IshRa SS - Crossroads Chapter 15 Pg 88 *CONCLUDED* - Page 14

Originally posted by: rufana10

excellent update 😊
loved it
hope they will apply each others advice
in their life and very soon they will meet again😳
update it soon
thanks for pm

Originally posted by: nrn1486

You're kidding me, right?😆

I'm a huge fan of your stories yar, so I really appreciate you commenting on one of mine. so glad you liked this one.

Will PM you😊

Hello.

First of all, Thank you so much for all the lovely comments. It's really overwhelming and encouraging, and I'm so happy that you've liked the story so far😊

I'm here with the next chapter now, and I have a feeling that I'll get some eggs and tomatoes for the way I've ended it😆

But I promise I'll continue soon. Meanwhile, please let me know if you liked this one😊

EIGHT MONTHS LATER...

"Ishu..Ishu wait..."

Ishita turned as she heard her mother call out to her.

"What is it, Amma?" she asked, puzzled as she saw her mother look at her from head to toe with tears in her eyes.

"You look so beautiful today, dear. I want you to be happy always!" She removed a bit of kohl from her eye with her finger and rubbed it off behind Ishita's ear.

Vandita, who had been standing next to them silently all this while burst into giggles.

"Amma, so much melodrama! We're in a temple.. yaha kisi ki nazar nahi lagegi Ishu ko."

"What Amma," Ishita spoke up, embarrassed, "Why are you being so fussy? I agreed to this pooja only because you insisted. But this is too much. Come now, we need to go home, so that I can leave for the clinic on time, and Vandu akka needs to leave for college too!"

"Ishu is right, Amma. And yes, we're definitely getting late! Besides, we've left Shravu with Bala and Appa and he must have driven them half mad by now."

"I'm not being fussy!" replied Madhavi angrily to both of them, as she hurried behind Ishita and Vandita who had begun descending the stairs of the temple. "There is only one month left for your wedding, Ishu, and this time I am not going to let anything ruin it! I will do a hundred more poojas if it means that the wedding goes through smoothly!"

"Ayyo!" she exclaimed, when they had reached their car.

"Now what?" asked Ishita and Vandita in unison.

"The saamy had said that he'll give me a mantram that I should chant daily until the wedding but I forgot to take it down from him. You both wait here. I'll go and ask him."

"Amma..leave it.. amma!" Ishita tried to stop her, but in vain.

"Let her go, Ishu," Vandita smiled, "She's just worried for you. Let her do this."

"Worried? She's too stressed, akka!" Ishita said to her, frustrated. "It's only a wedding. It's no big deal!"

Ishita looked towards the temple entrance to see if she could spot her Amma, but she couldn't ignore Vandita's unwavering gaze on her and sighed.

"What is it?"

"Okay, Ishu, you need to tell me what's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me, akka!" Ishita replied, looking away from her.

"Don't you dare lie to me, Ishu! You can hide these things from amma, but not from me. I've been observing you and there's definitely something wrong. You've... you've changed Ishu. You're not happy anymore and I can't figure out why. So out with it! Now!" Ishita remained silent so Vandita pulled her by the elbow and forced her to meet her gaze. "Everything's perfect, Ishu. You love Subbu and Subbu loves you, and you're finally getting married..."

"Does he, akka? Does he really love me?" Ishita burst out, unable to hold it in any longer.

"What do you mean?" asked Vandita, wide-eyed.

"One day he says he doesn't want me in his life and the next day he takes it back...just like that. He had called off the wedding, akka! Then what made him change his mind?"

"I don't understand. I thought you both had sorted it all out!" Said Vandita, worried, now that she knew that she had been right all along about Ishita being unhappy.

"No akka, not really. He left for London immediately after meeting us, didn't he?" she replied defeatedly.

The truth was that, post the accident, she had realized what a fool she had been to believe that Subbu truly loved her. A man who was heartless enough to desert her on the eve of their wedding could never love her. But only a couple of days later, he had confused her by coming over to her house and apologizing to her in front of her parents.

"Everything's fine now, Ishu! Even my Amma and appa have given their consent. I'm sorry about the hasty decision that I took.. I really am!"

She hadn't meant to forgive him. She probably never would. But she had seen the hope and happiness that shone through her parents' eyes at that moment and, with a heavy heart, had decided to let go of her anger.

She had tried to confront him later, though...

"So my infertility is no longer a problem for you?"

"I said I'm sorry, didn't I? I don't wish to talk about the past, Ishu. Let's concentrate on our future instead."

"The thing is, Akka, his sudden turnaround was very surprising." Ishita told Vandita, as she recounted those incidents. "Something just doesn't add up."

"Ishu, I'm sure you're overthinking this. Maybe he needed that time to convince his Amma and Appa. You know how adamant they can be, right?" Vandita tried to placate her. "Don't worry Ishu, Subbu and you were always meant to be together."

"Yes Vandu, my Ishu and Subbu were meant to be together, and will always be together!" The sisters turned to find their mother approaching them with a smile. "My Murugan will see to it that Ishu gets all the happiness in the world! Come now, my work here is done."

Ishita smiled at her mother and turned away to hide from her, the tears that had sprung up in her eyes. She had no clue as to how Murugan planned on keeping her happy, when she herself had decided to marry a man she no longer loved!

****

"No way, Ma! I have a lot of meetings lined up today. I have no time for this!"

"But, puttar, I've promised Pammi. You have to meet that girl today."

"But I'm not interested in getting married now, Ma. How many times have I told you not to go around setting me up with random girls?!"

"But she's not a random girl. She's Pammi's friend's sister's daughter! Just meet her once. I'm sure you'll like her."

Raman placed his palm on his forehead, exasperated. He would never win this argument with his mother.

"Okay, ma. But this is the last time!" he gave in, as he stuffed some parantha into his mouth in a hurry.

"Hayye, ye hui na baat. Le, isi baat pe ek aur parantha kha le!" Toshi was ecstatic and couldn't wait to let Pammi know that Raman had agreed to meet the girl that she had suggested for him.

"Ma! Do you plan to kill me? I'm already full! I'm leaving now!" He got up from the table and hurried towards the door.

"Listen... Raman," Toshi called out to him as he left, "I've asked her to meet you at 6 today evening at that coffee shop near your office. Don't be late!"

Sometimes, he wished he hadn't changed his mind about shifting to Mumbai. Sure, he loved being with his family, but at times like these, he wished he could run away from them, especially his mother. Since the past few months, she had made it her life's mission to get him married, and he was tired of explaining to her that he wasn't ready for it yet. Heck, he didn't know if he would ever be ready for another marriage.

He groaned inwardly at the thought of his arranged "date" that evening and prayed for a way to get out of it.

"Bhai, all set for the meeting this evening?" Raman looked up as Mihir strode into his cabin with a file.

"Kya bol raha hai yar! You know how I feel about these meetings. I'm fed up!" Raman responded angrily.

"But Bhai, I thought you were looking forward to this one. After all, it's a great opportunity," said Mihir in a confused tone.

"Have you gone crazy?" he asked Mihir furiously, "I don't need any such opportunities! And why are you supporting Ma in all this? I thought you were on my side!"

"Now how is Toshi aunty involved in this? Bhai, I'm talking about the meeting with Mr.Mehta, today at 7. Remember him? Our prospective client?" Mihir mocked him, wondering what had gotten into Raman.

"Damn!" Raman smacked his palm on his forehead. "Sorry yar, it slipped my mind."

"That's alright, Bhai. Mehta has requested for an exclusive meeting with you, which means I have the evening off, which in turn means I finally get time to visit Toshi aunty today. She's been pestering me since ages about how I don't spend enough time with you people. By the way... what were you going on about?"

Raman sighed and told him about the girl that his mother was trying to set him up with and Mihir burst out laughing.

"Trust Toshi aunty to come up with something like this! But you should go, bhai. Who knows! Maybe you'll meet your soulmate today." Mihir winked at him, but Raman looked like he would punch him just then, so he excused himself in a hurry to escape his wrath.

"Don't forget the meeting at 7, bhai." he reminded him once more as he left the room.

****

"Yes, amma, Shravu is fine.. We're on our way home now." Ishita hung up and turned to the little three year old seated behind her in the car who looked at her with tear-filled eyes.

"Yen da Shravu.. what is it?" she asked him lovingly, "You're my brave boy, right? Please stop crying!"

Ishita had had the most frustrating day ever. Bala and Vandu had both been busy with extra lectures that day so she had offered to pick Shravu from his playschool. But Ishita had been so swamped with appointments at the clinic throughout the day that she had barely managed to reach Shravan's school on time. To make matters worse, she had found her nephew at the entrance gate, crying his lungs out. Apparently, he had had a nasty fall while playing in the school grounds, and had bruised his knees, so Ishita had rushed him back to her clinic to tend to his wounds. She had done everything in her power to pacify the little guy, but his tears wouldn't stop flowing. Now, as she tried to start her car to finally go back home, it refused to start. She let out a groan, and tried again in vain, and was forced to conclude that luck simply wasn't in her favour that day. She had parked the car outside a random restaurant to pick her mother's call and got out now wondering if she could leave it there and go home with Shravu in an auto. She carried Shravan out of the car and placing him on the hood, tried once again to calm him.

****

Raman tapped his fingers on the steering wheel while he waited at a traffic signal. He checked his watch and realized that he was late, very late. It was already 6 o'clock, and he knew it would take him another fifteen minutes or so to reach the coffee shop.

"Ma is going to kill me for this," he thought and shook his head, wondering why he had agreed to meet the woman at all. He could have stayed back in office and completed all his pending work. Then there was also the meeting with Mr.Mehta to prepare for. Just fifteen minutes, he decided. He would meet her, and get out of there within fifteen minutes.

Lost in his thoughts, his gaze strayed to the side of the road, where there were a number of cars parked in a line outside a restaurant. He spotted an adorable kid on the hood of one the cars, with a woman, probably his mother, standing in front of him. He smiled as he saw her wipe off his tears and pull his cheeks, but the child kept on crying. The woman had his back to him, so he couldn't see her face, but there was something so familiar about her that he couldn't help craning his neck to get a closer look.

"Is that.. Could it be her?" He had to make sure that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

The signal turned green just then, and the incessant honks of the vehicles behind him snapped him out of his thoughts. He had to find out! He turned his car and pulled into one of the empty spaces in the same parking lot. Getting out in a hurry, he walked towards the duo and unknown to them, watched them from a few feet away.

"Shravu.. come now, we have to reach home quickly." Ishita tried to take him into her arms, but he refused to go with her.

"What is it, da? Paatti is waiting for us. Come na, kanna!" She pleaded with him, tired of dealing with his stubbornness.

"And I thought you said you were good with kids!" He spoke up from behind her. She turned when she heard his voice, and he could swear he felt his heart skip a beat.

Originally posted by: Divanru

Yipee me first.awesome update dear.yeah ishra met again

Ishita is marrying subbu.no subbu drama please.can't wait update soon.

Originally posted by: maanvir

Hey there!

I must say u hv great timing...you know why?

I rcvd ur pm wen i was just going to log out from IF..

I was pleasantly surprised to see the subject say CROSSROADS NEW UPDATE...

I willingly went against my decision of logging out & the first thing i did ws to reserve a post her...

Nw abt the updt...

So Subbu is back...smthng is dfntly fishy...

I hv many thoughts going on in my mind abt Subbu's sudden change in the decision...

But i dnt want to assume anything nw & just wait fr u to unfold the mystery...

I am already excited fr the next part as it will tell us abt Ishita's reaction on meeting Raman fter so long...

The title of the story mkes clear sense...

They met for the first tym at a crossroad and now gin they meet at a crossroad..

I wish they find their destination soon...

Loving it...continue soon...

Tysm fr pm

Originally posted by: kaa1202

Superb Neethi.

God I love this pair.

I can literally imagine it.

Screw Subbu.

Hope Raman spends some time with Ishita.