made you cry."
"I deserved it, it was my fault"
"Was it Imlie. was it ? Tum waha nhi thi toh wolog ne manage kiya na, iska yahi matlab hai ki tum waha babysitting nhi bhi karogi toh wolog marr nhi jaayenge. Jab tum unki life mai nhi thi tab wo problem kaise handle karte the ab bhi waise hi karenge. Wolog ne tumpe depend hone ki adat bana li hai aur tum bhi unhe apna faida uthane deti ho. Unke bete ki galti tum kyu jaake solve karogi jab ki tumhara unse koi relation hi nhi hai. Legally dekha jaaye toh tumhara aur unka koi relation nhi hai fir bhi tum unke peeche apni life barbaad karne ke liye ready ho jaati ho"
"Legally nhi toh emotionally hi sahi. Dont you dare say that I am not related to them"
"Fine. Emotionally hi sahi but saare emotion tum hi kyu le kar ghumogi. Unhe jab tumhari zarurat hoti hai tum waha pahauch jaato ho parr agar tumhe unka support chahiye , tumhe space chahiye toh kya unka farz nhi bnata ki wo tumhe support kare and tumhe space de."
"Unhone mujhe support kiya Aryan, mujhe space aur freedom bhi di. Parr ek mahina bahaut zada hota hai. Mujhe unke paas hona chahiye tha"
"Space and support ko tum time se kaise compare kar sakti ho Imlie. Matlab unka pyar sirf ek mahine tak tha uske baad pyaar aur support gayab. Aur ye kaise support hai Imlie. Ek mahina tum unse nhi mili aur har ek din tumhara article paper mai chapa, ek din tum unse mil ke aa gaayi aur tumhare article ka namonishaan nhi hai. ye hai tumhara support system jo tumhe aage badhne se rokta hai, jo tumhe peeche kheechta hai toh aisa support tum na hi lo toh theek hoga."
Imlie didnt say anything more because she didnt want to argue and less because she wanted time to think about all this information that he has imparted. Also where the hell did a masters degree come from.
Aryan watched Imlie leave without a further word and he sighed behind her back. How was he supposed to get it through her thick head that she was not responsible for them anymore. A 19 year old shouldn't have to bare the brunt of a family of 8 that she had no relation to.
He had arranged the masters for her in Mumbai and also searched a part time job in one of his companies as a PR assistant but this stubborn chit had him release that Tripathi from jail where he was enjoying seeing him. He would only get him out on bail, no way he would give him a clean chit even if Imlie begged for it.
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2 weeks later Imlie was all packed and ready to leave for Mumbai. The first week she had made sure Aditya reached home and she also apologized to the Tripathis and informed them about her going to Mumbai. They had forgiven her and said that they would miss her. They again forwarded their unconditional love and support for her in her journey once they made sure their son was well settled again. They had said their teary goodbyes and Imlie was sobbing till they reached Rathore Mansion.
Aryan had scoffed in the background almost laughing at how fast they changed their colours. As long as she cleaned up after their son, they were happy. The moment she withdrew from her so called responsibility they were all ready to pounce on her. He wanted to shoot a film and make her watch how she was being used but that stubborn @$$ wont accept so he just enjoyed the fake show from afar and left from there the first opportunity he got.
At home, Narmada and Arpita had also shed some tears seeing her leave but they made her promise to call them when she was free. They told her they would visit when she had holidays or she could come here for her breaks and she just nodded emotionally. They sent homemade snacks for her, blessed her, told her to concentrate on her studies and also warned Aryan to behave on their ride. Aryan felt as if she was the child of the house and he was an outsider but he he just nodded.
_________
Once in Mumbai, Aryan had made sure Imlie adjusts well and was all set for the beginning of her semester. He told her to appear for the job interview as well. Once she grabbed it, he warned her that she would have to pay hell if she returned from here in an emotional rush before getting that degree. He had specifically warned her that it was once in a lifetime offer from BT for deserving employs and if she blew it she would never get to complete her masters again. She had again called him out for bossing her and controlling her but he had ignored it like he had been for the past month.
All this while he had realized that supporting Imlie and seeing her rise high gave him peace and happiness. He had given it the tag of a mentor and mentee relation but everyone around knew better. Arpita and Narmada had pin pointed it while teasing him and he had payed no heed but it did stir something inside him. Deep down even he knew there was more. Maybe fate was waiting for the right time for them to realize what they meant for each other. For them to be on the same page so they could write the rest of their pages together. Till then Aryan would continue to provide unconditional support and strength while never rubbing it in her face and Imlie would continue to live in a hate but care for him emotion oblivious to the lengths this man took to care for her.
That was another crossroad they would come across together but also conquer together.
THE END
Authors note :
There we go. Its a wrap..... Still two papers remaining and I couldn't concentrate on studies so I sat down to write and wrote in one go. Do comment your thoughts on this one. Also ignore me rushing the end just to end it and return to studies again 😅😅
Not proof read so there might be mistakes.
I do have another plot in mind so I might write that but after a month or so maybe kyuki Ramzan aa rha hai. I might even add a sequel to this TS if yall would like to read it. Just suggest what I should do and I might follow.
Indian Idol 15
