"Look at my fingers."
She ordered from behind the camera, making him roll his eyes at her bossiness.
Begrudgingly, he followed with a small sigh.
"How long?" Anirudh questioned between the clicks.
"Some more." She lowered the camera and answered cheekily. Her smile crossed through her eyes and he forgot his irritation with this gruesome session that she was pushing him through for the past 2 hours.
"We have plans, Vandita." He reminded and her smile dropped a little, which she soon covered with her camera and instructed him some more as she shot portraits for her assignment. He was a year senior but somehow, he was mesmerized by this brown-eyed firecracker.
"Look at this." She gushed happily. "None will know what hit him when he sees this handsome face was snagged by me for the photoshoot. I feel so happy."
"They know that you have snagged the man too, V." Sakshi, her batchmate commented from the corner in the rented studio place where this shoot was taking place.
Vandita's eyes dimmed at the mention as she shared a look with her.
"Okay, Guys. I need water. I will be back in a minute." She sheepishly excused and made her way out mumbling "Or never."
"Are these enough?" He asked getting comfortable on the settee they used before.
She hummed surfing through the clicks. "They will do."
He nodded with a smile seeing her satisfied. "So, let's leave? Everyone is waiting to see you."
"About that." Vandita gulped averting her eyes from her as she adjusted the curtains before closing the window lids. "I think I can't. I am not ready."
"The dinner?" He frowned and stood up covering the distance between them.
She nodded with a pensive frown. "This is too much, Anirudh. We are hurrying into it."
"Why are you so tensed? It is nothing we cannot cancel." He cupped her face and smiled assuring her, "My family just wanted to see the girl I keep talking about. Nothing else. This is not meeting the parents, Vandita. Don't worry."
"I can't do this." She shook her head making his hold drop. She stepped back and exhaled. "This, between us is going too fast. I can't cope with it."
"We can slow down?" Anirudh was clueless at her burst. He had witnessed her happy and socializing at almost every point but today he couldn't identify the girl as his girlfriend for the past years. "I don't understand the problem here."
"You are the problem here, Anirudh." She snapped, almost yelling that made him step back feeling hurt. "How long have we known each other? Sixteen months?"
"Eighteen months" He mumbled.
She ignored him "And you have already talked to your parents. You wanted to meet my Pati just last week, but somehow I convinced you that it wasn't the time. We are still dating and you are imagining our marriage and family. This...this is so soon. What if I don't want it?"
"You don't want me?" He asked in disbelief.
"No, I don't even know if I love you anymore." Her lips wobbled while she pursed her lips to not stutter.
His eyes took in the tear dropping down past her cheeks and he immediately cupped her face, wiping it. "Please don't cry. I am sorry. I should have not assumed. We will take time, but please do not cry."
"You are closed off to everyone. None of my classmates wants to talk to me because they are scared of you, I cannot make friends or work with them because I fear offending you, Anirudh. I do not know what to do or how to try and stay with you anymore. I don't care about others but never once you let me know how you feel about me. You are so reserved with your opinions I feel like I am forcing you to follow it."
"I talk to you all the time." He stated feeling betrayed.
"You talk but you don't tell." She stressed. "There is a difference."
"Then tell me what to do to?" He maintained his composure but he felt as if he was slapped on his face by the very woman who was as important as his mother and GM in his life. "How can I fix this?"
"You cannot." She muttered tiredly "Not everything can be fixed."
"Vandita..." He tried holding her but she stepped back, her palms raised in the air as she shook her head somberly.
"Don't speak, please. Just, don't say anything." She begged controlling her sob and he bit his tongue to follow her words. "I will be forever grateful that I met you. There have been so many things that I have learned and experienced with you but I don't think we can be together anymore. I cannot be with you anymore. Somehow, we met and knew about each other's existence when there were a million possibilities that you and I would have never met and that's enough for me. Somewhere our stars crossed yet they were meant to break free and find different paths to entangle with others. We are not meant to be, Anirudh." She wiped her tears and picked her bag from the floor, passing him she reached the studio gates while he waited for her to turn around and say it was one of her stupid pranks. "P...please do not resent me. I wish I were not me and...you were not you, so that we could be together as someone else. Like two people who fall in love and stay together."
"Are you leaving?" He asked as she opened the door and his heart begged for her to turn and look at him one last time.
"I cannot stay."
The door closed behind her yet she never turned back, walking out of his life just like she walked out of this place which meant nothing to her, like him.
The sun descended the sky, leaving him and his broken pieces behind.
"We are here, Sir." The driver said rather loudly breaking his daze. Anirudh rubbed his eyes to make sure his eyes and face did not betray his thoughts down memory lane. He nodded at the driver and asked him to park in the available space as he stepped down.
The sun was ready to make its way down the ocean line as the bright orange and pink hues took over the charge to trick blue in their charm and trade it with black. The cold breeze lulled the birds to return to their nests just like the humans made their way back to call their day off except for one.
Dhwani Anirudh Chauhan.
Time never mattered to her when she was confined inside the walls of this place which reminded her of her untainted childhood. The days which she seems to be recalling as she ran behind the toddlers, catching, and playing to their heart's content. She had a big grin plastered to her face as she tackled a small mini human in her arms and threw him up in the air as the other kids ran away shrieking at the change of chaser.
Anirudh watched her leaning against the brick wall, amused at her dodging the kid twice and running from the other side he pouted at her but ran faster to catch the other one of his age, someone he had more chances to pass his den on.
"Mr. Chauhan?" A throat cleared and he flinched out of the scene infront.
"Sister Jenny, how are you doing?" He grimaced embarrassedly while greeting the old caretaker who smiled knowingly and nodded.
"I am good, Son." She answered. Her eyes were amused as if she knew something the others didn't. "Are you here for Dhwani?"
He nodded distractedly as his eyes refused to look away from her who was tackled to the ground as the little army crashed with her. Her laughter laced the air as their adorable giggles.
"Time...up!" She tried speaking between panting and laughing, raising her hands, and keeping her palm vertically above the horizontal. "You people win...now get off me."
He winced as she tried moving but fell back as the kids clutched onto her.
"Hey! You chipmunks. Get off me or no chocolates for you." Her threat seemed to work at once as the mini humans scattered away from her. She sat back and huffed, faking a glare at those cute faces.
"Okay, Kids. It is prayer time." Sister announced from his side and Dhwani snapped towards them.
Her eyes widened comically watching him standing and she straightened at once. Brushing dust and mud away from her olive-green pants and Navy-blue kurta. Her metal bangles clinked together and produced soothing music for him.
She looked around, feeling conscious of her surroundings as she made her way towards him. "What are you doing here?"
"Waiting." He shrugged and leaned forward.
Her brows flew up while her eyes followed his movements "For me?"
He plucked a dried leaf from her hair. "Who else would I wait for, Petal?"
She flushed and averted her eyes, Shuffling on her feet she glanced towards the little smiling faces who squealed walking inside the gates. She waved them as a similar grin pressed on her lips.
"Adorable." He watched her and turned towards them as some kids waved at him. He returned it and earned some more pretty smiles.
"They are." She smiled. The first one he had received from her after everything he had put her through. "Why are you here?"
"I was passing by." He piped pocketing his palms to reason with them sweating. He was nervous about her rejection. "I thought we could eat together."
His pause was filled by her need for reassurance. "Together?"
He hummed forwarding his palm remembering how she demanded him to ask her nicely for the dance back on the day of the Gala. "Have dinner with me?"
Dhwani's gaze oscillated between his face and palm before she hesitantly put her palm on his. "Sure."
He tightened his hold on her hand. He smiled and gestured towards the parking area. "Shall we?"
"I am not hungry yet." She grimaced flushing, black eyes smiling at him.
"Then we can walk around." He shrugged coming up with a way out. Interlacing their fingers together, he pulled her towards the parking and out of the main gates.
The soft breeze tortured her frizzy strands and she pouted battling them to keep them locked behind her ears. His fingers had a mind of their own and he pulled her clutcher out making her gasp in surprise as the mane of her hair fell.
"Why would you do this?" She spun to face him with a scowl but he was quick to twirl her.
Slowly, with utmost tenderness he gathered her hair, finger combing her small strands and locking them with a turn of her clutcher, he twirled her back to face him. "All good now."
She gaped at him but he pulled her out of the daze. Towards the road, through the crosswalk, and onto the footpath that was covered with enormous trees, litter boxes, and some trash that seemed to have lessened after the Swachh Bharat mission yet the smell was omnipresent.
"Can you walk faster?" He glanced at her with his nose scrunched because of the place and she nodded covering her nose with her shawl.
They walked passed some street vendors and crossed another crosswalk to reach Carter Beach Road, their steps slowing down as they reached a more clean and secluded area where many other people seemed to enjoy the view of the setting sun.
They came to a standstill infront of the short wall that separated the pathway from the gigantic ocean that ate away the sun, letting the sky lose its brightness to the inevitable darkness.
He glanced at the woman beside him. Her face softened, eyes misted with each passing second. A small tear rolled down as the smile played on her lips, arms hugging her in protection.
"Are you crying?" His finger caught the drop and she flinched back, only to be held back by his hold on her back.
"I...I am sorry." She stuttered rubbing her face and smiling sheepishly. "This sunset makes me emotional."
"Why?" He watched her curiously as she shook her head with a small smile. "Tell me. I want to know."
"It is really nothing." She averted her eyes, mentally chiding herself. "Too silly actually."
"Still." He pressed. "Fill me in."
"You won't give up?" She narrowed her eyes, annoyed.
He shrugged with a smirk.
"Whenever I look at the sunset, I remember all the terrible things that happened to me." She kept watching the sun, afraid her face would give him a passage through her walls. "And, how I made it through all of them. I am still here, appreciating the beauty of this phenomenon when once I hated the entire universe for everything it did to me. I may have resented this world but this same moment reminds me how proud I am of myself for coming this far. I appreciate my hard work, I try finding the silver lining in my past days and it just..." She paused trying to find a word "...makes me feel lighter. My chest allows me to breathe deeply and my mind agrees to forget everything that was not in my favor. It soothes the chaos and allows me to just be."
"Petal" He touched her elbow, wanting to hold her as she let her thoughts out to him barren.
She sneakily wiped a tear away and faced him with a refurbished smile. "I didn't mean to bore you. Come, let's go and eat."
This time she took his arm and tried pulling him away from the fading sun.
"It is significant for me too." He whispered halting her.
"It is?" She asked slowly.
He nodded with a painful tilt to his lips. "It reminds me of what I lost," He glanced at her. "And what I gained."
â â â â
It took hours for the rage to simmer down. His dazed-up mind cleared at a slow pace as he kept himself holed up in the office. The day was long gone, and so were the employees who walked on eggshells around him.
Rakshit Chauhan wasn't to be messed with when angry. The office had seen its fair share of examples and demonstrations in 5 years he had come here to work.
Starting as an intern, he still overruled his superiors' words until his father kept a bet and promoted him to the executive desk to prove his worth. 3 months and Harshvardhan Chauhan proudly announced his appreciation for that one son he always thought to be the troublemaker. That very child of his had proved his genes and business tactics bringing them one of the biggest deals from right under the nose of their rivals.
Only if he could have avoided getting into all those scandals his family tensed about. He was a troublemaker for sure and the only one who could keep him leashed was out and about, away from the city making a life for herself until one slipped and she landed in his arms.
Shreya Thapar was his best friend.
'Just friends' as long as he remembers, but everyone who looked at them together knew they were more.
Each time they met, they argued, fought, made up, and teased the other one the hell out but stuck together.
When Shreya's parents visited the family mansion during vacation dinner for all the employees for the first time, five-year-old Shreya and Rakshit glared at each other. Shreya pushed him on the grass, he returned the favor. They got a good set of scolding before they giggled at each other's expense and later pulled the other one to play. From then, they were stuck to the hip and it looked adorable to the world.
Her father being promoted to Manager proved to be a blessing and every other day that Rakshit was picked up from school, Shreya accompanied him. They played, worked, studied, fought some more, and pranked strangers including the staff and guards until he came to pick her up only to meet the next morning.
Somehow, she had managed to channel his audacity to cause chaos in the right direction. Still, they have been grounded together, scolded, and mopped around after the mess they created after the mischief. Everything they did was together and she was the master planner behind them all.
On days when Vidyut enjoyed solitude, Shreya stayed bugging him, nagging him to run down the street and bring her some flowers from the old Kachar tree at the end of the roads.
And he did.
Not because she annoyed him until he wouldn't but because the toothy smile 10-year-old Shreya gave him was immeasurable.
And, being the asshole he was, he snatched the very same from her today.
Throwing his chair back and snatching the keys from below the heap of pages he tried working on, he rushed out uncaring about the unlocked cabin. He punched the elevator button until it parted open and he jumped in.
Running through the parking space, he recklessly unlocked the car and connected his phone to the dashboard. Poor device feeling the burn falling twice and landing on the floor. He dialed her number and while he maneuvered his way out of the building, unaware of her current location.
She would never go back home this early. She was running low on tolerance and would never get into headbutting with her mother this early in the night.
Driving infront of her house, he honked in the set of three each just like the code set by them but never once her window lights flickered on.
"She isn't home." He concluded and smacked on the steering wheel. Igniting the engine, he reversed and drove down the empty roads searching for this one girl who held him hostage in his thoughts of her.
"Where the hell are you damnit?"
Screaming did not help as he felt exhausted after driving for hours which never ended with her.
The phone rang and his hopes refueled and his eyes snapped to check the caller's name.
'Sweet child'
The urge to decline made him clench the wheel harshly. Exhaling a deep breath, he helplessly answered the call. "Yes, Bhabhi."
"Bhai bol raha hun," Anirudh grumbled from the other side. "Have you checked the time? Will you come back and free my wife from the stress you are giving her?"
(It is your brother speaking.)
"Not now, Bhai." Rakshit gritted and his thump hovered on the decline tab.
"Wait." Anirudh hurried "Go where you never wanted to. You will find what you lost."
The line dropped and Rakshit frowned at the cryptic words. Wanting to ignore his elder brother who hardly talked about anything but business heightened he decided to take the left.
The car behind him tried taking over and he pushed onto his brakes to avoid crashing into the dividers.
"What the fuck, Man?" He yelled the words out rolling the window down and earning a few ears. Flipping the other driver, he tried pulling back when something hit his face.
He flinched and applied brakes again, this time saving a millimeter of space between his car and the divider. Turning towards the source, his fiery glare turned to narrowed slits as the few flowers rolled down his lap.
"Flowers?" He tested the words. His brain takes him back to their childhood memory.
He hated going to that Kachar tree yet she forced him to, almost every week for a flower.
Go where you never wanted to. You will find what you lost.
"Damnit, Bhai!" He cursed and took a quick U-turn. "You wouldn't have lost your tongue if you could be clearer than this."
He was speeding yet he never cared. Once entering the gated community, he stepped on the gas and frantically searched for the tree that he had seen just the previous morning until that god-forsaken picture was delivered to him.
An unknown number had sent him a picture of Shreya and a man he knew nothing about. The frame seemed to be intimate, and personal while he watched it and the anger simmered in his veins at the thought of another man touching her.
He had diverted his anger towards her, uncaring of her feelings which he so ruthlessly hurt. He pulled on brakes as the tree came into sight. Hurrying, he yanked the seat belt and sprinted towards the huge tree that lay ripe with freshly bloomed flowers.
A figure was registered in his sight and he could feel like breathing again.
"Shreya." He slowed down, relief coursing his features. "I was searching for you like a maniac."
She did not turn, nor move as she sat leaning against the trunk yet her voice addressed him. "You hated being here."
"That was years back." He reasoned and sat near her. Glancing at her, he took in her pale face, no traces of blood. "I will drop you home. It is late."
"I can't go." She sighed, cold slapping her skin. "I don't want to go."
"You are upset because of me." He observed. "I was acting like a dick. I am sorry."
"It fixes nothing." Her shivering fingers wrapped around her petite frame. "I wish it did."
"Shreya." He exhaled, covering her with his coat he settled near her rubbing her arms above the fabric. "It is late, we should go home."
"I am sorry too," She stared at him with alien expressions, leaning she placed her head on his chest. "I wish..."
He held her closer, humming for her to continue.
"I wish I could hate you..."
Her words brought in a warm ache, only to turn his whole being cold. Her other arm dropped out of the coat, bloodied and slashed open. "Shreya!"
"...like the way I hate myself..."
I am super late, but nonetheless, I'm here with an update. It got too difficult writing about the last scene seeing my dislike for blood.
Do let me know what you think?