Part 2
Rani was taken aback by the forwardness of this stranger...Fearing his forwardness she quickly replied" Rani" and without even shaking his hand she made a move towards her house....
She was happy that the stranger did not bother her...although her mind was suspecting his forwardness.... her heart was not ready to admit that he was wrong... she herself did not understand why was she feeling hurt... why did she feel bad for the fact that she did not shake her hands with him... why did she feel like sharing her sorrows with him' why did she feel like getting the answers to her questions... Here she was on the beach to forget her sorrows... but why did she have a feeling of taking back additional sorrows with her... as she turned to see him one last time... she could see him turned the other side lost in his thoughts... unperturbed by her absence... that hurt her even more... she finally reached home when her friend, her room mate Kali announced that they were going to cater a party....
Rani was not in a mood to go but it was her sole way of earning income...her parents were no more in this world leaving her as an orphan... as she thought about the day when she had eagerly awaited her parents return from the hospital with her kid sister... their car was run-over by a truck...her kid sister who had not even opened her eyes to see the new world around her had closed her eyes forever... she had to live with her uncle who considered her to be a burden on them... she somehow survived in this family as her cousins were very good to her... but her happiness was short-lived as soon after her 12th...her uncle's business came to a stand-still...it became difficult for him to meet the needs of the entire family... they decided to marry her off to a 45 year old man... Rani had run away from the house as she did not wish to marry a man who was more than twice her age.... getting a job was not easy...but due to the suggestion made by her friend Kali... she opted to work at a catering company...she even got a place to stay as the company gave her a room to share with her...
Tears started flowing from her eyes...as she realised how miserable her life had been...she saw Kali walk into the room...Rani chose not to show her emotions and immediately went into the wash-room to wash her face...
Meanwhile Yudi stood there rooted at the beach.... His mother was no more ... Yudi had promised himself that he would never let his sister feel the absence of a mother...his sister Niharika was the apple of his eye and made it a point to fulfill her every wish... his father never liked him associating with the middle-class crowd... but was it his fault that he felt one with them...Today he had returned from abroad after 2 years...wanted to tell his best friend Saksham how much he had missed his friendship...but had got to know that he had gone to his village to solve the dispute arising because of his land... He had then called out for his sister but had got to know that she had gone to a temple... Not finding anyone to share his feelings he had come to the beach...
He considered meeting this stranger at the beach as a god's miracle of curing his loneliness... but she also did not wish to heal his wounded heart.... He had sensed her discomfort at his forwardness and had let her go... he himself could not understand his emotions towards this stranger whom he had just met...making him wonder at his own forwardness as he had always been shy of girls...her going away from him was something he could not bear to see and had turned his face away so that she doesn't pity him... keeping his thoughts in himself he decided to go home....
he had reached his room and wanted to cry out his feelings and was about to close the door when his father told there is a surprise party in his honour and asked him to come down...Yudi was about to protest when his father said.. " I know you hate parties and that's basically the reason why am telling you now as I know had I told you earlier you would have stopped the party preparations'."...Yudi decided to humour his father and asked him to carry on with the preparations and he will get ready and come down soon...
Yudi opened his closet and wondered what to wear...He considered high profile parties boring and hated wearing formal wear... he was comfortable in his simple shirts and trousers... he always seemed lost in the high-profile crowd... he hated their false airs...He terribly missed Saksham now... as he remembered the last party when he and Saksham had somehow managed to escape from the prowling eyes of his father and had gone to a fun-fair at the village...and had thoroughly enjoyed themselves and had returned back without letting anyone know about it....He was still wondering when his sister came running and hugged him from behind....
" Bhaiyya.. I missed you so much' "...
He took her hands off him and sat on the bed faking anger'..she caught her ears and said.. " Bhaiyya, please forgive me.. I did not wish to go to the temple.. I wanted to be the first one to greet you.. but'.....
"But.. what " Yudi asked her... curious to know what his sister is going to give as an excuse...
" You know me na bhaiyya...I'm a bubble head... I can never hide anything for you... fearing this daddy forced me to go to the temple so that I don't blurt out the truth about the surprise party.... now will you please forgive me.."
He looked at his sister trying hard to control his laughter... but soon gave in as he saw his sister's eyes turning teary... he hugged her and said.. " I'll forgive you provided you help me with my clothes"... She gave a relieved smile and reached out for his formal clothes and asked him to hurry....
Rani came out of the washroom wearing a white t-shirt and a black pant... typical formal wear.... her friends often commented that she looked pretty in that outfit' that brought a smile on her face.. Kali immediately filled her with the details that they were going to a party held in the honour of the prince arrival from abroad.... the dishes that were going to be served there... and how they needed to deal with them... Rani's thoughts lingered to the stranger she had just met at the beach... he looked every bit of someone belonging to a royal family.... She soon brought her emotions to a control and left for the party....
Their boss was waiting for them...he was in his mid 40s.. he was extremely fond of Rani...and looked upon her as his daughter... he told her to look after the guests needs properly and gave her proper instrcutions as she was still new to this job...For her boss's sake she decided to strive harder in satisfying every requirement of the crowd...
Yudi comes down dressed...he is hungry by now as after arriving from abroad he had not had a single morsel of food... He is about to go the catering section when he hears a voice from behind..
" How may I help you sir..?"