Note: I have written over a hundred chapters for this story already. Expect daily updates!
Table of Contents:
Chapters 1 - 4: This post
Chapters 5 - 8: Page 2
Chapters 9 - 16: Page 3
Chapters 17 - 24: Page 4
Chapters 25 - 34: Page 5
Chapters 35 - 43: Page 6
Chapters 44 - 53: Page 7
Chapters 54 - 64: Page 8
Chapters 217 - 226: Page 25
Chapters 227 - 239: Page 26
Chapters 240 - 254: Page 27
Chapters 255 - 260: Page 28
Chapters 261 - 263: Page 29
1
"Dad!" the six year old girl got up on the bed and jumped up and down, screaming at the top of her lungs at her sleeping father. "Daddy! Get up! You're going to be late!"
Randhir stirred in his bed, opening his eyes slowly, wanting to sleep for a few more minutes, but knowing his daughter would not approve.
"Baby go and take a shower," Randhir said to his little girl, as she sat on the bed and crossed her arms, with a disapproving glare.
"Daddy you're impossible!" the girl said, shaking her head. "You just want to sleep more... and for your information, I already took a shower!"
"Good girl," Randhir said groggily, reaching out to pat her on the head, but she had already got off the bed and pulled the blanket off him.
"Up!" she ordered.
"You're a little devil," he murmured and sat up on the bed, rubbing his eyes.
"Daddy since you're already late, I made toast," she said with a victorious smile.
"Huh? Baby YOU made toast?" Randhir asked with disbelief, raising his eyebrows. "What inspired you today? Where is Gopal Uncle? How did you even reach the toaster?"
Gopal was the head cook of the Shekhawat mansion and he took care of all their meals.
"I told Gopal Uncle to put the bread in the toaster!" she said with a shrug.
Randhir started to laugh. His daughter was adorable.
"That means Gopal made the toast silly," Randhir said ruffling his daughter's hair. "Anyways, I'm glad to see you showered and got dressed already. Let me get ready and then I'll drop you to school."
"Okay daddy!" she said with a smile and then ran out of the room.
Randhir smiled as he watched his daughter, Somya Shekhawat run out of his room. Somya was intelligent, responsible, mature, and all around very sweet. Randhir couldn't help but see so many similarities between Somya and her mother. Her mother had been the same way after all, but Randhir tried to avoid thinking about her if he could. Thoughts of Somya's mother only brought him heartache.
Once Randhir got ready, he had breakfast with Somya and then drove her to school.
"Bye daddy!" she said, kissing him on the cheek and getting out of the car. "Don't forget you have to take interviews today!"
Randhir smiled at his daughter and waved goodbye. She was his little secretary too, reminding him of what he forgot. He never had to keep an agenda or a calendar around when Somya was there. This was another quality that her mother had. Back when they were together, Somya's mother would always remind him of his tasks.
Randhir drove to the Somya Steels headquarters, where he was the CEO. He had created this company from scratch after Somya's birth and now it was India's biggest steel manufacturing company. He had gone a long way in the last six years, and every day he would work hard on his business, while being a full time parent as well.
A man who used to have nothing and lived in a bachelor apartment, had now become a multimillionaire, living in a big mansion. All the credit went to Somya. Her entry had brought everything to him - to secure her future he was motivated to work hard, but hard work hadn't been enough, he needed luck as well. Somya brought the luck to him. She was his lucky charm.
Even after all these years though, even after having everything he ever wanted and a very supportive daughter who he loved to death, there was something that was still missing: and that was Somya's mom. Even though she only brought pain to Randhir, her absence could be felt, and Somya's similarities to her mother reminded him more and more of her. It was impossible to get her off his mind.
"Sanyukta, I hate to admit that I miss you," he said painfully, as he pulled into his parking spot.
He spent a moment resting his head on the steering wheel and closing his eyes to compose himself, to fill that emptiness in his heart, but it was not filling. It was still empty, it was still just as painful.
Some wounds never healed.
2
Sanyukta's eyes opened and the first thing she reached for, was a picture of a baby on her nightstand. Her eyes teared up, as they did every morning. Looking at her daughter's picture had been a daily ritual for her for the last six years. Holding the frame close to her chest, she hugged it tightly. Then, with shaking hands, she brought the frame to her quivering lips and kissed her baby.
"Good morning," she murmured, a tear spilling down her cheek. "Have a good day sweetheart."
Then Sanyukta put the frame back down on her nightstand and got up with an ache in her chest which she could never get rid of.
After she got ready and had some breakfast, she left the house to go to work. Sanyukta worked in a technology firm in Canada and it was a nice company where the employees were treated with high respect. She made a good salary and in the last six years, she had bought her own car along with her own one bedroom condominium.
Despite having all this though, there was one thing missing - and that was her family.
"Ah Sanyukta," Sanyukta's boss said as soon as she walked in. "I have to share some news with you!"
"Yes sir," Sanyukta said with a smile. "Did we crack the deal?"
"Oh that? Yes of course! But that's not what I wanted to share with you. I need you to do the company a huge favour and accompany Parth to Delhi for our next project," her boss said.
"Delhi? But sir - why me?" she asked with wide eyes.
The last thing Sanyukta wanted to do was to go back to the city that she was trying so hard to forget for all of these years.
"Sanyukta you're the best employee for this job. Your talent, your background, and your hard work has even put you in this position," the CEO said calmly. "Look Sanyukta, you need to go to Delhi and speak to Somya Steels. You have to make sure they accept our deal."
Somya Steels. Sanyukta smiled at the name Somya, it brought back a sweet memory.
--
FLASHBACK
"I want ten babies," Randhir decided, placing a kiss on her knuckles.
Sanyukta was sitting on his lap with her hand in Randhir's, and after an extremely heavy makeout session, they were chatting.
"Ten? You're out of your mind!" she shrieked, pulling her hand away from Randhir's. "Maybe two. That's it."
Randhir pouted.
"Two?" he asked so cutely causing Sanyukta to start giggling.
Oh how she loved this cuteness, this innocence, this playfulness about him. She rested her head on his shoulder and pecked his neck softly.
"One girl and one boy," she sighed happily. "I want the girl's name to be Somya."
"Somya? Why?" Randhir asked, surprised.
"I don't know. I've always wanted to name my daughter Somya. It's a beautiful name," Sanyukta said.
"As you wish, but on the condition that I will get to decide the name of the boy," Randhir sad playfully.
--
Sanyukta broke out of her reverie and she smiled, tears in her eyes at the beautiful memory that she had just re-lived.
"Yes sir, I'll go," she agreed - if the name of the company was so sweet, how could she reject after all. "When do I have to go?"
"Two days from now. The tickets are booked, I've also made living arrangements for the two of you. The return tickets aren't booked though because I only want the two of you to return once you get the good news. So no matter what it takes, get them to say yes!" her boss ordered.
Sanyukta smiled and Parth walked in as well. Parth was her friend since her college days. It was only when the fallout between her and Randhir happened, that Parth told her to come to Canada and he'd link her with a job there. On Parth's referral, she got hired in this company and now she was in a good position.
"Parth, I've given her the news," the boss said with a smile at his favourite employee. "Both of you will go to Delhi and get the deal."
Parth nodded and looked at Sanyukta with concern. He was worried about her, always being like an older brother to her.
Once the boss went back to his cabin, Parth approached Sanyukta and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"If you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to go. I can speak to the boss, but he's pretty adamant," Parth said seriously. "I know that place holds a lot of bad memories for you."
No, beautiful memories, she wanted to correct, but she didn't.
"No Parth. It's okay. I'll go. It's better than running away. I can't let my past have an effect on my life anymore," Sanyukta explained. "Thank you."
"Do you want to... to let him know you're coming? Maybe he'll let you meet her," Parth said a bit awkwardly.
She shook her head.
"No. He would never let me meet her. He hates me, and he probably filled hate in her ears about me too," she told him painfully. "It's okay. We'll go to get the job done, and then come back."
Parth squeezed her shoulder warmly and then left to his own cabin. As tears filled her eyes, she took a deep breath, trying to calm the heart pain she was feeling right now.
It was impossible though, no matter how hard she tried to get over it or make it feel better, it wouldn't.
Some wounds never healed.
3
"Dad!" Somya yelled authoritatively, standing up on her chair and holding the spoon that was previously on her plate up like it was a judge's mallet. "I have something to say to you!"
Randhir looked up and sighed as he saw his daughter on top of the chair.
"Somya sit down and eat your dinner," Randhir said softly.
"No!" she argued. "First listen to me!"
"Alright baby, what's up?" Randhir asked her.
He never had any control over her. She was always so stubborn and did whatever she wanted - just like her mother.
"Where on Earth is my mom!" Somya asked him in a strong voice. "My friend's ask me about my mom and I tell them I don't know... then they laugh!"
Randhir balled his hands into fists. How dare they laugh at his daughter like that? Kids had no manners. He could hear Sanyukta's soothing voice in the back of his mind, telling him to calm down and that they were only kids - they didn't know any better, but he still felt very protective over his daughter.
"Dad!" Somya snapped, breaking him out of his reverie. "Where is she? You never speak about her! Is there even a picture?"
"Somya, first sit down," Randhir said seriously.
"No!" she said shaking her head. "I want an answer."
"Your mom is... she's not here Somya," Randhir told her. "She's... not in this world anymore."
It was a big lie - but he didn't know how to tell her that her mom left them, that her mom didn't care about Somya, or about her father. He didn't know how tell Somya that her mother was a beautiful woman, but she had a nasty heart.
"Not in this world anymore?" Somya asked him quietly, and he could tell that there was heartbreak all over her face.
He hated hurting his daughter like that, but the sooner she could put a closure to this mom chapter, the better it would be for her.
Somya sat down on he chair and looked at her dinner gloomily.
"You mean with God?" she then asked.
Randhir nodded.
"Yes, she is with God," he said with a soft smile.
"Do you think she thinks about me up there?" Somya asked Randhir.
"Of course. You're too sweet to not be thought about," Randhir told her. "Your mom... loved you a lot."
He hated lying to his daughter, but this was the quickest way for her to get over her mom.
"Okay," Somya said, playing with her food. "Do you have a picture?"
"No," Randhir lied. "Somya eat your food. You have to do your homework too. Don't you want to be a topper like your father?"
"Was mom a topper too?" Somya asked curiously, lifting her face to look at him.
Randhir sighed.
"Yes, yes she was... in fact, she even beat me a couple of times," Randhir told her, this time a small smile forming on his lips.
Randhir knew he was supposed to hate Sanyukta, but he couldn't control the smile forming on his lips at the memory of her competitive nature, her determination, and her intelligence. How strong competition turned into passion and attraction, he still didn't know.
"My mom was probably smarter," Somya pointed out.
Randhir started to chuckle. For some reason, he really liked it when Somya complimented her mother, even if she didn't know her true nature.
"She was," Randhir said, a dreamy smile forming on her face. "Now Somya please be quiet and eat."
"Okay daddy!" Somya accepted happily.
Randhir brought his own spoon to his lips, unable to control the smile that was taking over his lips at the memory of the lady who had once been his Sanyukta.
4
It had been six years since she set foot in her country, in the city she was raised and brought up in. Her heart ached to go and visit her family, but she doubted that they remembered her. She had to fight with her whole family to be with Randhir, and finally when they told her she could be with him, they disowned her. They said that she had no ties with them anymore.
It had hurt her a lot, but what could she have done? She loved Randhir more than she loved her life. She promised him that she would be with him forever, no matter what circumstances arose. They took vows together.
Sanyukta had broken her promise, and the guilt of not only breaking her promise, but of breaking his heart and perhaps the heart of her daughter too, was eating her up from the insides.
She churned with guilt to not have seen the moments where her daughter took her first steps or spoke her first words. She regretted not being able to feed her daughter her own breast milk. Sanyukta felt terrible for not being able to hold her daughter, to lull her cries or to give her the love of a mother.
As her eyes filled with tears at the thought of her daughter whose name she didn't even know, Parth put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Sanyukta sniffled and turned around to look Parth in the eyes.
"Sorry Parth," she apologized.
"Don't worry about it. Let's go," Parth said, causing her to nod.
"Okay," she agreed, opening the backdoor of a car the company had hired for them, so they could get to their company house from the airport.
Sanyukta thought she would be fine. She thought that the pain of all the memories was already at its highest point, but she had been so wrong. The atmosphere of Delhi itself caused her to tremble with pain.
As soon as her and Parth got into the backseat of the car, she closed her eyes and leaned against the window, trying to calm the nausea that she was feeling.
On the other side of town, Randhir was heading out of his office to pick up Somya from school, when he saw a little boy approach him, selling newspapers - he must have only been a few years older than Somya.
"Hi Uncle," the boy said respectfully. "Would you like to buy a newspaper?"
"How much?" Randhir asked him.
"Just ten rupees Uncle," the boy replied.
Randhir opened his wallet and took out two thousand rupee notes before handing them the boy.
"Keep this and give yourself a treat," Randhir told the boy. "You're doing a great job - hard work will you land you in great places."
The boy looked at Randhir with shock and Randhir just smiled at him and patted his head.
"Take care of yourself," he said, picking up a newspaper from the pile the boy was holding.
Randhir turned around to leave, leaving the boy on the street touched.
"Uncle!" the boy called out from behind.
"Yes?" Randhir asked, turning back around.
"This was between your notes," the young boy said holding up a small passport sized photo.
Randhir's eyes widened as he saw that the picture was of Sanyukta. He took the picture from the boy and glanced down at it. It was from their college days, when they were dating.
"Thank you," Randhir told the boy with a smile.
"No, thank you Uncle," the boy said with appreciation and then turned around to leave.
As Randhir headed to his car, he put the picture back in his wallet, where it had come from. No matter how much he tried to hate her, he just was not able to. In his heart and soul, it was only she who rested. His mind tried every tactic to get her out, but he was helpless... at the end of the day he surrendered to his heart and kept her close to him in his wallet.
That was the closest he was able to keep her all these years.
Ishaani
