MB FF - On the Quest : Thread 2 ||Mega update-Pg13|| - Page 10

"I am home!" Vasusen entered the living room looking around for Vrushali.

"Good evening sir!" His loveable wife greeted him with a pleasant smile which was very accommodating to a man who had been out in the cold for long.

"Hot chocolate?" He asked.

"On the table!" She signalled.

"Newspaper?"

"Near the hot chocolate." She bowed down.

"Great! Well not bad at all!" He nodded with a smirk.

"Now, come on! Let me tell you something. I got this really sweet plan for the evening. We can go and explore museum with all sort of historical stuff and then maybe we can spend sometime together!" She told him with innocence that was hard to disappoint.

"Not a good idea I feel. How about staying at home and watching some good series or a movie perhaps!" Vasusen told her.

"Hmm... Won't that be really normal for you to do? I mean you are this great engineer who runs this great company and is on this quest to find gemstones which are really precious and well goes through all the adventures..."

"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Vasusen cuts in, "What is it? Is everything right?"

"No it isn't! Nothing is right Vasusen!" Vrushali stood up and she looked upset.

Vasusen stood up after her and with much concern, asked her, "What happened?"

"I am tired. Tired of living this kind of life. Tired of all the insane adventures. Tired of this unnatural life. Tired of living my life like its gonna end the next second. I just want to live life a bit... normally!" She had tears in her eyes.

He embraced her affectionately and then told her with softness, "Everything will be fine Vrushali! Everything will be just fine. And believe me, I'll never let any bad happen to you or my family!"

Vrushali broke the hug and with agony expressed herself, her voice reflected her broken heart, "Well, you couldn't stop one bad from happening to Shubhi. Hope you can at least stop the rest!"

And she quit the room. It was not easy for here to tolerate all the stress. For a normal girl of humble lineage, it was already uneasy to set herself in the mould of high-society culture and when she had to leave all and move ahead, she gain had to be a part of Vasusen's mission although she wished not to be one. How could that ever be normal for her?

Vasusen on the other hand, belonged to a rich family. Though all his brothers, did not know much about their family other than the fact that their father died young and mother left them alone and he had to take over and handle to company, they missed to live a happily family life. From the very start of their life, they had to accept and win challenges in life. This had made Vasusen strong. But when he met Vrushali in college, he developed a weakness. A weakness which made it tough for him to be, what he used to be. He turned more submissive, thoughtful and patient. He changed with time and today, he was very different. Past it seemed, had vanished. But it was still there between the mist of the present. Waiting to resurface and destroy the present and thus, the future.

Panchi went up to the door and carefully opened it. She didn't find anyone outside and decided to close it when someone whistled. Her senses activated to be alert and her heart started rushing. She made sure to be quick before she was pulled by someone and pinned against the wall and two mighty arms.

"Missed me?" He asked her.

The voice seemed familiar. She had heard. In fact she had heard it second before she opened the door and was confident that he was the one whom she wanted to see. It was him. Paarth.

And without even opening her eyes she embraced him and asked him, "When did you come?"

"On Monday but I didn't want to tell you. It was a surprise."

"Well, it a very pleasant one. And to be honest, I love it. Now, won't you get in?" She put her arms around his neck.

"Well, that's a very affectionate invitation. Isn't it?" He picked her up in his arms and then took her in and locked the door to make sure that the temperature inside the house was good enough to help keep it warm.

And they reached in he put her down and winked. "So, what now? Where are we going to explore?" She asked him and she pushed a glass of water ahead towards him.

He sat on the counter, right in front of her and then drank the water and with a smirk replied, "I am here for you. No quest. No adventure. All perfectly normal weekend with my perfectly normal girlfriend before I return to my 'too-much' life on Monday!"

"Well, when was the last time we had normal time like usual adults?" Panchi asked him with a reproachful look. It was almost never. They had never have a normal life because they had to tackle with a lot of issue related to their previous life, their present life and the future of the quest.

"Call me an idiot but I am here for a normal weekend to spend it with you, happily!"

"Okay, now Paarth. This is good. Look, it is not possible. You it isn't!" She told him as she closed the distance between them.

He pulled her closer and asked her as he opened her clutched hair, "Why isn't it?"

"I don't know. But I don't think it is possible. We will never lead a normal life perhaps. I miss it. I miss living freely without any tension or stress of our safety and security but it won't ever happen. One of us has perished and soon others will too. The quest and its adventures will spare no one!"

She told him and was almost moved to tears when he hugged her tightly and told her affectionately, "No it will Panchi. I will never let anything happen to you. Even if it costs me my life. I will always protect you Panchi. Always."

"And also, I have another surprise for you!" He said after a silence of a few minutes to lighten up the atmosphere.

"What?" She asked with a faint smile.

"I, I mean we, are invited to a party at Mrs.Saltzman's house tomorrow." He told her with a nod as he took out the card from his blazer's pocket and handed it to her.

"Who is she?"

"Some lady. Comes out she has some ties with our company and would love to renew them because she wants to invest big in Indian market and though our company is going through a rough patch she feels she can trust us."

"Strange. It seems really sweet or really ambitious!"

"Well, it doesn't matter to me. Its just a normal day when I can possibly strike a business deal with a client and spend sometime with my love make her feel that she has got the best boyfriend on earth!" He told her as he got up and looked around as if searching for Dhrishtradyumna.

"That's good." She nodded.

Ulupi entered the room with suspicion. She was taking a big risk but to accomplish what she wanted to, she had to risk her life let alone this. She had to risk it all just for the sake of Iravan. She was a mother and a mother can never let her son feel pain even if it required her to bear all the pain.

She walked around the room and checked every corner. Her eyes ran through every covering, behind every thing and beyond every viable sense just to make sure that she could trust that this meeting won't affect her at all, nor would it affect Iravan.

She looked at a small scar on her hand. It was red and was still healing. After almost a month, it was still healing and it was getting tough now. To manage with all the problems and to help Iravan. As it was, it was practically impossible to do what she wished to do, but she had to do it if she wanted to free Iravan from every problem.

She tied her hair into a bun and prepared herself. She wore a black gown and ruby necklace and carefully looked at it in the mirror. She admired it because it always reminded her of all the hardships she had taken to come so far. It would have been tough for anyone to even bear half of what Ulupi had bore.

For years, she was now running but never succeeded. All her trials, all her faith had failed - once, twice, thrice... every time. Yet she didn't give up. She had never learnt to do that. It was practically impossible for her to submit herself to fate and move on. She could never and would never accept defeat at hands of fate if given a chance. But she knew that fate conquers all someday or the other because death is inevitable because even the immortal dies when it has to.

She looked into her reflection in the mirror. The sunlight was entering through the window and the room was lightened up by it. The setting was exquisite and beautiful. A wonderful chandelier hanging, candles on the ledge of the fireplace, warm, accommodating fire burning and a very comfortable chair laid out in front of it. It was just perfect for her interest. She went and laid down there waiting for her visitor to arrive.

The door creaked and opened. Someone peeped into the room and Ulupi's eyes brightened although she had not seen who it was she knew it. Her heart recalled all the hardships she had been through and though her mind stopped her every second but in this war, heart and emotions conquered mind and its sense and she finally spoke.

"Hello. Duryodhan."

Duryodhan entered the room and he was confident of his purpose and was sure to be successful and with all his confidence, he replied, "Hi, Ulupi."

"Welcome Paarth!" The lady smiled.

"Hello Mrs.Saltzman. This is my friend Panchi." Paarth introduced Panchi to her as he returned the smile with equal warmth and humility.

"I hope you both enjoy the party. Believe me, you'll never forget this day of your life. I promise you that!" She told Panchi with a nod and a nasty smile which worried its recipient.

As Paarth and Panchi walked into the hall together, Panchi asked him, "She meant that in a good way. Right?"

He looked at his partner with reproachful eyes extending a like-really look to her, "Well of course! Unless. You want to get into something like checking out the whole house!"

"Yup! I was just suggesting to leave but well. Remember, this has to be a normal day!"

"It will be one. Believe me. No unbelievable things today!" He winked as he smirked.

Their talks were interrupted by the waiter, "Anything sir?"

"Yup, well both take a drink. Please make sure it nonalcoholic." He told the waiter and they immersed in their talks again this time with greater interest.

----

"Hey! Look what I found. I was going through the library today and laid my hands on some historicals! And this is my latest discovery!" Govind said with a contented smile as he entered the room and seated right in front of Vrushali and Vasusen.

"Seems nice. Worn, rough, artistic, manuscript-y. Yup! This is real. How the hell did they let you issue this? This should have been in some museum." Vasusen asked with amazement as he inspected the big manuscript which seemed to be a part of Greek culture.

"I took someone's help." Govind told him, trying hard to hide a smile.

"Whose?" Vasusen asked with suspicion.

"Yup! I know who it is! Radha. She is the one who works in partnership with the library and she owns a few herself. Without a doubt its our humble and sweet neighbour. Now, you are enjoying this. Aren't you?" Vrushali asked Govind as with teasing smile which seemed to have just the right effect on him.

"Yes. She is a good friend and to be honest, she loves to research like me. I don't see any harm!" Govind told them conveniently.

"There obviously isn't! Vasusen, don't you think we should be a bit civil and invite our neighbour for a dinner?"

"That an excellent idea Vrushali. I am impressed. Let do it. But when?"

"New Years Day?" Vrushali looked at Govind.

"Do what you want to! I have no problems!" Govind got up and ran upstairs.

"God! Men in love can be so adorable." Vrushali said with a hearty laugh.

"Oh! I get that!" Vasusen nodded tactlessly.

----

The sun set as the day passed and the evening time came up. The lights at the house were on and the party was in complete swing. The halls were full of people from every corner of the world. Singers, dancers, writers, businessmen, all were present. And among them the lovebirds sat talking.

"Told ya! A complete day without any abnormal event!" Paarth said with pride and joy bubbling in his words.

"The day hasn't ended!" She told him as she played with his tie.

"Hey! Wait a second the waiter didn't get us drinks yet! Its been the whole day already!" Paarth mentioned with surprise and Panchi nodded with equal amazement.

"Now that's unusual!" Panchi remarked looking at him, straight into his eyes.

"No its not!" He made her sit on a chair, "He might have forgotten. I'll go, get both of us a drink and then we can continue ahead!"

She nodded and he left the next second and came back after a few minutes flaunting a drink in each hand as if they were victory cups.

"So?" He asked.

"You win! Nothing strange happened!" She rolled eyes at him and the next moment his phone rang up.

"Just a second. Why don't you enjoy you drink till then?" He backed off to attend the call.

Panchi was going to drink when the smell from the liquid alerted her. It was strange smell as if something was mixed in the drink. She checked Paarth's drinks. She could identify the drug and as he came back she stood up anxiously.

"Okay! You win. There is something fishy. Yudhishtir bahi says that he has no idea who Mrs.Saltzman is!" He told her with a worried look which tensed her even more and then she opened up to him about the drinks.

"Yup. And the drinks are drugged!"

A fear gripped Panchi as her perfectly normal day was turning into a really ugly one.