Halls of Fame-part 113 pg 23 - Page 17

22nd September 2009

Addy has been with me throughout my treatment with Dr Brail and Jhanvi. I do not know if the doctors fail to recognize the fact but as long as Addy is with me, I could pass all the investigations and the various tests easily. Mash calls me mushy and emotional but this is just how I am. Addy has been encouraging me all these while to help me mentally and physically, pushing me to emerge strong enough to avoid any sort of medications, described as fake leisures or "pseudo-leisures". Well he intended to knock some sense as these drugs and the smoking habit are only assumed to bring leisure for a temporary period of time but often they are accompanied by the worst of all consequences.He made me promise not to touch any of those.

Addy had invited me to stay over at his place. I was quite eager to go and I even agreed and told him how I had always wanted to go to his place but he had never called me over before. Today, it really seemed like such a beautiful day and nothnig could possibly go wrong at all. But life had always...life had always had to offer me a challenge and oppose me.

I had called Mash to go shopping with me to buy a new dress and of course she started to tease me all over again, as always. Mash revealed to me that she was actually going through a break-up but she wanted to go shopping for she found it the best way to celebrate happiness and independence. I wanted to help her feel better and not go for the shopping spree but Mash insisted on going and hence we went to several places such as Charles & Keith, Samuel & Kevin, GUESS, Giordano, Nora

Apparel, Mark's and Spencer and had a blast trying out various tops, jeans and dresses which we totally loved at first sight. It was always fun shopping with Mash, whom I've often called The Founder of Fashion in my world for she was my first Girl-Friend who dragged me to the walls to give me an entire makeover and changed my "malnourished" wardrobe to something exotic with enriching colours which often gave me the inspiration to live a great life in my own terms..the 1st Girl-Friend who cared tonnes about me..much more than my DAD!!!!

Coming back to 22nd Sept, I had bought a red haulter-necked dress and a black cardigan and a bouquet of roses for Addy. Both me and my roses got wet as it started to rain heavily but I still considered it pretty romantic, fantasizing of how Addy will help me dry my hair with his towel and how things might turn out between us. Just as Addy opened the door, Addy brought me in to meet JHanvi and Vishal, Jhanvi's fiance. It turned out to be dinner for the 4 of us instead of an overly fantasized romantic candle-lit dinner for me and Addy. Hopes got crushed as usual. I deserved this for thinking that today it was going to be different. But some things would NEVER EVER CHANGE!!!!!

Addy was flipping through the newspapers. Vishal & Jhanvi reminded him to go to Paris the next day since it's their engagement party. They had invited me as well but I turned them down, excusing myself but handed over the flowers to them as a token of congratulations to them for their happiness. Addy, meanwhile, was silently praying to help him meet some one. I told him to look at Jhanvi for she was calling him and nudged him while I peeped to see what was in the papers. It was ...it was...it was FRESCA...yes it was Fresca and her dance institute, Halls of Fame institute in London is opening a new branch in Paris and Addy's going to Paris TMR!!!!What else could go wrong??NOW???It's just too much..I feel as if my own fate is laughing and mocking me. If all these had to happen, why did Addy come into my life?To give me much more sorrow??For god's sake, quit playing games with my life and my heart. I smiled at Addy and left, getting drenched in the heavy downpour and in the warm shower whenI reached Mash's apartment.

23rd September '09

The next day, Addy called me to reach the airport earlier than his flight time, 0930 am.Mash and I rushed to the airport as we woke up late. It often happened to us late-birdies whenever we had a meet-up or an emergency. Mash waited around the corner at Starbuck's while I approached Addy.

Addy told me that he was not ready for any kind of relationship at the point of time. He felt extremely sorry if he might have accidentally dropped some hints in the past but he didn't even think of me in a way I thought about him. It's too difficult to hear everything and hence I interrupted him and told him that if any point of his life in the long run, if he thinks of me that way, he has got to let me know for I can't imagine spending my life with another guy. On that note, we decided to part ways. He didn't even find it necessary to tell me about Fresca despite my promptings.

I told this to Mash. She felt real bad for me and asked me what's my next move. I had no idea and I bent backwards a little, closing my eyes. Just then, my dad, out of a sudden, called me. He called to ask me about my remaining studies in Business Management. The university had called him and told him that I had not attended any of the classes for the past 2 years and they had all the right to withdraw my name from the list of students enrolled in that course. My dad wanted to know my final decision. I asked him to see if there is any degree-related course in Fashion Designing for I had done an advanced diploma in that earlier. My dad hung up and after some time he called me again to tell me of the good news that he had to pay a penalty fee but more than that, he found me the right course for me but I've got to go to England within 5 days. I agreed. Studies seemed like a much better plan than worrying myself sick about Addy. Surprisingly, Mash told me about the call she's just received from a company in Singapore. She's got a great job offer. However, she isn't certain if this would be her big break but if it is so, I'm really gonna miss her. The shoping, the fun, the blasting times we've had, and she too had to leave on the 28th as well. But she assured me that if ever I needed her, she'll come to me immediately, leaving everything. So sweet of her...I'm really going to miss her loaddzz!!!

31st October 2011

I finally graduated. Slogged and toiled hard and ultimately I graduated with 1st class honours. My dad couldn't contain the excitement and ran up to me and hugged me instantly. I felt proud of the fact that at least he's beaming at my achievement and he's there for me. This has got to the best day in my dad's life. I recalled how he recently opened up to me, stating that he jsut wanted me to be happy, to go after my dreams and not just impress him. He wanted me to be passionate about something and chase it just like how he did 30 years ago, joining the military, serving the nation. He knew he couldn't raise me just the way my mom would have wanted but he knew he wasn't wrong in trusting me with the independence and learning to distinguish between right and wrong. He knew even if it was through the hard way out, I will still survive. He loved me. He loved me so much that he would peep in to see if I'm alright or not, which I've never known my entire life. He's very proud of me for choosing my passion over my duties for there are people who decides to do the important duties before working on their passion but there are only a handful of people who DARE to choose their passion over their duties and try to balance it out. Balancing and enjoying their lives to the max!!!Fashion had always excited appealed to me and excited me. However, te journey wasn't that easy especially with several internships I had gone for. At several occasions I felt like giving up but Mash was there in spirit, who kept me going. All these while, I kept wondering if I did the right thing by letting Addy go.. He had never contacted me since the day he left for Paris.

I've decided!!I'm leaving for Paris the next day. After telling Mash, she told me to take it easy and not be hasty for there is no certainty that Addy is still in Paris. But I couldn't wait any longer. I can't be possibly waiting my entire life with no efforts taken to search for him. I've booked my tickets and left my dad a message.

I reached Paris two days later with my Gucci handbag carrying my important valuables, my labtop as well as the 2-year old newspaper about Fresca's dance institute. However, when I reached there, I saw no one except for a few construction workers and security guards. I approached one of them, pretending to be a student and the security guard gave me a pamphlet and Fresca's card. I went back to Hotel Svelte where I had checked in earlier before heading to Halls of Fame institute. I switched on my labtop and checked the website of Halls of Fame. I searched for the employees' list and their details. Although I couldn't gain access to the details, I managed to run through the employee list. I felt luck surrounding me when I saw Addy's name as a Student Mentor.He's in London. I booked my ticket online to get to London. The earliest ticket I've got was two days later so I decided to do a bit of sight-seeing and shopped for Mash while trying to kill the available time.

Maha got interrupted by the banging of her cabin door. She almost forgot that she locked it. She quickly saved what she was reading and shut the computer down while unlocking the cabin door. It was Jay. He seemed so angry and Maha felt the extremity by Jay's sudden deep exhalation and his glance. It scared her a little too much. She tried looking somewhere else and then looked back at jay. Jay still seemed so angry while Maha tried to think of the possible reasons that could justify Jay's anger but none came to her blank mind. She felt hopeless and finally mustered the courage to ask him.

Maha:Jay, what's wrong??Why are you so pissed off????

Jay:Haha(sarcastic) All Thanks to you Maha!!!!!

Maha:What?What did I do???

Jay:Don't you know anything???The major operation that we were supposed to do together???

Maha:I've told Smita to pass the message to you way before the operation. Let me check. Excuse me.

Maha called Smita only to realize that Jenny, her colleague picked it up and told Maha of Smita's relative having passed away and she had to leave immediately. Maha asked if Jenny received anything from Smita to convey to Jay and Jenny said that she had told Jay about it.

Maha:Jenny told me that she had told you about it.

Jay:Yeah she told me after the entire operation was done.

Maha:I had texted you as well just in case anything went amiss. Check for yourself.

Jay:I switched off my mobile.

Maha:So do you still think that I'm the one at fault???Jay, seriously!!What's going on????Are you ok???

Jay:Nope. Nothing is going right,alright????You are hiding things from me.. I'm getting real tensed about Fresca.. How do you expect things to straighten out on its own??? I don't know if I should go on with us...

Maha:Jay, I don't understand. What's wrong?? You mean that's it???This is such a trivial issue, Jay..

Jay:NO IT ISN"T!!!!!!!!!This isn't a trivial issue, goddamn it!!!

Just then Sameer came inside. Jay and Maha looked at each other, oblivious to Sameer's entry.

Sameer:I guess I came at the wrong time. Is everything ok??

Maha:I don't know. Ask your dear friend about it. (takes her coat and leaves) And yes please do me a favour;ask him about his final decision about me and him.

Sameer:Maha, Maha!!!!

Sameer turned to Jay while Maha was gone from there.

Sameer:I'll talk to you about this later but right now you've got to come with me for Fresca's here for her check up and we need to brief her about everything.

Sameer turned to Jay while Maha was gone from there.

Sameer:I'll talk to you about this later but right now you've got to come with me for Fresca's here for her check up and we need to brief her about everything.

Jay and Sameer walked to Sameer's cabin where Fresca was sitting. Sameer instructed her to follow the nurse who will perform the regular, routine check-up and after that, they can discuss about Fresca.

Sameer: Can you read my face or do I have to spell it out to you???

Jay:Well.....Actually Maha was hiding something from me but in order for me to know that, I scolded her using an excuse. Well apparently we were supposed to perform an op today but she cancelled it, which I didn't get to know in time for my handphone was switched off.

Sameer:I see....Aha.. but Maha isn't the type to get ticked by that...Did you say anything serious???(looked at Jay's face) Shoot it right now, Jay!!!

Jay: Well I said that I'm not sure if we should go on...

Sameer:Let me get this straight. You didn't complete your sentence,did you???Arggghhh Jay, I really feel like slapping you!!!!Real hard...What's your prob,dude??Is this even the time to fight..Ok, leave the fact that there are only about 2 more weeks to your marriage but what's the reason of your fight?Tat she's hiding things from you..And is this even the way to get the truth out of her, and on top of that, you leave a pathetic dangling sentence, making a great miscommunication, oh yeah?? So what did you get out of this..I mean, I'm seriously asking you!!!

Jay:Ok fine!!I may have made a tiny mistake by ruining it all but hey she ought to tell me

Sameer:Jay...I'll really slap you now. If you ever do love Maha truly, let her come and tell you what the matter is. This is one important lesson which I imparted from some of our colleagues here. You can't compel or pressurize her to do that in order to get the truth out. And please stop acting so childish and immature!!Especially with such dangling sentences...Do you even realize how stupid it sounds???

Just then a nurse came in and informed Sameer that Fresca had fainted. Sameer told jay to stay back and wait for his instructions and perhaps solve his problem while Sameer'll handle Fresca. Sameer promptly rushed to Fresca who was being laid on the hospital bed by some nurses. Sameer checked her BP,and sprinkled some water. He couldn't feel any breathing and eventually, Sameer did cardiopulmonary resuscitation on her till Fresca coughed and exhaled. Fresca gradually opened her eyes and the nurses had raised her bed a little to make her comfortable. Sameer asked one of the nurses to quickly get a nutritious breakfast meal and an orange juice for Fresca, who did not eat anything since the last 20 hours, and received a cute chiding from Sameer, who realized that she's straining herself so much with dance rehearsals for her students' dance shows. Sameer turned around to see his love, Aditi who came with the breakfast meal and he smiled at her, excusing himself so that both sisters can have their own time while he went to check on Jay and Fresca's latest reports.

Sameer opened the door to see Maha and Jay almost at opposite ends. Sameer realized that their argument is not going anywhere and he warned them that they are not going to get to know anything about Fresca till their problem resolve. However, Aditi came in and made Sameer swallow his words as Jay has all the rights to know about Fresca's health and so does the rest who are much deeply concerned about Fresca. Sameer took the medical reports and went aside to read them while Aditi talked to both Maha and Jay.

Sameer just shoved the reports on his desk and dropped himself on his chair. Things were totally getting out of hand and he's trembling with fear.

Sameer just shoved the reports on his desk and dropped himself on his chair. Things were totally getting out of hand and he's trembling with fear. He has not expected the results to vary to a significant degree. Aditi could not see Sameer's drooping spirit. Aditi realized that things are about to be far more drastic. She held Sameer's palms and gave him an affirmative smile and Sameer kissed her forehead and left to meet Fresca. Sameer had decided to inform Fresca bravely while he had asked Aditi to handle Jay and Maha and perhaps inform the rest who didn't know about Fresca till now, including her students, Raj, Naina, Anjali and James.

Fresca was feeling much better after her breakfast, no longer as nauseous as she was the night before. Sameer had opened the door and went inside and pulled out a chair to sit near Fresca. Fresca looked at him for a while and wondered what happened to him and took an intelligent guess. She knew it had something to do with her report results but she kept mum till Sameer decides to tell her.

Sameer:Hey, erm how are you?Feeling better??

Fresca:Much better, Sameer. Thanks to you and Jay who are trying real hard. I truly appreciate it.

Sameer:You're right. We are all trying real hard but sometimes i just think not all our efforts are good enough. I want you to know something, Fresca. No matter what, I'll make sure I'll fight with you till the end and I'll ensure that nothing will happen to you. And by the way you are progressing real well. Excellent, actually and within a few weeks, you'll be the cheery, bubbly girl I used to know way before I met you. Trust me, will you??

Fresca:Sameer...I've always trusted you and will so in the future. But is this really the way it is supposed to be conveyed???You can't even lie properly so don't Sam!!It hurts me to see that you are attempting to suppress your emotions in front of me and that your eyes are telling me a different story compared to the words coming out of your mouth. Trust me, I'm brave enough to hear and handle the truth.

Sameer:Heyy you caught me after all!!!Fresca, I might need to have you operated immediately!!!You know the problem lies with your pancreas,right??I'm devastated to find that your pancreas is fully infested with your cancer cells and none of the medications are effective enough. I'll have to operate on you immediately so that I can minimize any fatalities associated with me delaying this procedure as the cancer cells are much more aggressive than before and they can even spread to your other organs at an advanced rate.And...

Just then, Jaggz came in to see Fresca. Sameer paused and told Fresca to talk it out with Jaggz and let him know within the next hour and that he'll come back to her. Jaggz sat beside Fresca and saw Fresca's eyes welled up. He held out his hand to wipe her tears but stopped and kept his bouquet of flowers aside while he hugged her. Without Fresca knowing, Jaggz was crying inside his heart. He was starting to feel anxious and scared of the their future.

Fresca was talking to Jaggz. She smiled at him and informed him of the surgical procedure that Sameer had briefed her before he came in. Jaggz was frozen and pale and Fresca only knew he didn't have anything but fear for her but then he surprised her with a smile and told her that he's with her no matter what happens. Fresca was halfway cheerful for Jaggz was still there with her despite her pale,weakly appearance and her tremendous rate of hair loss.

Jaggz:Why are you smiling like that, Fres??Are you surprised that I've stood by you this far??

Fresca:It all seems like a fantasy for me, Jaggz for there are very few rare gems like you who've stood for true love and especially when the emotional is needed the most during such shaky times.

Jaggz:You'll always find me by your side forever. My kids tell me that you are the best thing that could have happened to me and them recently. They love you so dearly and tell me that they miss you so much. They asked me if you could stay with them for a while so that they can give you a wonderful surprise.

Fresca:Aww..they are the sweetest angels. I will love to spend time with them. But right now, I just hope the procedure goes fine. Sameer told me there are high chances of success but of course there are some minor unsuccessful cases. But I'm pretty hopeful but today before I even tell Sameer, I want you to know something.

Jaggz:What??(gazes at her eyes)

Fresca:That you are a handsome gentleman who believes in internal beauty and true love and I really love you so much.

Jaggz and Fresca held each other's hands, interlocking them and went nearer to each other, their foreheads touching each other. Addy opened the door to see Jaggz and Fresca and stood there with some lilies and tulips. He dropped them and left the room promptly and almost bumped into Sameer, who seemed much confused.

Sameer knocked the door and asked Fresca about the procedure and she nodded; she's ready for the procedure. Sameer asked the nurse to get the emergency room ready together with Fresca while he talked to Jaggz while Aditi talked to Maha and Jay. Sameer thanked Jaggz for being Fresca's great support system and reuqests him to pray for her well-being while Aditi tries to solve Maha and Jay's problem.

Maha:Aditi...it's Jay who started it. I admit that I have not told Jay anything about my doings for the past few days but he has not given any opportunity or space for me to even tell him about it. Why doesn't he even understand the fact that I only started it because of him and now he's suspecting me and he's even gone on to saying that he isn't sure about me and him.How could he say that???That's what that really ticked me off. And if you are going to talk to him, just tell him that I can't tell him anything right now and if he knows what he's doing, he'll know that I've never hid anything about me from him so far and will never do so and if he does love me, he's got to trust me!!!

Aditi:Hhmm..Yea i'm definitely going to talk to him and you just stay calm. I haven't known the cause of your fight till now. I've got to see what he has to say and dont worry. Everything will be alright. Do pray for our darling Fres.

Maha:Sam told me. Aditi she'll pull through this. I'm sure of that and I'll pray for her. You go ahead; I'll make a move.

Aditi went to talk to Jay who was trying to avoid her looks and Aditi finally caught him. Jay couldn't even look at her.

Aditi:What happened,Jay??Can't even face me for what you've done to my best friend???What's wrong now???

Jay:Look I know I've made a grave mistake and I'm terribly sorry.

Aditi:Why are you saying sorry to me for???You ought to say that to Maha. She's truly hurt!!!She's never hurt so easily and yet you had to be the one!!!!!

Jay:I just got startled and extremely anxious that she's hiding things and things are changing. These things never happened between us. Ok, maybe the fact that she's a little overprotective and all, that's fine but this is not.

Aditi:Ok, the overprotective part..She's changed that for good. And now if I remember clearly, didn't we all push her to be overly friendly with Candice????So how is it that now Maha alone is at fault???

Jay:How could that have slipped my mind??

Aditi:How couldn't it???You guys are never thinking straight!!!!Now what's your plan..To get separated and never talk again..And if you did that, let me remind you that you are not the only one who's going to get hurt but it will be Maha who's only going to be much more deeply hurt for she can never live without you or with anyone else. But I guess I'll tell not to waste her time with you anymore.

Jay:Aditi!!!!You'll not do that!!!Who told you that we're going to part??I got blinded by anger and said those words. But that doesn't mean anything.

Aditi:Oh yeah and you can dare say that whatever Maha's doing is wrong???I find you anger a much worse trait compared to Maha's overprotective nature. You better change your attitude or else things will turn out to be bitter later on. And why are you justifying your actions to me for????IF you don't do anything by tomorrow, I'm really going to do something real drastic and that's for sure, Jay!!!!And you know what I mean by that!!!

Jay saw Aditi leaving in anger but he smiled as he knew no one would love him as much as Aditi and through her words, he just knew what he had to do. He strided to search for Maha.