Part 9: To Love and To Lose
Tia couldn't stop crying that whole day. Her tears fell freely, barely stopping for more than a few moments at a time. She was sure she was going to drown in them – a situation she didn't mind facing at that time. They were no longer under her control; in a parallel universe she may have actually laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation. But at that moment, nothing could have seemed less funny to her. She had never been a fan of pranks, but the dire joke that fate had played on her made her weep more than if anyone had set her whole wardrobe on fire.
For a moment she thought she would feel better, once she had accepted the truth of the matter. She didn't have the agitation and anger that she felt when she was running away from the facts. But in actual fact, she had never felt worse. Her tears were witness to the fact that she was mourning the loss of her true love.
If she really loved him, she would be happy for him whatever he chose to do with his life. But how oh how could she make such a big sacrifice?? It's true that Tia loved herself. She knew she was worth every penny of her Parisian couture, and she was never afraid to show it. But she loved Ranveer more than her life itself, and that was saying something. If he wanted to be with someone else.. then fine, Tia would just have to let him go.
So what else could she do but sob and sob? After a while she just accepted her tears and tried to get on with her work through blurry eyes. She knew she just had to leave for work that day, but it was quite impossible in her current state. She had rang up her office a few times, but hung up soon because she was incapable of saying anything comprehensible in her croaky broken voice. So she carried on working on her laptop, communicating through email with her colleagues, whilst her tears spilled onto the keyboard. She knew that her team was getting stressed out with her, as she was managing the big project they were working on at the moment. She just couldn't focus. Afterall, how was she meant to help acquire anything when she had just lost everything?
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"T-t-they...they say it's better to have love-" Tia had to pause as she was crying so hard. "l-loved and l...lost, than to never have loved at all." Then she collapsed into her Papa's arms.
It was late afternoon when Sumeet Ahuja came to check up on his daughter, only to find in such a state. He may not have known the details, but it didn't take a genius to know what (or rather, whom) this was about. His daughter, his dainty little bud, had blossomed into a beautiful flower. But despite all his care and nurturing, she seemed to be withering away before his eyes. He had left no stone unturned in making her life comfortable, but there were just some things out of his control. When he saw her like this, he wanted to do everything possible to make her feel better, spend any sum of money to bring a smile on his little girl's face...but he knew he was helpless. So instead he just held her tight, and let her weep on his shoulder.
Tia was his life's most precious gift and, as clichd as it sounded, he couldn't believe how quickly his little princess had grown up. He still felt like bringing her home dolls and teddy bears, switching off his work phone to read her bedtime stories in peace, making time in hectic schedules to go and watch Tia perform in her school dance shows. It had been tough playing the roles of a father and a mother for so long... However, he knew he must have done something right, because Tia was a beautiful, talented, wonderful girl with a heart of gold. And behind her pretty, porcelain exterior lay astonishing determination, strength and courage. She had proved that in these past years... yet sometimes Sumeet felt as if she was purposely making her life difficult for herself – like a tough puzzle she needed to solve, a challenge she needed to survive. Maybe she was trying to prove a point, but he knew that she had been essentially running away from something. Someone. And now she had faced him.
If there was another person in the world who could even come close to loving Tia Ahuja as much as her father did, it would have been Ranveer. And Sumeet would never be comfortable handing the apple of his eye over to anybody else other than him... Not only because he knew how much Ranveer loved Tia, but because he knew Tia herself would never be as happy with anyone else as she was with him.
If anyone knew about recognising opportunities and seizing them, it would be a business tycoon like Sumeet Ahuja. And he knew that it was time for Tia to sort out her problems with Ranveer. And life had presented her with the perfect opportunity.
"Princess, if he truly loved you once, he'll love you forever. Because, at heart, you'll never really change. And I wouldn't want it any other way. I may never know what happened between the two of you, but I know you need to talk to him."
That's when it struck Tia – She knew what she needed to do.
"Papa, can you come back here later?"
"Of course Tia.. are you sure you'll be ok for now?"
"Yes Tia will manage."
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Half an hour later Sumeet, Sonia, Pri, Meher and Anvesha were assembled in Tia's room.
"Tia has called you all here because she has something very important to share with you. Something that you've all probably wondered about, but Tia has never told anyone before now. But all of you mean a lot to Tia, and now she feels that she has to let you know..."
On hearing these words, Ashi felt confused.. and a little awkward. She meant a lot to Tia? Should she be here right now? Tia had probably called her by mistake. She began to slowly edge her way out of the room.
"Wait Anvesha" Tia had spotted her.
Tia looked at her in the eye, and something rare and wondrous passed between them: understanding. Its true they were nothing like each other: Tia was the anti-Ashi; Ashi was the anti-Tia. Yet they both had that spark in them. Most of the time the sparks only led to combustion upon meeting, but occasionally they formed a connection. An astrological connection. After all, they may not have shared the same blood, but they did share the same birthday. They were born under the same constellation, which made them cosmic sisters. The stars had aligned for them and brought them closer and closer. And now they were officially family.
Anvesha stayed.
"Tia trusts you all with this. She doesn't know how well she will be able to explain it, because a million things were going through Tia's mind at the time... But she'll try her best. Oh and, um, make yourselves comfortable...this could take a while."
It had dawned upon Tia that she could no longer carry the burden of secrets any longer. They weighed her down and worried her (and she for one didn't want premature wrinkles). She wanted to be free; she wanted to fly again. It had been a day of revelations for Tia. Now she wanted to reveal what had happened between her and Ranveer.
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
Anupamaa
