SanDhir FF: Espresso Love (Ch.39 P.111 Dec.02) - Page 78

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PART THIRTY THREE - REVITALIZATION

It had been over a month since I started working at the central branch of the Shekhawat Corporation. Randhir and I met often during work, but not much outside apart from the occasional get-together at Parth's or Vidushi's.

--

"Mr. Solanki, I need a day-off on Wednesday to sort out some personal matters. Do you think that would be possible?"

"I don't know Ms. Agarwal. We have a pretty hectic schedule ahead of us. And anyway, weren't you supposed to give your merger presentation on Wednesday?"

I bit my tongue as I realized I had almost forgotten about it; "In that case, what if I have that ready by Wednesday morning? Then I could leave right after?"

"You can run it through Randhir I guess. Make sure it's alright with him to advance the presentation. But apart from that, I'm fine with it."

"Thank you Sir," I smiled as I headed to Randhir's office. If I pull an all-nighter tonight and tomorrow, I could probably practice and perfect the presentation in time for Wednesday morning...

Having this internship had proven to be much more difficult than I had imagined it to be given how fulfilling my work obligations left me with that much less time to spend with Riaan. The worst thing was that more than half of my time out of work was spent working with Saurabh for Riaan's custody case which I couldn't afford to lose. He is one of the only reasons I have not given up on life yet, how could I even think about losing him?

--

"Sanyukta?" a loud voice startled me out of my thoughts. "Is everything okay?" he said as he ushered me into his office and shut the door behind us. "Yea, my bad. I was just a little pre-occupied in my thoughts. Sorry!"

"You sure?" he asked, a concerning look evident in his eyes.

I smiled and nodded, "I was actually wondering if we could shift the presentation meeting from Wednesday evening to the morning instead? I actually have an urgent matter I need to handle. I ran it through Mr. Solanki and he says he's okay with it as long as you are as well."

"Are you sure you don't want me to grant you a leave?" he offered. I smiled but refused politely, "I can't ask you to do that Mr. Shekhawat!"

"It's Randhir for you, come on," he looked a little dejected as he spoke.

I grabbed his hand, making sure the door behind us was closed of course, and spoke, "Randhir, I don't want you to treat me differently or in a privileged manner than the other interns. That wouldn't be fair to the others!"

"But..." he started, however I quickly interjected.

"Listen, I know you mean well, but I don't want others to think..." but he cut me off before I could continue.

"Sanyu, I don't care what these people think! I probably don't even know half of their names!"

"What if they say that I'm just using you to make my way through?" I exasperated. I'd had enough of hearing these taunts by now to be honest. I don't think I had it in me to tolerate any more.

He took my hands in his; "We know the truth though. So what does it matter what others think or say then?" And even if they think it, they weren't the people who helped me become who I am today! YOU did Farzi!"

My eyes teared up; "Regardless of what happened and why it did, the truth is that had you not always encouraged me to pursue my dream, I wouldn't be the CEO of this company!"

"I left you," I sobbed.

"It made me work even harder so I'd forget about the pain..." he spoke softly, making me feel even more guilty.

"It doesn't make what I did right though," I said quietly, more to myself than him but I was certain he had heard it as well.

"Well we can't change that, can we?" he looked away.

"Let me do this on my own Randhir. I know you're just trying to help, but you've already done so much for me."

"Fine," he sighed, "you can give your presentation Wednesday morning and then take a leave for the evening. But if you need anything..."

He trailed off and I just smiled, knowing very well what he'd say. And so I replied, "I will!" before heading back to my desk.

--

--

I went out to dinner with Vidushi after the final meeting of the day, and while initially all we talked about was her upcoming wedding, I ended up bringing her up to the conversation.

"I don't get it Vidu. I'm just trying to help her!"

She put her hand on her cheek while staring intently at me.

"What?" I threw at her a pointed glance.

"You miss taking care of her, don't you?"

I was at a loss of words to be honest, "What do you mean?"

"Just that ever since she's come back, you've felt all sorts of things towards her or for her, or whatever. But the strongest of all them is you wanting to help her out because you can't see her in trouble. Am I right or am I right?" she smirked at the realization that she was, yet again, right this time.

"What do I do though? I can't see her struggle everyday like this. I know it's tearing her apart that there is a chance, even if the slightest one, that Sameer will get child custody of Riaan!"

"I mean she's a single mom with no permanent source of income. It is a tough battle, but Randhir, there isn't much you can do because what Sameer is doing is out of spite!"

"Do you think I should try talking to him?"

She choked on the water she was drinking, "No way Randhir. That is not what I'm saying!" But it was too late. I had already begun considering that option.

"Don't make things worse Randhir, seriously. It's a bad idea!"

To which I just said, "Let's see!"

--

--

I returned home that way, debating whether talking to Sameer would make a difference. I recalled everytime Sanyu had spoken about him. Not only was he abusive, but he hadn't been such a great father for Riaan either. Despite knowing he was Sameer's blood, I couldn't help but feel a strange sort of paternal affection for the little guy. He went completely after his mother, and that made me love him even more!

Love? I smiled. I went onto Facebook just to see their pictures that she had posted from his last birthday, and I knew it was love. His smile was something I felt like protecting, along with hers as well.

I checked the time, 9:30pm it read. I went on my phone and checked if Sanyukta was online, and because she was, I sent a quick message. "Take home sundaes for the three of us? Need to talk!"

"Sure, but is everything okay Randhir?"

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PART THIRTY FOUR - RESIDUE

Randhir was at my door in a matter of 30 minutes with 3 sundaes in his hand, as promised. I welcomed him in and called Riaan from his room.

"Riaan, look who came to visit us tonight!"

The little guy ran out in a rush, a couple of crayons still grasped tightly in his tiny hands. "Is it Path uncle?" he said, skipping over the r in Parth's name completely.

--

--

As soon as I realized Riaan thought it may have been Parth, my heart dropped a little. I don't know what it was, but something about him expecting someone other than me was a bit hard to digest - even though a part of me knew I was far removed from this family of two.

But his next words brought back the joy I felt at seeing him as he exclaimed, "RD!!!"

He spread his arms as he came running towards me with his wide and toothless grin. I lifted him; "Hi Riaan, how's my champ doing?" I patted his head as he settled down in my lap.

"I'm good, but mommy isn't!"

I turned to face Sanyukta but she quickly escaped my glance and headed to the kitchen, grabbing us some napkins. I decided to leave the topic, mentally making a note to bring it up later when me and Sanyu were alone, and set out the sundae.

While we had many things to talk about, we spent the whole time listening to Riaan speak. While I was engrossed in his conversation, Sanyukta was busy admiring him.

Eventually, he drifted off to sleep on my lap, and so Sanyukta took him to the bedroom to get him ready for bed. Once he was fast asleep, she came out and asked me, "Coffee?" (an offer which I gladly accepted, of course).

--

Two cups of coffee and a few work-related conversations later, I brought up the dreaded topic. "Do you think you'll lose Riaan?" I asked directly, not wanting to beat around the bush anymore.

She sighed, "I am," she spoke softly, however the panic was clearly visible in her eyes. "I'm terrified, not only because I can't live without Riaan, but also because I know Sameer is only doing this to get back at me. I don't want Riaan to have to suffer in all of this just because of me," she said without looking at me, fiddling with the cup in her hands in the meanwhile.

"Well you saved me from having to be a part of my parents' messy divorce, I'm sure you'll be able to shield Riaan from it all too!" I said, putting my hand on hers. And then I added, "Do you think it'll help if I... if I talk to him?"

She looked perplexed, and perhaps even a little agitated, as her eyes quickly darted up to meet mine; "Sameer?" she asked, and I nodded. "Randhir! What did you do?" she backed off, "Please tell me you didn't do anything! Did you!?"

"No I didn't," I assured her, "But I don't get why you're so scared when it comes to Sameer!"

She bit her lip and looked away, a few signs I could read very well. I knew she was hiding something.

"No more secrets Sanyu, what is it?" I prodded.

"But first you have to promise me you won't go to Sameer. Especially not after what I'm about to tell you!" she requested. And although she was beginning to scare me, I agreed, "I promise. Now tell me why you've been so terrified!"

"He's the kind of guy who is extremely self-centred. He's not going to stop until he gets what he wants. And unfortunately in our case, what he wants this time is to get back at me."

"For taking Riaan away when you guys got a divorce?" I said, with that being the most reasonable explanation for why he'd be after Sanyukta and Riaan, according to me at least. But to my surprise, she shook her head. "Then what?" This time, I was perplexed.

"He wants to get back at me for the time I first told him I wanted to leave him. For the time I threw the divorce papers in his face. All of this was in front of others, which really hurt his pride, his..."

"Ego?" I interrupted, more as an added thought though. "Not to target you or anything like that, but why didn't you just tell him all this in private? I mean we both know what kind of a man he has been and clearly still is..." I trailed off. Maybe, just maybe, her actions ended up making the situation just that much worse.

"I was scared Randhir. Scared of him; scared of what he could do to me if I were alone..."

I shifted to the edge of my seat, shuffling in anticipation of what was to follow... "Was he...?"

She inhaled sharply, flinching away from the hand I was about to place on her shoulder. "I wasn't safe there Randhir. And had I not left when I did, maybe Riaan wouldn't have been here with me either."

I sat there, silent and shocked (to say the least). "When did you leave him?" Scary thoughts formed in my mind, but I prayed for them to be wrong.

"A couple of months after I found out I was pregnant... He would always insult me ever since we got engaged, but I learned to ignore that. I never should have tolerated it, but I did. And then eventually, he began being a little more aggressive, a little more physical... and a lot more dominating. Until one day where I argued against what he was doing and he slapped me."

My fist curled up in anger, enraged at the mere thought of her having to have dealt with all this alone.

"My parents saw him do this to me, with him dragging me across the hall to our room in front of everyone Randhir," she continued, tears slowly making their way down her face, exposing her vulnerability. "They didn't stop him," she trailed off. "They forced me to stay with him, and I did for a couple of weeks. But it just got worse, and one day, I couldn't take it anymore. And so I left him; I told him I was divorcing him in front of his relatives because I knew if I told him after they left, I would have to deal with something much worse. So I told him and left right away, not wanting to take any risk."

I slowly put my hand on hers and brought it near me so I could kiss her fingers. She looked at me and sighed, "The worst wasn't that though. It was the fact that when I left him and went home, my parents told me that wasn't my home anymore. That despite how he treated me, it was somehow my fault he was acting this way. Ankit and Avni took me home after that, and I lived with them until recently. If it hadn't been for them..."

I felt too shakened up to say anything. A strange silence engulfed the environment, until I found the courage within me to speak again.

"I don't know if you remember, but there was a time you told me that you weren't the same person I knew back in college. But you know what? You still are the same Farzi I knew! Just as strong, just as courageous." I kissed her forehead before getting up to grab her a glass of water. "I'm sorry you had so much to deal with Sanyu! I wish I could have been there for you!"

But she smiled, "You don't need to apologize at all Randhir. In fact had I been a little more courageous when it was truly needed, maybe our lives would have been different right now!"

"Yea, but we also wouldn't have Riaan with us then." I tried my best to remain calm so I could focus on helping her feel better. But the truth was, knowing all this was killing me. I was enraged, furious... feeling the most useless than I had ever felt in my life before. But this wasn't the time to focus on all that. I needed to make sure that she was fine.

"And Randhir, he knows about us. So if you go back to him now and try talking to him, it'll only make everything worse. Please, please don't say anything to him!" She made a desperate plea to stop me from doing anything. And I assured her I wouldn't too, but how could I possibly just let everything be after knowing all this? Maybe, just maybe, I could do something about this...

--

--

I knew Randhir would feel worried, but I didn't want to trouble him anymore than he already was.

"Listen, I promise I'll let you know if things don't go as planned. But as of now, my lawyer thinks we are in good standing for the hearing to go our way. Don't worry!" I forced a smile.

Randhir snorted, "Shouldn't I be saying that to you?" I laughed in response. "But thanks for sharing this with me Sanyu. And seriously, if there's anything you need..."

"I will," I smiled. "Just knowing you are here for me is more than enough for me Randhir. So thanks!"

--

--

At that moment, I don't know what came over me, but I kissed her. Pouring in all my concern and affection I had for her in that one kiss. "We're all with you Sanyukta. Anytime, anywhere."

Mixed feelings arose in my body, but the strongest of them was respect. Before driving off, I looked at her reflection in her window. "I promise Farzi, I won't let Riaan be taken from you. Not now, not ever."