Okay, so here's the next chapter. I'm just setting the stage for the next part of the story so you may find this chapter to be kind of a filler. I have introduced yet another new character.
Ashok Tripathi: Kabir's father
Chapter 28:
Kabir and Rachna are both sitting at the gate waiting for boarding to start. Rachna is comfortably holding his hand and resting her head on his shoulder. Kabir can't help but chuckle at the irony of the situation.
Rachna looks up at him, wondering why he is laughing.
"What happened Kabir? Why are you laughing?"
"I just remembered something from a few days ago. When we were on our way to London, waiting at the gate for boarding to start, much like we are today, an elderly couple had walked past us while you were sleeping. The lady had mistaken us to be a couple and blessed us to always be together. I had wished that her blessings come true soon, but I hadn't expected that my wish would be answered this quickly."
Smiling, Kabir brought Rachna's hand up to his face and gave her a quick kiss.
Rachna frowned at his gesture. "Enough my dear Romeo; no more romance until we tell our families about us."
Kabir pouted cutely until Rachna reluctantly gave him a quick peck on the cheek to cheer him up.
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Rachna and Kabir's flight landed in Benaras early morning the next day. Upon exiting the airport, Rachna spotted Mayank and she ran to give him a big hug.
"Mayank Bhaiyya! It's so good to see you! I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too Rachna! Come let's go home...everyone is eagerly waiting. Tai ji has a big surprise for."
Rachna was intrigued. "Surprise? What kind of surprise?"
Mayank just mischievously smiled and greeted Kabir. "Hey Kabir! Nice to see you man."
"Hi Mayank! Thanks for picking us up."
"No problem. Come on, let's go."
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After dropping Kabir off at his house, Mayank and Rachna arrived home. Everyone was happy to see Rachna. Shail hugged her daughter and was pleasantly surprised to find that Rachna genuinely seemed very cheerful; the happy twinkle had returned in her eyes. Her daughter seemed to have returned from this trip as the old Rachna, the girl who loved to play pranks and make everyone laugh. The girl whose smile was bright enough to light up the room. Shail loved seeing her daughter like this again; she silently thanked God for returning her old Rachna to her.
"Okay mummy so now tell me what this surprise is! Gunjan mentioned it on the phone yesterday and Mayank bhaiyya talked about it at the airport. I really want to know now."
Shail smiled and caressed Rachna's cheek. "I'm afraid you will have to wait a tad bit longer to find out my dear princess. Go and freshen up quickly while I get breakfast ready."
"Mummy, this is not fair! You can't leave me hanging like this!" Rachna pouted, but everyone just laughed jovially. So Rachna had no choice but to go up to her room.
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After Rachna had showered and gotten ready, Shail came into Rachna's room.
"Mummy? Come here please. I have to tell you something...something really important."
Shail sat down next to Rachna and turned her full attention to her daughter. "Rachna beta. I can't tell you how happy I am to see you so happy. When you left here you were so worried and tensed, but I see that these days in London have done you a lot of good."
Rachna smiles to herself, shyly remembering Kabir's proposal. "Yeah mummy. These two weeks have done for me what two whole years couldn't do. I've truly moved on from the past. In fact, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."
Shail smiled. "Yes Rachna. Tell me beta."
"When Kabir and I went to London, I said that we are going for a conference. Well, I lied about that..."
Shail's smile faded. She became serious as she heard about everything that had happened with Vihaan in London.
"...but mummy, I'm really okay now. I'm glad that I went because I found out everything about the past and I've honestly been able to move on now. In fact, I guess you can say that going to London allowed me to realize my true feelings for Kabir...which is something that would have never happened if I was still stuck on Vihaan. I really love him mummy. He's my best friend. He has taught me to live again, laugh again, and...love again."
Shail placed her hand on Rachna's head. "God bless you Rachna. While I'm not happy about the fact that you lied to your papa and I, the repercussions of which we will discuss later, I'm happy that you have been able to come out of the shadows of your past. I'm happy that you are happy."
Rachna hugged her mother. "Mummy thank you so much for being so supportive and understanding. I really love you."
"Love you too beta. And I'm glad you told me the truth about this ring on your finger before I had to ask about it."
The mother-daughter duo both laughed. Shail took her daughter's hand and admired the ring on her finger. "It's a beautiful ring Rachna. Nandita's ring right? I remember her showing it to me when Ashok first got it for her. It was her first karwa chauth gift."
Rachna smiled hearing her mother talk about Kabir's mom, who had also been her best friend. "Yeah mummy. It's Nandita aunty's ring."
Shail wiped her tears and smiled at Rachna again. She took some kohl from her eyes and put a black mark behind Rachna's ear to ward off the evil eye.
"Okay Rachna. Come downstairs...your surprise is waiting."
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Thank you for encouraging me to continue this FF again. I hope you won't be disappointed 😊
Parineeti
Chakravarti Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan
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