Special Guest - Chapter 1
A/N: Hello! So, just a simple two-shot of PriVeer and a special guest'. Inspired by Twerping's Breakfast and also the setting of the PriVeer Story Circle. It's my first fic here...I hope it's alright, guys.
This one's for Twerping for keeping the plot bunnies up and running, and for all the girls in the PriVeer Story Circle ❤️
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The tickling grass beneath her. The pleasant warmth that washed over her at the sound of the morning prayers. The rustling of leaves in the air as the morning breeze made the heat that day much more bearable.
If you asked Priyanka Oberoi to spend the rest of her life in this ashram, she gladly will.
The past few weeks had been rough on her. She wished she was strong enough to fight back, and she did. For a long time, she fought the invisible stalker who left all the threatening images and letters behind for her, she fought ACP Ranveer Singh Randhawa, hell, she even fought for her O Bhaiya, when he succumbed to his deadly drug habits again.
But how was she to fight herself? How was she to fight the demons, the nightmares, the endless darkness that seemed to crush her every night when she was alone in her room?
So she did what she knew she needed to do - she took a break.
Her Nani had first brought her to this ashram six months ago. Before this, none of the yoga and meditation classes she used to attend in the city helped her. But here, Priyanka could physically feel the anxiety lessen. So she made it a point to come her once in a while to find the peace that she seemed to lack in life. She had not, however, dropped by the ashram in the past two months, thanks to all that was going on back home, but she had decided enough was enough after her latest encounter with the ACP and his revelation - she wanted to be away from him, from everything that reminded her of the accident.
She took a deep breath and stood up. No point thinking about that even here, Prinku, she gently chided herself. Brushing the slight dirt off herself, Priyanka walked towards the cottage. It was almost time for lunch.
Priyanka didn't realize how hungry she was till she caught the waft of daal kichdi wafting out of the kitchens of the ashram. A small smile graced her face. Her pace quickened.
She stopped, however, when she heard a gurgle. Frowning, she looked up and down the corridor. It was empty, except for herself.
She shook her head - must be all of that hunger making her hear things. She continued on her way.
"Gaahhh!"
Priyanka paused again. This time, she was sure she wasn't making the sound up. Puzzled, she traced her steps back slowly, to where she had heard the sound from. The gurgle was coming from a small meditation room, the door slightly ajar. Curious, Priyanka stepped into the room, to find it empty...
...except for a toddler.
"Gaaah!!" the toddler repeated, slamming a soft toy (it looked to resemble an elephant) in his hand on his chubby legs, before stuffing the ear of the elephant in his mouth.
Priyanka blinked. She has never seen a toddler around this ashram before. Children, definitely. But never had she seen any child below the age of six around here.
"Maybe he's lost..." she told herself, and raised her eyebrows when the toddler quickly looked up at the sound of her voice.
"...He's going to cry now," the girl mumbled to herself, worried. "Hey...hey baby...please don't cry..." she cooed as softly as she could, nearing the baby. She half felt like she was nearing a very angry Shivaay Bhaiya - she had to be all soft and cautious.
Imagine her surprise when the toddler all but smiled at her, wrinkling his nose.
"Aaii," he blurted, clenching and unclenching his fist, as if he was greeting her.
Priyanka stood still for a second, and then burst into a fit of giggles.
"Hello to you, too!" she chuckled. Having reached him, she easily scooped the boy in her arms. With an abundance of curly black hair and soft brown eyes, the boy was as adorable as any toddler could get.
"Are you lost? Hmmm? Are your parents around here?" she went on, slowly stepping out of the room. There was no way this boy had any answers for her, so she decided that she would bring him to one of the gurujis in the ashram. They might know what to do.
"How did you even get around this ashram without being noticed? Quite the adventurer, huh, boy?" she continued talking to him, feeling more at ease than she had in the past month. "Eh...you are a boy, right?" she asked him, and then giggled again when he gave her a grin that revealed two tiny teeth growing on his bottom gum.
"Jojo!" he shrieked happily, smacking his soft toy against her cheek.
Priyanka laughed. "I get it, your friend's name is Jojo, now stop hitting me!" She playfully tickled him, finding the ever-present agony within her disappear with his every giggle.
Still holding the toddler close, she made her way towards the main part of the ashram. Suddenly, he began squirming in her arms. "What is it?" she enquired, and saw the toddler's eyes trained in a cat curled up under the shade of a tree. "You want to see the cat, huh?" she mumbled, and gently placed him down.
The toddler very slowly toddled up to the cat, and Priyanka watched him, a little amazed. The boy looked to be about two, but had the sense to be cautious so that he didn't scare the cat away. Huh.
"Uh-ohhh," came the disappointed voice, and she focused on him once again to find that the cat had seen him and scurried away.
"Eiii!!" the toddler screamed the very next moment and took off after the cat, and Priyanka ran after him.
"Uff! Do you run on your legs or a pair of wheels?!" she chuckled, after having managed to catch the toddler. She was already panting.
"Uh-ohh," he repeated again, gently this time, pointing at the general direction the cat had disappeared to.
"There will be more cats around here. I will show them to you. But first, we need to find your Mama or Papa," she reasoned with him, and then reminded herself once again that this was a toddler. He, of course, wasn't going to understand her. Priyanka smiled to herself and continued her way with the toddler in her arms, tickling him again to amuse him and keep his attention off the missing cat.
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Ranveer watched the exchange from far, eyes trained on the Oberoi girl. The very sight of an Oberoi's hands on his little nephew should aggravate him to no extent. And it did...for a bout of thirty seconds. And then he was feeling a certain warmth spread through his chest at how relaxed and happy Navdeep seemed to be with her. How was this possible? The boy could barely spend more than ten minutes alone with Shinde, his trusted assistant. How was Nav so cheerful with her?
Ranveer had been looking for his nephew for about fifteen minutes before he saw him with Priyanka. While he was more or less assured that no harm will befall the tiny toddler at this ashram (the boy had a habit of wandering off on his own, much to his uncle's dismay), he had still been anxious. He preferred to have Navdeep close to him, or at least under adult supervision at all times. The only thing that kept him from turning the ashram upside-down every time Nav went off on his own adventure, was the fact that there is always a guru or a staff walking about, who would recognize him and bring him back.
He forced his eyes to focus and follow her as she brought his nephew to Rishipal, one of the gurus living at the ashram, and also one who Ranveer was particularly fond of. He had, after all, been a mentor to him and his sister.
Straightening up, he took long strides towards the three of them over at the other end of the quaint cottage.
"Ah, there he is - Ranveer, Navdeep seems to have gone an adventure. Again," Guru Rishipal said with a gentle laugh.
Ranveer saw Priyanka turn to him, and noted, with an odd sense of satisfaction, her eyes widen in shock.
"You?!" Priyanka gasped.
"You know Ranveer?" came Rishipal's question, and Priyanka began stuttering once again.
"We are...acquainted, with each other," Ranveer simply answered with a smirk.
"Ah...I see. Well, Priyanka, this little boy, he is Ranveer's nephew. And this is not the first time he has wandered off on his own and given Ranveer and the other gurus a brief heart attack," Rishipal continued, not in the least concerned about the very obvious tension between Ranveer and Priyanka.
"I..I've never seen b-b-babies here before," Priyanka said. Ranveer caught her wringing her hands nervously, something that had been missing when she had been with Navdeep.
"Navdeep has only been coming here for the past one month, ever since Ranveer shifted to Mumbai. Before this, Navdeep's mother used to frequent this place. She practically lived here," the older man said, his smile and voice faltering at the mention of the child's mother.
"My sister. Sahana. She is, was, Navdeep's mother," Ranveer emphasized, and watched with a twisted sense of pleasure the way Priyanka seemed to begin trembling.
"Two years ago, an accident took her life. Navdeep has been with me ever since," he continued, reaching a hand out to run his fingers through Nav's hair gently. The toddler was still in Priyanka's arm, and she could now barely hold the child.
Ranveer first saw the tears pooled in her eyes, then the alleviated breathing - telltale signs of an impending panic attack. And just like that, he felt his guards drop a little. His hand, which was resting on the toddler's head, slid down to his back, where it came into contact with her arm.
"Are you okay?" The concern in his voice took even him by surprise.
"I...I need t-t-to go," Priyanka whispered. It sounded as if someone was squeezing her throat. Hastily, she handed Navdeep to his uncle, and all but dashed out of the place, running towards the gardens.
"That was...odd," Rishipal noted.
Ranveer kissed the top of Nav's head, as Nav squealed and waved his toy in his uncle's face. And then, with a frown, he turned to look at his new found companion. "Uh-ohh," the baby cooed, pointing at the fast-retreating back of Priyanka.
Ranveer sighed. "Odd, indeed."
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A/N: That's it, for now! I should be able to have the second part of this up tomorrow. I hope you liked this so far, am not the most decent writer, and definitely not well-versed in toddlers' language, but I am working on it. 😆 Do leave likes and comments, thank you!
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