NOTE: I was skeptical to post this chapter at first but still going ahead with it. I almost abandoned on this yet again coz I am still not sure if an AU works for RaYa. Will post this and next chapter and based on the response, will decide if its worth continuing or not. If you think it was worth your time reading it, then please do hit the like button and drop a comment 😳
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Chapter Four – Remembering You
Ram’s Penthouse
“Wife? Really?”
“Bri, I swear I don’t know what came over me, yaar. I just wanted to…” Ram fumbled with his words. Truth be told, he was not sure why he made such a reckless move last night.
“Get rid of Gadhika? Right! Look, we don’t want her in your life any more than you do but what were you thinking?” Brinda shot back.
“That’s the trouble with him. When does he ever think?” Vikrant chimed in while Ram scowled at him.
“Vik’s got a point, Ram. And how did you expect Priya to react? She has barely known you and you both got off on the wrong foot to start with and next thing we know, you call her your wife in front of your ex. Like, what was that?” Brinda asked him to which Ram sighed in frustration running his hands through his hair.
“I know it was crazy but at that time it felt like the only way out…” Ram tried to say in a bleak voice.
“Then you should have called her your girlfriend. Why did you say she is your wife?” Vikrant asked him.
“What? Are you crazy Vik? Why should Ram have a wife or even a girlfriend if he does not want to get back with Gadhika?”
“But it’s still better, no?” Vikrant tried to say but when Brinda threw daggers his way he shut his mouth.
“You are as hopeless as him. Girlfriend, really?” Brinda admonished him.
“I am sorry alright? I know I messed up but at that point I thought if Vedika felt I had moved on, she would leave me alone. Then I saw Priya and nothing else struck me. I just did not want to… you know… tell Vedu on her face,” Ram said in a resigned voice and Brinda felt bad for him. Though she had half a mind to hurl all abuses she could think of at him.
“I cannot promise anything, but I will talk to Priya,” she told him hoping to put Ram out of his misery.
“When is Vedika flying back to Paris?”
****************
2 Days Later, @ the Airport
“Baby I know it’s not easy for you!” Vedika said dolefully clutching Ram’s arm leaning her head against it while Ram patted her hand.
It was 4 am on a Sunday morning and they were at the airport to see off Vedika. Brinda and Vikrant were half asleep while Priya stood next to them wondering how she had let herself be talked into being a part of this melodrama. Brinda had begged her to play along till Vedika left for Paris and she could not refuse, seeing the miserable look on her face. They desperately wanted to get rid of Vedika and she could not blame them for that. The downside to being friends meant that you also had to endure your friend’s overbearing girlfriend too and none of them were prepared to deal with that after having endured Vedika for two long years before.
“After a 36-hour shift, the only thing on my mind should have been to catch a nice long nap but NO! I am here to give a hearty farewell to my fake husband’s ex-girlfriend who thinks she is making the sacrifice of the millennium by giving him up!” Priya cursed under her breath giving the bouquet of pink lilies she was holding in her hands a contemptuous glare.
“I know Priya is not me,” Vedika told Ram sympathetically.
Believe me darling, I will never want to be anything like you Priya thought savagely.
“But still, I want you to work on your marriage and be happy, honey. My Ram is a sweetheart and I know you can never break anyone’s heart,” Vedika continued oblivious to the fact that this was no pity party like she assumed.
Priya plastered a fake smile on her face as Vedika approached her and gave her a hug.
Today Vedika was dressed in pink cotton pants which she had teamed up with a white tank top and pink cardigan with matching accessories. Had it not been for her bizarre obsession, Priya would have probably found her cute.
“I hope you guys have a wonderful life together,” she wished Priya holding her hands while Ram squirmed internally. He knew Priya would be cursing him to her heart’s content, but he was grateful to her regardless.
Ram was not spineless per say but he had never had the heart to break anybody’s, be it even his eccentric ex-girlfriend’s. He had dated Vedika just to spite his mom, but her tantrums were nerve grating and along with being sorry for himself, he was sorry for his friends too for putting them through his misery. Vedika’s heart had always been in the right place but unfortunately, he could not say the same about her head. He always hoped she would walk out on him herself and when she finally did, he was on cloud nine. But now that she was back again, he could not bring himself to tell her that he had no intention of getting back with her. Instead, he messed it up further by calling Priya his wife. While Priya was livid at him, Vedika was content in her own happy bubble thinking Ram had been so devastated on losing her that he sought comfort in another woman. She did not mind letting go of Ram so long as she was still the woman of his dreams, and she fancied the idea of being a fantasy he could never attain.
Vedika bid them a farewell and proceeded towards the check in counter and Ram finally let out a sigh of relief. His worst nightmare was over and hopefully would never haunt him again. But now he faced a more frightening prospect – placate an angry fake wife.
“Priya….” he began with an apologetic note in his voice, but she held up her hands in front of him.
“We are over and done with it and FYI, I did this for Brinda!” she snapped at him and this time, Ram knew he fully deserved her wrath.
“I know but still, thank you!”
“Next time you decide to call me your wife, I’ll make sure that turns out to be the worst mistake of your life. Psycho ex-girlfriend or not, I am certainly not game to go through this drama again!”
“Point duly noted,” Ram told her crossing his heart.
“Good!” Priya replied stiffly before turning on her heels marching away from there with Brinda towing behind her muffling a yawn.
“Phew! That didn’t go so bad now, did it? Vikrant?” Ram asked Vikrant but all he got in response was a loud snore from behind.
**********
Sara’s Apartment
It had been a tiring morning for both the girls, especially for Priya who had had a grueling 36-hour shift with back to back surgeries the previous day and they slumped down on the sofa without bothering to change.
“Priya?”
“Yeah?” Priya mumbled into the cushion which she was using as a makeshift pillow.
“I know you probably don’t like Ram but believe me, he is not a coward,” Brinda told Priya who was only half awake.
“Yeah, I get it,” Priya replied yawning. “The only thing he is scared of are roller coasters and a crazy ex.”
“No,” Brinda replied thoughtfully. “He is not scared of Vedika. It’s more likely that he can’t tell her a NO and hurt her feelings. If there is one thing Ram can never do, then its break a heart.”
“Mm….” Priya replied before finally giving into exhaustion.
**********
A few days later @ Ram’s Penthouse
Ram was getting ready to leave for his shoot when his doorbell rang. His family house help, Tarun answered the door.
“Hey hi Bri!” Ram greeted her as he packed his lenses into its case.
“Hey jaan! Can I borrow your ear pods? Not able to find mine.”
“Sure. They are in the left drawer inside my wardrobe,” Ram replied.
While Brinda was retrieving the ear pods from the drawer, a box fell open and inside was a dainty hair clip with a butterfly on it, adorned with crystals. By the looks of it, it was pretty old.
“Ram?” Brinda called out to him. “Looks like Gadhika left a souvenir for you.”
“What?” he asked her, stepping into the room and Brinda handed him the box. It took him a while before he realized who it belonged to and unbidden, a smile crept up his face, unlocking a memory he had treasured for as long as he could remember.
“Piu promise,” the little girl vowed interlocking her pinky with his and before he could say another word, she swiftly climbed down the tree and ran towards her aunt who had been searching for her along with one of the security guards. Her aunt was relieved to finally have found her and she took her away from there.
Ram sat on the tree swinging his leg thinking about his little escapade. All this while, he had been waiting for a shooting star his friend Kunal had told him about, eager to make his wish. But his genie was right. Neither did the shooting star show up nor did it fulfil any wish of his. But she had. She was certainly better than a shooting star he concluded. Even though she had fulfilled one out of three wishes, it gave him confidence that she will be able to give him his other two wishes as well. As he got down the ladder, he recalled her words that she would make his mumma be with him one day. Though he was skeptical at first, now he was certain she would grant him that wish as well. But he wondered when she would do that. And then there was the third wish. He tried to think of what he would ask her when his eyes fell on a shiny object on the ground. Curious, he picked it up. It was a butterfly hairclip that belonged to the girl. His first instinct was to look for her and return it but then another thought crossed his mind. What if the girl forgot her promise? What if she refused to give him his wish or even remember him? He decided he would hold onto the clip till he met her again and if she ever reneged on her promise or forgot about him, he would give her the clip and remind her about it. He pocketed it and ran back towards his tent to join his friends with a huge grin plastered on his face. He could not wait to tell Kunal about his genie.
“Hello? Ram, are you listening?”
Brinda’s voice broke him out of his reverie, and he shook his head in a NO to Brinda's earlier question.
“Nope, this is not Vedika’s,” he told her. “Besides, you missed a crucial point here – it can’t be hers as it's not pink,” he added pointing to the blue coloured butterfly and placed it back safely in his drawer.
“Then who? Secret girlfriend, huh?” Brinda asked him playfully but the next instant she had a worried look on her face.
“But please tell me, it’s not another version of Gadhika,” Brinda begged while Ram smiled.
“Relax, I am not dating anyone but thanks for the vote of confidence,” he muttered sarcastically.
“Hey, you can’t blame me, alright? Remember the time when every other girl in college had their eyes on you, but you never bothered to notice anyone, including my cousin Ahana? And the only girl who caught your eye was the one your mum disapproved of! Anyways chuck that! Who is this new mystery girl?” Brinda asked him eagerly.
“Not new exactly. You remember my genie?”
“Genie? What…” Brinda seemed confused for a second before realization struck her. Brinda rolled her eyes. She was all too familiar with it as Ram had probably recounted it a gazillion times to her and Kunal while they were in school and annoyed the living daylights out of them.
“You mean the fancy dress competition one? The infamous figment of your imagination? Did you ever let us forget? You know jaan, if I ever need to tell a bedtime story to my children in future, I am not sure if I remember any I read as kid but I will surely tell them about Uncle Ram & his Genie.
“God knows, how many times we heard it from you. Especially me and Kunal. You and Kunal even rowed over it once because you claimed his shooting star was useless. And he did not talk to you for days,” Brinda recalled their childhood days laughing.
“And whenever Kunal got angry, it was a tough job to pacify him. He seldom got angry but when he did, he used to shut everyone off,” Ram added smiling at a distant memory.
“Anyways Ram, tell me one thing – This happened like when? Almost two decades ago? But how do you remember it all so clearly? I can barely remember what happened two weeks ago.”
Ram shrugged his shoulders.
“I am not sure Bri…” he told her trying to recall why his heart refused to part with that memory.
“All I remember from that evening is that…. It felt magical. Just like one of those bedtime stories they read out to you, you know? You wait for it to happen but then it’s not real and you eventually grow out of it. Would have been the case with me too but it did happen, no matter how bizarre it sounds and for once it felt like I found my rainbow in the rain.”
“Definitely not bizarre but it’s just like one of those adventures that stays with you for a lifetime. I wish I could have met her though. She definitely sounds interesting. But how did you get her hair clip? Did she give it to you?” she asked him, pointing to his drawer.
“No, it had fallen down on the ground. I was just preserving it for the day when we would meet again so that I could ask her to give me my third wish. Something like surety. Yeah, I know it was stupid,” Ram replied dismissing the childish thought he had harbored as a kid.
“Nah, it’s cute,” Brinda assured him and then she got an errant thought.
“Ram? What if this was some kinda meet cute?” she teased him.
Ram scoffed.
“Come off it, Bri.”
“No, I am serious. What if destiny brought that girl back into your life again? What will you do? What will you ask her?” she asked him, a childish gleam dancing in her eyes.
“Bri, are you serious?”
“C’mon Ram! Tell me na? Let’s imagine something like this were to happen. What will you do?”
"Now, you are the one being ridiculous," Ram told her heading back into the living room.
“You are such a kill joy,” Brinda said to his retreating back, sticking her tongue out.
“How do you expect me to even recognize her Bri?", Ram replied gathering his bag.
"I mean, it could be anyone. Even if she walked past me, I wouldn’t know and heck, I don’t even know her name. All I recall is her saying something like Piya or Peehu or Piyu? Let’s face it. That can’t be her real name.”
**********************
LifeCare Hospital
“Wow Piu! Looks like somebody’s boring life just got exciting!”
“Sara that’s so not funny ok? I mean like, we were fighting over his dog and next thing I know, his ex-girlfriend comes out of nowhere and I am his wife,” Priya spoke into her cell phone that was pressed between her ear and her shoulder as she precariously placed her breakfast tray onto a table in the cafeteria of her hospital and sat down tearing the plastic cover of her sandwich.
Another round of raucous laughter from the other end of the call. Priya waited for it to die down nibbling on her sandwich.
“You are done?”
“Piu yaar….. it’s… well…” Sara replied trying to control herself, but she started laughing again much to Priya’s annoyance.
“Forget it! We will talk once you are sober,” Priya tried to cut the call, but Sara stopped her.
“Piu, Piu wait. OK. I won’t laugh OK? But tell me one thing,” she probed her.
“Is he as hot as he looks in the pictures?”
Priya choked on her sandwich.
“Are you for real?” she yelled into the phone indignantly but realizing she was in the hospital cafeteria she lowered her voice casting a furtive glance around to ensure she had not caught anybody’s attention.
“You are seriously asking me that?” she hissed into her phone knowing very well where this conversation was headed and she had no intention of going there.
“Oh c’mon! Why are you getting so worked up? I mean it’s a casual question yaar. Tell na? Is he hot?” Sara asked her enthusiastically.
“Not again,” Priya replied frustrated.
“It’s a simple yes or no Piu. Tell me,” Sara insisted as Priya sighed.
“He might be and sometimes I wonder why on earth he bothered with fashion photography when he could have very well been a model himself,” she replied adding some sugar into her cappuccino.
“Not bad! You really seem to be observant about a guy whom you are apparently not interested in.”
“Argh! Sarangi!”
“Chill maar! It was not my idea to make him your fake husband. Just pulling your leg.”
“But that doesn’t mean you weave crazy fantasies around Ram and me!”
“Hang on! How does Raya sound?”
Priya frowned.
“What on earth is it?”
“Ram Priya – #RaYa! Awesome na?” Sara teased her.
“OK, that’s it! I am done here and we will talk only when you snap out of your match making mode. Bye!” Priya cut the call, almost on the verge of pulling out her hair but then she realized that won’t really help her cause, rather it would add to her woes.
Priya had a perfectly normal, uneventful day in the hospital, and she was assigned to work with Dr Gupta for surgical rounds. He gave her tips on how to interact with the patients and advised her to appear calm and relaxed at all times lest their patients assumed the worse about their condition. Dr Gupta was a pro at this, and Priya observed that he had a soothing presence which instantly put the patients at ease. She went about her routine, studying their charts and taking notes. Some of them, she noticed did not apparently have a real problem but had the impression they did, just like the one before her. From the chart it was evident she was in sound health, but Dr Gupta explained that this patient had got herself admitted more than thrice already in 6 months assuming she got a heart attack every time but turned out it was just acidity. It had taken more than reports to convince her she was absolutely fine.
Once her rounds were over, she grabbed a quick cup of coffee before heading to the children’s ward. Head nurse Malti had informed her that Zara’s health had deteriorated over the weekend due to a respiratory attack, but her condition was stable for now as Dr Mehta had attended to her immediately.
She could hear the sounds of squealing and whooping as she neared the ward and she wondered what the commotion was all about.
“Ram!” she exclaimed from the doorway surprised to see him in the hospital. Even more so, at the sight of him holding a bag of goodies and children jumping about excitedly around him.
“Hey wait,” Ram told them holding the bag high above his head as some of the brats jumped onto their beds and made a grab for it.
“Err…..hi?” Ram gave Priya an awkward smile which soon turned into a grimace when one of the kids who had tried to grab the bag caught hold of fistful of his hair and yanked at it while Priya looked on bemused.
“Since when did you swap being a fashion photographer for a Santa?” Priya asked him with a chuckle.
“Help me, will ya?” he pleaded her motioning to the kids.
Priya tried restraining the kids but when they did not listen, she threatened to shove bitter medicines down their throats and that finally got their attention. Sulking, they walked back to their beds and sat down obediently.
“Does that always work on them?” Ram asked her.
“Mostly,” she replied looking around to make sure the kids were behaving themselves when she realised something.
“But hang on! What are you doing here? Oh no! Not this time!” she groaned throwing him an angry glare while Ram looked dumbfounded.
“What?” he asked her dubiously.
“If you are here to convince me to continue that facade, then forget it! I don’t care if Vedika or any of your other ex-girlfriends pop out of nowhere, I am not interested!” she told him in a flat tone.
“Always ready to jump the gun, aren’t you Dr Sood?” he asked her sarcastically shaking his head.
“If there is one thing I learnt in recent days, then it’s Expect-The-Unexpected when it comes to Ram Kapoor. It’s not every day you meet a guy who introduces you to his ex-girlfriend as his wife.”
Ram was about to reply to that remark when they both heard a familiar voice.
“Ah! So, I see you met Mr. Kapoor, Dr Sood?”
“Good evening, Dr Mehta,” Priya greeted Dr Mehta, a beefy veteran doctor in his early sixties who always had a trigger-happy aura about him.
“Evening Dr Sood!”
“I suppose we can skip the introduction now that you two already know each other. Excellent,” he said enthusiastically clapping his hands once.
Priya gave Ram a puzzled look wondering what this was all about.
“You must be knowing already this strapping young lad here is an amazing photographer,” he added thumping Ram hard, making him stumble in the process. Priya suppressed her laughter as Ram nearly lost his footing.
Dr Mehta then informed Priya that Ram would be working on the photoshoot for one of their CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives and requested her to give him a tour of the hospital. He left them to the kids who eyed the goody bag in Ram’s hand earnestly but made no move to snatch it lest Priya carried out her threat.
“For a guy who hangs around skimpy clad models the whole day, I am surprised you even bothered with this. Isn’t this below your pay grade?” Priya teased him but he shrugged his shoulders in reply.
“Glamour is overrated,” he replied coolly, distributing the toys he had brought for the children.
“Says the guy who dated a supermodel,” Priya scoffed.
Ram rolled his eyes.
“Still holding that against me, are you?”
“Nah, just an observation. But you didn’t answer my question. What are you doing here?”
“Just filling in for a friend who was supposed to do this shoot,” he replied.
“But the shoot is not happening for another two weeks. So, what brings you here?”
“I am here for – what would you call it?” he mused thinking hard. “Yeah, an ice breaker!”
“Ice breaker?” Priya quipped.
“It’s about building a rapport. We do that with our models as well. You know like, a tete-a-tete. This is my first with these little brats. So, I need to bribe them to be my muse. Can’t have them sulking around me.”
“Good luck with that! Though I am pretty sure they are going to give you a hard time on the D-day anyways, bribe or no bribe,” Priya told Ram and walked over to meet the occupant of the last bed who had been unusually quiet the whole time. Priya knew why.
On seeing Priya, Zara brightened up a little and sat up slowly like it took a great deal of effort to do that. Priya’s heart ached to see a child so young as her subjected to agony which was well beyond her age but there was little she could do to ease her pain.
“How are you doing?” Priya greeted her by holding out her fist and Zara brushed her tiny fist against hers and gestured mutely about the other day when she was seized by the attack. Priya assured her it will be all right and patted her cheek that had lost its pallor.
“Hey beautiful! You are unusually quiet among the noisy lot here,” Ram said walking up to them. Zara looked at the bag in his hand and then at Ram hopefully, but Ram reproachfully showed her the empty bag at which her face fell, and she cast her eyes down sadly.
“I am so sorry. I don’t have anymore of those but….” Ram said and pulled out a small pink unicorn soft toy from his jacket.
“There is someone who wants to say hello,” he added handing it to her and was rewarded with a heart-warmingsmile.
“Now how about I get something in return?” Ram said bending forward so that he was eye level with Zara and pointed to his cheek. Zara happily kissed him there. Priya watched this exchange quietly lost in her thoughts. In no time Ram got along with Zara and he took her with him to the playroom along with the other kids. He could notice that she looked pale and weak compared to others. So, he made sure he didn’t exhaust her. He indulged the kids in little games and soon the kids had found a new friend in him, especially Zara. He brought them back to their room and bid them all goodbye. Just as he was about to leave, he felt a tiny hand squeeze his - Zara’s.
Zara looked sad and made a gesture implying if he would ever come again to which he replied in affirmative, and she seemed happy with that. But she didn’t leave him at that and brought her fist pointing out her little finger. Ram smiled and held out his hand intertwining his pinky with hers.
“Pinky promise! Happy?” he asked her to which she nodded enthusiastically, and he kissed the fist he was holding before taking her leave.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” he heard Priya chide him. She was standing by the doorway crossing her arms with a somber look on her face.
“Do what?”
“Make a promise you can’t keep up,” she replied but Ram was not sure what she was talking about.
“You told Zara you’d come to see her again.”
“Oh that? Of course, I would. What’s wrong with that?” Ram asked her surprised.
“You and I both know that you are here only for the photoshoot and once you’re done, you’ll never probably set foot here. You will easily forget everything about this place but what about Zara?” Priya asked him and Ram could not figure out why Priya was getting worked up on a trivial matter.
“Priya, relax,” Ram told her.
“Now that you have told her you will come see her, she will wait for you every day and do you have any idea the pain she will go through when she will not see you? Do you have any idea how it feels when you wait for someone who would never come? The last thing that girl needs before she dies is to suffer the pain of a broken promise Ram and she doesn’t deserve that!”
“What do you mean by… What’s wrong with Zara?” Ram asked her.
“Zara has a rare disease, and she won’t live through it.”
Ram looked aghast at the revelation.
“Every time I see her suffer, all I can do is tell her something to make it easy for her but I also know that my last words to her would be a lie. That it’s going to OK but it won't,” she said in a broken voice and that was the first time he saw her vulnerable side which she seldom showed to the world. Priya seemed to realize she had lost control and she instantly composed herself.
“You know what… let’s just forget we had this conversation, but I request you to not make it any more complicated than it already is,” she said and walked away from there leaving Ram to ponder over his thoughts. Her words of a broken promise and irrevocable pain lingered on, making him wonder if Priya was talking for Zara or if she had accidentally opened up a part of her that she had locked away.
Edited by BeyondHorizon - 3 years ago
Cricket
