CHAPTER 15
Next Morning
Deonar, Mumbai
5.15 am
Not very far away from India's oldest and largest Deonar Dumping Ground, Rishabh parked his car at a distance from an old G+2 style constructed residential building surrounded by some newly built skyscrapers. He walked a narrow road to reach the main entrance of this small stand alone building, abandoned a long ago. Many builders had tried to buy this building which was nothing but a mark of shame in the middle of well built residential towers, but the owner had refused to sell this small complex.
Rishabh reached 15 minutes earlier than the time decided. He looked at the building and soon made his way to the 2nd and top most floor through the extremely narrow stairs. He reached out for a key in his pocket when he was about to reach the apartment he was supposed to visit. But to his surprise, the lock was already undone and the door was half closed.
That’s when he knew Aditya had already arrived, way before than he did. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if Aditya spent the entire night after he received the package that I left with the security last evening’ he thought. Rishabh stood outside the door collecting his thoughts and waited for a few moments before he decided to enter the one room kitchen apartment.
Rishabh held the door and quietly pushed it to make his way in, but the creaking sound of the door gave away his presence. He scanned the small room and found a lost Aditya sitting on the bed in a corner, holding the black file close to his heart. His eyes were staring blankly at the floor and he had no idea of Rishabh’s presence.
Rishabh took a deep breath and took a few slow steps to reach the bed Aditya was on and quietly sat next to him. Rishabh played with the key in his hand and looking at it he said “So, you still own the key? I thought I’d come early and open it for you. I often visit this place and remember old times, in fact I bought this entire building to keep it the way it is”
Aditya didn’t respond, but his tears were threatening to fall off his eyes. He still stared at the dusty floor. After a long moment of silence Aditya spoke, “you had it all this while and you didn’t give it to me. Why now?”
Rishabh got up from the bed and moved across the room to open the window to relieve himself from the suffocation he had been feeling as soon as he entered the apartment, dust and dirt didn’t help either. He closed his eyes as the fresh air hit his face as soon as he opened the window. His eyes still closed he said “I had always wanted to give it to you, nahi to aaj tak isse itna sambhalke kyu rakhta? But you left me with no road to walk back to you. So all I could do was wait, wait for you to come and ask for it. But you never did, NOT to my surprise”
Rishabh reached out to his pocket and took his cigar and lighter out. He lit his cigar and released a cloud of smoke outside the window.
“That thing can kill you Rishabh” Aditya stood next to him with his eyes focused on Rishabh’s face devoid of any emotions or expressions. He did look tired and sleep deprived though.
Rishabh chuckled and looked coldly into Aditya’s eyes and said “Why do you care!” It wasn’t a question but a statement. Rishabh held his cigar and said looking at it “This.. this can’t kill me. I have gone through worse and I am still here. I should have been dead long back, only I were to. But I wasn’t meant to”
Aditya was not able to control himself anymore, snatched the cigar and threw it on the floor. Crushing it under his shoe he said in an irritated voice “STOP”
Rishabh’s eyed followed Aditya’s every single move and with a mocking smile on his face he said “Okay, if you say so, Waise bhi you are elder to me, so I must listen like I always did, right Aditya?”
Rishabh’s words and his cold behaviour was now pushing Aditya off his limits, and Rishabh noticed his right hand was closed into a tight fist and held the file close to his heart in his left hand.
“Gussa aa rha hai? You want to hit me again like you wanted to back then? Comeon hit me, I promise I won’t resist. I didn’t then I won’t even now. Waise bhi ab to Menaka aur Ara bhi nahi hai tumhe rokne ke liye” Hearing their names, Aditya lifted his right fist to hit Rishabh but punched the wall behind him instead. He shivered with anger and looking directly into Rishabh’s eyes he said mincing his teeth “Mujhe majboor mat karo wo karne par jo main karna nahi chahta”
Rishabh stood still with the right side of his lips curled up in a smirk. “Kya nahi karna chahte? You don’t want to hit me? Why? I am sure aisa tumne tab to nahi socha hoga jab mujhe mere hi project se bahar nikal diya tha, just because I trusted you blindly and didn’t care about the legalities? Tab to nahi socha hoga jab Menaka tumhe wo sab karne se roka tha?”
He took a pause and snatched the file from Aditya’s hand and said showing it to him, this time with a raised voice “Aisa tab to nahi socha hoga jab is project to complete krne ka promise tumne Ara ko, Menaka aur mere samne isi room mein diya tha aur palat kar dekha tak nahi? Aisa tab to nahi socha hoga jab sab chhod ke bhaag gaye the, bina kisi ko bataye kuch? Right Aditya, tab aisa kuch nahi socha to ab kyu soch rahe ho?”
Aditya turned around and laughed like a maniac “So ye sab isliye kyunki maine tumhe tumhare hi dream project ‘WEBFLIX’ se bahar kar diya tha” He turned back to face Rishabh and held him by his collar and said “tumne jo kiya tha uske liye wo bhuat kam tha Rishabh. Menaka meri behen hai, usey jiski wajah se hurt hoga main uske sath wahi karunga jo maine kiya. Aaj bhi”
Rishabh slapped the file on his chest and spoke in the loudest of his voice “To ye kyun chhod diya?” His eyes widened and without blinking even once he continued “Isme bhi maine kuch kiya tha? Apne impulsive and wrong decisions ke liye excuses dhundna band karo Aditya. Why don’t you agree ki 10 salo se development sector mein isliye lage hue ho kyunki guilt hai tumhe wo promise poora nahi karne ka jo tum beech mein chhod kar chale gaye. Cheat kiya tumne mujhe, islie mujhe face nahi kar sakte the. Yahi wajah thi ki aaj tak palat ke dekha tak nahi, coz tumhe ye humesha se pata tha ye mere pass hai”
“Menaka aur maine apne issues khud resolve kar hi liye the but tumne apne impulsive behaviour ki wajah se wo chheena mujhse jisey banane mein help ke liye main khud tumhare pass aaya tha. Tum finance na karte to ‘Webflix’ waise bhi kabhi reality nhi ban pata, ek first year student ka college project hi to tha, jise tum fund nahi krte to waise bhi college presentation banke khatm ho jata. Ek baar keh dete to khud side ho jata main, you didn’t have to play all those foul games and have me removed. I had given that much right to you. You and I had a relationship way before Menaka came into the picture. Who are you trying to fool Aditya, mujhe ya khud ko?”
Aditya, no longer able to hold his calm, said “To sari galti meri hai? Aur tum.. tum to jaise saint ho, right Rishabh? Main khud side ho jata project se.. Hahaha, what a joke. Aisa hota to 5 sal bad ‘WebFlix’ tumne mujh se chheena nahi hota. Kehna asaan hai aur karna mushkil. Tum humesha se mujhse WebFlix le lena chahte the, isliye jaise hi tumhara business acha chala, sabse pehla kaam tumne wahi kiya”
Rishabh shook his head and disbelief and clapped while smiling “Which world are you living in Aditya? You are so far away from reality. That day when I saw you and Menaka addressing the press and you called it ‘your’ dream project, I watched you two in this very room and I was so happy. I had later told Menaka too, that I am happy if this makes you happy. But barely 5 more years into the business, one year after Menaka moved out of it you lost control. WebFlix was on the verge of bankruptcy because of your inefficiency. Now almost everyone knows you are not made for all this. So, I had to buy it. How could I let anyone else come and take control of something we built? How could I? Wait a minute, you were okay selling it to anyone but me. Oh my God Aditya, I can’t believe this. You must have hated me a lot”
“Yes, I hated you and I still hate you” Aditya’s face went soft as he said those words out with anger.
Rishabh began to speak in a low voice as if he had lost all his energy to fight back with the man who stood in front of him. “Its alright Aditya, you can hate me as much as you want. But for me you will always be that person who took an orphan under his wings when he had none to call his own. I remember my first day at college for my Masters, the day we met. A 20-21 years old boy in a new place, had to decide between paying house rent or buying food with the limited money he had. He had fainted on his first day because of hunger and then you and Ara were there for him like two pillars. That was Me, remember? Ara worked from this place so she could complete her thesis on nearby slums, you two allowed me to live in this apartment as I had no place to go to. You gave me an elder brother in you, a mentor and guide in Ara and a friend in Menaka. You did what a family does, you all were my family Aditya, a FAMILY I always wished for. Do you really think WebFlix could outweigh all that YOU did for me? You really think so? You know the answer is NO”
Rishabh stood supporting himself on the broken table that laid next the window, facing away from Aditya. “You are intelligent enough, if I had to snatch WebFlix from you, then I would have done it when it was the hot selling cake, not when the organisation was under a debt of crores. Like always you will not agree you failed, and if blaming it on me makes you feel better then be it. But Ara? Usko diya ye promise? Uske liye kya excuse doge?”
“Mujhe question karne se acha hai, khud AMRA set up kar dete. Ara sirf meri hi nahi tumhari bhi to kuch lagti thi? To tum kyu itne salon se file leke ghum rahe ho, haan? Hai koi jawab?” Aditya retaliated.
“Kar deta agar mere pass wo hota jo is kaam ke liye chahie. Wo passion, jo tum dono ke pass tha, work to make other's life better. Mera passion kahi aur hai and I am the best there. And there is no one better than you are for this. Secondly, it was your promise to her. My promise was to make you do this one day and I am trying to keep my promise standing right in front of you today”
“Us din beach pr bhi I told you, I will make sure to send you where you truly belong, then AMRA it is where you will find the solace. Maybe you will stop running away from every person in your life who had loved and cared for you”
Rishabh’s emotions were all over the place. He reached a cupboard and took out a bottle of liquor and drank straight up the bottle to calm himself down.
Aditya was shocked to see him that way, he quickly reached Rishabh and tried to take away the bottle “What the hell is wrong with you Rishabh? Kya kar rahe ho? Ye sab kya shuru kar diya hai tumne?”
Rishabh pushed him a bit and said with rage in his eyes “Don’t tell me what to do and what not. Stop showing this fake concern, there is no one here to watch you.”
“Stop Rishabh, Pagal ho gaye ho kya?” Aditya tried his hard but he could barely fight back with Rishabh.
“You STOP. Where the hell were you when I needed you, where were you when Menaka needed you, where were you when Ara needed you? You just left all of us and we all clinged to whatever we could” Extending the bottle towards Aditya, Rishabh continued erupting like a volcano that had been dying to let it go for a long time “This replaced all three of you in my life” He brought the bottle next to his lips and emptied the bottle that was half fill.
Rishabh lost his balance and he leaned against the wall. He said in a fainting voice “I waited and waited and waited, that one day you will come back or at least call me just as MY friend, MY brother, not as Menaka’s brother or Ara’s friend or anybody’s anyone, but just as my friend, just for me, ONCE. But you never did” Rishabh smashed the empty bottle on the nearby wall and it shattered like he was at that moment.
Aditya was worried seeing Rishabh in that condition, so vulnerable, so broken. He never thought a person who looked like a stone from out, could be this fragile inside. Rishabh’s eyes had a thin layer of tears.
Rishabh squeezed his eyes as if he was trying to fight a sharp pain and clearing his throat he continued in a defeated voice “And the other day, I saw you on the beach I noticed the same hatred for me in your eyes. You again put me in a situation where I was unwillingly standing opposite you and Menaka. That’s why I had to do it the hard way. You can hate me all your life, I can not. I CAN NOT.. DO YOU HEAR THAT ADITYA ADHIRAJ” Rishabh clutched his abdomen tightly and almost collapsed, but Aditya came and held him before he fell on the floor.
“Rishabh, what’s wrong? Risha.. RB??” Rishabh fought to free himself from Aditya’s hold and tried his best to fight, whether against Aditya or himself he didn’t know. Slowly his motions slowed down and his eyes closed. Before Aditya could understand anything he had a lifeless Rishabh lying in front of him. He somehow managed to make him sit against the wall and quickly brought some water from the kitchen to splash on his face. But Rishabh didn’t wake up. Aditya tapped his face and realised he was running with high temperature. Aditya removed his phone from his pocket and made a call.
ALTAMOUNT TOWERS
7.15 AM
Masi had checked all the room she thought Rishabh could possibly be. She dialed his number but his phone rang in his room. She checked with house staff and even his drivers, but none had any idea but the driver did tell her that his car was not there in the parking lot. Masi was packng worried while she waited for Mr. Mehra to pick up her call.
“Mr. Mehra, Good Morning” Masi tried to keep herself calm while she spoke with him. “Mr. Mehra, aaj koi early morning meeting thi Rishabh ki?”
“Nahi Mam, there is no early morning meeting today. In fact Bajaj sir ne aaj ke sare meetings cancel karwa diye the last evening” infomed Mr. Mehra.
“To fir Rishabh kaha hai? He is not here at home, office nahi gaya, to gaya kahan?” Masi asked rubbing her head with frustration.
“Mam, aap tension mat lijiye, sir” Mr. Mehra tried to speak but Masi interrupted.
“Kaise tension na lein Mr. Mehra, kal raat jab se wapas aya hai uski tabiyat theek nahi hai. Humein laga usey doctor ke pass le jayenge aaj but wo kahi hai hi nahi aur kuch bata ke bhi nahi gaya hai” Masi’s voice went weak, but she got controlled on herself somehow.
“Mam, you please calm down, let me check if I can find some information. Give me sometime” Mr. Mehra disconnected the call and began making calls.
Deonar
7.30AM
With the help of a few people, Aditya managed to get Rishabh into his car. He was on his way, while speaking with Dr. Rastogi. “Uncle I am on my way to Breach Candy as I don’t have much idea of hospitals here, please be there if you are not yet… I do not know what happened.. He just collapsed and has a very high fever too… Yeah there is no traffic and I should be there in” Aditya checked the google map and said “in 15 mins. Thanks Uncle” Aditya looked back at Rishabh at the back seat through his rear mirror and drove as fast as he could.
BREACH CANDY HOSPITAL
8.30 AM
Masi and Mr. Mehra had arrived inquiring at the reception for Dr. Rastogi, who had called to inform her about Rishabh being admitted in the hospital. Receptionist guided them to the private wards, where instead of finding Dr. Rastogi, she saw a familiar person sitting on the chair outside a room. He sat with his face hung down, hair completely messed up. That’s when her gaze stopped at the black file that read “AMRA FOUNDATION” lying on the chair next to his. She knew the man in front of her was none other than Aditya. She took a few slow steps towards him.
Aditya looked up as he saw a shadow approaching him. He looked up and recognised Masi in just a glance. He immediately got up and bent a bit to touch her feet. Masi said nothing but kept her hand on his shoulders. They both had tears in their eyes, and Masi such in a whisper “Aditya…. Tum yaha”
“Haan..Rishabh mere sath hi tha.. Main hi usey yaha laya.. Masi mujhe nahi pata kya hua.. Wo bas gir gaya” said Aditya hugging Masi tightly. Masi patted his back.
Dr. Rastogi barged out of the room, startling everyone standing there.
“Shardaji, he is drunk and sick? How? What am I missing here? Last time I came to see him at your place I strictly told you make sure, he takes care and eats well? Has he been missing meals again? And why is he drunk early in the morning? Since when did he get into all this?” Dr. Rastogi bombarded everyone with his questions, clearly worried for the man who he just attended.
Aditya first looked at the doctor and then shifted his gaze to Masi, who looked short of words to say. Masi finally spoke “Rastogiji, wo theek tha. Par pichle kuch mahino se bhuat zyada stress mein hai, business related kuch issues. Humse zyada kuch wo share nahi karta bas itna pata hai ki koi business rival hai jo jaan boojh ke uske companies ko target kar raha hai. Na sota hai na time pe khata hai, uske liye to apni beti ke liye time nikalna mushkil ho gaya hai. Aaj hum waise bhi usey leke ane wale the, raat se hi theek nahi feel kar raha tha. Fir subah uthke kaha chala gaya humein bhi pata nahi. Aapka phone aya to pata chala wo yaha hai. Uski problem hi yahi hai, kabhi kuch kehta hi nahi hai” While Masi shared her heart out with Dr. Rastogi, Mr. Mehra passed a glance at Aditya who stood there like a statue.
Masi turned to face Aditya and said “Adi beta, ab tum hi us se baat karna. Tumhari baat hamesha sunta tha”
Aditya couldn’t face Masi as he felt guilty for being the reason for all this. At that moment he was forced to reflect on his own actions, if he really was unfair to this man who was his friend, more like a younger brother at one point in time. Was he right in all that he did, without thinking how his actions must have affected him. Did he cross his line this time, while targeting Rishabh solely to satisfy his rage and ego. He was lost in his thoughts when he heard a sweet but worried voice from behind.
“Papa..”
Aditya turned around and looked at a little girl, still in her nightwear running from the grab of a young woman who tried her best to chase her. But the little girl, who looked nothing less than a little angel, freed herself and wrapped her small arms around Masi’s legs. Masi picked her up in her arms and Kukki immediately put her arms around Masi. “Where is Papa, Dadi Masi?” she asked with her teary eyes.
Masi tried to make small talk with Kukki and introduced Tanvi as her daughter and Aditya as Rishabh’s old and only friend. Tanvi gave him a weak smile and focused back on Kukki, apologising to her mother “Mom, I am sorry. I couldn’t keep her at home for any longer. She heard me talking to you and Rishabh se milne ke liye tab se zidd kar rahi thi.. I couldn't see her like that, so I had to get her here” said Tanvi caressing Kukki’s hair.
Aditya spoke no word, just his eyes followed Kukki’s little movements. Her tears were affecting her the most. He wanted to hug and let her know about himself, but he couldn’t.
Suddenly he saw her getting down from Masi’s arms and she ran inside Rishabh’s room. Sharda wanted to stop but Dr. Rastogi asked her to let her go and got busy talking with Mr. Mehra.
Kukki stopped near her father’s bed who was still sleeping peacefully. She saw a drip attached to his right hand. she took a round around the bed to reach his left side. She kept her legs on the side stool and carefully got on to the high bed. She lifted his blanket and without disturbing her father she slipped next to him. She moved his drip free arm a bit to make enough space to rest her head on it and embraced her father with her left hand around his neck. She lifted her head to place a soft kiss on his cheek before lowering her head on his chest and closed her eyes hugging Rishabh tightly.
Aditya saw everything standing at the door, as he managed to escape all the conversations going on next to him; he couldn’t stop following the little child. His heart broke at the sight of Kukki, sleeping while clutching Rishabh’s robe tightly in her little hands. Tears fell from his eyes that he wiped quickly before anyone noticed. Quietly he went next to the bed on Kukki’s side and looked at her with eyes filled with nothing with love. He wanted to caress her hair, but resisted not waking her up. “She looks like you two” he thought. Giving her a flying kiss he came out and heard Doctor telling Masi about some tests he wanted to run to find the root cause of this frequent sickness episodes.
"Shardaji, symptoms se to Peptic ulcers ka case lag rha hai, aaj endoscopy karke we'll get to know. Agar aisa ho to 8-12 weeks lagenge recovery mein if he follows the treatment properly and he strictly needs to stay away from smoking and drinking abhi se. He just can't. Aap jaiye andar uske pass, I'll just go with the path lab.”
Masi and Tanvi went inside Rishabh’s room where as Dr. Rastogi went to check with Path lab. Aditya sat on the chair outside when Mr. Mehra joined him.
"I hope you got what you wanted Mr. Adhiraj" Aditya looked at Mr. Mehra with a surprised look on his face as if Mr. Mehra was mocking him for something.
"Aditya, I have made a lot of decisions in my life but you know what’s the best decision I ever made? Moving out with Bajaj Sir, when you ousted him out of his own company that he had build from the scratch with you. He had nothing to start again but determination to achieve the heights that were never reached by anyone before. I have seen him work hard day and night in his initial phase of setting up BI and even in past few months, when you were deliberately targeting BI. He didn’t leave his employees, though he didn’t have to. That’s what makes me respect him more, though he is more like my son in age”
“Mehra Uncle..” Aditya could just whisper out his name.
“I have known you ever since I worked with your father, and you got me onboard for WebFlix, but Adi what you did for whatever reasons was not right. Aapko shayad lagta hai Bajaj Sir ne WebFlix aapse zabardasti liya, but mujhe yaad hai how restless he was before he reached the venue because he knew you will think that he went againt you. I saw the same restlessness a couple of months back before he was going to announce the launch of Clear Craze, only because his actions were going to cause you harm. Did you ever realise WebFLix at the time it was sold was in such a state that no one was ready to pay 50 crores, was bought at 150 crores. That's because you were under a debt of 100 crores. You paid the debts with that money and still made a profit of 50 crores. Bajaj Sir paid 3 times to get you out of the mess. Wo kabhi aapke against ja hi nahi sakte.”
Mr. Mehra opened the file that he had picked up before grabbing his seat “Bajaj Sir, ne sab arrange karke rakha hai bhuat time pehle se. Sare legal formalities, registration, trademarks, everything. Everytime he had any new idea he added it to this file in the hope that one day he will meet you and give it to you all ready. He told me you gave him the responsibility to prepare this project along with Menaka Mam. Bas aap ka wait kar rahe the, and now that you are here, I am hoping you’ll think about this long pending project” Mr. Mehra took a pause to close the file.
He gave Aditya the file and got up from his place. He kept his hand on Aditya’s shoulder and said “Please think about it, life baar baar sabko chances nahi deti hai. Aapko mila hai fir se to keep your past aside and make a new beginning. I will go and take care of the formalities” and he left Aditya lost in his own thoughts and guilt that was killing him from within.
Aditya got up from his place to leave. As soon as he reached the exit for private wards, he bumped into Menaka who came rushing towards him and hugged him.
“Are you okay? You called me early in the morning for Rastogi Uncle’s number and bina bataye you disconnected the call. Is everything alright?” Her eyes scanning her brother to see if he was alright.
“I am fine Menaka, I got RB here”
Menaka’s eyes widened hearing his name “RB? Kya hua usey? Is he okay? Where is he?”
Aditya narrated the entire incident and Menaka almost ran towards Rishabh’s room when Aditya held her hand to stop her from going any further. “Not now Menaka, don’t think the time is right”
Menaka looked at Aditya with eyes filled with pain and confusion as if she was pleading with her eyes to let her go. Aditya nodded his head again asking her not to go.
Menaka stopped resisting his hold and said “Okay I won’t meet them, but can I see them from far. I promise I won’t go in and no one will see me. I just want to see RB and Kukki once, please”
Aditya left her and Menaka slowly moved towards the room and looked inside through the glass opening in the door. Rishabh was up and Kukki was kissing all over his face. He looked tired and sick but had a slight smile on his face because of Kukki. She couldn’t see Kukki’s face properly as she faced Rishabh. She instantly moved aside from the glass opening and leaned against the wooden part of the door as she thought that Rishabh noticed her.
She left and hugged Aditya and cried in his embrace. “Why Aditya, why? Why can't I have that why?” Aditya rubbed her back to calm her down and they both left from there.
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Yea agar pura chapter nahi huya toh I don't knoe pura chapter kisko kehte hai 🤣
Though swati ko I said no updatez for her but yea le tere liye I got meenakshi to update but you can't even meet me 😏
Originally posted by: WaqtZayaYea agar pura chapter nahi huya toh I don't knoe pura chapter kisko kehte hai 🤣
🤣 Aanari writer hai idhar.. kyu bhoolte ho.. Nahi pata chalta kab shuru hua and kab kahatam.. Basanti ke dance ke Tarah hai jab tere paaon challenge tab tak iski saansein chalengi.. so jab tak meri typing chalegi tab tak chapter end nahi hota🤣
Originally posted by: WaqtZayaThough swati ko I said no updated for her but yea le tere liye I got meenakshi to update but you can't even meet me 😏
Haan dekho kal raat tak I had no mann to type even a single letter.. aaj to update aa gai.. Mil lo ab to
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