Chapter 15
“Hi Samyak… How are you?” Kavya said as Samyak answered the call.
“Hi, Kavya. I am good. How about you? How is Mohit?” Samyak felt a little awkward as he was supposed to call her instead she called.
“If you want to know how are we doing, you have to visit us at least once. What is this Samyak, you are in London for so many months but haven’t come to our house once.” Kavya said angrily.
“I am sorry Kavya, work is so hectic these days. I planned a few times but couldn’t execute it.” Samyak tried to explain.
“I know you are very busy. Anyways enough is enough. Now I am giving you a formal invitation. It's our anniversary party this Saturday and you have to come. I don’t want any excuses this time.” Kavya ordered her brother.
“Ohh wow… that’s great. I will come surely. If you need any help with the arrangements, let me know.” Samyak asked.
“Nothing it is just a small party with our close friends. Only help would be, you reach here on time.” Kavya replied.
“Ok… I will reach there on time.” Samyak assured her.
“Alright… see you. Take care n Bye.”
“You too…Bye.”
They hung up the call.
Samyak thought this time he has to go. He has already postponed it so many times already. He started getting ready for office. He has to buy a gift also for Kavya and Mohit.
Samyak reached the office at a regular time. His eyes are searching for Aastha. He took a detour to his cubicle and passed from the IT Team section. He couldn’t find her. After they went to the temple together, Samyak looks for the opportunity to talk to her and spend more time but as they are in different departments, their work schedule doesn’t allow them much to interact. Sometimes they meet in the cafeteria during lunch or coffee time. Samyak is still hesitant to ask her out as they have just started interacting with each other and he has no idea what Aastha thinks about him.
Samyak looked around the cubicles but he couldn’t find Aastha.
“She might be late today.” He thought.
He came to his place and started working. During evening again, he strolled around but Aastha was not there. Now he started getting little restless. It seems she has not come to the office today. He thought of checking with her team members but then dropped the idea. He pulled out his phone and look into contacts. Aastha’s number was showing on the screen.
He thought of dialing it but his hands are not touching the screen. Will it look odd, he asked himself. Should I call? After a little argument between the mind and heart, finally, heart wins and he dialed her number.
“Hello…” Aastha answered the call.
“Hi, Aastha… Samyak here.” Samyak said nervously.
“Hi Samyak…” Aastha is not at all expecting his call.
“Sorry to disturb you. I haven’t seen you around today so just thought of checking is everything all right?” Samyak was trying to think of some excuse.
“Ohh...Thanks for asking. Actually, I came to my cousin’s place for the weekend. So I thought I will work from here for 2 days and will be back on Monday.” Aastha told him but she felt there is something going on in Samyak’s mind.
“Ohh… Monday. I mean that’s great.” Samyak felt a little disappointed as he will get to see her directly on Monday.
“What happened Samyak? Do you have any work with me?” Aastha asked listening to his reaction.
Samyak realized how he responded and quickly covered it up, “No…Nothing urgent. Actually, I have to buy some gifts so I thought if you can help me but that’s okay. I will manage it. You enjoy your weekend.”
“Alright then… see you on Monday. Are you sure there is nothing else?” Aastha double-checked with him.
“Yes yes… nothing else. See you. Bye.” Samyak hung up hurriedly as he felt Aastha is not convinced with his excuse.
“Bye.” Aastha also hung up. She felt a little odd. Why would Samyak have called her suddenly? Is he really wanted help with the gift or anything else? She was confused as it was a little unexpected for her. She is kind of feeling there is something but she is not sure what it could be. She has no clue that Samyak has started developing feelings for her. He never expressed or shown anything like that. Aastha convinced herself that he had called casually and resumed her work.
On the other side, Samyak has no other option than to just wait for Monday. He could not think of calling her again. He diverted his mind and started looking for the gift options for Kavya’s party.
On Saturday morning, he got Kavya’s message with the address and the directions. Samyak called his mother and informed her that he is going to meet his sister. Anita is happy that Samyak is going out and meeting new people. Samyak took the train and then a cab to reach Kavya’s house. After Kavya’s marriage, he was meeting her and her husband Mohit for the first time. He rang the bell.
“Hey Samyak… So good to see you. Please come inside.” Mohit opened the door.
“Hey, Mohit… how are you?” They hugged each other.
“I am good. How are you?” Mohit asked him to come inside.
“Ahh… finally, you are here.” Kavya also came outside and hugged his brother.
“Yes finally.” Samyak smiled.
“Happy Anniversary to both of you.” Samyak handed the gift and box of chocolates to them.
“Thank you so much.” They said together.
“It is so nice to see you after such a long time. So how is life going? Do you like London?” Kavya asked Samyak.
“Yes, everything is going well. You tell it seems, after marriage, you put on some weight.” Samyak teased her.
“That’s great, isn’t it? It means I am keeping your sister happy.” Mohit winked at him.
They all laughed.
“So where are the other guests?” Samyak looked around and found there is no one else.
“They will come around evening. I thought we can have lunch together and spend some time before everyone arrives.” Kavya served them water.
“Sure that would be great” Samyak replied.
“Kavya, where is chikki?” Mohit asked.
“She was getting ready upstairs. See here is she.” Kavya pointed towards the stairs.
Samyak kept the water glass on the table and looked towards the stairs. Aastha was coming down from the stairs.
“Samyak, meet chikki … I mean Aastha. She is my cousin.” Mohit introduced his sister.
“You??” Aastha looked at him with surprise.
“You??” The same reaction came from Samyak.
“You guys know each other” Kavya questioned them.
“Samyak and I are in the same office” Aastha told her.
“Ohh really… I thought Samyak is in finance.” Mohit looked surprised.
“Yes, I am. But we both are working for the same client in different departments.” Samyak explained.
“I had no idea that you are Kavya’s cousin.” Aastha said.
“Even I was not aware that you are Mohit’s cousin. I haven’t seen you in their marriage.” Samyak replied.
“Yes, Aastha could not attend our marriage. She is the daughter of my Mom’s sister.” Mohit told Samyak.
“We all are in London for so many days and finally meeting together today. Let's celebrate this meeting and have lunch.” Kavya said humorously.
“Yes let’s go.” They all went to the dining table.
Samyak felt delighted seeing Aastha there. He couldn’t stop smiling. He never thought he will get to see her here. He was praising himself in his mind for coming to Kavya’s house today and not sitting at home.
They all had lunch together and chatted for hours. Both brother-sister duos shared their childhood memories with each other. Samyak was listening to everything related to Aastha carefully. Kavya felt happy that Samyak is comfortable with them as she knew that he has kind of cut off himself from everyone.
“Wow, I must say it was great 'before party' celebration,” Mohit announced after the lunch.
“Don’t you worry, the party is going to be rocking as well.” Kavya smiled at him.
“I am sure it will. After all, you have arranged everything.” Mohit applauded.
Aastha and Samyak also clapped and smiled.
“Ohh… I have to collect something.” Kavya said patting her head.
“What?” Mohit asked.
“I can’t tell you that. It is a surprise. Samyak, can you please come with me? We will go and collect it.” Aastha looked at Samyak.
He nodded. Kavya ran inside and grabbed her handbag and car keys.
“I will come in some time. Let’s go Samyak.” She waved to Mohit and Aastha.
“Listen Kavya…” Mohit tried to ask her but she already went out.
Samyak joined Kavya in the passenger seat. She reversed the car and started driving as per the GPS instruction.
“Where are we going?” Samyak asked.
“I have a surprise for Mohit. I will show you. We will reach in 30 mins.” Kavya said excitedly.
Samyak felt really happy seeing Kavya and Mohit together.
“I am so happy to see you both. You guys are perfect for each other.” Samyak said to Kavya.
“Thank you. And I am very happy to see you smiling and enjoying today. I don't know why did you just cut off yourself from all of us. Aditya bhaiya also told me that you hadn’t spoken to him after all that happened. You left our cousin’s WhatsApp group as well.”
“You know whatever had happened, it affected me so badly. I didn’t want to talk about it. It felt miserable.” Samyak said.
“I can understand. It must be a very difficult phase of your life but we were and are always there for you. You can talk to us anytime about anything.” Kavya assured Samyak.
“Thanks, Kavya. I must say you have become very mature.” Samyak said with a smile.
“Not become, I am born mature. Anyways so did you enjoy today with us? I mean you have met Mohit for the first time. You already knew Aastha but I don’t think you guys hung out before.” She asked.
Samyak thought of telling Kavya about how is he feeling about Aastha but then he thought he will better keep it to himself as of now so he replied in short, “Yes it was great catching up with you all.”
“You don’t believe, after my marriage, when I met Aastha, I thought I will suggest her to you, but by the time you were engaged to Niharika. And after your break up with Niharika, Aastha was already engaged and got married after 2 months.” Kavya said casually.
“Engaged and Got Married” these words are echoing in Samyak’s ears again and again. He couldn’t understand anything. He got blank for a few moments.
Chapter 16
“Samyak Samyak…” Kavya waved her hands in front of his eyes.
Samyak got back to his senses and realized the car was parked. He looked at Kavya questioningly.
“What?? What happened to you? We have reached the store. Let's go inside.” Kavya looked at him closely.
“Ohh… nothing. Let’s go.” Samyak tried to come out of the shock.
“Are you sure? You look completely lost.” Kavya took her handbag and stepped out of the car.
“Ya, I am fine. Just got a little distracted.” He also got down and followed Kavya in the store. Samyak is still not able to believe that Aastha is married. He never thought this in his dreams. It is a complete shock to him.
“Look Samyak… How is it?” Kavya pointed towards a beautiful crystal heart with their photo imprinted on it and a sweet message written at the bottom. Crystal is kept on a light changing and revolving stand. Their smiling faces are shining brightly.
“It is beautiful. Nice.” Samyak said to Kavya. He tried to sound excited as he doesn’t want to kill Kavya’s happiness and thrill, which can be seen easily in her eyes.
“Only Nice? Ohh don’t you like it?” Kavya felt a little disappointed with Samyak’s response.
“No, I really like it. It is very very nice and lovely. Mohit will love it.” Samyak said with extra pressure.
“Yay!!!” Kavya said happily and asked the salesperson to gift wrap it. Samyak took the box from the counter and they came back in the car.
“Let's go home. Mohit and Aastha must be waiting.” Kavya started the car.
Samyak wanted to ask Kavya about Aastha but he is not able to start the conversation. He thought for a while but he couldn’t control himself and so he asked,
“So Aastha is married in Mumbai. I mean she told me that she is from Mumbai.” Samyak checked with Kavya and tried to sound casual.
“No, actually she got married in Pune. But now she lives in Mumbai.” Kavya replied while driving the car.
“Pune. Ohh… so her husband must be working in Mumbai?” Samyak tried to understand if she is married in Pune, how is she working in Mumbai.
“No actually… I mean she had a very tragic past.” Kavya’s voice turned very low.
Samyak couldn’t understand what she meant, “Tragic? What happened?”
“Actually Mohit’s Aunt and Uncle, I mean Aastha’s parents, they live in Mumbai. Uncle is a CA and owns his firm there. Aastha and her younger sister are born and brought up there only. After Aastha has completed her engineering and started working in an IT company, many suitable alliances started to come. Uncle and Aunty wanted the best for their daughter like every other parent. Within a few months, they got this alliance from a very well known and affluent family of Pune. They have a huge family business. The boy was educated, well mannered and Aastha’s horoscope was also matched. Everything was perfect. They all went to Pune and met the boy’s family. His name was Akshat. After Akshat and Aastha talked for some time and found everything okay, they got engaged in a week’s time. Within 2 months there was an auspicious date so everyone agreed and marriage also took place. I also attended the marriage in Pune and everything was like a fairy tale. I still remember Aastha was looking so beautiful and pretty in her bridal attire. After the marriage, Aastha came to Mumbai for her “Pagfera” ritual(During Pagfera ritual, the bride comes to her parents' house for 2-3 days, and then her husband will come to pick her up and take her back.). Akshat was supposed to come after 2 days. On that fateful day, since morning, all the preparations were going on for welcoming Akshat. Aastha also got ready and packed her bag but Akshat never reached Mumbai to take her.” Kavya’s voice broke.
“Why? Why didn’t he show up?” Samyak got worried and his curiosity is at a peak.
“Akshat met with an accident on the highway from Pune to Mumbai. His car got banged with a truck coming from the opposite direction. Truck’s driver lost control and hit Akshat’s car. He couldn’t survive the collision and even before reaching the hospital, everything got over.” Kavya’s eyes got wet remembering the devastating incident.
“What?? Akshat was no more… Ohh my god…” Samyak was completely shocked and shaken after knowing everything. He couldn’t imagine that Aastha has gone through all this.
“When the news came, Aastha was in complete shock and devastated. Uncle and Aunty were inconsolable. They had never imagined that their daughter who was supposed to start her new life, will face such a traumatic and heart-wrenching incident just after her marriage. Akshat’s parents were also crushed. They were not in their senses and completely shattered. But it was shocking, when in such a time also, people rather than giving their support and sympathy, start speaking senseless. Some of the relatives start blaming Aastha for this and saying ill things about her. So Akshat and Aastha’s parents decided that it would be better if Aastha stayed in Mumbai only. The poor girl was already facing such a huge loss and on top of that listening to taunts for something which one has no control over it. I couldn’t imagine how Aastha would have felt and lived in those moments.” Kavya took a deep breath.
“It must be the most difficult time of her life. I had never ever imagined that Aastha was gone through so much. Looking at her innocent and calm face, no one can say, there is so much pain behind all that. She has such positive vibes and optimistic perspective towards life, that I never felt, life was so unfair to her.” Samyak’s concern and empathy for Aastha are clearly visible in his voice.
Kavya stopped the car and looked at Samyak closely. She can see how much Samyak is affected by knowing about Aastha’s past. She felt there is something more than just a general worry for someone. Samyak realized Kavya is looking at him and tried to hide his emotions.
“What happened? Why have you stopped?” Samyak tried to divert her from noticing his expressions.
“Because we reached.” She pointed at the house.
Samyak didn’t realize that they have reached back to the house.
“Ohh… I was caught up with thoughts about whatever happened with Aastha that I haven’t realized. Let's go inside.” Samyak took the gift box and tried to open the door.
“Wait… what is going on? Why do I feel, there is something you are trying to hide?” Kavya locked the door.
“What are you saying? It’s nothing. Why would I hide anything?” Samyak said hesitatingly.
“Ohh god you never tell anything easily. Let me ask this straight, do you like Aastha?” Kavya asked him directly.
“Whaaat… what are you saying? I don’t know where are you getting such ideas?” Samyak was not expecting the direct question. He got baffled.
“Don’t hide your feelings Samyak. I can feel your concern and care for her. I had little doubt earlier also when you found Aastha in our house, you seemed quite happy as if you wished to meet her and you got her there.” Kavya tried to dig Samyak’s feelings and gave a fluke.
“Come on Samyak, I am your sister. You can tell me.” Kavya pressured him again.
“Ok fine. Yes, I like her. I don’t know how and when it all started, but as much time I spent with her and talked to her in the office or at my house or in the temple, it made me drawn more towards her. When I didn’t find her in the office one day I felt kind of missing her. And when I was expecting the least, she was right in front of me. I felt delighted to see her. I realized that I will get a whole day spend with her and I think you noticed my excitement.” Samyak finally accepted his feelings.
Kavya is pleasantly surprised. Her fluke turned out to be true.
“Ohh wow… house and temple. I had no idea that you guys met before outside the office as well. So does she know how you feel about her?”
“No, and you will also not say a thing. Promise me.” Samyak warned her sister looking at her excitement.
“Ok… I promise. But one thing I want to tell you. You know Samyak, she has gone through such a horrifying experience, that fear has planted in her heart about marriage. It took a lot of time before she got back to her normal life. She handled herself really well and started working again. But she has made up a wall around her and to enter into her heart and make her realize your feelings about her will be very difficult. She shows everyone that she is happy and cheerful but I am sure her wound is still not healed. Whenever her parents talk about remarriage, she gets uncomfortable, and to avoid the whole situation she has accepted this London Project offer.” Kavya said with concern.
Samyak understood the state of Aastha’s mind and heart. He can connect with her fear to some extent, “I got it. You don’t worry Kavya, I will make sure that she will not be hurt with any of my actions. She has already suffered a lot and I don’t want her to feel a bit of pain anymore.”
Kavya felt assured with Samyak’s sincerity and concern for Aastha. She smiled and silently prayed to God for Samyak and Aastha. They both got down from the car and entered the house.
