PART FOURTEEN - ROBUSTA
SO I GOOGLED this one :P fresh coffee beans , right? Something new you are offering ? :P
I smiled, "So you still remember?" I said wiping my hands off with the rag and giving her a hug. "Thanks for coming by!"
"Of course I remember Randhir. It's not everyday that we walked in on you cooking. That too for someone," she smiled. "Anyway, let's talk about the real reason I'm here."
Completely off topic but Randhir in an apron cooking something ! *so hot*
"You sure you aren't hungry? It doesn't seem like you ate anything."
"Oh no I'm fine!"
"Well let me know when you do want to eat." I turned myself towards her, both of us leaning against opposite counters. "You remember when I told you about Sanyukta Mittal?" to which she nodded.
Sanyukta MITTAL sounds awful -_- and from him :'(
I took a deep sigh; "It was her."
Was? Does he feel his Sanyukta is a thing of the past now? :o or am I over analyzing already? :P
"You mean she's married?" she gasped. "Randhir are you sure? I don't know maybe there's something..."
"I met her today Vidu. And she didn't deny her marriage. She said shecould explain..."
She needs to explain! And he needs to listen! But I don't see that happening anytime soon?! *sigh*
My voice silenced off by the end, and even she looked as if she were deep in thought. Several moments went by in silence, after which I jumped in. "How about we eat first and then we can talk about this?"
She nodded, taking the plates out to the dining table. We sat across each other, eating in some more silence.
I fiddled with the pasta in my plate, "This is good by the way!" she said, bringing a little smile on my face. "So what exactly happened today?"
--
* and now that I have read this 3 times I realized why the food is necessary ;)
--
I reached outside the restaurant and paid the fare. Taking a glance at the surroundings, my eyes landed on the flashing lights which spelled outNirvana. I had spent so much time here that I knew every detail of the restaurant even after all these years.
It would be a lie if I said that I wasn't terrified to see Parth. I felt guilty, not to mention ashamed, for leaving him like I did. He deserved an explanation, I know he did; but I didn't give one. Not to him, not to Randhir. It was cowardly on my part, but I knew that if I had one shot at it all again, I would still have done the same thing.
This is what I love about Sanyu's character !
And the fact is she doesn't feel her decision was wrong , choosing to disappear like that without informing and explaining the situation to him was!
There are times when we have to make such decisions and we don't really have a choice ... Same happened with her I feel!
Breathing in, I let these thoughts wander loosely in my mind while I thought of how excited I felt as well. Excited to see him, to get to speak to him, maybe even tell him everything that I had been through and was dealing with right now.
As I reached out to open the door, someone came from the side and opened it for me. "For you mademoiselle," he said.
I could recognize that voice anywhere, anytime. "Parth!" I exclaimed, turning around to face him. I hugged him hard, "I'm so glad to see you!"
All my emotions came out in a rush as I began sobbing while I hugged him. He patted my hair, "Sshh, it's okay. I'm here now!" he attempted to pacify me. "Let's go inside?"
He pulled out of the hug and wiped the tears from my face. "After you," he smiled.
she really needs her best friend right now :'(
--
--
"I set up the interview with her yesterday for the internship with Vishal."
"But you had already decided to hire her before the interview, hadn't you?" she grinned as she asked that.
Vids knows RD too well !
"Why do you bother asking questions to which you already know the answers?"
"So what did you find out? Did you guys address the elephant in the room?"
I wish they did but I don't really think that was possible . Not so soon!
"Obviously not Vidushi! Are you crazy?" I yelled out. "I could barely hold myself together in front of her, let alone speak up."
I looked at her, trying to tell her what happened without having to say anything.
"Randhir," she said as she stood up. "You're scaring me, what happened??"
I inhaled sharply, "We kissed..."
* that's what I loved THE MOST in that part ^_^
--
--
We got settled at our table, which we requested to be near the back where all the tables had dividers between them. I couldn't stop my tears from falling as I took in how much I had missed him.
"Listen, I'm not here to look at your crying face! Cheer up!"
I let out a small laugh, wiping the tears off of my face. "I'm sorry Parth!"
He took my hand in his, "Sanyukta, I know there must have been a reason for why you did what you did, but now is not the time. Let's grab something to eat and then we can go somewhere private and talk about all of this, yes?"
I nodded, "I really missed you!"
He smiled wide, "I missed you as well! Anyway so tell me, how have you been?"
"I've been better," I chuckled. "But I did have an interview today for an internship... at the Shekhawat Corporation," I said the last bit slowly, trying to gauge his reaction.
Is she like going from present to past ? :P But that's one of the major things in her story :')
"So it was you that Randhir was talking about! There was a part of me that didn't believe it." He started with that, but caught on to the main point very quick, not hiding his shock at all. "You're married to Sameer?"
Finally THE question though the anwer will probably come in the next part :P And I know a little more ;)
The waitress came over to get our order, "Actually, can we have two Vermicilli noodle bowls to go?" Parth said while looking at me. "We have someplace to be!"
* I'm hungry now :3 my hunger is to know the next part ^_^
--
After paying the bill, we headed out with our packed food.
"Do you want to go to yours? Or mine?" he asked.
"Well my landlord would probably not like me having a guy over at this time, so would it be okay if we go to yours?"
"You are renting a place? Sanyukta what's going on?"
She doesn't even have her own house ;'( What has this Sammer done to my girl?! -_-
I sighed, not knowing where to even begin. "I'll tell you everything once we reach your place."
"Okay so let's go," he said, opening the door for me.
--
"I'll warm up the noodles for us," he said as soon as we entered his apartment, taking the food from my hands. I walked around his place, smiling as I saw some of our pictures together hanging on the wall with his diploma.
"Class Salutatorian? I'm impressed Parth!" I shouted out to him from the living room.
He walked over, laughing as he showed me the medal. "All thanks to you though. I wouldn't have won it had you still been there!"
And she had to leave it all midway :'(
I smiled, "You deserved it Parth, even had I been there!" I added, lost in the thought of what could have been.
He went quiet for a moment... But then asked me what I'm sure had been bothering him since the time I left.
"Why'd you leave Sanyu?" he asked while setting the dishes down, a trace of disappointment lacing into his voice. It hurt to hear that tone from him and I jumped to my defense, not wanting to hide anything from him anymore.
"I had to Parth... My passion for engineering may have been just as important for me as my family, but not more. I couldn't let him down..." I trailed off as I pulled out the chair and took a seat.
It must be so hard for people to choose between career and family and here she had to give up her education :'(
I stirred the noodles around, losing all appetite with each passing moment. It hurt to relive all the decisions I had made. Back then, I didn't give much thought to how they would affect the future, knowing it would deter me from doing - what I then thought was - the right thing. But upon seeing Randhir, and now Parth, I was questioning myself.
Had I become so selfish and cowardly that I chose to run away from the people that meant the world to me?
I don't think she was selfish at all! Sometimes we are caught up in such situations that it really isn't in our hands anymore :'(
And even in those moments she considered what all of this could to do them , how it'll affect them !
I knew the answer was no because I knew my intentions when I chose my way back then. But the question was, would he? Would Parth?
My only way of finding out was to tell him... maybe even Randhir someday.
She has to tell Randhir ! Soon :')
I gulped a glass of water down, here's to nothing.
"The day I had gone to meet my parents, I found out that my parents fixed my marriage date for the next month. My dad came to drop me back to FITE, which is why I had to pretend as if Randhir never meant anything to me."
* :o Nooo! How can some parents be so cruel? :'(
--
I shook his hands off of me and replied back with equal volume, "Randhir Singh Shekhawat, there is no reason to worry about me this much. You got that? I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I don't need you to keep a tab on me." I was about to leave, when I turned around abruptly; "And for your information, I have no reason to give you any sort of explanation. So it'll be better if you just mind your own business."
He must have been so hurt ! But she really didn't have a choice!!
I gave a quick look to the gate before rushing off to the girls' dorm, with no glance to spare towards Randhir.
He stood rooted to his spot. We had come a long way in their relationship. He would always behave this way when I didn't reply to his messages. He worried too much about anything related to me. Then what was wrong today?, he must have thought.
I don't know if I should say this but I really feel Randhir should have made a little more effort at that time ..As in spy on his family or something..
--
"I didn't want to involve Randhir at that moment just because I knew it would just make my parents angrier than they were. I had obviously rejected the proposal, but they didn't listen to me; it was my life, but I had no say. The next day, I called Sameer and asked to meet him. I told him I didn't want to get married at all, thinking that he would understand. But he did the complete opposite. He took his whole family and went to my parents, complaining about how I misbehaved. It was his word against mine, but they trusted him."
That Sameer -___- But doosron ko kya bolun jab apna sikka hi khota hai :'( (her family , I mean)
--
"Randhir, I need a break," I cried. My one sentence had him stupefied. He let out a confused laugh, "Stop joking Sanyukta. I don't like these jokes!"
But I tried to give an unmistakable look; "Why?" was the only thing he could mumble.
I walked slowly towards him and kissed his cheek. "It'll be better that way Randhir," I whispered.
She didn't let him know at all !
--
I felt a lump forming in my throat as I recollected these moments. It hadn't been easy to do this to Randhir after all that we had been through together.
After reading so many parts from HIS POV , I can only try to imagine what she must have gone through! Randhir at least had this hope of her returning or at least he lived with her through his memories but she had to detach herself completely :'(
Drinking the water that Parth offered, I continued on.
"I didn't even know what had happened but I got a call the next day from my mom. It turned out that matters had gotten out of hand and that my father went into cardiac arrest. Rushing there, I couldn't help think that this was all my fault. When I saw him at the hospital, I felt ashamed. Ashamed that I couldn't do this one thing they wanted from me."
I looked away from Parth, not having it in me to face him.
"I broke up with Randhir so I could fight for my right. So I could convince and persuade my parents to let me decide for myself. But after his illness, the debts started piling and his condition kept worsening. Call it cowardly if you may, but I didn't know what else to do. I agreed to marry Sameer on one condition that I still continue my studies. But how was I to know that this decision of mine would be one the worst decisions I have ever made in my life."
Decisions made in haste never yield a positive result ! But what can be done now!
"Did you not even think once about telling Randhir about it?"
"That was when I had made up my mind. It wasn't easy, but I knew I had to walk the path alone. He had been through too much with his family for me to let him go through this just because of me. I'm not saying I was right, but I thought I was protecting him. Had I known that I would have to leave FITE in such a rush, then I wouldn't have left him hanging as I did."
So it wasn't really "a well thought" decision? She knew things were going wrong if only she'd have talked to him once ! But often it is only later that we realize what all we COULD have done and how we COULD have prevented some things...
