AryLie FF - Aryan&Imlie - Epilogue Page 32 (Dt. 13 Mar) - Page 4

Rupali Tripathi a.k.a Rupi Didi, Imlie’s Ex-Sister-In-Law

Rupali, urf Rupi, did not remember her first impression of Imlie. But she did remember the way Imlie had supported her in pursuing her musical talent. She indeed did not remember what she thought when she found out that Imlie was Adi Bhai’s wife, but she did remember the day Imlie managed to put her b*stard of a husband out of her life and straight into jail.

At the end of the day, Rupi believed that Imlie was amazing and she deserved the best in the world.

And until recently, she had thought that best was Adi Bhai.

But then all of that with Malini, and Adi Bhai was definitely not the best the world had to offer. At least not for Imlie. She remembered the day Imlie had said that maybe Adi Bhai and Malini deserved each other, and she was coming to believe it now.

But that still didn’t mean that Imlie didn’t deserve the best in the world. She deserved a hell of a lot more than her Adi Bhai.

She remembered the day Malini had insinuated that Imlie had made a rich guy friend that cared for her. She remembered the day she had first seen Aryan Singh Rathore, outside Imlie’s hostel, giving her medicines, and she had thought that this guy was definitely not Imlie’s friend. That this guy hated Imlie.

That had changed when she saw how much he cared for Imlie.

The first time she had thought that was when he had stopped Imlie from falling in the whole debacle that was Adi Bhai and Malini’s wedding.

While she still had hope for reuniting her brother with Imlie, she had watched on as the care Aryan showed Imlie only increased.

And well, his one-liners for Malini and her mother turned only savage.

By the time the whole thing was done, Rupi had realised that Imlie had found someone who deserved her, who was much, much better than her Adi Bhai, and took care of Imlie the way neither of them ever did. Not even Adi Bhai, who proclaimed to love Imlie.

It also didn’t hurt that the man was burning hot.

She remembered the day she first thought of Aryan and Imlie as Aryan&Imlie.

It was the day they had returned from Pagdandiya, and finally her stress regarding her brother was finally relieved enough that she could see other things happening around her. After hugging Adi Bhai, she had turned around, hoping to find Imlie, only to see her leaving.

She had intended to stop her, she had, but she had been too late. Aryan was there. Aryan was there and he was holding her hand and he wasn’t letting her leave and wasn’t that something.

She didn’t know what happened in Pagdandiya. She didn’t know what changed, but Imlie was looking at him the same way he looked at her.

Like they couldn’t understand how this person was real.

She didn’t know how they got there. She didn’t know how they went from Aryan, The Boss and Imlie, The Intern to Aryan, The Boss and Imlie, The Featured Writer. She didn’t know how they went from Aryan, The Boss and Imlie, The Featured Writer to Aryan, The Mentor and Imlie, The Mentee. She didn’t know how they went from Aryan, The Mentor and Imlie, The Mentee to Aryan being the supporter to Imlie’s constant need for support.

She didn’t know when it happened, but from that it turned to Aryan&Imlie.

From defending Imlie to dancing with her to going to Pagdandiya with her, the equation changed for Aryan. That much she was sure of.

But Imlie too. It changed in the way she stopped calling Adi Bhai Babu Saheb. It changed in the way she didn’t even stop at Tripathi Residence after all she had done. It changed in the way she looked at Aryan Singh Rathore.

Then the whole house thing happened.

And she didn’t want to assume the reasons Aryan bought that house for Imlie, but she became pretty sure that this thing that they had between them, was way past stopping now. It felt like Imlie was on the edge now, and the only thing holding on from her letting her fall was Aryan.

The only problem that she had was on the other end was her Adi Bhai.

And her hope that Imlie falls off the edge.

Because that was what it was going to be. Imlie coming back to Adi Bhai would be like falling from an edge for Imlie. She was seriously f*cked up for wanting Imlie to come back to Adi Bhai after all he had done. It could be because she didn’t want Adi Bhai with Malini.

But it was also because she was one of the people that had seen how good they could’ve been, and she wasn’t ready to back down from it yet. She wanted the best for her Adi Bhai. Imlie was.

Yes, Rupi was that selfish.

But that night, Aparna Chachi had a heart attack and it changed everything.

She saw Aryan&Imlie again.

She saw Aryan come to the hospital with Imlie.

She saw Aryan save her Chachi with Imlie.

She saw Aryan ignoring her brother’s bullshit to help them, Imlie’s family.

She saw Aryan standing by Imlie the whole time.

But that was not all. It happened like this.

She saw Imlie crying alone, because it may be that this family calls Imlie their daughter, but at the end of the day, she was alone.

They all had someone, her Dad had her Mom. She had Nishant Bhai. Even Adi Bhai had Malini.

But Imlie was alone.

And then the most wonderful thing happened, he came. Aryan.

He caught a teardrop, Imlie’s teardrop in the palm of his hand and he looked at it in, she couldn’t say what she saw in his gaze, it was concern, it was disappointment, it was worry, it was tiredness, but it was what Aryan looked like when he saw Imlie.

She saw Imlie look at Aryan looking at her teardrop. She saw confusion in Imlie’s gaze, she saw disbelief too, but most of it was wonder. And that was what Aryan Singh Rathore was to Imlie, a wonder that she could not grasp.

But then Aryan got a handkerchief out of his pocket and offered it to Imlie. Imlie looked at in incredulity, and then looked up to him with her expression unchanging.

Aryan raised his eyebrows, offering it again, and this time Imlie took it. But she didn’t wipe her own tears. She wiped the one that had fallen in his hand. He looked at her doing this, and Imlie continued avoiding his gaze. He tried to find her eyes, but she instead brought up the handkerchief to finally dry her tears.

She did this, while avoiding his eyes on her and saying, “Hum tohar se aur udhaar naahi le sakat hai.(I cannot afford any more favours from you.)”

At that Aryan raised his eyebrows again, and Imlie finally returned his gaze and sighed, “Pehle tum humar parivaar ko beghar hone se bachaye, ab hum toka apan aansu ka bhi khyaal rakhe khaatir naahi de sakat hai.(First you saved my family from being homeless, now I can’t ask you to take care of my tears too.)”

Aryan snorted. Imlie looked at him questioningly, and Aryan smirked, “Shayad tumhe pata nahi, par tumhare aansuon ka khayal main bahut waqt se rakh rahan hoon.(You may not know this, but I’ve been taking care of your tears since long ago.)”

Imlie met his eyes again, and replied, “Par ab aur naahi. Hum tum par aur bhoj naahi daal sakat hai.(But not from now on. I can’t put more of my burden on you, not any more.)”

Aryan’s gaze softened then and he replied, “Yaad hai, maine Pagdandiya mein tumse kaha tha, agar phir bhi kuch hua, toh main khada hun tumhare saath. Imlie tum bhoj nahi ho. Thodi stupid ho, aur ek emotional fool bhi ho, but bhoj, bhoj kabhi nahi ho sakti tum Imlie.(Remember what I said to you in Pagdandiya, if anything happens, I’ll stand by you. Imlie, you are not a burden. What you are is a bit stupid and an emotional fool, but burden, no Imlie, you can never be a burden.)”

Imlie looked at him gratefully then, but the doubt was ever-present in her eyes.

Aryan sighed, but then continued, “Haan bus apne yeh emotional fool wale drame ke baad phir se apne aansuon ka antim sanskaar karne mat nikal padna. Tumhare aansu toh kahi jaate nahi, but mere handkerchief bichaare, jal jaate hai.(However, do not even think of performing any more last rites for your tears in all your emotional fool drama. Your tears never go away, but my innocent handkerchiefs do suffer. They suffer death by burning.)”

And Imlie cracked up at that, doubt leaving her eyes only to be replaced with mirth.

That was what did Rupi in. Any man who could make a woman laugh like that in a situation like this, was perfect.

Any man who can make Imlie happy like that was more than everything Imlie deserved.

Rupi was still on her brother’s side. But Adi Bhai had shot his chance.

There was no way he was coming between this Aryan&Imlie.