Tej sat on the bed and picked up the photo frame which was placed on the bedside table. The photo which was framed was his and Toasty's wedding picture. He still remembered that day. It was the day when they both had become one. He remembered making her wear the mangalsutra, putting sindoor in her mang and all the promises he made to her while taking the saat pheres. She simply looked too beautiful that day and he couldn't take his eyes off her. He just stared at her picture. He felt as if she was smiling at him.
'Goodnight Toasty.' He said and kissed the photo. He placed his hand on one of Toasty's saree and imagined himself hugging her and slept.
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Tej woke up to the noises in the house. He got up to go out and saw all the members of the family gathered in the living room screaming and shouting at Shobha.
'Ek minute. Ek minute. Ek minute.' Tej shouted so that everyone would quit fighting.
'What is going on here?' He asked.
'That umm Tej Bhaiya...' Gyan said pointing towards the object in Shobha's hands.
It was a portrait of Toasty. It was just like Vimla's portrait.
'Yeh kya hai?' Tej was confused.
'See it's been a year since Toasty left and till date we haven't got any news about her. We all have searched so much yet we didn't find her. We came to know that she was suffering from Brain Tumor and she had only 3 months left to survive. 3 months are over and it would be practical to understand that Toasty is indeed dead. So I'm hanging this portrait on the wall next to your mother.' Shobha spoke ruthlessly.
'How can you say like that? Do you know how we are all living in this house? Do you know why Gyan and Pracheen sleep on the floor inspite of a double bed in my room? They do that because they don't want to have the feeling that Toasty isn't here. Whenever Pitaji buys saree's, he buys 3 of them and not 2.' He stopped himself when he saw tears in everyone's eyes.
'My heart still says that my wife, my Toasty is alive. She is out there somewhere waiting for me.' He said that and walked off from the house.
___________________________________________________________________________
Everyone in the house was quietly sitting in the hall. They were better off dreaming of another world where their Toasty was present. They all still remembered the day when they got to know of the bitter truth.
'Oh my god! How long will you people take to arrange things? Look at the time. It's 11 and Toasty will be here any minute.' Pitaji shouted.
From early morning everyone was completely engaged in the preparations for Toasty's arrival from Bangalore. Everyone was restless to meet her, especially Tej.
'Time kya hai?' Tej asked. Everyone was so indulged in the preparations that they lost track of time.
'It's umm...Kya?...Tej Bhaiya it's 1.' Prachin replied in complete shock.
'Kya? It's 1 and Toasty is still not here?' Tej was confused.
'Maybe the flight got delayed or probably she is stuck in traffic.' Ved Bhaiya insisted.
'One second, I will call her and see.' Tej dialed her number and it came as 'Unavailable'.
'Unavailable.' He said shaking his head.
'Do 1 thing. You go to the airport and check what happened.' Pashu Bhaiya said.
Tej immediately left with Gyan on his bike. They reached the airport and checked for Toasty's flight on the status board. It displayed 'Arrived On Time'. Tej wondered where Toasty was then. He went to the counter to check.
'Excuse me, could you check for passenger Tanya Chaturvedi on your list from Bangalore to Mumbai?' Tej asked the lady seated at the counter. She nodded her head.
'I'm sorry sir but there is no such passenger.' Tej became really worried.
'What? No. No. There must be a mistake, please check again.'
The lady checked again and shook her head.
Tej was completely blank. He couldn't understand what was happening. He had spoken to her in the morning to ask whether she was ready. She had replied that she was packing the last few things and strictly told him not to come to airport to pick her up.
'Tej Bhaiya, call Smita didi and see. Toasty Bhabhi went to stay at her house only na.' Gyan said. Tej could see how worried even Gyan was.
'Hi Tej!' Smita said.
'Hi. I called to ask if Toasty left?'
'What do you mean by Toasty left?'
'Toasty came for 5 days to stay at your house, right?' Tej was getting all the more worried.
'No. Toasty never came here.'
'She never came?' On hearing those words, Tej felt the world spin around him. Gyan stared blankly at Tej.
Tej cut the call and decided to go back home. On the way, he made Gyan call Sudha, Lalit and Dimple but all their calls came as 'Unavailable'. As soon as he reached home, he saw everyone crying.
'Why are you all crying?'
Nitika gave Tej a file. He opened it to see and read the words 'Tanya Tej Prakash Chaturvedi has last stage brain tumor'. He couldn't make sense of anything that was happening. He didn't know what to believe and what not to believe. He crashed onto the floor and held his head and started crying. He wanted all this to be a dream and when he would wake up, he would see Toasty sitting next to him and holding his hand.
They had tried everything. They kept calling Toasty, Sudha, Lalit and Dimple and all their calls came as 'Unavailable'. They went to Toasty's house but no one opened the door. The neighbours were unaware too. They only thing they knew was Toasty went to Bangalore as her name was there on the booking list. They all went to Bangalore to search for her but were unsuccessful.
Ever since then, they tried to live in an illusion that Toasty was with them.
_________________________________________________________________________
Tej aimlessly drove his bike as he had flashbacks of what Shobha told in the house. He was angry and hurt that Toasty had left him. She didn't let him know about her brain tumor. She had left him to live all by himself. Didn't she know that he can't live without her? She knew it. She knew she was his life. When she left, she took his soul with her and now he only lived with her memories.
He stopped his bike and got down to sit on the bench. He closed his eyes and felt rain drops hit his face.
'Bhaiya, pack fast na. It has started to rain!'
On hearing the voice, Tej opened his eyes. It came from one of the shops on the other side of the road. It was the voice that he had ached to hear for the past 1 year. He saw a woman in a saree but couldn't see her face as the umbrella was hiding it. He got up to run towards her when a truck came in between. It blocked his way and he was stuck. When the truck passed, he looked up to see her but she wasn't there. He ran towards the shop and looked around but she had left.
As he stood there not knowing what to do, he felt something unusual under his shoe. He looked down to find a chain. It was a locket. He recognized it as the one that Pitaji had given Toasty. He picked it up and opened it. He smiled as he found his photo in it.
Precap: Who was this woman? Will he ever meet her again?
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Sensational South
Bigg Boss 19
