Varun entered Sameer's room to find him whistling to himself and saw most of his shirts strewn over his bed. So big brother had a crush, Varun smiled to himself.
"Ahem" Varun cleared his throat and Sameer looked at him questioningly.
"Bhaiyya……are you going on a date?" he asked and Sameer shook his head in the negative.
"Then why are you taking so much care in dressing up today?" Varun asks, pointing to the shirts strewn on his bed.
"Chotte….sometimes I get confused too" Sameer replied.
"Sure……especially when you want to impress someone……..right?" Varun persists.
"Impress who?" Prithvi's baritone cuts the brothers conversation and Sameer makes eyes at Varun warning him to keep quiet.
"No one Bhai" Sameer replied quickly. Too quickly, as understanding dawned in Prithvi's eyes.
"Which girl is it now Sameer? You better not start with your old games okay….I need your full attention in the business, not mooning over some girl" Prithvi started and Sameer raised his hands in front of him in a peace sign.
"Bhai….am living life…..I suggest you and Varun should start looking too….we are not getting any younger are we?" Sameer spoke the first words which came to his mind and saw both his brother's jaws slacken in surprise.
"Start looking? Bhai you have met this girl once and you are advising us to start looking?" Varun recovered first and asked in shock.
"Which girl?" Prithvi asked not liking the fact that he didn't know much about the girl Sameer had apparently fallen for in the first meeting.
"Roshni's sister" Varun supplied and Prithvi looked at Varun and then Sameer in utter amazement. Had he been so engulfed in work and fighting with his pain that he had missed the fact that his brothers wanted to live a little and were actually enjoying the company of beautiful girls?
Prithvi sighed and Varun and Sameer looked at him. "Look guys….be careful Ok…..don't get ahead of yourselves and Sameer….you better come to the office first" he warned and then reconciled to the fact that if he wasn't going to move forward in his life, it didn't mean that others were going to do the same. He had let the revenge hang on his head for so long that it had become his life. Suddenly he felt tired of the weight on his shoulders. Maybe he needed to chill a little too. It had been such a long time that he had let himself relax or to think anything apart from business or Maa.
"I need to breathe and relax" Prithvi sighed running a hand over his suddenly tired face and rested his face on the cool wall beside him, first time in four years enjoying even that little action of his. He had been so focused that he had forgotten such little pleasures like the smell of the first rain, entering the house and smelling your favorite dish, riding, smelling fresh hay. Oh life had been solely governed by one single emotion and that too hate. Much needed still but he wanted a little happiness back in his deprived life, no he needed it. He wanted to feel at least one nano part of the happiness Sameer and Varun had apparently started feeling after Maa had recovered and made peace with her life.
There was no way he was going to make peace with anything that had happened but he was going to get love and happiness and the carelessness back into the folds of his and his family's life. That meant he needed a little break.
At that thought Prithvi turned back towards Sameer's room. "Hey guys, How about a weekend trip to Alibaug…..long time no vacation" he asked with a straight face and his brothers gaped at him wondering what had happened to their tightly wound brother. It was hard to hide his smile at his gaping brothers and a slow smile appeared on his handsome face, which was quickly mirrored on his brothers.
"Absofreakingloutely bhai" Sameer happily agreed and then it struck Varun what he just said and a million dollar smile graced his face and he happily agreed to the plan.
They all went and told Suman who happily agreed but told them that she instead wanted to visit her sister in Pune as it was much more relaxing for her. Though Prithvi insisted that she join them she firmly said no and then it was finalized that Suman would go for a week and the boys would go for the weekend.
As Prithvi was leaving the room, Suman softly called his name and he stopped and she motioned him to sit beside her. She took his strong capable hands in her soft wise ones and looked into his eyes which were uniquely his.
She could always see the most of her husband in her first born. Both were strong and such responsible individuals that it was amazing how less they thought of themselves. When she had married Balraj, people had written off their relationship citing that he was way too responsible and busy and love would have a hard time blossoming. How wrong they had been. Balraj had fallen in love with his bride the moment he had laid eyes on her and had spent the whole of his life reiterating that fact to her.
She was sure that Prithvi had the exact fate written for him. She smiled softly and caressed her son's face.
"I am so happy to see you have done so well Prithvi and glad that you are getting out of the revenge mode" Suman had barely started when Prithvi stood abruptly.
"No Maa….I haven't given that up and never will till I see my father's murderer behind bars" his voice was so harsh that Suman looked at him in stunned amazement at his tone. He took a deep breath and sighed and looked back at her.
"Sorry Maa" he apologized and she waved it away.
"Prithvi, your father used to talk highly of Ilaji and her daughters. Though I have never told you this, she even promised her first daughter's hand in marriage to us …for you" she smiled at the memory a private smile and Prithvi looked at her askance.
"What?" he almost screamed and Suman shook the memory away slightly smiling.
"It was a long standing joke between them Prithvi but my point is that the person who was is so open and down to earth cannot be responsible for the act you are blaming her for" she reasoned and her son's eyes narrowed dangerously and he went ramrod stiff and started pacing the room, trying to get his anger in control.
"What if I tell you that this isn't my belief but I had it investigated and every proof I got points towards her" he replied softly.
"It can be wrong" she started when he stopped her by turning abruptly and when she saw the fire in his eyes she shook her head.
"It is not…please Maa…..leave it" his patience was short now.
"Fine….I trust you….I just had this thought and wanted to share it with you…..but you enjoy your break Prithvi….try not to think about this" she closed the small argument that had brewed between them and he nodded and promised to do that.
Though Prithvi had just argued about what he wanted to forget, he was determined to lock this out of his mind for the weekend and try and relax.
Roshni was ecstatic that Varun had agreed to come to her party. She adored Varun and was halfway in love with him. He was so different from the guys she met in her line of work or generally. He was grounded, soft spoken, and a little shy but the best thing was he was kind. He had a nice word for everyone and was actually the humblest person she had met. She had never thought that she would meet such a gem ever.
Like Avni she had dropped her famous last name too but it was an open secret that she was a Gujral heir, which led her to the conclusion that it would be real hard for her to ever find a person about who she was clear whether he loved her or her money, name and fame or both.
When she had seen Varun on her perfume launch, he was actually telling a young lady, actually the photographer off for being rude to the waiter in not so many words. That had actually made her pay attention to him and she had then gotten herself introduced and they had had hit it off like a house on fire. That was her opinion but since Varun had agreed to come to the party, she was sure that he felt at least something for her. She was going to find out if her notions were correct or not at the party.
The Saxena men left for Alibaug on Friday night after dropping Suman at the train station and reached their hotel at around 8 pm and Roshni who was coming towards her room from the swimming pool shrieked and hugged Varun as soon as her eyes fell on him and Varun turned two shades paler. He didn't want his brothers to think that he was more interested in Roshni's party than the vacation with them so he threw a smile at his brothers and succeeded in taking Roshni aside and greeting her.
"Dinner with me?" she asked immediately and he smiled.
"Rosh my brothers" Varun started but such a heart broken look settled on her face that Varun couldn't refuse her.
"Fine…..in an hour" he promised and left to join his brothers but not before Roshni gave him a tight hug which sent a blush up his face.
"Wah chotte wah" Sameer couldn't help being impressed and a small smile was curving Prithvi's lips too.
"Bhaiya…..that was….was" Varun was at a loss when he heard Prithvi chuckle and looked at him in surprise.
"We know Varun…just a friend" and both his brothers burst out laughing.
"Way to go" Sameer patted him on the back and Varun rolled his eyes.
"Stop it….don't misconstrue anything….we are seriously just friends and by the way am having dinner with her" he announced and both looked at him open mouthed.
"Defector" Prithvi couldn't help teasing him but he smiled and told him to enjoy himself.
After freshening up Sameer chose to wait for his brother by the poolside when he saw a beautiful vision in a white churidar sit by the pool in a dark corner, with her dainty feet barely touching the water and her hand playing in the water.
"Avni" he spoke her name reverently and sat there watching her smile to herself and enjoy the feel of water on her hands and feet. Happiness radiated from her and she looked so serene and contented that he felt wrong to break her mood but he couldn't help himself. He had this sudden urge to be next to her and share that serene almost reverent mood. He slowly went and sat by her side and when she turned to see, the beautiful smile just vanished from her gorgeous face and she raised surprised and wary eyes towards her.
"Hey" he greeted her softly, not coming any closer to her and not moving unconsciously as he didn't want her to fly away from him which he knew her mind was finding ways for. She simply looked at him wide- eyed without replying to his greeting.
"Saw Roshni an hour ago….didn't think you would be here" he continued conversationally and felt her relax just a fraction by his side.
"Just came here to get away from the city….I love this silence" he continued as if this conversation between them was something regular. He knew that the moment he made a Sameer special remark, she was going to leave without a second look at him and he absolutely didn't want that to happen.
Avni's heart was beating like crazy that she thought he might easily be hearing it. He was such an attractive man but she didn't understand why he would want to spend time with her. She wanted to get up and escape but at the same time this mundane conversation held more interest for her than anything else.
She had always read it in books where they said that it was hard to break the moment and Avni was having the exact same moment now. Her mind was screaming for her to run as it knew the danger posed by guys like Sameer, who were not her kind and would only give her pain but her heart refused to leave. She took in his handsome face which for some reason totally unexplainable, was looking at her with awe.
"It's Roshni's birthday" she supplied so softly that if all of Sameer's senses weren't attuned towards her, he wouldn't have realized that she had spoken.
"Your Sister" he remembered and then smiled roguishly to himself and Avni wondered what had she said that had brought about this smile accentuating his handsome features.
"Yes" she nodded sagely and waited for him to share the joke. Sameer couldn't help the light laugh that escaped him and her face turned questioning. He simply waved a hand and then started rolling with laughter and Avni looked on bemused.
"What?" she finally shook him and saw his eyes darken with something which was definitely not friendly but something which looked something like a flash of desire. It passed as quick as it had burnt there.
"Nothing…..ok…here is what I think" he decided to confide in her and inched closer and dropped his voice and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper, " I think we are going to be family" and sat back to take pleasure at the shocked look on her face and hid a smile when her face turned a flaming red. She opened her face to say something, a retort he presumed but not a word came out of her.
He was sure she had misunderstood him, which was not his intention but he was glad that she had. This was fun. He waited patiently till she got her breath back and launched at him.
"What?" Avni shrieked, "Family…..you and I?" she asked pointing to him and then her own self and he nodded.
"No way…..you and I are not possible….not in this lifetime" she said it unconvincingly and his eyes twinkled with barely restrained laughter. Oh this was so much fun that she had misunderstood him.
"It's not impossible Avni" he said softly, his voice turning husky, "and it will happen in this lifetime" he whispered softly and then changed his tone, sat back and continued conversationally, "I think Roshni and Varun are together and he is here for her party and he acted as if he met her by chance…..oh my little brother has grown up" he guffawed and Avni's interest shifted to his story.
"Oh god…..seriously?" she asked him surprised and then everything fell into place for her and she smiled happily too. "I like Varun…..he comes across as such a dependable person" she aired her view and then colored, realizing too late that she had shared her opinion with Varun's brother.
"He is……dependable and I like Roshni too" he smiled and then both of them hit an awkward moment when they didn't have anything to say to each other. Avni cleared her throat and started to get up, getting the cue, Sameer too stood up and as soon as she started to say goodbye, he asked her for dinner. Avni looked at him surprised, finding it hard to decline.
"Hey don't take it otherwise……I am hungry and there is something about Varun and Roshni I would like to discuss with you….so" he let the question hand in the air, placing the ball in her court, not wanting to push her into anything she didn't want to do.
"About Varun and Roshni" she repeated softly and then to her own amazement and Sameer's surprise she agreed and joined him for dinner.
Prithvi came out of his room refreshed and went out to look for Sameer. As he was getting out he saw her walking and talking animatedly with a girl, which he thought looked so much like the beautiful Avni he had chanced upon to meet. He followed them and when he saw Avni talking happily with Sameer he was a little taken aback but also happy about the fact that finally Sameer's interest had shifted towards the kind of girl Maa would like.
"Hey guys" he greeted them and both looked surprised at being interrupted. Avni colored slightly and Sameer appeared a little embarrassed at being caught.
"Bhai……sorry I just met Avni" he started when Prithvi smiled at Avni who smiled back shyly.
"I have met Avni" his gaze turned tender when it looked at the slender girl, "How are you Avni?" he greeted her and she smiled at him, giving her slim hand into his big one and then to Sameer's shocked surprise pulled her in gently for an open hug and she slipped into his embrace shyly.
"Good…..you?" she asked the handsome man in whose arms she was standing and who was hugging her as if she would break if he put any more force into the hug. For some reason there was a bond between the two which was unspoken but it appeared to her that Prithvi was passing a message to his brother who nodded to the unspoken warning.
"Good…..what are you both up to?" he asked her softly but his eyes turned questioning as they looked at his brother.
"Dinner bhai…..do you want to join us?" Sameer invited him albeit formally and Prithvi shook his head.
"No go ahead….I don't want to bust your date" he stressed the last word and Avni quickly shook her head.
"Oh no ….it's not a date…..we were just going to discuss about Varun and Roshni" and she filled him in and Prithvi smiled and waved them ahead to enjoy their plotting and dinner.
Left on his own, he wandered around, deciding what to eat. He was ravenous but today he didn't want to be alone for dinner. He had hoped that he would have the company of his brothers but unfortunately they were both busy and he didn't feel like bothering them.
Prithvi went towards the pool area from which the soft music wafted to his ears. He wasn't in a mood to be alone today and music seemed like a relaxing idea. He sat by himself on the only table which was vacant and had closed his eyes enjoying the music when his peace was rudely interrupted.
"You? What are you doing here?" He opened his eyes to see Damini standing before him in an off-white kurti over brown leggings looking down her nose at him.
"Before you screamed I was trying to listen to the music" he replied back and watched her make a face at him.
"I didn't scream and you are sitting in my place" she replied back tartly.
"I don't see where it says that this place belongs to you….it was free and I claimed it" he really was in no mood to fight with her but couldn't help to reply back.
"It was not" she pointed to her scarf lying in the chair next to him and he realized that he hadn't seen that and had presumed the seat to be empty.
"Did you put it here now?" he couldn't help picking on her and she threw an irritated glance at him and started gathering her stuff.
"Damini….sorry….please sit here…I will leave" he didn't want to behave like an ogre with her especially now that he knew she was a Gujral and he needed to be at his best behavior.
"Fine" she put her stuff back and sat down and when Prithvi stood up to leave, Damini took the hardest decision of her life to ask him to sit with her.
"My sisters have vanished and I don't think they will join me so if you want to share the table" she shrugged and Prithvi smiled a little.
"Ok" he sat down and shifted his attention to the music when after a few minutes Damini commented, "You seem to enjoy ghazals".
"Hmmm" he replied his interested riveted to the music.
"Means you have had your heart broken" she continued.
"No" he replied back wishing she would let him listen to the music in peace.
"Then why do you like ghazals? Doesn't make sense to me and you definitely don't look like someone who would enjoy such music" she continued the conversation and Prithvi's interest shifted to her.
His chocolate eyes looked at her without blinking taking in the smooth skin, her shining hair and her eyes looking at him frankly appraising. He returned the appraisal back without meaning to.
"What do I look like to you?" he couldn't resist asking.
"Frankly…..you are the wanting to be macho types" she replied and he raised his eyebrows.
"Oh wow….your dislike is apparent" he said and she smiled humorlessly.
"You have a huge ego and am sure are used to always getting your way….and those who get in your way are ruthlessly pushed aside" she said this and sat back, her eyes daring him to contradict her.
"You seem sure" he mimicked her posture and sat back too.
"Why not….and I don't see you refuting it" she replied.
"You have already made up your mind Damini and to be honest, I like this description of yours" he replied and she rolled her eyes.
"Now if I may……may I tell you my opinion?" he asked, his voice going down a notch.
"You will either ways" she snapped and half a smile formed on his sensual lips.
"You seem to be a haughty and arrogant person who doesn't give other people credit for their hard work and thinks she can buy them off by offering money and telling them that they will never get such an offer again" he said and watched her face flame bright red.
"That isn't arrogant Prithvi….that is the truth" she replied, "The price wasn't enough? Your ego wants more? Oh no…maybe it is about control" she gave it back and tried to stand up and leave but Prithvi was way too fast for her. He caught her wrist and pulled her towards himself. She almost fell into his lap and he tugged her once more and made her sit in his lap.
"Leave me…..this is a public place and you are misbehaving" she pushed away and he let go immediately and she stood up and so did he.
"It is not about the control….it is about revenge….plain revenge….I have a score to settle and that is what it is about and believe me ….I will win" his eyes bore into hers and her heart skipped a beat. This was one man who was passionate about revenge and she would be smart not to mess with him.
"All the best then…..hope you get it" she told him without meaning a word and left.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
CID
