Chapter 6
Two months later:
Angad walked into his fav cafe to meet his old friend, Dr.Mishti. She was not just friend but she was 'the mom' of his friends group.Mishti, Arjun and Angad studied in same school and later pursued their own careers but always stayed in touch. After Arjun's death Mishti took care of his therapy sessions helped him overcome his trauma. He was always grateful for her help when he came to know she gave birth to a baby his happiness had no bounds. He wanted to meet that little munchkin and play with him.
Mishti and her husband, Ashwin entered the cafe with the newborn, the baby looked so cute. Angad took baby boy in his arms and adored him. Ashwin received a call from his boss which he had to attend,he had to be a part of an impromptu meeting from client's side so he took the baby with him and rushed to his car to get back to home.
Mishti before entering the cafe observed how Angad's eyes lingered onto the blank space he was wearing a tracksuit instead of his tailored suit. He looked dull and upset and she is well aware of this look he had. He must've done something stupid to be in this state. As always he never speak about his worries and what he is going through unless someone pester him which is kind of annoyingly baby like behaviour for a grown up man.
"You know Aarav has better communication than you have though he is months old. What happened to your suits? Did rats ran lose in you wardrobe or did you finally gave up on them?" She teased him.
"Not funny, I just don't feel like making effort at all. I just hate myself for what I do to others or myself. I am a mess." He started sharing his agonies. But he looked at Mishti who looked tired with all the sleepless nights due to Aarav.
"I am all ears, tell me what happened to you since we last met Angad." She said being concerned.
"I was doing so well man! My Work-life was perfect 10, I decided to do something more so checked out few mails written to me personally by few start-ups. One was from a village very near to my hometown so I decided to meet them in person and was super impressed with the ideas of the woman who wrote it Tejo. She has this vision for her academy and was intelligent enough to achieve it but lacks financial support which I agreed to provide. I didn't want to get into her personal life but I felt so sorry for her situation in the party we arranged after we signed the deal. Her husband Fateh cheated on her with her own sister Jasmine who tried to make that party into her engagement party. She was mentally very strong to put up a smile in such situations, I tried to cheer her up she does put up a smile but deep down she is not happy.
I packed my bags to Shimla to meet the lawyer about Riya's custody but Tejo made a visit to my house and asked me to help her as she was in a fix. She wanted to do a fake engagement and requested me to act like a fiance because her ex- FIL wanted her to settle first."
Angad was interrupted by Mishti, "you said No right.." . Angad didn't look at the Mishti eye to eye. He stirred the cup of Espresso and continued to narrate the events. Mishti rolled her eyes as she understood he said yes when he was struggling to even look at her.
"The dreaded marriage of her sister and ex-husband happened, Tejo had a huge breakdown I was the sole witness and when she asked for help to move on I agreed and asked her to come with me to Shimla.Riya escaped from school and I just couldn't handle her tantrums. Tejo took care of her and they bonded really well but everything started to fall apart since then. I lost Riya's custody to her Nani, I was completely devastated and I am glad that Tejo was by my side and took care of me. That old woman not only held me responsible for the accident she also told Tejo that I actually murdered them.I discovered her sister doing shady things for money and tried to mock some sense into her. The marriage of her sister and ex-husband was fake and he did all this to teach Jasmine a lesson for trying to Destroy everyone's life and especially Tejo's life. Everyone reunited in Gurdwara and believe me when I say this but I felt so alone when I saw them together. I Just wanted to pack my bags and run to London but then I stayed, honestly it was ages since our home was filled with guests, I kind of liked it and I am the host , I can't run away so I stayed in the office till late night, it's the only place which keeps me sane and I expected everyone sleeping by that time but when I returned home and saw Tejo waiting for me I was so moved. I was going through emotional high I guess, I can't recall a single thing we discussed but I can never forget what I felt that time." He had this goofy smile during those last two sentences by which Mishti assumed he was in love with this girl Tejo.
"You are so in love.." Mishti said that out loud which was so unexpected for Angad that blood rushed to his cheeks and he turned beet red for a moment. He took a minute to adjust himself and chugged the entire bitter Espresso in one gulp and said, "That's the reason why I hate myself. Let me tell you what happened and how effing stupid I behaved."
" Tejo's ex-FIL asked me to talk to her about giving Fateh a second chance," He said, Mishti understood he must've made a mess from now on.
"I called Dadi for suggestion" he was interrupted again. "Oh dear god! Why didn't you call me you stupid man? You must have asked something so made up that woman had no idea that she actually indirectly ruined her only grandson's love life. You are an absolute idiot." Mishti threw a rolled up tissue at him in anger.
"Ouch! I asked her if she was given a choice will she chose her happiness or dadu's, she said she will chose Dadu's happiness so I thought may be it's time I set her free from this loneliness of mine and send her back to her family actually both families if she takes Fateh back into her life. See Mishti out of all I think you know that I am better alone."
Mishti said," No! No no you are such a fool. You were nothing less of a train wreck after the accident. You locked up yourself few of your office staff never saw you for months. It took me weeks to get you out of that dreaded room of yours. You know what changed you, Riya. I told you that she was your responsibility and the only person who mattered the most and you instantly changed your lifestyle after that. You never missed a therapy after that. Who planted this sh*t in your brain that you are better alone?"
"Calm down! OMG! After being a mom you have turned into a dictator. " He said to calm her nerves.
"Try being sleepless for three days straight." Mishti replied with a smirk. Angad chuckled at her but continued, "I don't know what happened but when I told her to give Fateh a second chance and get back to her old life, she looked at me with such disgust and placed this fake engagement ring in my palm and left. That's it and she never tried to call me or message me. She totally stopped talking to me and if something related to academy comes she talks to my assistant Rajat. Can you believe it? I want to ask her why she had ring in her hand when I last spoke to her? " He leaned on to the table played with coaster and looked extremely helpless.
" You have only one way to know, go back to India meet her and just talk to her." Mishti replied with concern.
" She hates me now I guess. I don't think she is even willing to look at me. I might have not only spoiled my friendship but also suggested her to go revisit her worst possible nightmare by asking her to give her ex and his family a second chance." Angad sulked in the chair and looked at Mishti for some solution.
"Don't look at me liked that, your only way of making this right is to go and talk. She will be angry but as much as I have heard from you she seems to be a sane person unlike you. She will eventually forgive you for your stupidity." Mishti continued. " I am sorry that you lost Riya's custody I don't know what gave that old woman an upper hand but please talk to someone else this time, I have a friend of mine Rushitha, she will give you some advice regarding this"
"Thank you yaar." Angad said with a galore of thoughts and scenarios running in his mind to strike a conversation with Tejo when he meets her.
Two days later:
Tejo and Satti made dinner for the entire family served them all except Jasmine who returns home late these days. Tejo remained much calmer and speaks when it was necessary. She tried avoiding meeting people unnecessarily for time being. She went through an emotional turmoil which she shared only with Angad but when she heard him saying same thing that she should go back to Fateh was so humiliating. Her heart was further crushed when she recalled her father's words earlier that day. She was disgusted at the thought that she was only identified as love of Fateh does she have no personal achievements or dreams? The person she trusted the most in her most dreadful phase also thinks she should get back to Fateh. Tejo was going through some serious existential crisis all these months. She met Virks only during social gathering events and the academy related discussion. Her father kept her sane whenever she loses her cool at trivial things. Jasmine was no longer a problem to her thanks to Angad.
Jasmine hated her job, she wanted to rush to Canada as soon as possible but the internship and the rules set by the devil of her life Angad, turned each passing day into a battlefield. She never stayed late night even during exams but because of this intership she had to stay at the academy for such long hours. She returned home complaing about Rajat to Tejo. Tejo didn't reply and served her food and started reading her favourite book sitting next to her and waiting her to finish.
"Tujhe pata hai woh Angad aa raha hai two days mein academy check karne. I just hope ki woh Canada wala intership mujhe offer kare ab bas bahut hogaya mujhse iss Moga mein aur nahi Rukh sakti." She gulped down the roti and saag with water and rushed to her room as she got a call from Rajat to attend the meeting leaving Tejo with a new piece of information which left her suprised.
She barely slept that night thinking about the scenarios to avoid him and the Meeting. She came up with perfect solution to all this by acting sick at the academy tomorrow and not leaving house for a week. Eventhough if he pays visit she will totally be backed up by her family so no awkward silence or conversations. She slept around 3 a.m in the morning.
She was so late to the academy that she walked past a group of students who were having a good laugh. She rushed to her room took care of the accounts and organised in an order so Fateh doesn't require any further help during meeting. She chugged the tea in kullad which was placed infront of her on the table. It reminded of the tea she had earlier made by Angad when the intially met in Moga ,just the she heard a knock at the door.
"Hello! Tejorita" Angad entered the room with his charming smile and flowers with a big note of sorry written on it. When they looked at each other after two months, her heart skipped a beat so did his.
***To be continued***
P.S. Financial year coming to a close is kind of nightmare for us and we are working overtime due to ongoing Omicron cases. I was given an off tomorrow so updated it after a long time. I know a lot of us have moved on from this show but I have decided to complete the story. Hope you all enjoy the read :)