The Red String Theory (Chapter 17 updated on page 59) - Page 31

Originally posted by: tahera57

for "Red String Theory "readers😃.

a pic of Paris love lock bridge

Originally posted by: tahera57

for "Red String Theory "readers😃.

a pic of Paris love lock bridge

HI naila I also read the same article I think but I thought I would leave the information out as it would damage the romantic image you wrote in the ff. I being not so romantic mined suggest the lovebirds to keep the spare key in case things don't work out and lighten he strain on the bridge... ok don't throw your chappals at me ...just a thought..heeheeeheee.

Originally posted by: goody2shoes

@ bold. yes like for 5 mins.😆

Originally posted by: Nakusha

hi platform

bechara bridge ..pyar ke taali taale daaba chaa raha hai😆

*Hello folks. Firstly sorry for the delay. It's been heck of a month, and the next is going to be even more jam packed. I finally have the date for my graduation: 8th Dec! Eek. Need to start looking for the perfect evening gown now! I'm feeling like navy? Then of course a week before that, it's my cousins wedding. Yaay a family wedding, but as you guys have probably gathered by now; I'm not one for massive parties. Mum's already telling me to pull myself together and get my outfits sorted, but all just seems like a massive chore to me...I shall keep you posted on the dressing woes front. BUT BUT more than that, and the biggest news is that I shall be meeting my new niece/nephew very soon!!! Due on bonfire night, but chances are it'll be sooner, just like his/her's older brother and sister were. Damn I cannot wait to be a khalla again! On which note, if it's not too much of an ask could you please spare a few moments in your prayers for my sister, so that things go smoothly for her. ;p ...and now that I am done weirdly informing complete strangers about my life on facts which you probably don't care about anyway: here you go without further ado: chapter fourteen. Enjoy!*

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Chapter fourteen: Sticks and stones may break bones, but silence cuts deeper than words.

Date: 8^th June 2014
Time: 8.15 p.m
Place: The Honeymoon suite, Mariott, Paris.
Mood: Candid

Dutta had been fuming. His temper was beyond control as he marched into the hotel room. He was angry, but at whom?

Now that was a question he'd rather not answer.

Of course he knew the answer.

It was himself.

He was furious...at himself. He was annoyed...at himself. And right now? He wanted to punch himself in the face.

This, all of it, was his fault and now his Rosie was stuck in the middle of it.

Dutta had been so busy berating himself that it was only after his phone rang for the third time that he realised he had many missed calls and a Whatsapp message, from Roops;

Skype sess? Or have you forgotten? I'm told Paris has that effect ;) Let me know ASAP, Rumaan won't eat till he's spoken to his "Mama Data"!!!! ;) Xxx'

Dutta instantly checked his watch,

Crap!'

He'd forgotten all about his Skype session with his nephew.

Logging onto his laptop quickly, Dutta began tapping away on his phone, responding to Roops' message:

Bonjour! ;) Not forgotten. Just delayed. You online now? Xxx'

Dutta waited before he saw that Roops was now online.

----------------------------

"Bonjour"

Dutta greeted an extremely chirpy eighteen month old boy from the other side, who beamed up at him;

"Rumaan, look who it is!" Roops excitedly pointed at the screen, for the benefit of the baby on her laps;

"Mama Data" he screamed, bouncing up in excitement.

"It sure is young man!" Dutta grinned proudly, while waving frantically at his nephew, who he noted was extremely happy, to see his uncle and to get the answer right.

"Roops, Ca Va?" Dutta asked smirking somewhat.

"Ca va, bien merci, et vous?" Roops responded, rattling off French as though it was her first language. Dutta suppressed a grin, at know how it easily could have been.

"Tres Bien! Et, Ca va bien Merci." Dutta responded back, exhausting all of the French that he knew.

"Ab iske aagey mujhey aur French nahin aati. I could ask you for directions and order a coffee but what help is that...we all know what your coffee tastes like." He ridiculed.

"Sacre Bleu!" Roops exasperated as she mocked a deep sense of disbelief, which had her son laughing.

"Isn't that right, Rumaan?" Roops asked her son as she kissed him affectionately.

"Again again" Her son yelled as he kissed his mother back:

"Hey what about me?" Dutta asked pouting a little, feeling left out.

Rumaan instantly frowned, and towards his mother;

"Rumaan what do we do when Daddy's going to work?" Roops asked him.

Her son screwed his face a little-the way his Mama Dutta often did when deep in thought-as though he was figuring out what he would normally do and then as though he remembered he instantly beamed at Dutta and said;

"Kissy!"

And blew Dutta a kiss.

Dutta pretended to catch his kiss and pocketed it carefully, before blowing one back. Instantaneously Rumaan imitated his uncle-right down to all his expressions and hand gestures, which had Roops smirking.

"So, not only does he look like a mini version of you, but he already has your mannerisms perfected."

"Jealous much?" Dutta teased.

"Ha, ha. No seriously, I'm gonna have to be careful with him." Roops realised, recalling how her brother had been.

"Please," Dutta scoffed.

"I'm an absolute delight." He conceited obnoxiously.

"Yeah? You really ought to upgrade your dictionary." Roops retaliated.

"Whatevs Roop." Dutta spoke, as though he was auditioning for Mean Girl: the remake or something similar.

Roops struggled to keep her amusement at bay before she carried on:

"No honestly, get this: last night he shocked Armaan and me. We went to put him to bed, he was playing with his Lightning McQueen car-the one you bought him, so before we even tell him that it's bedtime, he turns around faces us, shrugs his shoulders and sighs before walking in front of us, leading us to his bedroom! As though we'd interrupted the most important meeting of his life."

Dutta was cracking up with laughter.

"Exactly the way you used too!"

"Mom always did have a bad habit of interrupting at the most pivotal moments!"

"But at least you were six; he's not even two yet!" Roops remarked, watching her son who'd now wandered off towards his toy cars on the floor, picking them up, presumably to show Dutta.

"Well what can I say? The boy's a genius and uber cool for his boring parents." Dutta shrugged while suppressing a growing smile.

Roops shook her head and she smiled once more looking at her son, who was busy telling his mamaji all about his cars.

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Indeed Rumaan has been a blessing for her. Roops didn't have the easiest pregnancy and when she went into labour, it was the longest of nights. For a moment it didn't look as though she would pull through. And it was then during those crucial hours that Dutta saw a new side to Armaan. One which although he'd been told about, repeatedly by Roops, who left no stone unturned in an attempt to draw her husband and brother closer, Dutta, stubbornly remained unconvinced until he witnessed directly himself, just what Roops meant to Armaan.

Roops had reluctantly accepted that Dutta and Armaan would never be best of buds, but now at least Dutta's respect for Armaan had increased. They even bonded over Football and Soccer. Grunting every now and then between matches-which Roops came to learn, was apparently a socially conventional form of communication between males and cheering or booing every so often, when presumably someone scored or didn't for that matter.

In fact things had begun looking up so much so, that both Armaan and Roops had allowed Dutta to name his nephew. They had thought long and hard about his name but nothing seemed to fit. And by two weeks old, when Armaan's parents had resorted to calling him by the most cringeworthy nicknames, (all with utmost affection of course, but still who wants their kid to be referred to as gol gappa-no matter how cutesy and chubby he is?) In the end Dutta had stepped in and suggested an amalgamation of their names;

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"What?" Dutta queried as he brought his nephew closer to him and hugged him tighter;

"I think it's neat!" He told them.

Both Roops and Armaan gave Dutta a funny look;

"It is! Ru- as in Roops and Maan- as in Armaan." Dutta explained.

"It really is not that hard. Boy, I hope he doesn't get his smarts from either of you!" He joked.

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Rumaan, despite the concerns from the hospital and Roops' doctors, was born naturally, the day after Christmas, as a healthy six pounds and five ounces, and an overall pink blob. A very cute blob, Dutta had to admit. And since that Christmas of 2012 when he was born, life was different for all.

Rumaan couldn't come at a better time for Dutta. 2013-last year, without a doubt had been the toughest year of his life. Heck not just for him, but for those in his life. Baji and Haya would travel as much as possible to support him while Roops left no stone untouched when it came to being there for her bhau. They all knew what he was going through, whether he told them so much or not, and true to his nature he often opted for the latter. Dutta knew in his heart of hearts that no matter how hard he'd try, he'd never be able to repay them. He truly was blessed for having such caring loved ones.

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"Bhau, talk to me, you look exhausted." Roops informed him.

Her eyebrows had furrowed and she was wearing that look on her face again, which told Dutta that her concern levels were peaking.

Dutta had briefly forgotten how accurate Roops was at reading him

"It's nothing, didn't sleep well last night, that's all." He shrugged off and then faked a yawn.

Technically Dutta had not lied. Indeed he had not slept at all, but the reason for it wasn't work. But Roops didn't need to know that.

"Anyway, what are the plans for Rumaan's birthday?" Dutta eagerly asked, dodging the topic on hand.

"It's only June!" She laughed, at which point her son, who had wandered off to show his Mamaji his new helicopter, curious at the laughter came padding over and reached up, signalling for his mother to lift him and place him on her laps.

"I am aware." Dutta told Roops, before gasping in delight at Rumaan's toy helicopter.

"WOW! And who gave you that, little bud?" He asked Rumaan.

"Daddy" Rumaan ecstatically responded.

"Awesome! But, where's mine?" Dutta asked his nephew.

"Ask Mommy to get me one!" Dutta encouraged.

"Mommy, Mama Data Lopter?" her son queried, tilting his head slightly to look up at his mother.

"We'll get him one too. Ok?" She told her son.

"Today?" He asked in excitement.

"Ok, Sweetie, today. But only after you finish your chicken nugget." She told him.

Rumaan instantly picked up the remainder of the chicken nugget he'd been eating.

"Nice!" Dutta replied before making a face, as Rumaan showed his Mamaji his mouth full of food.

"So yeah, Roop, plans?"

"His birthday is six months away!" Roops continued.

"And? We can plan. Can't we Tubby?" Dutta asked his nephew, who smiled broadly.

Apparently it was ok for Dutta to have odd names for his nephew, but everyone else had to call him Rumaan, or Rumi for short.

And nothing else.

"You're deflecting." Roops noted;

Roops knew something was wrong. She also knew her brother could hold a secret. She leaned in closer and smiled softly:

"I have all day."

Dutta couldn't help but smile a little, he really was lucky to have her in his life.

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"She's here Roops..." Dutta informed her, as Rumaan growing bored struggled off Roops' laps and went to play with his toys.

"...Of all the places in the world, of all the times to be here, she's here now. She was on the same flight, and is staying in the same hotel."

Dutta had preferred not to indulge that they were sharing a room too. Especially since he could anticipate his sister's response.

Roops did not need to ask her brother who she' was.

She knew.

She always knew.

"You say it like it's a bad thing."

"But it is." Dutta insisted.

"Why?"

Dutta just blinked at his sister.

Where would he begin?

Of course it was a bad thing. She was here, now, of all the times to be here, she had to be here now. Sure, it was summer-the perfect time to explore Paris. Sure, she had technically been on her Honeymoon. Of course their bumping into each other had been coincidental, but now, now of all times? Now when he'd come for the final settlement, when he had fulfilled the last legal requirement and especially now when he knew more than ever that his heart still beat for her.

Only for her.

But more than that, and that which scared him, she still felt the same. She still loved him.

Despite it all.

Roops sighed;

"We all get a second chance. This is yours."

"Roops..." he tried to interrupt:

"No. IT IS! You cannot change what happened. Nor would you want too. Because that is you, more compassionate then you realise. I know given the chance again you'd go back and do exactly the same. You'd marry her again. You'd turn your back on your happiness for the sake of a friend, again. Because that's who you are. But why should that shape your future? Especially when you've been given a clean slate so as to speak?"

"She ran away from her wedding." He told her quietly, closing his eyes somewhat.

Roops blinked.

"Yes." Dutta clarified.

"You heard right."

Roops was silent for a while.

"But that's even more of a reason to right your wrongs." Roops smiled.

Dutta looked at her sceptically.

"Seriously!" She added, her eyes growing in excitement.

"She feels the same way. Why else would she run?" She rhetorically asked, before continuing to piece together the story:

"She feels the same way. You still feel the same way and now, now there is no one to come between you..."

"It's not that simple Roops."

"Why? Why isn't that simple?"

"It's just not." Dutta imparted.

"It should be." Roops declared.

"Just because it should be, doesn't necessarily mean something is."

"Then change it." Roops announced.

Dutta sighed.

Roops turned around to see her son who had become awfully quiet only to see him sprawled on the floor sleeping. Roops got up, scooping him up in her arms, she settled him over her shoulder.

"He fell asleep, put him to bed." Dutta hushed.

"He was too excited to talk to you that he didn't take his mid morning nap." Roops smiled as she gently kissed the nape of her son's neck.

"Put him to bed, I'll catch you later." Dutta told her.

"You sure?"

"Yes. I've got some work to do anyway, so I've got to go."

"Ok, you take care. And listen to me: Talk to her. Tell her everything. She deserves to know."

Dutta remained silent:

"Sometimes our silence kills more than our words do." Roops spoke.

"Bonne nuite."

"Yeah I don't think I'll be sleeping much tonight." Dutta half laughed.

"I'm kinda counting on that bhau...do the right thing." Roops told him before signing off.

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"Do the right thing."

Dutta had been mulling over his conversation with his sister for a while, her final words etching deeply;

The right thing.'

Instantly Dutta, opened up a new tab on Google Chrome and knew what to do.

This is the right thing.' He thought as he saw his sister's face swim before his mind.

It is' he tried to reassure himself as he couldn't shake her disproving glance.

The right thing' he reminded himself, as he reviewed the details and then pressed enter.

In that instant the door of the hotel room swung open as in walked Nakusha.

The right thing indeed' Dutta told himself, as he saw the confirmation before him.

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"It's done. He's gone." Nakusha announced as she stepped into the room. Dutta had been sat before his laptop, and instantly upon her arrival closed it abruptly.

A little too quickly as though he was hiding something from Nakusha.

But Nakusha had had enough.

"I'm done with this cat and mouse game."

Dutta looked up at her, he was still quite annoyed. Nakusha could sense what he was thinking;

"He's a done chapter. You know Schwarzenegger style: Hasta la vista." She'd hoped that would elicit a smile from him or at least a partial smirk.

But no.

Dutta was clearly not ready to let this go...yet.

"Ok, we talked it out. We were civil. He's gone. And that's probably the last I'll see of him."

He still looked unconvinced.

"Fine. You were right." She conceded.

"What?" he finally spoke.

"Typical!"

Nakusha rolled her eyes. Of course he'd respond when it came to him being right. Why wouldn't he?

"Must I spell it out?" she said now growing agitated.

"Well right now? Yes. Seen as in I have no idea what you're referring to."

"About him. About the engagement."

Dutta still remained blank.

Nakusha took a deep breath and spoke;

"The last time we met. You told me to walk away. You told me not to marry him. You told me to say no...But I didn't. And today, two years later, I'm telling you; you were right. You were right Dutta. I should have said no."

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Date: 18^th July 2012
Time: 7p.m
Place: Outer garden "Dutta's spot" West side patio, Mansfield Castle Hotel,
Mood: Safe

She really ought to be heading inside, her hay fever had finally started to act up, but going inside meant facing him. And facing him meant giving him an answer.

Answer.

Crap.

How had she ended up here?

In the last twenty-four hours she had gone from single to nearly engaged.

And cue panic attack again.

Just thinking about it, gave her a migraine.

Nakusha had managed to catch her breath after he had asked her, but it took time to compose herself. He had waited for some time still on one knee while she just stared completely horror struck, yet for some bizarre reason, her such reaction didn't strike him odd as he still waited on one knee.

In the end finally Nakusha had managed to get away. Telling him that she needed some time to clear her head and think things through, he'd agreed.

But now what?

She sneezed for the fourth time;

"Gesundheit."

His voice spoke, not far behind her.

"I would offer you my handkerchief, only it's in use. And I presume quite snotty by now. So how about I interest you in a sleeve?" He offered his right hand forward.

Nakusha laughed out loud while at the same time she was sure her eyes had involuntarily leaked, but not from hay fever, that much she knew.

"Always with the timing." She amused through tears.

Tears of joy.

"Part and parcel of being a knight in shining armour, M'Lady."

"Of course! And I take it your horse is off grazing somewhere?" Nakusha quizzed.

"Naturally."

Nakusha smiled somewhat;

"I'm no damsel in distress." Nakusha warned him,

Don't I know it,' Dutta thought to himself, before her heard her.

Nakusha had spoken instantly without even thinking:

"I need to get away."

Dutta looked at her. Really looked at her.

"Follow me."

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*So Tasha meet...Ok, so I have made a rough outline, and according to my calculations there are about 4 chapters left now. < all depending on how well I decide to flesh the plot out. Clearly some scenes would need more justice than others. So the liklihood is that there will be a minimum of four, but the possibility of more. I know my destination I just gotta figure out my route, which is proving quite tricky. So bear with me. ;) Till next time*