UNSPOKEN LOVE #2 [Summary till Ch 25 Pg 115 || Ch 26 Pg 122](June 6) - Page 9

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Link to CHAPTER 14

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Unspoken Love

Chapter 15

Khushi wiped her tears...

"All this is happening because of Sheetal...!!" she said to Aman, "Who is Sheetal? Yeh Sheetal hai kaun?!"

This question was not at all expected by Aman. He was stunned and didn't know what to say.

"Bataayiye na Sir, who is this Sheetal?" urged Khushi.

"Khushi... uh..." Aman paused.

"Sir, I know this is a personal question" said Khushi, "lekin yeh jaanna mere liye bohot zaroori hai Sir, ki Sheetal kaun hai! I need to know this Sir... It is because of her that I am facing and probably will face problems...!!"

"Okay I will tell you about Sheetal, but before that you will have to promise me something..." said Aman as Khushi waited curiously. "Promise me that you will not let anyone know about what I am going to tell you. Especially Arnav should not know that I told you all this!"

"Okay Sir, I promise! I won't tell anyone... You have my word!" said Khushi.

And Aman began to speak...

"Sheetal..." he smiled remembering her, "a very beautiful young lady she was...! We had met her during our college days. And then, she became an important member of our group, as important as any of us! Aatey hi woh hum sab pe chhaa gayi thi... She had a sweet voice and was good at heart. Bohot samajhdaar thi, very understanding in nature. Dekhte hi dekhte woh hum sab ke saath ghul-mil gayi! It was such a nice group of ours - Arnav, Sheetal, Pooja, Ashwini, Karan and I!"

Khushi listened curiously. Aman was very excited to recall those days. He continued...

"Bohot masti karte thay hum... We used to bunk college and go watch movies, and we used to get scolded..." Aman laughed recalling the scoldings from their college professors. "And then we used to sit together all night completing the assignments given as a punishment!"

Khushi was enjoying, imagining all the things as she listened.

"I remember the dance competition we had won!! Arnav was with Sheetal and my partner was Pooja..."

"What?! Arnav Sir aur dance?!! I don't believe it!!" interrupted Khushi, surprised.

"You don't know, Arnav wast best all-rounder of our college! He has sung a song too at the gathering on everyone's request..."

"With Sheetal??" asked Khushi.

"Nahi nahi, solo song! 'Hothon se chhoo lo tum, mera geet amar kar do'... it used to be his favourite song!"

"I really don't believe this!" said Khushi, more shocked than surprised.

"Kyun ki tum Arnav ko jaanti hi nahi ho... You haven't ever met the real Arnav! The very enthusiastic and jolly Arnav, the biggest prankster I have ever known! There hides the most humble person and extremely caring and understanding friend inside the Arnav you have seen!"

All this was exactly opposite of what Khushi had known about Arnav. So all this seemed unbelievable.

"And you know what, almost all the girls in our college had a crush on Arnav...!!"

"And Arnav had a crush on Sheetal" thought Khushi.

"Okay, so considering whatever you just told about Arnav is true..." said Khushi, but before she continued, Aman interrupted her...

"What do you mean by 'considering'? It IS true!" exclaimed Aman.

"Okay... okay...!" said Khushi, "yeah it is true, fine!! But then what brought about this drastic change in Arnav Sir? What happened between Sheetal and Arnav Sir that he changed so much?" asked Khushi, desperate to know.

"Wait a minute!... Arnav and Sheetal??!!! Where did that come from??" said Aman.

"Now that Sheetal was Arnav Sir's girlfriend, there must have..."

"Arey!! When did I say that??"

"Wasn't Sheetal Arnav Sir's girlfriend?" asked Khushi, confused.

"No!! Sheetal was Karan's girlfriend... Both loved each other. Infact, they were gonna get married...!!"

"Then why did Arnav Sir take Sheetal's name? Something must have happened between Sheetal and him! Otherwise, why would he..."

"Nothing happened between Arnav and Sheetal... Whatever happened was between Sheetal and Karan..."told Aman clearing Khushi's confusion.

"May I know what had happened?" requested Khushi.

"When Arnav and I returned to India after completing our education, we all had planned a get-together. Everyone was there. Ashwini was married by then, but she still took out time to come meet us, because there was something important she wanted to tell us. And that was about Karan and Sheetal. Ashwini told us everything that had happened when Arnav and I were abroad. Though we all were in touch, no one had told us about all this. There were some serious issues going on between Karan and Sheetal. Both were not even on talking terms, though they were present with us. We tried to convince and reunite them in every way we could. And it had seemed all right then till the day everything ruined..." Aman paused, his throat wet.

Khushi was completely engrossed in listening to Aman.

"I very well remember" continued Aman, "It was Saturday. I was getting ready to go out with my family for dinner. My phone rang... it was Arnav! I picked up my phone and smiled. But my smile soon faded away when I listened to a teary voice of Arnav. Was he crying? Why was he so tensed? He told me to come to the KEM hospital right away and the call ended. Hospital?! I missed a beat. Was Arnav alright? I quickly took my car keys and drove to the hospital. Worse thoughts were coming to my mind as every moment passed. I reached the hospital and saw Arnav there, sitting on the bench outside the operation theatre. And then Arnav told me that Karan had met with a fatal accident. Arnav was worried and shattered. Arnav was very close to Karan, closer than he is with me! Arnav told me that Karan had called him just before the accident. Karan seemed very depressed on phone probably due to some misunderstanding with Sheetal. Karan was so upset that he would have given up his life! He had called Arnav so tell everything. Karan was driving during the call, and that's when his car collided against a truck coming across. Arnav could hear Karan's painful cry over the phone before the line went dead..."

Khushi closed her eyes tight for a moment as she imagined the accident.

"Doctors informed us that Karan was saved...but..." Aman paused, Khushi sighed. "But... due to the brain injury, he was paralysed!"

Khushi stared in shock.

"He could do nothing now... just lie on the bed motionless... He could sense everything, but he could not respond in any way... His life was ruined!!"

Khushi's eyes watered.

"And Karan's condition affected Arnav more than anyone else. Arnav knew that Sheetal was responsible for all this, it was the depression, the frustration that caused the accident!! And so he hates Sheetal more than anything else...!!"

"But then, didn't Sheetal come to meet Karan?"

"No! That's what hurt Arnav the most! Sheetal had vanished... She was gone... where, no one knew! She just went away, leaving Karan in a condition worse than death!"

There was silence. Aman had goosebumps remembering everything. Khushi was speechless.

After a few minutes, Khushi broke the silence...

"But I still don't get why Arnav Sir has a problem with me...!! Do I look like Sheetal?" asked Khushi, confused.

"Ah no! Sheetal was way different from you, in looks as well as by nature!"

"Then why did he say that I remind him of Sheetal?"

"Erm..." said Aman thoughtfully, "It is probably because, Sheetal and Karan had met in almost a similar way as you and Arnav had your first meeting at the traffic signal...!"

"But how is it my fault?" complained Khushi.

"I know it is not your fault... Karan's accident affected Arnav psychologically, and the consequences are in front of you now! We still are trying to bring him out of it, but it is very difficult now..." said Aman sadly.

Khushi felt sad too.

"He doesn't speak up his mind... saara dard apne seene mein dabaa ke rakha hai usne... He doesn't let the pain out. Aur phir kisi na kisi pe saara frustration nikaalta hai... Someone or the other suffers his wrath... And it is you, for the time being."

"We need to bring back the real Arnav Sir then...!!" said Khushi.

"We have already tried a lot... that didn't help... You can try if you want to... Who knows, he might change..." replied Aman without any hope.

Just then a volunteer interrupted their conversation. She wanted Khushi to come and see something.

"Khushi, jaao..." said Aman, "you alright?"

Khushi nodded in yes.

"Okay, I should go have a word with Arnav..."

"Yes, he needs it!" agreed Khushi.

Aman left.

As Khushi was inspecting whether the place was as before, another volunteer came there...

"Khushi Ma'am, I have found these clothes in the Gents' washroom" said the volunteer showing the clothes he had found while clearing the place.

"Arey! This is Arnav Sir's shirt and coat!" said Khushi.

Arnav had forgotten his clothes there, when he had changed in the washroom.

"I must return these to Arnav Sir..." she thought.

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Link to CHAPTER 16

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