Episode 46

Raghav roams around the town with a heavy heart even though this is the first time he is walking freely like this, without the fear of the police or the agency. And yet, he can’t permit himself to smile, not after what happened with them, with Mishti. What hurts the most is the fact of who did it.

Why did it have to be Tara? Why did she betray them?

Raghav wants to come across her just once and wants the answer to that question.

He is dying to know the reason behind the betrayal, doesn’t want to live his entire life remembering Tara as a betrayer. She meant a lot to him, and somewhere, maybe… she still does.

He comes across a bakery on his way back home, remembering how they all are planning to leave Samrat’s house and shifting to their own. And even though they have enough money to make two small houses for themselves now, they are still willing to live together just like they have until now. They are a family after all.

But that doesn’t mean that he won’t bring his sister her favourite cheesecake as a small present, both for the new house and her engagement with Mihir which they all had been anticipating for quite some time. It’s a relief that his sister is happy in her life.

With that thought in mind, he enters the bakery and comes across a sight, across the person that he had never thought he would see in his life ever again.

Tara.

There she stands, behind the counter, billing receipts and giving each person a privileged smile, the same smile that dies on her lips when her gaze lands on him, her entire body stilling on spot.

Raghav rushes to her before she can overcome the shock and hide herself from him.

“I need to talk to you.” He says to her, but she looks at him dumbfounded, shaking her head.

Raghav can see frightened tears forming in her eyes, he doesn’t want to scare her, but he needs to talk. He is sure he will never get a chance like this again.

“Tara, I need to –”

“I – I didn’t do it because I wanted to, Raghav, I h-had no option. Believe me. Please don’t send me to the police. I am sorry!” Tara says, brows curled worryingly and tears rolling down her face.

Raghav looks around the room to see some of the customers gazing at them curiously, but this is no entertainment. He comes to an immediate decision.

“Come out with me, Tara. I need to talk to you. And there is no police with me. You can trust me.”

Tara doesn’t trust him; it is evident from the lack of eye contact that she persists in maintaining.

“Please.” He insists, and it is then that she reluctantly nods, removing the apron and handing it to her friend who nods in understanding.

Once they are out, away from the amused gazes, he turns to her but before he can say anything to her, she envelopes his hand in hers, her grip tight and desperate.

“I didn’t want to betray you guys or Mishti. I was forced to. His mother – Samrat’s mother…. I – I had a reason. Please believe me, Raghav. I didn’t want to do it. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” She brings her forehead against his hand, and he takes in a breath of courage for both of them.

He rubs a hand at her back, and she readily slumps against his chest, crying. He nods. “I understand. We all do. We know that there must have been a reason behind all that, I know that you did. But please tell me, tell us, tell Mishti. We’ll all understand.” Raghav promises, and the girl lifts her face from his chest, looking up at him, terrified.

“No, no. Don’t make me confront them. I won’t be able to face them. What I d-did to Mishti –”

“It had cost her a lot, Tara. A lot happened with our Mishti in the jail. If you’ll not let her know the reason behind it, you would not be able to live in peace and neither would she be able to forgive you fully.”

Tara’s breath hitches in her throat. Her eyes, wide. “Wh-What happened to her? Is she – is she ok? Oh, God! I’m sorry. I didn’t want anything to – she’s like my sister. I didn’t –”

“Come with me.”

Raghav urges and Tara complies.

*

Mishti gazes at the stars in the sky, unable to see the majority of them, clouds hiding them behind their protective backs. Inspired, she lays on her back in the balcony of her old room, separate from the rest of the house, heaving sigh after sigh.

“Got a big surprise today, huh?”

Oh, and she isn’t alone there because besides her lies her former target, smiling at the night.

Mishti turns to face him and sighs again. “At least I’m not going.”

Samrat chuckles nodding. “That’s true….” He agrees turning to face her. “But five more people are living in this house apart from us. You want me to celebrate?”

The statement has Mishti squinting her eyes, turning away from him. “Fine. Don’t. We’ll all leave the house together tomorrow.” She huffs, and just as she tries to get up from the place, she’s pulled back, her head hitting a pillowy yet sturdy surface instead of the hard tiles.

It’s his arm, Mishti realises. She quickly shifts to the side, flushed cheeks leaving Samrat to chuckle.

Though his chuckle comes to an end when he sees Mishti looking at the sky yet again, though this time there is a wistful sheen covering her gaze.

“Are you ok?” he asks even though he knows the answer and Mishti shakes her head truthfully.

“I… I don’t know how to react. Whatever I have known till now, the world I have lived in, the relations I’ve seen around have all come down to a lie. A reality that I was bereft of for so long. I don’t know how to feel about everything. Should I – should I be happy that I didn’t know about my parents as a child, or should I cry knowing what happened to them? Should I be happy that I have a family of my own now or should I reminisce about my past and curse my father for breaking our family, leaving my mother to die, for making her send us to the orphanage and ruining our lives? Should I be elated after knowing that Tara is my sister, or should I fret over how destiny has played with me… got betrayed by my own sister.”

Mishti blinks to get rid of the tears, inhaling a stuttered breath. She faces Samrat and finds him looking at her with the same sadness reflecting on his face.

“I don’t know what t-to do, Samrat, everything is a mess, it’s all so difficult…” she curls into herself to take a long breath that escapes her mouth in sobs.

Samrat swallows thickly, his hand unsurely hovering over her curled body, itching to comfort her in some way.

“I wanted to die. Those months in the jail… I wanted to die.” Mishti confesses, looking at him through her wet lashes, face crumbling. “I was so scared that day. Was so scared when he had tried to touch me. I still am and I think I’ll – I’ll forever be. I hate him!” She rubs at her wrist, a cry leaving her mouth. “Get this off me. I don’t want these.” She demands, scraping at the faded bruises. Samrat doesn’t hold anymore.

He immediately takes her hand away that harms her wrist, bringing her to his chest, cradling her head in his one arm, the other thrown around her waist, caressing at her back.

“It’s all over, love, it’s all over. I’m sorry.” He whispers against his head, voice distraught. “It was all because of me. Don’t punish yourself, punish me.” He pleads and Mishti’s frame quivers in his hold as she cries.

“I’ll never forgive myself.” He promises, remembering that day with disgust. Wishes he could have done something, stopped when the girl was shouting that she’ll tell him everything, that she loves him. How could he let her go? He had been dying to hear those words.

“I had been dying to hear those words from you, Mishti,” Samrat says then, deciding to forsake any kind of hesitance. “All my life I have been wanting people to stay, to love me, and that day…that day when you were doing just that, I let you go. I made you go. I’ll never forgive myself for that. I’m sorry.”

Mishti shakes her head against her chest, pulling back a little so that she can see his face and he, hers, both of which are streaked by tears.

“You can’t put blame all on yourself. It was – it was my fault. I betrayed you first. Lied to you. Trust me when I say that in front of a betrayal you forget every r-relation, every familial bond. No one wants to be betrayed, not when the betrayer is your friend, your sister or someone you love.  A betrayal is a betrayal.” She affirms, wiping away her tears and then reaching to his face to wipe away his.

“It’s ok. It’s all in the past now. We shouldn’t – we shouldn’t fret over it. We can make new memories. Happy ones…” she says, and her voice lowers as she continues, bringing in it a sense of hesitance that Samrat knows is because of him. “– one where I’ll s-say those words and you’ll say them back… right?”

It kills Samrat, the unsurety in the girl’s voice, a depiction of her severed trust, the trust he broke.

He is quick to bring he to his chest once again, bending his head until his lips press against her forehead. “I will, darling. I’ll be the first one to say them and this time I’ll wait for your reply. Will wait until you accept me with all my faults, all my mistakes, all my love. I’ll wait for you.”

Mishti just snuggles close to him in reply, not bothering to give him a verbal answer. Samrat doesn’t need any, not when his whole world is laying in his arms, all safe and sound.

Across the room stand two people, gazing at the couple with teary gaze and smiles.

When one of them moves on the spot, the other one immediately stops him.

“Don’t go. Let them be.” Ruhi says, holding Mihir by his arm and the man just smiles at her, throwing his arm around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“I’m not.”

“You’re happy, right? For Mishti… for them?” Ruhi asks turning her face slightly to the side, her cheek inadvertently landing on his lips. Mihir makes the most of the situation and presses a kiss there.

“I am. I’m glad Chutki has someone for her. Had I known it earlier I would have gone to him and given him a piece of my mind, would have asked why he let Chutki go to that place, but I think he has repented enough. He knows his mistake and would never hurt her. I hope he doesn’t.”

“He won’t. He’s a good man.” Ruhi defends his friend making Mihir look at her with squinted, suspicious eyes. “Your good man is standing here. Focus on me.” He says making Ruhi laugh.

“We’ll leave this place tomorrow. Don’t let our little Mishti come to you and persuade you to let her live here,” Ruhi warns him good-naturedly, and Mihir lets out a scoff.

“What have you taken me for? Of course, I’ll make Chutki come to me and ask for staying here. And why only Chutki, if Samrat wants her to stay here, he’ll have to ask me as well.” Mihir says with a proud huff and Ruhi graces him with an unimpressed look, shaking her head to herself.

“What? I’m her brother, I have the right – Ruhi! Where are you going? Wait for me!” Mihir follows the girl, laughing, leaving the other couple in their bubble, eyes closed to the chaos of the world.