Hello guys! ⭐️Thank you for all the lovely comments on the previous update! Means a lot! ❤️And motivates me to update faster!😉
So here is the next part! Please leave your feedback.
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And without much ado Happy reading!
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Taking a chance in love
Chapter 04 - Following the light
"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the lights."
Albus Dumbledore
Abhi watched Pragya walking away from him.
Darkness was rapidly falling in.
Abhi sighed.
Darkness was rapidly falling in all around him as sun went down and on the other hand, darkness in his life too slowly crept back, this time fiercer than it was a few hours ago.
He stared at Pragya's retreating back.
The girl with the multi-color bangles, bringing light and hope into his miserable life. Now walking away taking the light and hope with her.
Really Rockstar! Snap out of it! What's up with you and all this philosophical talk! This is so not you!
A little voice in Abhi's mind sneered at him.
But that is the truth!
Abhi argued with the voice in his head.
Truth! What truth! Do you even know this girl! She is a stranger! A complete stranger!
So what? I have not been able to share all this with anyone I know! So why not a complete stranger!
A stranger that religiously read the gossip column! What are the chances you wouldn't end up there after trusting her?
She won't tell anyone! I know she won't! She won't betray my trust!
Oh! Just like you knew with Aaliyah! Just like you knew with your...
STOP!
Don't you dare do anything stupid Rockstar! Snap out of it! Now!
"Pragya!"
Abhi called out to her just as she was about to step out from his vision.
She stopped and turned to him.
"Yeah..."
He walked up to her slowly.
"Pragya do you have any plans for tonight? Do you mind staying with me for a while?"
Looking at her face he knew she is going to reject his offer, before she answered.
But suddenly she paused and Abhi saw her brows knitting together in deep thought.
"I think I can manage. Just... Err... Just give me a second."
Abhi sighed in relief and watched as she quickly typed a text.
"Don't worry! I will drop you home safe!"
"What?!"
"Tell your sister or friend or whoever it was that I would drop you home safe!"
"What?!"
"That's what you did right now! You probably told someone that you are with Abhi Mehra so that you know, someone knows that I am accountable if something happens to you!"
"What?!"
Pragya asked laughing.
"Stop saying what what! Answer the question na!"
Abhi imitated her from few minutes ago.
"Oh very funny Rockstar! By the way, why did you assume it was my sister or my friend, for all you know it could be my boyfriend?"
Abhi quickly glanced at her and found a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
"Well, could be! But I would never know until you tell right? You see unlike you I didn't have the privilege of finding anything in the gossip columns!"
"Wow! Very smart!"
Pragya laughed at him mockingly and pretended to clap.
"So shall we go sit?"
Abhi asked pointing at the direction they sat earlier.
Pragya looked around the nearly deserted park.
"Do you mind going somewhere else Rockstar?"
"Well! I don't mind! But you see one of the perks of being a celebrity is that the list of places I could go without being recognized are pretty limited."
"Well, Rockstar you are in luck today! Because you see I know the exact place where we could go! But before that we just have to make one stop on the way!"
~~~
"Wow! Seriously! I mean WOW! It's just so beautiful!"
"I know right! Isn't this like someplace right out of a book?"
"Err... Book?"
Abhi asked scrunching his nose.
"Okay then... A movie?"
"Yeah! Better! Movie!"
Pragya laughed at him as she went back to the car.
Abhi stood and looked at the view below him.
Thousands and thousands of lights.
Then he looked towards the sky filled with hundreds of stars.
The chilly wind kissed his face as it danced all around him.
This feels so magical.
He has almost asked Pragya to turn around the car when she drove far away from the city, and then up this road. But she kept assuring that it would be worth it in the end when he sees the view. She had kept her hand on his eyes to make sure he is not peeping and finally when she asked him to open his eyes it took him a minute to realize that he is staring at all the lights from his city. And the stars? Why didn't he see stars from his window?
She was right.
The view was so beautiful that he couldn't help but grin like a child.
He knew this feeling well. He missed this feeling! He missed it for nearly two decades. This was exactly how he felt when Papa took him and Aaliyah to the planetarium for the first time on his birthday.
He was eight years old then but he could still remember how he felt that day, because... Because that was, and still is the best day of his life!
"Abhi!"
His chain of thoughts were broken by Pragya's voice. He turned around to find her sitting cross legged on the car hood, holding the ice cream tub she bought on their way.
She motioned him to join her which he gladly did.
"So Rockstar what do you think? We could still go back if you want..."
She smiled at him.
"Thank you Pragya!"
Abhi wished Pragya could understand how thankful he really is, because no word would suffice to explain how he really felt at this moment.
Pragya nodded and opened the ice cream tub.
"Okay Rockstar! Time for dinner! Grab your spoon and jump in otherwise I am going to finish this whole thing! All alone!"
"Err... It's okay! You have it! I am not that fond of ice cream and the wind is ... HEY!"
Abhi tried to protest as Pragya quickly shoved a spoon filled with ice cream in to his mouth stopping him mid-sentence.
She then stared at him waiting for his reaction.
"Well, it is better than I thought!"
Pragya narrowed her eyes.
"Okay! Way better!"
He grudgingly admitted as he took the spoon Pragya offered him.
"UFF! Rockstar! I already told you so na! Have a little faith Rockstar!"
Pragya replied casually as she scooped ice cream from the tub.
"I do. I wouldn't be here in the first place if I didn't trust you."
Abhi felt Pragya's eyes on him but decided to enjoy the ice cream for the moment.
"Thank you!"
Pragya replied and smiled at him.
They both were silent for few minutes as they had their ice cream.
"So how did you find this place?"
Abhi finally broke the silence.
"Well, I was at a very low phase in my life when someone who is very dear to me brought me to this place. I was very little then, but this view, this... You know this whole experience gave me hope. Hope that one day it would be all right."
"Did it? Did it become all right?"
Abhi didn't know why he was whispering but it was almost as if he feared someone (or more specifically Pragya) would hear and would answer his question.
Pragya who was staring ahead at the view, turned to him hearing his query, and suddenly Abhi realized he was whispering because he feared the answer.
"Yes! It did!"
They both turned towards the view again.
"Pragya I have more money than I could ever use. Almost all my songs have been hits. I can't even remember the number of awards I have won. I have millions of fans who worship the ground I walk on! Huh... But do you know what's funny..."
Abhi laughed mirthlessly.
"If you really look into my life, I am poorer than a beggar in the street. I don't have anything... I mean anything at all apart from my Daadi. I am a failure! As a son, as a brother... I am nothing! Nothing but a failure! Despite having "a life that anyone would envy", you know according to your gossip columns, I don't wish anyone a life like mine!"
He sighed loudly and ran his hand through his face ashamed to find it wet with his own tears.
He felt a pair of arms circling his shoulder drawing him towards an unfamiliar but rather a comforting embrace. He gave in without a second thought and clutched the petite waist tight as he hid his face in her hair.
He had no idea how long he stayed under the spell(well, it has to be a spell), till it was broken by the wetness in his shoulder.
He shifted and the hand drawing soothing circles on his back stopped its actions, making him miss their comfort immediately.
He looked at Pragya's face to find it drenched with her own tears.
Somehow tears made her all wrong. No! Tears didn't suit her. He wiped away the tears carefully.
Her cute nose was all red.
He placed a kiss on her cute nose.
Then he shifted down and placed a kiss on her upper lip.
Then a little down... And found the perfect resting place for his lips in hers.
And stayed there forever.
Slowly, Pragya began to respond to his kiss and he deepened the kiss only to find him being roughly pushed back.
"Ouch!"
He felt a sharp pain as his head hit the ground. He laid there trying to make sense out of what happened.
However, the sudden adrenaline rush made his senses more alert to the commotion around his surroundings and he staggered to his feet only to find Pragya pointing a gun at him.
"You want to see my gun?"
Abhi clutched his throbbing head as her playful voice echoed in his head from their encounter few hours ago.
"Is this... Is this some kind of a joke!?"
Abhi asked her trying to shut down the echoing in his head.
With that he saw Pragya pulling the trigger, followed by a deafening sound and a sharp stab in his left arm.
He felt his knees giving away and he fell to the ground as darkness consumed all his senses.
Sampoorna
622