Hey friends... so sorry for the delay... Life's a bit disturbed right now... Some things to sort out... Thank you for being patient all these days... Will try to update regularly...
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I Am With You...
Chapter 21
Aastha stood still at her place as Niranjan finished telling everything. She stared into the empty air, her eyes hollow, her body numb. Niranjan knew Aastha was in pain, and he did feel bad for her. As he walked towards Aastha, she quickly wiped off her tears and tried to be normal. But her eyes welled up again. Niranjan tried to speak, but Aastha spoke instead.
"I understand, Uncle..." she tried to smile through her tears. Niranjan placed his hand on Aastha's to pacify her. Aastha tried to be strong. She placed her other hand on Niranjan's and said, "Don't worry, Uncle... I am fine. And you don't have to worry about anything... Shlok and Swati will have no troubles from me, I promise" A tear escaped Aastha's eye, but she wiped it before it left her face. Holding on the smile with great difficulty, Aastha further said, "You have my word, Uncle... And there's nothing as you think between Shlok and me. We are just best friends... You know that... Right from our school days..."
Niranjan admired Aastha's maturity and the way she was handling the shock. He knew it wasn't easy for her. He placed his hand on her head and blessed her. "Thank you beta... God bless you!" With wet eyes, he said "Avdhoot is a lucky man to have you as his daughter..."
Aastha tried to smile as her eyes filled with more tears. Slowly taking steps backward, she turned and ran to her room before her tears were out of control. Locking the door of her room she threw herself on the bed and cried her heart out digging her face into the pillow.
*****
Karan and Aditi became alert as the door of their cell was opened. They stood up and held hands as Inspector Deshmukh walked in. "Come with me!" he ordered and they both followed the inspector with many questions flooding their minds. Where was he taking them? The inspector lead the couple to his cabin and ordered them to sign in a register. Karan held the pen in his hand and was reading through the page when Aditi nudged him. He looked at her to see the horrified expression on her face. She was staring at something as she constantly nudged Karan. Her hands were shaking. Karan looked in the direction of her sight and was shocked to see Ajinkya staring at them with a wicked smile.
"What are you looking at? Put your signature there, now! We don't have all day!" yelled the inspector. "You are being released from here on the request of Ajinkya ji..." he told them.
Karan and Aditi exchanged glances in surprise. Anjikya requested the Inspector to release them? Really? This was so hard to believe. Karan confirmed it as he read the page before signing. He handed the pen to Aditi and nodded to tell her to go ahead and sign.
After the completion of all the formalities, Aditi and Karan were returned their belongings and told to leave. As they both walked past Ajinkya, they heard him say "Atleast have the courtesy to thank me... You are being released on my request after all..." His evil smile enraged Karan. Aditi was too scared to say anything.
Karan composed himself. With a smile, he said, "Thank you, Uncle" Hope you never find Aastha!
"And yes!" said Ajinkya as Karan and Aditi turned to leave, "Inform us as and when you get to know anything about Aastha..." He looked at Inspector Deshmukh and both laughed. Aditi and Karan were confused seeing this. They just walked out wondering what exactly was going on.
*****
Aastha sat on her bed holding her folded limbs close to her chest. Tears had dried on her cheek leaving back their trails. She was sobbing, her little figure trembling slightly. Why does fate always play with me? Why am I so unfortunate? Why do all those who are close to me go away from me? Don't I have the right to be happy? What wrong have I done that I am being punished so badly? Ajju and Aai are gone... Baba is present here physically, but he is not the same any more. And now Shlok... I feel so lonely. All alone, fighting to live. With no more tears left to shed, Aastha sat there staring into the empty air. She blinked off a warm little tear, probably the last one for now. As she felt the tear drop on her arm, she came out of the trance. Maybe I was wrong. I was wrong to think of Shlok in that way. I must block these feelings right now! Shlok already knows that he is gonna get married to Swati. I was being an idiot to dream of things that were never gonna be a part of my life. But Shlok? How could he? And the kiss... The thought of the kiss sent a wave of shiver across her spine. That shouldn't have happened. Why did I... Aastha was feeling guilty. Whatever happened has happened. That can't be changed. I should stop thinking about it and move on. Aastha got out of the bed with a determination to change herself and everything. She went to the bathroom and looked at herself into the mirror. Her face pale, her eyes were red and swollen. She raised her hand to her eyes to wipe off whatever little wetness was left in them. She hissed in pain as she touched her sore eyes. Opening the tap, she splashed the cool water on her face to soothe those hurting eyes. The water washed out those thoughts and feelings she had for Shlok, may be love, and there she saw a new Aastha in the mirror. She took a deep breath and released a sigh to compose herself, to make herself aware of the reality, to make herself strong to face what life brought to her. Wiping her face dry, she smiled looking into the mirror. Great! "All's good now..." she told herself.
*****
Shlok was waiting to meet Aastha. He knew she would come. But little did he know that everything was not the same anymore.
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Edited by ..optimist.. - 9 years ago
Anupamaa
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