all my stars lead to you

chapter 8

meera stood on the corner of the sofa satish was seated on, as shivani sat on the sofa in the opposite direction. 

"timing achi hai tumhari...."remarked satish, as an effort to break the ice had made things worse. 

"uhh, mujhe bas, baat karni hai, ek baar, dushyant se....it's, it's urgent..." stated shivani after a huge sigh. 

"so jaata hai woh ab tak, jaise aaj...." informed satish. 

"aap, subha, nahi...matlab..."suggested meera, as satish and shivani just glared at her, which was nonsensical to her. 

"mom?" interrupted a voice out of the blue, as they turned to find it was dushyant. 

"dushyant...." blurted shivani as she stood up and just gazed at her son for a moment. 

"wow, aaj bhi baarah hi baj rahe hain, i guess you must be leaving again...." taunted dushyant, as he stood there with his arms crossed. 

"dushyant, main...." fumbled shivani in an attempt to explain herself. 

"kisliye aaye hain aap?" questioned dushyant, with his tone getting higher now. 

"tumse milna tha.....kitne bade ho gaye ho tum...." replied shivani, as dushyant just shook his head in disbelief. 

"yaar aap dono ki hi galtiyan karne ke baad hi meri yaad kyun aati hai!" exclaimed dushyant, as he glared at satish too, who was just too used to the repetitive reminders of his mistakes.   

"i'm sorry...." attempted shivani, an earnest apology, as dushyant scoffed, looked to his side before he turned towards her again and said: 

"you should be..." 

he left with moist eyes, but those tears would somehow dry up before coming out. 

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dushyant entered his room in fury, banging the door close. he opened one drawer after another, until he found his ciagerrette, as he was back to smoking by his bedroom window in the dark. 

kavin, who had heard everything from inside, decided not to say anything right now. somehow, a part of him, knew just exactly what he felt. 

                                                              ***

the next morning, when kavin entered the kitchen, his mother passed him the tea without even looking at him. 

"chali gayi woh?" asked kavin, knowing what is going on. 

"dushyant keh hi aise baatein deta hai...." remarked meera, as she stared at the boiling egg on the stove. 

"yaar, uski maa chodke chali gayi thi usse...aur kya karein woh?" defended kavin, as now meera looked at him. 

"tumhari maa ne toh nahi choda tumhe..." said meera, with intensity and pain in her eyes. 

"nahi, bas apni ek life bana li aur mere baarein mein socha bhi nahi...." said kavin, as he too shot daggers at her with his gaze. 

"kavin, maine pucha tha tumse, ki tum iss shaadi..." 

"meri naa maan leti aap?" 

"kavin..." 

"aur yahan main aapke liye actually concerned tha...." retorted kavin, as he left, leaving that cup of tea, untouched. 

                                                              ***

purvi stood there, waiting for her bus. 

"hey." greeted kavin. 

"hey." acknowledged purvi. 

"kisi ka wait kar rahi ho?" asked kavin. 

"woh meri bus..." said purvi, pointing to the street. 

"right..." acknowledged kavin, as he passed a chuckle. 

"you know,  i can drop you..." suggested kavin, as he pointed to his car. 

"arre nahi-nahi...." resisted purvi. 

"chinta mat karo, dushyant apni car mein hi jaayega...aur main beech raste mein nahi utarta..." joked kavin, as purvi too shared a chuckle. 

"no, i'll just go in the bus. thanks, though." clarified purvi as kavin nodded in agreement. 

"pareshan ho?" asked kavin. 

"nahi, it's...woh, kal raat koi mere ghar aane waala tha..like intercom baja aur meri mom bahar bhi gayi, but koi bhi nahi tha...." blurted purvi, confused with her thoughts. 

"yeh bhi barah baje aaye the kya?" joked kavin, as purvi raised her brow. 

"nahi, woh, dushyat ki mom aayi thi kal...." informed kavin. 

"what?" remarked purvi in shock. 

"yeah, a lot of drama...just made me wonder why my mother married into this? i mean, you abandon your child aur phir tum usse maafi expect karte ho! ridiculous." expressed kavin, as purvi too shook her head in agreement, and some sweat rolled down her forehead. 

"are you ok?" confirmed kavin with concern, as purvi nodded in agreement, as a memory of the past had came to haunt her. 

but it was all interrupted by the honk of the bus. 

"that's you..." remarked kavin, as purvi forced a smile and went into the bus as kavin waved her bye. but he knew for sure, this was only the tip of the iceberg. 

                                                                     ***

"papa!" yelled ishita from her mother's bedroom.

"saare kapde pack ho gaye hain, donate kardena yaad se..." she screamed to inform, as she packed the final bag and was about to close the almirah, when her gaze fell on a crushed paper. 

she unfolded it, wondering what it was. 

"prescription?" she wondered in puzzled state. 

"haan, beta.." intruded her father, as she quickly crushed it back in her fist. 

"woh, packing, ho gayi hai..." fumbled ishita, as her father nodded. 

"main, jaa rahi hoon, college..bye...." said ishita as she left hastily, leaving her father to wonder what is up with her. 

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