Mishti has spent the majority of her life being the caregiver and never the reciever, but that all changes when she pops into the local prison to break the news that Abir's aunt has less than three months to live.
Take a walk in Mishti's shoes as she falls in love with a man as guilty as sin who despite his charges will stop at nothing to protect her innocence.
Is he guilty of the crime he's been imprisoned for or is he being punished for something he'd never dare to commit?
Written in first person to allow the reader a more immersive journey.

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☆One☆
If there is one thing I absolutely hate more than anything on earth, it's love. Don't get me wrong, I'm no negative Nancy, it's just romantic movies make it seem like it's the best thing ever, but I'm here to tell you not to be fooled. Love hurts like a b*tch and don't I know it. I guess you're wondering why anyone would hate love, afterall, it seems so perfect and worth it and for some, I'm sure that's the case.
But it isn't for me.
It was six years ago to be exact that I finally met the man of my dreams, you know, had the whole tall, dark and handsome thing going on? If you know then I probably don't need to say anymore, but for those that don't, then allow me to let you in on a little secret. If they tick those boxes, they'll break your heart.
I get that you're probably still very confused, to be honest, I am too. I live in a small city where everyone knows everyone, you can't walk down the street without bumping into someone who knows your name, your business and every rumour on the mill, so you can imagine why I don't want to buy into the gossip and tell you who I'm talking about.
Let's just say in this scenario that he's Voldemort and I'm Harry Potter and if I say his name he'll find me, or for the horror fans out there, he's Bloody Mary and I'm not about to be haunted by him just because you would like me to repeat his name three times into the mirror.
With me? I hope so because this story is a long one and full of twists and turns that'll give you whiplash if you're not ready for them. Which in case you were wondering, you are absolutely not ready for.
I'll rewind back to all those years ago so you can begin this story with me, I'll start at the interesting part, skip the crap and let you decide for yourselves if love is as unworthy as I deem it to be or if I'm wrong.
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The eighth of July was a difficult day to say the least. I was on a normal twelve hour shift at our local care home and I'd just received the news that my favourite patient had been diagnosed with cancer and had perhaps three months to live- if that. The hardest part of my job was always breaking the news, I hated it like cats hated water and how Karens hated any member of staff that wasn't a manager, but still, it was part and parcel of the job, so I did what I had to do, called the number and waited for the line to ring.
"Hello, this is Mishti Agarwal, I work at Crawford Care, is this Parul's nephew?"
A croaky laugh crackled its way through the mic. "No, ma'am, this is Crawford Penitentiary, may I ask who you're looking for?"
My jaw dropped. "I'm so sorry, I must have the wrong number". It definitely wasn't possible that Parul's nephew was in prison, especially not one as high stakes as Crawford, it just wasn't possible. Unless... I had the right number and was making a silly assumption, I mean, just because her nephew might've been in prison didn't mean he was bad, many people got falsely imprisoned... right? "Um, it's Abir Rajvansh".
"Really?" Surprise unwrapped itself in his voice box and jumped over his tongue to dance dauntingly on his lips.
"Uh, yes". What did he think, that I prank called the prison for kicks? "Why do you seem so surprised?" As soon as I'd asked the question, I instantly regretted it, some things were best unknown and this was certainly one of them.
Stifling a laugh, the man pressed a button. "Rapists don't tend to be someone's emergency contact, patching you through now".
"Wait what?" The phone slipped from my hand, smacking into the receiver with a thump that sent it bouncing back up to hit into my bottom lip. "Jesus Christ" I hissed.
"Many people refer to me as a God, but never so quickly" the humour in his tone made him sound rougher, his voice although quite husky was sharp enough to cut through metal.
"Um" I smiled politely. "Is this Abir?"
"I thought I was Jesus" his smirk could be heard over the phone.
Rolling my eyes, I shook my head and tried my very best not to show my distaste towards him. "I'm calling about Parul, she's your aunt right?"
As if he'd been struck by lightning, his voice dropped to a mere whisper that was knitted with seriousness. "What's happened, she alright?"
I'd been known to do some pretty reckless things in my life, but what I was about to do was really taking the cake! "Perhaps this conversation would be better in person? How do I go about visiting you?" Honestly, the things I did for that woman, she better be grateful!
"Call the Warden's Office, ask for an emergency visit" he ordered briskly.
Then before I could respond, he was gone. Which if I was being honest, was something I couldn't be more grateful for. Shaking away the shiver down my spine, I ran a hand down my face tiredly and readied myself to meet a real rapist in the flesh. Sure, this could all be a very nasty mistake, but after a quick search on Google, I'd found that false accusations were few and far between, so the likelihood of him not being guilty was starting to become a very slim possible reality.
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I had decided for good or for bad that it was best to shed light on the fact he'd done his time and not the fact that he'd committed a heinous crime. You probably think that's stupid and I wouldn't disagree, but from the one and only photo I'd seen of him it was crystal clear that he could likely knock me out with a poke of his pinky and I didn't fancy being fresh meat at the butchers. If criminals were anything like dogs and I assumed they were since people always spoke about becoming someone's bitch, that meant that he'd smell my fear a mile off, so I'd been wise and grabbed a can of fly spray to deter him- you know, just in case.
Inhaling like my life depended on it, I rose to my feet and held out my hand, "Hey, I'm Mishti". God, he was huge, extremely tall like eleven foot, had muscles Adonis would be jelly of and his caramel eyes looked straight through me as if I wasn't even there.
"I know" he snapped, taking his seat as he did. "Is she okay?"
Dropping my outstretched hand, I fell atop the bench and focused on my poor choice of footwear so I wouldn't have to think about how easy it would be for him to break out of his cuffs and punch me a new one. "She was diagnosed with can-cancer" I looked up, "I'm so sorry".
A snarl downturned his lips and drew lines across his forehead. "Is it fixable?"
My head shook. "She has three months".
Bashing his fists on the table between us, Abir's nostrils flared then suddenly he frowned, brow hitched and face turned to the side. "You're crying" his voice was soft, eyes searching my face for something I wasn't sure he'd find, "For my aunt?"
Nodding quickly, I swiped away the tears that had now wetted my throat. "Parul means a lot to me, she" hiccuping, I shut my eyes tightly to stop the words that so wished to escape my mouth. She's like a mother to me didn't seem like the right thing to say in this situation, simply because she wasn't my relative to mourn for, all she'd have to be seen as was my patient and I hated that fact.
"She what?" He slid forward, pushing me to finish my sentence.
"She's important to me" I settled for. I wouldn't explain why, it was far too private for me to share with a stranger.
Abir nodded as if understanding exactly what I meant without me having to say it. "I'm out in three weeks" he scowled in a manner which told me exactly what he wanted.
I wasn't to let her pass before he got out or there'd surely be hell to pay. "It was nice meeting you" I nodded.
At that, he chuckled. "No it wasn't" clearing his throat, he smirked, "But it was nice meeting you".
Slightly confused, I shook his comment away then turned toward the exit only to remember why I'd actually came all the way here. "Oh, before I forget" I smacked my head then slid the tape across the desk, "From your aunt" I gestured to it.
Holding it tightly in his fist, he pocketed it. "See you soon".
And at that time I couldn't help but wish that soon was code for never, but as you'll quickly learn, luck is never on my side and soon ended up coming soon enough.
Anupamaa
Kumkum Bhagya
