FF: The Roulette of Envy (Part 12) pg.33/Dec. 7

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Queen.Bee

@Queen.Bee

Sparkler

Posted: 13 years ago

#81

Originally posted by: RachP

Thanks for reading, Rashi!
Aaah! I wish I could tell you what's happening to Rashi...

okay... what do u mean by that?? is it REALLY bad?? should i stop reading??😕

Edited by rashi.krishna - 13 years ago

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Rachna

@Chaccha

Dazzler

Posted: 13 years ago

#82

Originally posted by: rashi.krishna

okay... what do u mean by that?? is it REALLY bad?? should i stop reading??😕

I meant that it's a secret!😳

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kafa

@kafa

Voyager

Posted: 13 years ago

#83

Just awesome. Please update soon.

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chavvi16

@chavvi16

Stunner

Posted: 13 years ago

#84

hey bhagwan kya kare hum iss ladke ka
must he over think things & complicate matters for himself
they really do need a mediator between them to work out their problems

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ashu

@white.band

Inactive

Posted: 13 years ago

#85

i just read de ff..as ur 1st ff...it zzz just mindblowing..gud idea..⭐️

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Usma55

@Usma55

Voyager

Posted: 13 years ago

#86

Loved it

Update soon

Poor Gopi Ahem is right but he should understand that Gopi doesn't want to upset his mum

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navyab

@navyab

Rocker

Posted: 13 years ago

#87

Rach...lovely update 😉...well Ahem still does not realise his mistakes...will his realisation be very late for his relationship !!!

Gopi is hurt & even in that she still wants to explain him...but he is not ready...so lets C how he will handle this !!!

And Agni now knows everything what will be his next step to get the lovers break barriers & unite forever ...And Anitha 😡 !!!

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Rope_of_Hope

@Rope_of_Hope

Sparkler

+ 2

Posted: 13 years ago

#88

very interesting ff.loved it👏.!pls update soon...!😃

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Rachna

@Chaccha

Dazzler

Posted: 13 years ago

#89

Part 5

I should've said this earlier, but I have to let you all know that Aris has been helping me tremendously as I write Roulette. Often times, we bounce ideas back and forth through PM, decide on one idea, scratch it out later, add another idea, and then, edit even that, like two busybodies with nothing else to do.😳 😆

Aris, thank you so much for being my blackboard, my eraser, and my chalk!!!

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Recap: The distance between Ahem and Gopi has formed a gorge, but Agni decides to play the mediator in their marriage. He advices Ahem to spend more time with Gopi. When Ahem asks Gopi whether she wants to go with him to Mumbai, Gopi refuses, thinking she'd be a distraction. Ahem misconstrues her reason and leaves in anger, without saying goodbye. Meanwhile, Rashi worries about her health. Seeing a perfect opportunity to be with Ahem alone, Anita lies about visiting a friend for a couple of days and instead, books a flight to Mumbai. Agni decides to tell Gopi about Anita.

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Agni didn't know how long he stood there, but it wasn't until he heard Rashi say his name that he snapped out from his thoughts. "Agniji, did you need something?" Rashi asked. Both Gopi and Rashi had perplexed expressions on their faces. Within a split-second, he changed his mind about telling them about Anita and shook his head. "No, I'm just looking for Swami. Have you seen him?" he asked. He could talk to Ahem because they were friends, but he couldn't talk to Gopi about her own marriage. Not only would he embarrass her, but he'd feel like he was prying.

As Agni climbed down the stairs, he thought of a plan. So what if Anita had booked a flight? If she wouldn't board the plane, then she wouldn't reach Mumbai. All he had to do was stop her somehow. He saw her walking towards her room and stopped her midway. With an impish grin that always worked on his mother, he said, "Anita, where are you going? I have to talk to you." Anita frowned saying "I can't. I am going to my friend's house for a couple of days. I have to pack." He walked with her, wherever she was going, and saw Swami come towards him. "Swami will do it! Come let's talk!" Agni said.

A frazzled Swami paused and waited. "Do what, Agni Saab?" he asked demurely. "Swami, please pack her bags. She's going to her friend's house" Agni told him, emphasizing on the 'please' and then, turned towards Anita questionably and asked, "By the way, who is this friend? Why haven't you mentioned her before?"

Before Anita knew what was happening, she found herself sitting in the garden with Agni. He asked about her "friend" whom she would visit and then, prattled on about his friends. "Gautam...you remember Gautam, right? Short, chubby, pointy nose? Yes? He called me a couple of days ago..." he drawled as if time tick-tocked with his permission. She sat there, chin in hand, listening to Agni, not recalling when the topic shifted from Gautam to his work--corporate raiding lawsuits that he had fought and won. She hadn't a fig about what corporate raiding was, but she didn't want to ask in the fear that she'd hear more about it from him. He'd probably give her an introductory lecture about it. Agni was talking about how one case took almost 2 years to be resolved. "Shares kept on dipping, but Glenn didn't want to sell it. Too much pride becomes one's enemy, you see. One starts to think himself above others; one thinks that he deserves undeserved things. I told him to think about division. Division of the business would ensure some profit. Division would make the company easier to handle. Division--"

Agni watched as Anita's eyes glazed over. She wasn't listening, he knew. Within fifteen more minutes, as he continued talking about his case, her head began drooping to one side. He left her ultimately when she had fallen asleep on the bench, her head resting on her stretched-out arm which was sprawled against the bench's backrest.

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In her room, Gopi righted a crooked pillow. Her eyes drifted off to the nightstand, where Ahemji's picture was placed. It made her heart ache to recall how things were in between them. She would forgive all if Ahemji would just confess his love to her. With a thump, she sat on the bed, clutching his picture to her chest. "If only you knew, Ahemji, that all the world's riches seem jaded without you. If only you knew that there's no Gopi without her Ahemji. There's no me without you" she murmured. And as she remembered Holi, her tears rushed unbound like a broken dam and she bathed both, herself and whom she cried for, with her sadness.

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Preventing Anita from leaving took every bit of effort from Agni the next morning. In fact he spent so much time doing it that Koki was getting the wrong idea about him and Anita. He wanted to laugh outright at the thought. Anita...Anita...she had already managed to dwindle Ahem, but Agni was smarter and he learned from Ahem's experience. So for most of the early hours of the morning, he pestered Anita about Nilesh. He asked her to play Rummy with him for an hour or so. When he, at last, gave in to his craving of taking his morning shower, Anita made her escape from the MM. She asked the driver to take her to the airport, from where she boarded the one-hour flight to Mumbai.

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Swami watched Agni stare out the window of his room. He knew from Agni's stoic stance that he was thinking. Anita had left when he had been showering. For more than a minute, he considered having her detained at the airport. He wasn't without friends who owed him favors--well-connected friends who could easily stop her in Mumbai. Yet he was a gentleman. His personal ethics code didn't OK that idea. "Usse roku bhi toh kaise, Swami? How do I stop her? " he wondered aloud.

A knock made Agni turn and he saw Jigar enter. Jigar had noticed Agni's absence during lunch. Rashi had sent him to find out what was wrong. "You haven't eaten lunch. I can ask Meethi to send something for you. With Anita gone to her friend's house and Bhai in Mumbai, the dining table looked too empty" Jigar told him. Agni watched the younger Modi wait for his response. Jigar had to have an idea about Anita, he guessed in his mind. "Anita's gone to Mumbai to be with Ahem" he told Jigar.
Agni added, "She wants him back. Did you know that?"

Jigar stepped back saying "How do you know that? She wouldn't purposefully do that!" and then left Agni's room, but Agni didn't let the matter rest. He followed Jigar out into the hallway and stopped him and said, "Call her phone and ask where she is right now. She hasn't gone to her friend's house. She's gone to Mumbai. She's fooled all of you and left. Why else do you think I was wagging my tongue around her all day? I tried to keep her here, but she has left."

"Who has left?" Rashi asked from behind Jigar. Both men turned at the same time, not knowing what to tell her. "Anita's left to go to Mumbai" Jigar told Rashi quietly. She asked him why Anita left, but Jigar had no answer. Rashi wasn't stupid. Just by seeing Jigarji's withdrawn face, she knew that Anita had other purposes of leaving the MM. With the impatience of a child, she asked Jigar "She went to Ahemjiju na, Jigarji? I won't let her ruin Gopi's life! I have to stop her!" Jigar pulled her back before she could storm off.

He saw a little frown appearing in between her eyebrows and then, smiled lightly saying, "We'll all go. We have to stop her from getting to Ahem Bhai."

"How will we go? And what about Gopiji?" Agni asked. Wouldn't she wonder why everyone was leaving for Mumbai? Why wasn't anyone asking her?

Rashi found Gopi in Koki's room. "Gopi, I have to talk to you!" she demanded. Koki turned from her closet, where she was arranging her sarees and asked "Kya huwa, Rashi? What has happened that you're in such a rush?"

"Anita went to Ahemjiju, Kakiji. I don't trust her. She'll do something there! I know it. Kakiji, we have to go. We have to stop--" Rashi stammered.

Koki watched Rashi for a moment before asking, 'What are you talking about? Slow down! Anita went to her friend's house. I gave her permission." Rashi dialed Anita's number and put the phone on speakerphone. "She's probably on the plane by now"

"Rashiben, why would she..." Gopi voice trailed away as she stopped herself in time. She didn't want to expose her insecurities in front of Koki. Her Maaji wouldn't like to know that Gopi doubted her marriage.

Koki didn't believe Rashi at first, but when Anita answered her phone and told them she was on her way to her friend's house, all three of them heard a stewardess in the background telling another passenger that the plane would land in Mumbai in 30 minutes. Anita hung up quickly after that. Koki saw Gopi's teary eyes. "You know Ahem wouldn't do that. He's my son." she told Gopi in a reassuring voice. Gopi shuddered and then, burst into tears, "It's my fault. Ahemji's already upset at me because I didn't go with him, Maaji. He was very angry when he left. I can't seem to keep him happy, no matter how hard I try. I don't think..." Koki didn't let her finish. Very motherly, Koki said, "Do you want to go to him, Gopi vau? I can send you there, but you have to promise that when you return, everything in between you two will be resolved." Gopi nodded. Rashi widened her smile and said, "I'm going with her. She can't go alone."

Gopi didn't go alone. When Rashi tagged along, Jigar couldn't stay behind. And when Jigar joined the troupe, Agni couldn't stay behind either.

The four of them, with minimal luggage, boarded the next available flight to Mumbai.

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Upon reaching Mumbai, Anita had called Ahem up. "I'm in Mumbai, Ahem. Where are you?" she had told him in a sad mousy voice. He was surprised to know she was there, but she explained that she wanted to speak to him. In her sugarcoated plea, she said, "If I could say it in front of Gopi, I would, but it will be better if it's just us two. Some things should be kept in between us, don't you think?" He was a bit disconcerted hearing her explanation, but he let her know that he was at a business party and where its venue was. And so, dressed in a olive green mini dress that fit her like a second skin, she made her way to to the party.

By the time the league reached Mumbai, it was already dark. Jigar phoned Ahem and found out where his Bhai was and they made their way to the party.

(Note: When I say league, I mean Rashi, Jigar, Agni and Gopi. My genetic disposition includes a lot of nerdiness; I just had to think of them as The Justice League of America out to save the world. :P)

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The men Ahem was talking to were disturbed by something behind him. He turned to see what had gathered their attention and saw Anita making her way to him. He was embarrassed, both for her and himself, but didn't say anything. Anita spotted Ahem and smiled. Not only was she aware that men were ogling at her, but she also knew that now, Ahem was looking at her too.
Ahem excused himself and made his way to her. He asked her, "Anita. Why are...why are you here? I would've returned to Rajkot tomorrow. We could have talked then." He smiled awkwardly at his colleagues who were looking at him with questioning gazes and walked out into the hotel's garden. Anita followed him, until he stopped by a bubbly fountain.

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The league entered the hotel's hall, where the party was held. Jigar, Rashi and Agni looked for Ahem, while Gopi stood in a corner thinking. What would she tell Ahemji? How would she explain herself? With Maaji's promise looming over head, she decided that it would best to start anew. She would forgive Ahemji. She would stop worrying about Anita.

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Anita sighed and then said, "This is a beautiful place, Ahem. Don't you think so?" He gave her a stiff nod. "You don't care for it?" she asked him, noticing his withdrawn behavior. It was truly a beautiful garden with torches lit on both sides of the pathways, benches scattered here and there, secret alcoves perfect for midnight trysts, and white roses on vines that wrapped around the pillars lazily.

"You laughed and smiled when you were with me, remember? I haven't seen you smile ever since I've come to Rajkot, Ahem. Are you not happy?" When he still didn't reply, she asked, " It's because of Gopi, na?"

Ahem looked away, being unable to answer. He didn't want to look at her because she'd know that he and Gopi had an argument. In a monotonous tone, he questioned why she came to Mumbai.

"I know you were calling me, pretending to be Nilesh" she admitted finally. "You still care for me, but do you know that I still love you? When I see you with Gopi, all I can think of is when we were together, when we were one. I love you, Ahem." She was crying now, holding his hand in between hers as if begging him to love her in return. He wanted to back away, but he couldn't. She was holding him.

"I'm married now, Anita. You know that. Gopi and I have a life together, a future, and I want--" he replied. "A life with Gopi?" she spat out angrily and then added, "Where's Gopi right now? I don't see her with you. If she really wanted a life together with you, she would've come with you here when you asked her to, but she didn't, Ahem. Only I am here with you."

Still crying, Anita buried her face in Ahem's chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. Ahem held her forearms, wanting to push her away, but then, didn't. He didn't want to be beastly to her again. He knew that he'd already been that to her when he had broken up with her the first time.

When Agni didn't find Ahem in the party, he ventured outside through the back door and then, saw Anita and Ahem by the fountain. Anita still had her arms around Ahem's waist.

Agni froze midstep, stopping to decide his next move. He didn't want Gopiji to see Anita and Ahem like that, but when he turned around to stall Gopiji, he found her standing behind him.

Looking pale against her dark blue saree, Gopi saw Anita clinging to Ahemji. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears and Agni looked away, feeling like an ass for a reason he didn't really understand. He wasn't the one who was hugging Anita, but he felt guilty as if it had been he who had hurt her.

"Gopiji" he said softly.

Anita heard a murmur from where she stood and saw Agni and Gopi standing several feet away. Knowing Gopi was still looking at them, she slid her polished fingers slowly down Ahem's back, following the ridges of his spine towards its end.

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Bleh! Could you guys picture her prim and polished skinny fingers sliding down Ahem's spine? 🤢 I totally loathe her! 😡

I think the hardest part about writing is to be consistent. With my deficient memory, it is not only a struggle to remember which character knows what in Roulette, but it is also a challenge to fit everything in like a perfect puzzle. In this part, I have attempted to make sure there are no holes, but if you found any while reading, it is most likely due to an oversight made by my tired brain. Please forgive me.

I know Roulette isn't the happiest bird in the cage, but please bear with me. I personally prefer happiness over misery--I think most of us would--and it is easier to write about happiness also, but the sun will shine soon.

I had mentioned in Part 4 that Ahem is turning inward. Gopi came to Mumbai with the intention of forgiving Ahem, fixing her marriage and starting fresh. Ahem wants a life with her, but both have communication problems. 😕

Questions to ponder about: After seeing Ahem and Anita, will Gopi change her mind? What will come of her promise to Koki? Will Ahem try to explain this time? How will Agni untangle the mess Anita has created?

Edited by RachP - 13 years ago