Swasan ss- broken

Chapter Two: Smack...

Sanskaar was aghast. If she kept searching, she will discover the walls I have built. So he began to speak, in the hope of diverting her attention;

"So how come you came by the office?" Swara looked surprised. Did he not like her presence? "I mean..." he stumbled over his words "I mean...you never came before, especially with lunch. I mean, I know mum makes a fuss but you didn't need to..."

His voice almost became lost. What was he doing? Diverting the topic or digging himself a hole. He might as well start building a tombstone. He could visualize it already ..."Sanskaar Maheswari- broken fool and major blabbermouth". He was bought out of this thoughts by Swara's voice

"It's just bade ma and mum were speaking of how stressed you have been over the Chopra deal and not been eating well so I thought..." Sanskaar threw her a frown. His eyes were questioning her. Why did this all matter? "Then I met Anmol and Prathiba whilst you were helping Uttara with her science project" His eyes widened. Oh no. What did they say? I hope they did not grill her. He knew how harsh they could be. Pratibha, Anmol and Kavita, though they may look totally different to one another, had one common trait as siblings. They became ferocious lions, when it came to protecting one of their own i.e. Sanskaar.

"Swara, sorry if they came across as ..." . They were interrupted by Sanskaar's phone. Swara crossed her forehead at the phone. She missed her golden chance. Damn those Chopras. He rushed off quicker than a predator targeting his pray and within that moment, Swara fell down on her knees and wept, as though she has lost. Lost in a battle she created. Anmol and Prathiba were right. What has she done?

THREE HOURS EARLIER...

Swara walked into the grand building. Sanskaar built this empire did he? This was a vast achievement for man of this age. The glass building seemed like what she saw in movies, the constant hustle and bustle that went on in offices, photocopy machines regurgitating paper like a bird and the sound of heels and shoes shot left and right from one side of the floor to another.

Sanskaar had been ever so busy recently. He had been withdrawn, stressed and looked as though he had aged. Initially she thought she was imagining it but it became more profound yet like a true superhero, he did not hesitate in saving her from the numerous problems created by Laksh and Ragini.

She tried to speak to someone when the peon approached her.

"Excuse me. Can I help you?"

She introduced herself. "Namaste, I'm Swara..." She was interrupted by the young peon

"Namaste maam. Forgive me. I had no idea maam. Sir is currently helping his sister with her science project. She seemed so distressed and he could not refuse". She continued to listen as the man lead her to Sanskaar's office. "Sir is quite big hearted like that. He never shuns away from his responsibilities and helping others. Take me for example, Didi suffered an acid attack three years ago and four months ago, we finally found a proposal. Sir took it upon himself to do a background check, and catered for all the wedding preparations and though he said weddings made him uncomfortable, he honoured my elderly gran's request and attended the wedding".

Swara felt as though she had been bludgeoned on the head. She recalled what happened four months ago. She felt a stab in her heart. She felt like a vile person for her behavior. She had apologised but after hearing this today, she felt like a sinner. She was lead into the room and came face to face with two unfamiliar beings. They did not look like office employees. They seemed like teenagers, maybe slightly older.

"Anmol-ji..Prathiba'ji...look whose here. Maam is here for Sir and she has bought him lunch. I'm gonna go back downstairs. It's nearly time for coffee breaks". Swara were left with these two people who also seemed to be waiting for Sanskaar. Who were they? They looked at her as though they knew her because as soon as the peon mentioned her, they both had begin to bore their eyes into her. They looked at her with a sense of anger, disgust and utter hatred.

"How many more months?" the boy boomed

"Excuse me"

"You heard how many more months will it take?" The girl chipped in

"For what"

"For you to fix this memory loss issue that your sister has. How many more months of awkward devar-bhabi situation is dada going to have to face? How much more months does dada have before you abandon him once your job is done?" How many more months do we have before we can work on bringing dada back?"

"Listen guys, I get you guys care about sankaar but..."

The girl launched towards her" Don't you dare Miss Swara. I am not dada. I'm not the person who has fallen in love with you, a fact which you have used for your own gain". Swara felt as though she had been smacked across the face. Maybe it would have been easier. "Don't you dare belittle the love and respect we have for dada like you belittled his"

Swara had tears glistening her eyes, and her cheeks began to puff up red. She was absolutely shocked. What were they accusing her of? Using sanskaar? She had not used him has she? Or maybe she had?

"Sorry if our harshness is getting to you Miss Swara but frankly you deserve it. But when we learnt that dada fell for you, believe me, we were over the moon. Dada could get over Kavita Di and move on. He would not be consumed with hatred. He would finally be victorious over the anger that brewed in him. But YOU...Miss self-righteous, chose to punish him. On top of that, you dangled your friendship in front of him and pulled it away every time when things did not go your way. Not to mention, your horrid behaviour four months ago killed him

"Pari di. That's enough. Dada doesn't know we read his diary. He will get angry. Miss Swara..." He turned towards the woman in front of him, he had no time for a woman's tears today "as you have figured out, we know exactly what Dada has been through these last few months. I have seen my father-like brother diminish in front of me so today I have no time for your tears. I think anyone would agree what you did a few months ago was awful, considering all Dada was honour your friendship, protect you like a husband and love you like a true man."

Swara looked toward both of them. She seemed so hurt. If Sanskaar was upset, why did he not mention anything? She threw accusations at him, shouted at him, continued whilst Ragini watched in glee and most importantly why did he accept her sorry when she asked for it?

The girl calmed down "Miss Swara, you may fix all the problems in the world and maybe your sister's truth, whatever it is will eventually come to light. But it will not change the fact that the sanskaar everyone knew is no longer there" Swara widened her eyes "Do yourself a favour. Look at him today. Take a hard look. You will see what we see. You will see nothing. No sanskaar, no dada, nothing. You have shattered him. You have BROKEN him. Try fixing that. Oh I forgot, it's not like you give a toss anyways. Now enough of your charade. You may leave. None of this perfect patni act." Swara placed the tiffin in a daze, and felt a throbbing in her head and heart. She felt as though the building she walked into, was darkening around her, in disapproval for her actions.

She turned to get out when she bumped into a figure. A figure her heart recognised from even when she padlocked it, "Hey guys, sorry about that. Uttara was trying to learn about systolic press..." .He froze seeing Swara and began to show signs of worry at her face. She seemed...sad. Did Laksh/Ragini bother her again? She must have read that because she began to explain she came to drop off his lunch and what was in each tiffin. She briskly walked out from the building, reeling from what she had learnt and what she faced. The smack she had been given across her face.

Sorry for the lengthy update. Please give me your views. Thanks