*Ch12, pg 22 (8.6)| SaiRat FF: 77 Heartbreaks (Humari Adhuri Ka - Page 14

Chapter 9, Part 1: Sage

It had been a month and a week since Sai moved out. Three weeks since her exams officially ended. And a week since her deferred exams ended. Ashwini has gone to pick Sai up with the driver after Sai hadn't contacted her. She had thought, she would speak to Sai and convince her to come home. They would talk and things would get a little bit sorted. But when Ashwini went to Sai's hostel, the matron simply said to her "Sai Joshi? Kaun? Ah, woh jo uss floor pe rehnti thi. Woh toh ab yahaan nai rehti madam."

The matron then tsked and walked away shaking her head in annoyance as if to say kahaan kahaan se aate hai yeh log. Her assistant, however, took pity on Ashwini. "All the students have checked out, madam," she said.

"Par Sai ghar nai aayi hai," said Ashwini almost on the verge of tears.

"Sai? Sai Joshi?" the assistant asked. "Sorry, madam, hum Sai ke batein much kuch nai bata sakte. But Sai hasn't been living her since a month almost."

"Kyun kuch nai bata sakte. Sai toh mere saath rehti hai, mujhe toh bata sakte ho na."

But Ashwini had no proof or papers to prove that.

"Ma'am, aise toh hazar log aayenge aur bolenge ki unke bacche hai yahaan. Aisa thoda na hota hai. Next aap bolenge ki woh aapki bahu hai. But uski passport copy toh yahaan hai. Koi update nai hai spouse mein,"

Ashwini had no choice but to turn away. But not before the assistant shut the small office door on her face. In the passing she could him yell at his colleague.

"Room number 12 ko lene koi aya hai. Haan, arre wahi ladki, haan,"

For a moment it felt like the ground had been stripped from beneath Ashwini's feet. She turned to grab the nearest seat where the kind cleaning lady found her. She offered Ashwini a glass of lukewarm water in a disposable cup from the nearby water filter. Ashwini gulped the water down.

"Aap room number 12 mein jo ladki thi, usse dhundne aayi ho na?" the lady asked.

Ashwini nodded.

"Koi nai batayega uske barein mein, madam ji," said the cleaning lady taking a seat on the chair next to Ashwini. In a faint whisper she continued, "Uska lafda hua hai. Itni pyaari bacchi hai. Pata nai kaunsi musibat mein thi. Orphan thi na. Aisa hi hota hai,"

Ashwini wiped her tears. "Kaunsa lafda," she asked trying her best to ground herself.

"Suicide. Suicide attempt kiya tha usne. Aur agle din uske room ke baju ka gas phata. Uske room ke side mein jo ladki thi, woh bhi critical hai," said the cleaning lady. "Bahut jamela hai, koi kuch nai batayega"

"Aur us ladki ka toh case bhi chalne wala hai,"

"Case?"

"Haan, suna hai bahut nishan the uske body par. And fracture aur dusre problem. Woh politician hai na Agnihotri saab? Uski badi beti NGO chalati hai. Usne case liya hai uska,"

"Kaunsa case?"

"Pata nai madamji. Yeh toh uss ladki ko bhi pata nai hai. Par suna hai NGO and hospital wale university par pressure dal rahe hai. Election time hai, na."

"Aur Sai?"

"Pata nahi madamji. Shayad hospital mein hogi. Bohot buri halat thi uski,"

"Hospital?"

"Arre, bola na, khud khushi karne ki koshish ki thi usne,"

The cleaning lady tsked, shook her head and walked away.

~

Ashwini sat at the hostel gate the whole afternoon, in shock, partially hoping for some information on Sai. The cleaning lady had said to wait there. Someone would come to take Sai's samaan. At 3 pm in the afternoon, came a young man, dressed dapperly in a teal suit with a black shirt and dark brown shoes. He tossed at ID card at the reception and simply said, "Sai Joshi, room 12, floor 2, shaam ko gadi ayegi, samaan dal dena. Matron kahaan hai?"

The assistant scurried away to get the matron, but rushed back to open the office doors to let the man inside. The parents outside stood in line seemed to be ready to riot before the young man gave them a stern look as if to say "kya hai?"

A few minutes later when he came out, Ashwini approached him. "Aap Sai ko jante ho?" she asked.

Reyansh gave the middleaged lady a do-over. He gave a firm nod before unlocking his phone and dialling someone.

"Mein Sai ki Aai hoon," said Ashwini as she self-consciously fixed her hair.

The young man stopped typing on his phone and gave Ashwini a stern look. Then he called the campus security to an isolated corner. He directed Ashwini to the very same corner. Trying not to make a scene, he asked her politely, "Aap ka naam kya hai?"

"Ashwini Chavan," she said, fiddling with the pallu of her expensive saree, clearly nervous.

"Sai ke Aai ka naam Apurva tha. Apurva. Ya Purvi. Purvi Joshi. Aapke naam se Sai ki koi Aai nai hai," he turned away. As a boy mom, Ashwini could sense the annoyance in the young man before her. She couldn't decipher if it was because of her or the person he was calling kept rejecting his call. Ashwini in a nervousness smiled as the young man picked up a call from his mother.

In mock anger he said, "Haan ga, Aai? Main aapke beti ko call kar raha hoon. She keeps disconnecting the call. Aap aake le jao usse. Bas." Though in his annoyance, his voice never reached a decibel higher than faint chastising, he rolled his eyes in mock humour as he listened to his Aai ramble on. "Pata hai, now how will I call home if you keep calling me? Haha samja do na aai ko," he continued.

"Nai, Purvi ko mat le jao. Main aise hi bol raha tha," his voice hinted a little bit of panic. "Haan, toh main usse darata hoon. Daanta thoda na hoon. Woh mujhe danti hai."

"Baba, its not a healthy relationship if your two-year-old yells at me all the time. She needs to be disciplined," he complained.

"I toh discipline. She just has people around her who let her be,"

"I gotta go now. I'm a little bit busy. Haan, text me. I don't want to watch any more surgery videos, Aai. Please don't send me those. No, I don't want to listen to lectures too. I love you. Hmm, a little bit more."

Reyansh then turned to the older lady who was on the verge of tears. "Sai broke her phone," he said simply.

"Beta, can I give you my number. Can you give her it to her? No, no, can I take your number? I'll both give you my number and call you. Please tell her to call me."

Reyansh nodded in agreement to the anxious lady.

As he walked away, he heard her passing question, her voice cracking a little bit. "How is she?" she asked.

Reyansh was tempted to turn back and tell the lady to "Ask her herself." Instead, he turned and continued walking away chastising the security over their lack of professionalism.

"Kisi aire gaire ko kaise aane dete tum log? Na ID check, na kuch? How can anyone enter the campus?"

Reyansh's bad day didn't seem to get any better. The mounting pressure of being the Raizada heir and Agnihotri son with his Nanu's elections round the corner stressing him out more than they should. Maybe he should have listened to Aai and left the country a few weeks ago.

But Sai.

~

While her brother had a rough day, if not week, Purvi paced in her room after a very angry day at school. She had done what her Sai Bai would have called a kaand. And that meant, Bhai was called to school tomorrow. Purvi scratched her head the whole day animatedly thinking about what to do to make Bhai happy. And maybe less mad. That's when she made her next mistake, maybe, she scribbled on Bhai's shiny new laptop. It was silver. So Purvi took Bhai's favourite colour black and her favourite colour red. Then she climbed on Bhai's scary round chair (and almost fell down), and scribbled on his laptop a huge "Puuvie <3 Aggie". She had tried her best to copy Aai's handwriting below what looked like baby bhai and too tiny her on a white paper she tore from Sai Bai's book (with her permission). And then scribbled it on the surface. Then she took a shiny, shiny pen and scribbled inside the heart with a white pen too.

Then Purvi went downstairs, and played with Sai's phone, getting more annoyed by the minute when Bhai kept calling her. She was playing her game. And when the call came with the camera on (video call) Purvi tossed the phone on the sofa and ran to call Sai.

"Bhai," she said to Sai who was scribbling on her laptop as Purvi did. Purvi smiled. Just like Sai she was. She then handed Sai the phone. "Speaker," she said. Sai Bai smiled, put the phone on speaker and spoke to Bhai. Purvi tapped her leg in annoyance. She wanted to play her game.

She then watched Sai as she scribbled on her laptop. And then fell back in horror and confusion as Sai pulled something off her laptop. "What that?" Purvi asked Sai.

"Laptop cover," Sai Sai as she ruffled Purvi's hair. "So that you don't spoil your laptop."

"Oopsie,"

"What did you do Purvi," Sai asked. Purvi scurried away. And came back a few minutes later with a phone.

"Aai phone," she said in a little bit of panic.

"Haan, I know it's an iPhone," Sai said, smiling. "But kiska hai,"

"No, no, Aai phone," said Purvi.

Sai looked at Purvi in confusion as she repeated "Aai phone," a few times.

Sai then realised. "Call Aai?" she asked.

"Two times," Purvi said, whimpering.

Purvi nodded in agreement. Sai unlocked the phone. Called Purvi's Aai and handed Purvi the phone oy for Purvi to burst into big, big sobs. Aai disconnected the call, which only made Purvi cry more. And when Aai called back with a video call, Purvi first cried, then scurried into Sai's lap. And just started at Aai's face for a long time. And then Baba's too. She missed Aai and Baba, she realised.

A/N Will be breaking this chapter into 2 parts. Sorry for the abrupt cut. It's been a rough month. I wanted to post today but couldn't find the energy to type more. Will try to post the next part later today or tomorrow. Let's see.

Please pray for me guys. Life is a mess irl. So demotivating and generally unmotivated.

I never seem to clear my backlog of comments. But please comment guys, they truly mean a lot.

Beautiful update

Loved it

So aswini kaki came in hostel to get sai really excited to read more to know aggeh kya honneh wala hai

All the best strong girl

I really liked the Ashwini Reyansh part.. eager to know how the incident unfolds in front of Ashwini

Waiting for the next update soon

All the best girl💜

Hey dear! Hope you're doing well!

Eagerly waiting for the next part.. update soon💕

I love your story... so sad for Sai,and never forgive CM people, so cruel, and never expected from this Virat... Now I want him suffer more than Sai...

Literally crying reading your chapters😢

Can’t wait for the next chapter x

Please update...

Waiting for your next chapters

Chaper 10: Aabaad Barbaad

It took Aai a whole minute to calm Purvi down. It wasn't like Purvi was scared of Bhai. But she knew bhai would get really mad when Purvi spoilt his stuff. And he wasn't cool to let Aai replace it too. Bhai was silly. But then Purvi too got mad when bhai threw her bunny out last week without telling her. And her favourite onesie too. Purvi threw a big tantrum. And Bhai basically left her to "wear it out". Bhai was mean.

"What did you do Purvi?" Aastha asked as her two year old called her using her panic phone. Purvi instead scooted closer to Sai Bai and hugged her.

Sai hadn't met Purvi and Reyansh's Aai before. Neither was she aware of their parents. She always assumed that Reyansh wasn't really the sentimental types. That meant, neither was Purvi. Purvi fiddled with her phone and then basically said, in her baby, gibberish, "Aai, Bhai, laptop,"

Aastha was stern as she asked Purvi. "Apurva, what did you do to your Bhai's laptop. Please tell me you didn't fling it on the floor again,"

Purvi gulped, on being reminded of that. "Purvi scribbled I show Sai Bai," she said as she got up, pulled Sai up and dragged Sai to her floor with all her might.

The Raichand's lived in a four-floor penthouse apartment at the heart of the city. The lower floor had a few rooms that weren't really used, the floor above had Reyansh's studio of sorts which was now invaded by Purvi and the two floors above were for their parents and out of Purvi's limits (which meant put of Sai's limits too). It had been three weeks since Sai lived at the apartment. Shivani bua, Devi Tai and their families had to leave the city for various reasons. And Shivani bua left Sai in the hands of Reyansh, her godson of sorts.

Sai lived on the ground floor of the Raichand's apartment. Reyansh mostly stayed over at their house and Purvi fought to stay with Sai. The house usually had Purvi, her Yaya, Sai, and the house staff. On some days, Reyansh would come home, take Purvi from Sai's embrace and take her to his room. Sai would often wake up to a cushion in place of Purvi or loud knocks from Purvi at 6 am sharp. On other days, Purvi slept in, Sai would knock twice on Reyansh's room and then pick Purvi up. The days were fun. Sai would study, Purvi would scribble and Reyansh would work on his stuff. On some days he was loud, other annoyed and generally short-tempered. On days that the staff would come over from various businesses, Sai and Purvi would be confined to the second floor and above.

Sai didn't know if it was because Reyansh was scared of the men in the house, or if it was Sai who panicked the first time or Purvi who would just feel so disappointed to have someone else have her Bhai's attention. The second time, the door to the top floor had security. The third, police.

The times Purvi threw tantrums, Reyansh would just call Aai and hand the phone to Purvi. And Aai would threaten to take Purvi back to the States. Somewhere down the line, Sai felt the stress take its toll on Reyansh. He visited the hospital less, did his paperwork more, and recently helped work on his grandfather's campaign.

Reyansh was reserved, unlike Virat, and at times, Sai didn't even know why she compared the two. They had such different lifestyles. While Virat was waited from head to food by his loving Aai (who hated that Virat did anything), Reyansh, on the other hand, started his day at the crack of dawn. He went to the gym, showered, worked on his business responsibilities, then snuggled in bed with Purvi who would be slowly waking up. Then at 6 am he would start cooking his breakfast, get some study done, and prep for Purvi and his day. At 7:45 Purvi would wake up and wander around the floor like a little lost puppy and then hold Rey's leg and lug around till she woke up. At 8, Purvi would freshen up, watch television with her morning dose of fruit and Nutella or yoghurt, revise for the day and then leave with her Bhai.

On the days' Sai moved in with them, Reyansh let Sai have the first floor, Purvi and he occupied the second. Sometimes Purvi would toddle around in her long tee and night diapers dragging her blankly around the whole house as she followed Reyansh around.

Somewhere down the line, Sai had realised that Reyansh was extremely possessive of his sister. In days there were outsiders in the house, they had security. He picked Purvi and held her every morning while she slept in his arms. On days Purvi was fussy, he fed her much to his mother's annoyance who preferred Purvi to be independent and eat her own meals. He tucked her to bed every night. And while his parents chastised him to leave Purvi in her own room, he gave in to Purvi's whimpers and cries and shared his room with her. He was a good brother. He did his best to provide for Purvi at the best of his abilities.

Purvi's Yaya, who had been Reyansh's Yaya, when he was younger, called him Agastya. That was probably where Purvi picked her "Aggie" or "Bhaaaaaiya" from. Purvi had two Yaya's - an older stern lady who was currently on vacation and a newer one who was basically terrified of Purvi. Purvi usually remained with Sai, who was now on vacation. They watched movies, tried to cook (and failed miserably) and watched housekeeping videos all day. Sai still limped a little when she walked (which to her psychotherapist was something she had to overcome).

She had started preparing for the medical entrance exams for schools overseas while Purvi worked on two-course works - for her school here and school where her Aai Baba were. It was strenuous. But Purvi smiled as she studied and scribbled on her books. On days Reyansh was home, he would bring Sai and Purvi their snacks - coffee for Sai and hot chocolate or chocolate milk for Purvi. Occasionally, they would get a snack when Reyansh was in a decent to a bad mood.

To Sai, there was something magical sitting on the well lit, faux terrace that the Raizada's owned against the setting sun, a cup of cold coffee, her books, soothing music and her books strewn over the furniture. Purvi would sometimes mix her little books and stationery and they would be working at their desk for hours before switching to the study after shower time.

It had been nice: to not worry about money, small finances, petty kitchen politics and all the other unnecessary bits. It had been nice to not be yelled at, have every decision micro analysed or to live under constant scrutiny.

On one of those days home, Agastya got home a girl. She had been extremely pretty and so well-groomed that she made Sai feel ashamed of herself. Sai remembered crawling in her own skin at how unattractive she was in her dingy old kurtis, ragged clothes and at times heavy makeup that she had learnt to do.

The girl, Parnashri, on then the other hand was dressed in the finest clothes money could by. She had sleek silky hair, tall perfect figure and not a single scar on her body or face. Sai remembered Purvi being very annoyed at Reyansh's friend. Reyansh had come home and sternly told Purvi, "Purvi, say hi to Pari di," to which Purvi had just hmphed, wide-eyed and stomped off dragging Sai in the other direction along with her with all her little might. Sai gave the girl, Pari, an apologetic smile before chasing Purvi.

Purvi on the other hand had locked herself in a different room with Sai and her Yaya. When she had fallen asleep her Yaya told Sai that Purvi didn't like Pari since she was very young. And like today, despite Pari trying her best, Purvi just didn't like her. And one time it had gotten so bad that Purvi had a panic attack around Pari. It wasn't serious, the Yaya said, but just that Purvi didn't like sharing her brother with anyone. So the idea of sharing him with Pari terrified her. Reyansh on the other hand just left Purvi to deal with it after trying multiple times to make her come in terms with it. "She has to come in terms with Pari at some time or the other," the Yaya had said. "It's not like Reyansh is going to change his life for her. He's already doing a lot accommodating her in his life."

guys im having an issue posting, let me figure this out