Well, I'm back (feels proud!). :D
Chapter 51
Only if Chirag could listen what she had to say things would be easier now but all he had done was place a heartfelt apology in front of her saying she would never face the troubles she did so far and he would always be by her side. Promise. Ishani had seen them all her life but they appeared most distant today as the words left Chirag's mouth. She had heard them being uttered hundreds of the times before and being left, unfinished like broken arrows flung from unfathomable distance that failed to reach their destination. Chirag led the car that he had hired- to impress her- to the 33 King Street and driving for a couple of more minutes the car halted in front of a lavish gate as the guards opened them. Chirag stepped out and offered his help to Ishani while she excused herself and stepped out of it on her own.
"Let's go," Chirag said, curling his left arm around Ishani's waist, while she moved away.
"Chirag, you can't park the car here like this," Ishani said. "First you have to look after that."
He looked offended like he always did. "But, baby..." Chirag said, but was interrupted by Ishani.
"We can't keep the car hanging on the gate, you know that," Ishani said sternly and Chirag stepped in again without uttering another word, and drove to the parking lot. Ishani, being left alone at the place and having waited for the next 30 minutes and not seeing any sign of his, quietly made her way to Clos Maggiore and getting in she saw Ranveer already occupying a table. He was on time and would never get late. He looked at her and smiled while Ishani seemed to be enchanted by a magic as she, too, smiling walked to him. His face shone bright in the candlelight of the table. He stood up as she approached him and arranged a chair for her.
"So, how's it going?" Ranveer asked, as Ishani took her seat. She only smiled in return at first, not knowing what else to say or how to pin the thoughts in words and tell him what she felt.
"I don't see Shanaya anywhere. Is she not coming?" Ishani said at length, as the silence ensued between them became awkward.
"I hope she comes soon enough," Ranveer said, sighing. He was nervous and she could see that.
Silence again enveloped them as neither Ishani nor Ranveer talked as they looked about them and often when their eyes met they smiled. Ishani could feel heart twitch as he looked at her and she would blush but hoped he did not see her like that. Chirag returned in 15 minutes, his face exhibiting irritation as though he had been insulted.
"Everything's alright?" Ishani asked, while Chirag's look softened and he sat beside her.
"I had heard you're punctual but this punctual, I never knew," Chirag said to Ranveer. "20 minutes early!"
"You are 45 minutes late" Ranveer said, glancing at his watch.
"Ah, but I hope this mistake of mine will be forgiven since we might not meet again," Chirag said as he looked at Ishani. "Is that not so, Ishani?"
Ishani kept quiet.
"Of course!" Ranveer said, smiling. He could sense Ishani was troubled. "It would be my pleasure not to meet you again."
As they talked, Chirag quite often insulting Ranveer indirectly, Ishani kept quiet unless it was a glare that she would often shoot at Chirag and he would fall silent. Chirag's phone rang suddenly as he excused himself and walked out of the room.
Ishani apologetically looked at Ranveer but he still did not say anything.
"I'm sorry, Ranveer," Ishani said after a while. "I didn't mean Chirag to insult you here."
"It's alright," Ranveer said, softly. "Few things are meant to last forever." He said the last words jestingly but they stung Ishani.
"Shut up!" was all she could say before Chirag turned up again. Ishani hated sometimes the way Ranveer talked about him.
"I'm sorry, guys, that I had to leave you like this. I just managed to crack a deal with of our old allies in UK, and that's one of the biggest things I want to celebrate this evening for," Chirag said pompously. "After all someone noticed what class is necessary to run Indian business in international market."
"Congratulations!" Ranveer spoke first. "I'm sure this evening has better surprises for you."
It could be understood that Chirag did not really understand Ranveer's remarks and chose to stay silent as he looked at him, irritated. He talked to Ishani in whispers while she showed no interest in any conversation. All she wanted was to burst the bubble that Chirag had created about himself to get her home with him. He had not received her phone calls since afternoon and had been unavailable until the evening when he had suddenly turned up to take her on the dinner date. She couldn't wait to be free.
A couple of minutes had passed when Chirag again received a call and left for a corner to talk to the caller. Ishani sat quietly, her eyes closed for a while, and made a decision. She needed to tell Ranveer first what had brought her his office early in the morning today and that she wanted to end her relationship with Chirag. But before she could muster courage to speak, she saw Ranveer welcomed a young woman, which made Ishani's stomach churn both in anger and envy. The woman wore a light green colored gored skirt and a simple casual top. She shook hands with Ranveer and smiled at Ishani while she only answered with a passive smile. Shanaya sat down on a chair beside Ranveer and looked about.
"Ishani, this is Shanaya," Ranveer said, but Ishani cut short him.
"I know," she said, trying not to sound rude. She didn't need any description about her except why she had come here if Ranveer was not interested in her. "You told me her name when we first met."
"Oh, yes, I did," Ranveer answered, as if he had forgotten it.
"And I am Ishani Parekh," she added to Shanaya. "RV's childhood and only best friend."
Shanaya nodded her head in acknowledgement as though ignoring Ishani's rude remarks.
"Any special purpose you called me up now, RV?" Shanaya said, turning to Ranveer.
"You'll see it in few minutes."
Chirag returned, his eyes fixed on the phone and emanating an anger that Ishani had not seen before. He looked at Ranveer in disgust, his eyes red in anger, but his expressions changed suddenly to those of terror at the mere sight of the woman that sat beside Ranveer. Trying to keep everything in control, yet unable to understand who to talk first he shot his question at Shanaya, who by now, had turned to look at Chirag but was not as surprised as he.
"You?" Chirag said, as if trying to keep his sanity alive. "What are you doing here?"
"And what are you doing here?" the girl asked him.
"I-I just came to--" Chirag looked at Ishani.
"What?"
"You two know each other?" ejaculated Ishani while Chirag ignored her.
"Of course we do!" Shanaya answered. "He's my boyfriend. We've been dating each other since last month and came here last week since he had an urgent work and I had to enroll myself in a university here."
"Boyfriend?" Ishani frowned, and looked at Chirag.
"Don't--" Chirag looked at both the woman in confusion, as though not sure who to address. "Shanaya is lying," he said at length.
"Lying? About what? You are my boyfriend, or you had some work or I was to enroll in the university?"
"All!"
"Wait, wait," Ishani said, "Chirag came here 2 days back."
"Oh, no," Shanaya said. "We both have been staying in London since last week."
Ishani looked at Chirag who still seemed resolute enough not to give in to Shanaya'a words. "It's a lie," he yelled. "Ishani, I came the day before I met you."
"I have the bills and the rest of the documents of the hotel we've stayed in," Shanaya said, and produced the bills of Mandarin Oriental hotel registered at the name of Chirag Mehta.
"They are completely fake! It's RV's plan, Ishani. He wants to separate you from me."
Ishani was confused. Who was this woman and why would Ranveer call her like this? Whoever she was, why would she start accusing Chirag? Chirag's accusations on Ranveer were, however, baseless and she paid no heed to them. She stood up, moved towards Shanaya and said, "You say you are Chirag's girlfriend... Any evidence apart from these papers?"
"There are many."
Shanaya looked at Chirag as though determined to reveal something that he would not appreciate, and he looked frightened now. From her bag she plucked a pendent with two hearts and showed it to Ishani. On one heart there was Shanaya's photo while on the other one there was Chirag's.
"He gifted me on my birthday, and here is the bill of it as well." She handed over a piece of paper which showed the date of last month and the bill was paid by Chirag Mehta in Mumbai.
"This is a trap!" Chirag squeaked, "Don't fall into it, Ishani."
"Anything else?" Ishani looked at Shanaya.
"I have many more but I don't want to show them here really," Shanaya said ruefully. "It's the case of my and my boyfriend's privacy."
"Shut up, you--" Chirag said, now a defeated desperation in his voice.
"What is this, Chirag?" Shanaya said, looking at him and her eyes shining in revulsion. "You said you are going to talk about our marriage to my parents since yours were ready. What happened to that? It's unbelievable you have a fiance since last two years!" She shook her head as tears shone in the corners of her eyes.
"Come." Chirag dragged Shanaya out of the room, without looking back at anyone. Ishani, puzzled, brought her hand to her forehead.
A thousand confusing thoughts swirled across her head but neither seemed answerable enough. Before she could realize what she did, her feet followed the place Chirag had been to with Shanaya. Ishani stood in a corner as Chirag held the young woman by her elbow and dragged her along. Ishani did not know why, but a feeling of fear ran through her skin. It wasn't a fear of something happening wrong but something else. Ishani moved further as Chirag by now had disappeared from the sight and she followed him, keeping the watch close enough not to lose the track completely. She took the aid of a tree to hide herself as the conversation of Shanaya and Chirag now could be clearly heard, although in low whispers. She could not risk going further but knew Chirag will never tell her the truth, and she had to find that out just this way.
Ishani saw Shanaya jerked her hands off Chirag and he looked at her, outraged.
"What the hell were you doing here?" Ishani heard Chirag say, while Shanaya's eyes bore into his.
"I should ask you the same," she replied airily, as though Chirag's gaze had no impact on her. "You came on a bloody date with your fiance! What was it that happened between you and me that day?"
Ishani froze. What was it Shanaya was talking about? Why did she look so confident about Chirag? Why was Chirag so silent?
"Look," Chirag said, pointing his hand at Shanaya. "You are not going to ruin anything for me. I have worked very, very hard to achieve this today and you are not supposed to ruin anything."
Ishani's eyes widened in surprise and her hand tightly grasped a wisp of the tree she stood beneath. She heard more intently.
"You are threatening me?" Shanaya gasped.
"No, baby, I'm not," Chirag said, coming close to her.
"It's a lie!" she yelled. "You don't love me."
"I love you. Ishani is just a medium by whom I am to achieve my long overdue success. What I was doing was for a better future of ours, baby," Chirag said, taking her face in his hands.
"What was it I saw you with her in the restaurant that day?" Shanaya remarked.
"Oh, that was nothing," Chirag answered, carelessly waving his hands. "Ishani thinks I love her and will support her in her thick and thin but I'm not going to do that. Once I get her father's property it's only about us, Shanaya. No Ishani no one else. And I'm sure even your parents will agree to my proposal."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You don't know our history but it goes long back to being 2 years ago.."
"You two have known each other for 2 years?"
"Ah, yes." Chirag laughed. "But I can see she is getting out of my grasp now. It's as though she's got wings suddenly. I need to cut them down."
Ishani's grip on the branch of the tree that fell beneath her palm by its natural design grew harder as rage roved in her heart as though groping to take hold of something that never had existed. She gulped and heard Chirag, now getting closer to the spot the duo stood.
"However, the only thing you have to know is nothing between me and Ishani is not going to last longer. She directly leads me to my jackpot full of the things I have been in dire need of, and for that I cannot let her go."
Shanaya frowned at Chirag, while he grasped her by her shoulders now.
"It's nothing like that, baby," he said. "There is nothing between us. We haven't even kissed, you see. She was that boring." Chirag pretended yawning. "Let me get her property, and it's all about you and me." Chirag moved closer and leaned his head towards her but Shanaya pushed him away.
"You are disgusting," she said. "How many women have you fooled before like this while being in relationship with another?"
Ishani stood like a tree, as if her feet had been rooted in the place and she could not move or speak. Her eyes blinked rapidly for a while to clear her vision that was bleared up by the tears.
Chirag, disgruntled, withdrew back. "It's only you, baby. I love you only. As far as Ishani is concerned, I need to have her by my side; otherwise RV will never let me go whole from this city. You don't know but he is very dangerous. God, how people change. He used to be a bloody servant at the Parekh Mansion when we met first and today he is threatening me just because he has earned little money. That won't do."
"Shut up!" Shanaya shrieked. "I should've known men like you can never be satisfied with one woman. I was such a fool."
Chirag's face turned red. "No, no!" he said frantically. "And please help me, Shanaya. I need your help otherwise RV will not let me go away. Now, come on, and tell Ishani that you were hired by him to create misunderstandings between us. I'm sure Ishani will not doubt you. You will do that for me, won't you?"
Ishani stood weakly, staring at the dark figures of Chirag and Shanaya. Chirag had been betraying Ishani since last month or perhaps longer. He was in relationship with another woman. He had fallen in love with Ishani's money and not her as she had assumed at first. What Chirag and Shanaya talked afterwards Ishani could not hear and nor did that interest her anymore. She walked to the place Chirag and Shanaya still argued, oblivious of her presence.
Ishani moved quietly, like a tigress preparing to assault its prey and advanced towards Chirag. She felt numb as though her ability to feel anything in that moment had been crushed and her heart was frozen. Chirag's shocked expressions did not change anything within her nor did she care. A part of her wished to scream at Chirag as loudly as she could but another found it utterly useless. A darkness had fallen before her eyes beyond which nothing could be seen, nothing could be felt. No relief, no pain, no love or no hatred. Chirag still looked at her, his mouth wide open in eternal shock and his eyes widened in disbelief. She could feel him trying to speak something but she heard him say nothing. A single drop of tear could have made Ishani feel more alive but even it did not appear.
"You liar!" Ishani's small voice shrieked, making her wonder if she had said anything at all. She suddenly smiled, a painful, little grimace, unable to understand if it was the result of unexpected relief or a guilt that she was supposed to feel. "You made it easier for me." Chirag raised his eyebrows.
"Ishani, you here..." he managed to wonder but was cut short by Ishani.
"Don't say a word anymore," Ishani shouted, and now drop of tear glistened in her eye. "I trusted you."
"She's- she's lying," Chirag said frantically, pointing his fingers towards Shanaya. "It's Ranveer's plan. He wants to separate us, you and me. He did that before too, don't you remember that?"
Ishani discarded Chirag's explanations by merely staring at him vacantly. She had once before succumbed to his lies but this time it would not happen; she would not let that happen. Before Chirag could do anything, Ishani slowly plucked her engagement ring out of her finger and plunged it down on his palm.
"It's over," she whispered quietly and walked away, without turning back.
Chirag was devastated. Anyone who had seen his face in that moment could realize the obvious truth within a second. He shouted Ishani's name as long as she was in his sight, hoping she would turn back to him at once. But she didn't. Chirag moved further but felt someone's hand on his shoulder.
"Don't you ever dare follow her," Ranveer said, his eyes burning in anger. "You have used her enough. Fooled her enough. Now if you want a happy ending for your own self, get the hell out of here. I'm not going to give you a second chance again." There was a cold threat in Ranveer's words and Chirag was not mistaken to think that Ranveer meant each and every word. Ranveer turned towards Shanaya. "I'm glad to have your kindness to help me, Miss Shanaya. I cannot thank you enough for what you have done today."
"It's my pleasure, RV," Shanaya said.
"It was your plan, wasn't it?" Chirag fretted, looking at Ranveer in shock.
"To let Ishani know what you were, yes," Ranveer answered, now no more concerned about anything. Chirag's game was over.
"How did you know about Shanaya?" Chirag asked, still in shock.
"The moment you met me in the office back when you said you had just come, and said you had the means of joy' on your journey I knew what you could be talking about. Your tone and eyes gave away too much. In the next few hours Shanaya was tracked and it did not take her too long to understand what was at stake and what was needed to be done. She was no Garima to be fooled by you."
Chirag looked helpless while Ranveer felt nothing but pity for the man. He remembered how Chirag belonged to a good family that had been the part of history in Indian Market, and a good fortune awaited him but he brought his own ruin and nothing could save him anymore.
"Anyway, thank you, Miss Shanaya," Ranveer said, turning to Shanaya and shaking hands with her.
"Real thing wasn't even utilized," Shanaya said. "The evidences that you had asked me to collect were never brought into picture." She handed Ranveer a bag and no further explanation was made.
"Ah, yes, but it's good that everything fell into place on its own," Ranveer said, "That has been the best part."
"I swear you will regret it. Both of you," Chirag ejaculated while Ranveer ignored him. Shanaya left and Ranveer turned to Chirag. Chirag's eyes glowed with a ferocious light.
"And you better go back, Chirag. You will not get another chance for hurting Ishani," Ranveer said and walked away. Ranveer came out at the road but Ishani could not be seen anywhere. He tried calling her on phone but she did not pick it up. Intending to look for her in other places Ranveer came back to the place where his car was parked and before he could get in, he heard Ishani's voice.
"I hope you don't mind dropping me home." Her head peeped from inside his car. At his questioning look, Ishani continued, "Rishi let me in." Ranveer looked at Rishi who stood next to his own car and nodded.
Ranveer smiled lightly and stepped into the car. "I'll be pleased to do that."
Ranveer started the car and drove across, Rishi following him. While driving, Ranveer texted Rishi to take a different route as he himself would be taking another and the rest of the work could be put on rest tonight. Rishi followed the order and turned away from the crowded King Street. Ranveer saw him driving until his car enveloped into the bustling crowd of the town.
Ishani sat silent, staring out of the window. She neither spoke nor sobbed. Ranveer looked at her but she did not return his glances and he knew, more than she admitted was wrong.
"Ishani," he said, while she shifted on her seat uncomfortably as though his voice disturbed her thoughts. "I know what happened shouldn't have happened but--"
"I don't want talk about that, Ranveer," Ishani answered, her eyes still away from him.
Ranveer did not persuade her more to say anything. She could have her time but he hoped it would not be too long. She couldn't keep her sorrow in her heart like this forever. An hour later, Ranveer stopped the car and Ishani looked about her in surprise.
"We're home," he said softly. Ishani nodded but did not say anything. She wiped tears from corners of her eyes and smiled weakly.
"Thank you," she whispered and turned to leave.
"Ishani," Ranveer called out, walking to her, "You don't have to pretend to be alright when you're not feeling so. Whenever you need me, I'll always be there."
Ishani nodded again but did not look at him. "I'm alright," she said, and left.
Water poured over her head like a torrent furiously rolling down into an infinite depth of a chasm, while Ishani sat silently beneath it, her knees bent to her chest and her slender arms surrounding them tightly while soft sobs left her lips continuously. She would often eye her ring finger which consisted of a ring of Chirag's name until a couple of hours ago, but now it was left empty.
It had been 3 hours since she had returned home but her mind only played the incidents that had separated her from her life two years ago. How could she be so blind not to see the obvious? Chirag was a liar. Garima was a liar. They all lied. But the real culprit was she, herself, who had let things happen before her eyes and not said anything or done anything to prevent them. She closed her eyes as if to erase the memories that once again had surfaced in her guilty heart but tonight they would not go away. Ranveer's words of that stormy night echoed in her mind once again as clearly and painfully as they had done that night but now she could not ignore them. All the time she pretended not to care. As if she could forget that and her past would not haunt her like this. Her heart clenched against her chest excruciatingly as she wept tears as bitter as blood, her sobs blending with the roaring sound of the water gliding over her body.
How could she trust someone like Chirag and fall in love with him? "I was the one who showed you his good side, Ishani, but now I'm telling you he is not at all like he claims to be. Trust me," Ranveer had said but she did not listen.
Ranveer... why did he even come back to her? That was not what she deserved. Not him. She could not look into his eyes now. Why didn't he leave her long, long ago and let her suffer the consequences of her own foolishness? Why did he have to be her shield and protect her from people like Zaveri uncle, Mr. Watson or even Chirag Mehta? Ishani shook her head as though to efface the agonizing feelings that now crept in her head and became a most vivid picture of what she had done and the blunders she had created, but they would not fade away. Her eyes halted at the moment she confessed her feelings for Chirag and pronounced she loved him. The moment that had changed everything even though she did not realize until now. How ridiculous!
How easily she had declared, "You are changed, Ranveer. You don't understand me anymore." But she never realized what was changed between them. She was the one. She would never have been able to endure had she been at Ranveer's place and he had said the things she told him. She was selfish to think so, and broken and fragile; but she did not care. All her life she only had wanted to have him by her side but she was the one who had stopped valuing him for someone as trivial as Chirag Mehta. Trivial, yes. That's what he was. The water of the shower slowly turned cold and Ishani stepped out of it, dripping. Wrapping a white towel around her she quietly walked towards the room, as her eyes fell on an ajar kept drawer which she always heeded to but never dared to go further than just having a look from outside. Tonight her feet involuntarily brought her there as her eyes carefully traced every object placed in it. A watch that Ishani had gifted Ranveer on his birthday before he had left the Parekh Mansion shone in the dim radiance of the room. His belongings were either thrown away or burned by Baa the next day of his departure with his family, but Ishani had found this watch in her Papa's drawer which he kept hidden from his wife and other family members. Ishani was surprised at first to find it unexpectedly but later had requested her father to keep it with herself and he after a while had agreed though despondently- perhaps he too wanted to keep something about Ranveer with him. She could not fathom the comfort it gave her as she kept the watch close to her, tonight with a new feeling, as tears still rolled down her cheeks rapidly. Her father had no bitter feelings for Ranveer before he passed away and now that was a comforting thought.
Every other object in the drawer kept carried a fond memory of the old halcyon times as Ishani touched and kissed them gently and reliving every memory that she had fearfully rejected. But now she realized she was alive for them only.
The night was always a lonely affair for Ranveer as well as an anxious one, but tonight his anxiety was amplified by the silence that Ishani had showed after the date. She should have said something. Anything. But her silence stung. He was the one to be blamed but sometimes heartbreaks were meant to happen. He wished he could have avoided her pain and never done the foolishness of uniting Ishani with Chirag. He should have been logical enough to understand Chirag's treachery.
Ranveer rolled over and, out of the window, sickle moon flared up in the sky. Stars flamed silently, their faint light illuminating the ground before him. It had been hours but Ishani's thoughts would not leave him. They never did. She had not picked up his phone either which somehow was a matter of unease for him. He couldn't sleep like this. Not unless Ishani talked to him. It would be the last time he'd try her number and if she did not talk to him he would have to go to her. He couldn't leave her to fight the demons alone. Luck was with him this time as Ishani, after 6 consecutive rings, finally received his call. Ranveer heaved a sigh of relief and tried to keep his voice as steady as possible.
"Ishani, are you alright?" he said as soon as Ishani was on the other side.
"Yes," Ishani said in a low whisper. "I'm fine."
"Where had you been?"
Ishani kept quiet.
"I know what happened today should never have happened, but it was necessary."
"Hmm," Ishani nodded.
"Ishani?"
"Yes."
"I need to confess something."
Ishani again kept quiet but Ranveer knew she was ready to listen. Perhaps her breathing gave her thoughts away.
"Well," Ranveer began hesitantly, "I had known about Chirag long ago and when he came back I realized he was not changed a bit. Trust me, Ishani, if he were a good person, I myself would have got you two together but he was not and that was the reason the drama tonight was created. He would never confess his true intentions and I could not wait any longer. I don't know what you heard him say but it's good to know that you know the truth now."
"I heard him say everything he never showed and I never saw but the truth remained clear. I heard him say everything you told me last time and I didn't listen..."
Ranveer felt Ishani wanted to say more but fell silent. There was a silence for a long time as Ranveer did not know what to say and only Ishani's breathing was heard. At last he spoke, "I know you are upset, and if you need break for a while you can take that and we can postpone the meetings for tomorrow."
"No, no," Ishani answered immediately, her voice still not above a whisper. "I'm alright." She tried to look convincing but failed.
"And don't worry about Chirag. He's being watched and cannot escape until morning. He will not trouble you."
"Thank you," Ishani said, and disconnected the call.
Ranveer felt relieved after talking to Ishani, but this night had to be longest one of his life.
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