chapter 1
"Teji niwas"'.Heer watched as the board which was the beacon of their shelter, slide down'her eyes were flooding'Meher and Chah clinged to her..Their home..Their only sanctuary is being taken away from them'teji bua left them' and when this day comes to an end they will be apart.. away from eachother''
Teji nivas was being auctioned by authorities'after that it will be demolished'.just like their lives'.which is going to change forever'..
Heer remembered what bua told her about Meher and Chah'.Meher was also an orphan,she was a small baby when bua brought her 'From that day itself it was 2yr old heer who had been her everything,her friend ,guide,sister and what not.Today they are going to part their ways'..
Chah was only four'Heer's heart cried when she took chah in her arms''she should go to St.Agnes orphanage as per the arrangements made by Teji earlier'.How she'll manage without her''''
As the three weeping souls held to each otherand stood silently watching the proceedings a car entered the gate.it stopped a few steps ahead of them.An elderly person got out from the passenger seat.Heer immediately recognised him.Mr.Lalit Juneja,business tycoon'his empire encompassed textiles,jewellary,construction and what not..He had come to their home before bua's death'..she was surprised then'.bua had a confidential meeting with him'..To heer he appeared as a caring gentleman.
As heer was busy recollecting her meeting with Lalit,the driver of the car got out'He was standing straight adjusting his coat'a tall handsome guy'As both men looked around to assess the situation Lalit saw heer'"heer'."he said more or less to himself .The guy also looked at the direction and his eyes fell on the girls .Heer looked up suddenly and their eyes locked for a fraction of second'
Lalit went up to the girls .he just stood there as heer tried to console a sobbing Meher and Chah."I"ll come after the formalities"saying this lalit looked at the guy who was watching them intently.He nodded and both of them went to the auction venue.
'Di ,mujhe aapse door nahi jaana..' Chah wailed'heer tried to make her quiet as she watched the nuns from chah's orphanage approach them.she bent on her knees.'di hamesha aati rahegi naa'are meri achi bachi,roti nahi'..aur dekho tumhare kitne friends honge wahaan.meri gudiya khoob khelengi naa.aur khana theek se khana ,yeh nahi kehna ki mujhe di ke haathon se khana hai'she choked on her words.Meher hugged heer..' di ,kya hum ek saath nahi reh sakthe?'.they both cried.
Heer and Meher kissed chah goodbye.her heart was pounding wildly .sensing that Meher quickly held her hands..'di aap apni maa se milne jaa rahi hai 'aap ko tho khush hona chahiye.'heer's eyes welled up..she said in her mind"main khush hoon'.lekin ek ajeeb sa dar lagtha hai"
both heer and meher stood there holding on to each other waiting for their destinies to take over their lives..
Another car pulled over and a middle aged couple got out..they came towards heer and meher.the lady extended her hands to meher as heer tried to smile''beta..'she said to heer 'Iam Malini guptha,this is my husband Prateek guptha.Teji had entrusted Meher's care with us .then only the thought of being all alone hit heer.Meher was sobbing uncontrollably hugging her'.heer gathered all her strength not to break in front of meher..'chup ho jao meher'main kahi bhi ho tumhare paas hi to hoon'..She turned to Malini.'Auntiji'Meher ka khyal rakhiyega" Malini smiled and nodded looking at Prateek.Prateek appeared to be little disintrested..but he too nodded .Given assurence heer embraced meher and made her sit in the car..
As the car pulled away everything blurred before her eyes.she could'nt see anything due to the flood in her eyes''..she was now alone'..all alone'.she did'nt know what will become of her'..Heer felt like sinking '..she felt lifeless 'and drifting'Before passing out the last thing registered by her conciousness was a sharp pain''.
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Heer opened her eyes'.she looked around'suddenly becoming aware of a sharp pain on her left temple'her brows twitched in pain'.but her mind was frantically searching answers for questions in her mind."where am I? how I came here? She was feeling warm as if she had a fever'her head throbed violantly and she clutched her head''she touched the bandage and wondered how it came there''..
she sat upright and tried toget out of the large bed as she noticed the luxury of the room. it was neat ,spacious and beautiful,none of the kind she saw in her life.she was feeling awkward and scared .she was still pondering her questions when a serene face appeared at the door..
'are beta tum uth gayi? chalo acha hua main tumhareliye khana leke aayi thi kuch kha le'"keeping food tray on the table the lady sat beside heer..Sensing her confusion she said smiling'.'tumhe darne ki koi zaroorath nahi hai.tum Lalit juneja ke ghar me ho aur main Gayathri juneja ,unki patni.who tum wahan behosh padi thi'mere bete ne tumhe dekha aur yahan le aaya.Ab yeh sab chodo ,zara fresh hoke aajao khana thanda ho jaayega'"
heer was trying to speak out'kya yeh meri maaa hai'.kaise pata lagaoo'kisse poochoo..Gayathri touched her and she shivered.Gayathri was talking to her but nothing went to her ears.Gayathri did'nt notice heers drooping eyelids.she passed out,but before sliding into depths she heard Gayathri shout'.Prem' Prem''
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Prem juneja,son of Lalit juneja,CEO of JI group was distressed....and what bothered him was that he ,a person of conviction could'nt find any logical reason for his state of mind.Prem could'nt remove her face from his mind..so pure'.. so natural''and those eyes said all things, so much pain, helplessness'.and he wondered why he could'nt stand that pain ?
After finishing the proceedings Prem had walked out of the office to get some fresh air..his eyes unknowingly searched for the girls whom he saw earlier ..but they were gone'As he had time to spare he decided to give a look at the property they bought .He walked past the trees with leisurly strides .Suddenly he stumbled upon something'..someone'.he quickly bent down and saw a perfect face ,creamy complexion, beautiful eyelids 'perfect lips'.he was brought to reality when he saw blood 'she was bleeding'.he found a stone smeared by blood nearby'.As he touched her he became aware of the temperature''she probably became unconcious and hit her head'..
Prem took hre in arms and ran to office where Lalit was exchanging pleasantries with everyone.Lalit saw heer in Prems hands and was shocked..'Heer',beta ,Heer'.aankhe kholo'"he called her but there was no response.
"Dad ,she has high fever and it seems that she became unconcious and hit a stone'"prem said "hum inhe ghar leke jaate hai aur main docter ko ghar pohonchne ko keh dete hai"Lalit thought for a second and nodded.
As he placed her inside the car Prem felt an odd feeling'..even unconcious she seemed so anjelic'..and how well he could carry her slim figure as if he had been doing that for ages'.!!
"Prem'.Prem'..jaldi aajao"he heard Gayathri screaming.He quickly got to his feet and ran towards guest room sensing alarm in Gayathri"s voice.he saw his morther holding on to heer who was looking like a drooping flower'..head bent to shoulders''.Prem held heer from Gayathri's arms and laid her on the bed'
"kya hua tha maa?"prem asked Gayathri.."kuch nahi beta'who bohot hi mental struggle main hai'bohot thaki hai'.hosh aaya to janna chahthi thi ki who kahaan par hai aur main bata rahi thi'.tab achanak se behosh hogayi'.Tum yahi iske paas baith main ramu se kehke thoda garam paani aur soup laati hoo"
"ji maa'"
As heer regained conciousness she opened her eyes mumbling'."Ma'.Ma'.'she tried to get up when r pair of strong hands supported her'.she turned to see the person and was slightly scared to se a man '.an unknown man'holding her shoulders'she looked around 'confused she stooped her shoulders.Prem was intently watching her when she was trying to open her eyes.He helped her to sit up.But the look in her eyes made him realise that she is scared 'he soon let go of his hold on her and got up'"Don't be scared.Ma will be coming here in no time .she just made me to take care of you for sometime'"just then Gayathri entered with food and medicines and Prem left the room.