IshRa SS - Crossroads Chapter 15 Pg 88 *CONCLUDED* - Page 18

Originally posted by: Raina1234

Brilliant story. Update soon.

Originally posted by: -Nidoo-

My first time here. Its a wonderful story, interesting plots 👏 Looking forward to read more 😳

Is it possible for you to PM?

Here's the next update, and yippee, finally IshRa meet each other.😆

Hope I've lived up to the expectations, though! Please do let me know😊

~Chapter 7~

She was left dumbstruck - literally, at a loss of words - as she saw him standing in front of her after all these months. He hadn't changed a bit. Wearing a black blazer over a crisp white shirt, he looked like he had stepped straight out of a magazine cover. He walked towards her, and removing his shades, smiled at her, bringing back all the memories of the crazy day that she had spent with him. Not that she needed any reminding, but she sure had forgotten how charming his smile was and how dreamy his eyes were.

"Raman.." a whisper was all she could manage.

Turning his attention to the little boy beside her, he spoke up, "What's your name, kiddo?"

Shravan stopped crying for a moment, and looked cautiously up at Raman.

"Amma says don't talk to strangers," he muttered grumpily.

Raman chuckled at that and bent towards the boy.

"Hmm, now that is a problem," he said to Shravan and added, "So then how do I become your friend?"

The boy glanced nervously at Ishita and then back at Raman and replied in a low voice, "You could buy me ice cream."

Raman burst out laughing while Ishita gasped at Shravan's cheekiness.

"Shravu!" she exclaimed, but Raman interrupted her before she could scold the boy.

"Relax Ishita," he said, charmed by the little boy, and said to him, "Come, let's go inside and I'll get you your ice-cream." He held out his arms, and to Ishita's utter surprise, Shravan beamed at Raman and leapt into his arms without any hesitation.

Ishita stood rooted to her spot, as she saw Raman walk away with Shravan in his arms and tried to process what was happening.

"Ishita.." she heard him call out to her, "Come on in, what are you waiting for?"

She had always wondered if she would ever run into him again. But it was only now that she realized how much she had been looking forward to it. She nodded at him mutely, and followed him, her lips curving into her first real smile in a long time.

They were seated at a little round table at the corner of the restaurant and Ishita couldn't believe how effortlessly Shravan had slipped into a playful mood in Raman's presence. He seemed to have forgotten his injuries too, as he happily dug into the huge ice cream bowl placed before him.

Raman ruffled Shravan's hair and asked him, "So, dude, are we friends now?"

"Hmm," he nodded vigorously, his mouth full of ice cream, "best friends!"

"Aye Shravu, I thought I was your best friend!" Ishita said, pretending to be hurt.

"But chitthi, you never buy me ice cream. You always say I'll get cavities."

Raman couldn't help but laugh at that.

"God, Ishita, I didn't know that having a dentist in the house was so difficult! You don't even let the kid have an ice cream!" he mocked her.

"Not my fault, Raman. Bala jiju spoils him silly. You don't know how many chocolates this one eats. There has to be a limit!"

"Ishita, you've already lost the best friend tag," Raman said to her, lowering his voice dramatically, "Keep this up and you'll probably turn into an enemy."

Ishita glared at him in response.

"Pfft! You're not his best friend! You just bribed him into calling you that."

"And you're just jealous he did!"

"Right dude?" He asked, turning to Shravan to which he innocently replied, "Right, dude!"

Ishita rolled her eyes at the two of them and said to Shravan, "Shravu, vaa polaam, we need to leave now."

Raman shook his head at her and smiled. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed teasing her!

They got out of the restaurant and Ishita moved towards the road instead of her car.

"Isn't that your car parked over there?"

"Actually, it broke down." she replied, "So we'll be taking an auto back home."

"Don't be silly! I'll drop you home."

She tried to refuse but he insisted and they finally got into his car to head towards her home.

"Your car is like the batmobile," remarked Shravan as he twisted and turned in Ishita's lap, looking around in awe.

"Sit still, Shravu," said Ishita, trying to hold him in place.

"Are you batman? Only batman is allowed to drive a batmobile," said Shravan, in all seriousness.

Raman laughed in response. "Sure! I'm Batman and you could be my Robin!"

"Yay!" screamed Shravan, and spent the next few minutes weaving imaginary tales about how they would fight crime together.

"Touch phone!" squealed Shravan, a few moments later, and he jumped from Ishita's lap and snatched Raman's phone which was placed on the car's dashboard.

"Ayyo, what do I do with this boy? Shravu, put it back, da. Bad manners!"

"But chitthi, this is nice and very big. Please can I play with it, please?" He pleaded with her.

"It's okay, Ishita. Let him. I can't see him beg this way," he chuckled.

"You're no better than Bala jiju," she murmured to his amusement, and relented.

Exhausted by the activities of the day, Shravan soon dozed off, his head on Ishita's shoulder. She kissed his hair and adjusted him on her lap so he wouldn't fall off, all the while conscious of the awkward silence that had fallen between them.

"How have you been, Ishita?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Good.. I'm good," she replied, and added, "You seem different, though! Happier..." She had noticed. His voice was chirpier, and his smile seemed to reach his eyes, unlike the last time she had met him.

"I took your advice," he said, finally looking at her.

"You didn't move to Mumbai! Yes, I know. I'm glad you didn't."

"How did you know?" He asked, surprised.

How did she know, indeed! The very day she got back home after bidding farewell to Raman, she had been taken by surprise to see his picture in the business section of the newspaper. There had been an article about him winning the CEO of the year award. And then she had frantically searched him on the web, devouring each detail about him that she came across. Her respect for him grew tenfold as she read stories about his rapid rise in the business circuit leading to him winning the best CEO award for the year. She had guiltily kept track of him since then, through the various news articles that kept cropping up, even though she knew that she shouldn't have anything to do with him.

"I guessed." she lied. "I told you you'd be happier with your family." She smiled at him.

"Yes, you were right. I really owe you one for that day," he smiled back at her. "I now have my family with me AND more importantly, I've thrown her picture out of my wallet!"

"Oh!" She exclaimed, genuinely surprised, "Good for you!"

"And what about you...and your Mumbai guy?" There! He had asked her what he had been dying to know since the moment they had met.

"Still engaged," she replied softly, "and..I'm getting married next month." She added and looked away immediately lest he notice the unhappiness on her face.

"Oh...Congrats" he uttered, not knowing what else he should say.

"I didn't see that ring on your finger so I thought..." he trailed off. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to sound rude. I'm really happy that it worked out between the two of you."

"Oh, the ring! I developed an allergy so I had to remove it for some days," she lied through her teeth. She had removed it in anger when she was still broken up with him, and hadn't bothered putting it back on again.

A few more minutes passed in silence, and then they reached Ishita's house. She got out of the car, carrying a still sleeping Shravan in her arms.

"Thanks for today, Raman. I was really in a spot back there." she said to him, as he walked over to her side.

"That's okay." he smiled and brushed it off.

He lifted his hand and stroked Shravan's head when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the time on his wrist watch.

"Damn! Is that the time? I am so late for the meeting with Mehta. I need to leave!" he panicked and hurried back to get into his car.

But there was that feeling again. He just couldn't bring himself to say goodbye to her.. again.

"Ishita," he called out to her before getting in, "We should do this more often.. What say?"

"Sure!" she replied and he smiled, and getting into his car, drove off, leaving her staring until his car had disappeared round the corner.

She got into her home, lost in her thoughts, and went straight into her bedroom to put Shravan to bed. But as she placed him down, she felt something fall from his hands. Looking down, she was shocked to find that Shravan had been holding onto Raman's phone all along and that Raman had forgotten to take it back from them.

****

Raman had just about made it in time and rushed into his cabin to gather all the files that he needed. He decided to call Mihir once to confirm if he hadn't missed anything out, and that is when he realized that he didn't have his phone on him.

"Okay, one problem at a time!" He muttered and asked his receptionist to connect him to Mihir.

"Tell me, bhai," said Mihir as soon as he received the call.

"Mihir, first of all, I don't have my phone with me, so if you want to call me, you call at the office. Secondly, I've got all the files that I need. What about the presentation?"

"Already set it up in the conference room. Bhai, where's your phone?"

"Its with... never mind. I'll go get it after the meeting." Raman sighed.

"Okay.. and how was the girl? Can we expect a good news when you get back?" Mihir asked him eagerly.

"What?" asked Raman, momentarily confused. "Shoot! Mihir yar.. I.. I forgot to go!"

"You what? Bhai, you ditched her?"

"Oh god, yes!" Seeing Ishita again had driven everything else out of his mind.

"Do you even know how many times you've done this? Toshi aunty is going to be so mad! You know what? It's a good thing you told me now, bhai. I was just about to ring the doorbell to your flat, but now I won't. I'll go back because I'd like to avoid getting murdered.. at least not today."

"Oh no, you don't," Raman said, "you will go inside and save me from getting beaten into a pulp. Tell them something - anything - but take care of it. And that's an order!"

"But bhai, how can I.." Mihir tried to argue but Raman had already hung up, and he muttered curses under his breath as he prepared himself for the worst.

****

"Mihir! Where is that son of mine? Is he here with you?" Toshi roared at him as soon as he set foot inside their house.

"N-No, Toshi aunty. He's stuck in a meeting."

"Do you know what he's done? I just got off the phone with Pammi, and she told me that that poor girl waited for an hour for Raman - ONE HOUR - but he didn't show up!"

"Toshi aunty, I'm sure bhai had his reasons." Mihir racked his brains to come up with a good excuse.

"What am I going to do about him, Bhalla ji?" she said, turning to her husband who was seated nearby, and slumped into a chair herself.

"Oh ho,Toshi ji, why do worry about him? Maybe he wasn't keen on meeting her. When he's ready, he himself will start showing interest in these matters."

"No, Bhalla ji, I know how hard it was for him to get over Shagun. That girl had completely broken him. I know he's better now, but I want him to be truly happy, and that's possible only when he gets married again. So I will not rest until I find a suitable girl for him," she said and began sobbing. Romi and Rinki who had been standing by silently, rushed over to their mother to console her.

Mihir couldn't take it anymore. Having deserted his own family a long time back, he had no one but Raman's family to call his own. Shagun's betrayal had shocked him as well, and being her brother, a part of him had always felt guilty about what she had done to this family. He loved these people, and believed in the goodness of their hearts. He would do anything for their happiness, and right now, all he wanted was to comfort them somehow. So he went over to Toshi and ended up saying the first thing that came into his mind.

"Toshi aunty, trust me, there's no need to worry. Bhai keeps rejecting these girls because... because he's already in a relationship with someone."

"What?!"

"Really?"

"Who is the girl?"

"Since when?"

They all screamed at once.

"I..well I don't know the details, and umm.. Bhai has asked me to keep it to myself.. so please don't say anything to him right now."

"Wah, bhai to chupe rustam nikle," said Romi, rubbing his hands together in glee.

"Haan sach me. Oh Mihir, I'm so eager to meet my future bhabhi," squealed Rinki.

"Dekha toshi ji, didn't I say there was no reason to worry?"

"Bilkul Bhalla ji. I'm so happy, Mihir," said Toshi, her face beaming with joy.

Oops! Mihir wondered if he had gone overboard with his lie.

"Please, everyone!" he screamed for attention, "Please don't pester Bhai now. He'll probably kill me for telling you people."

No, Mihir, he'll definitely kill you for this', he thought to himself and gulped.

Next

Originally posted by: aishu_divan

res😃

Originally posted by: nrn1486

That was fast😆

Excellent Neethi. Raman handling Shravan, impressing Ishita was nice. I think Mihir's lie will be true in sometime.But Raman gonna bash Mihir for sure. Unfold the Subbu twist soon..

Nice update. The meeting was so good

Amazing update yaar

Originally posted by: MysticRiver

nice...