The Last Wish

Chapter 1 : Homecoming

After a moment, Parvati paused as she realised she was a little harsh to Shruti, "Okay look... I'm sorry... I didn't..."

"No, no, it's fine," Shruti cut off Parvati mid-sentence.

The awkward silence between them was suddenly broken by Shruti's phone, which started ringing. She picked it up.

"Did you get the card?" asked the person on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, I got it. Where are you right now?" inquired Shruti.

"I'm in Mumbai, just landed. I'll be going home and meeting Dad and Nikhil," replied the caller.

"Okay."

"You're coming, right? Tonight?"

"Yeah, we'll be there." Shruti hung up the phone and then looked at Parvati, whose attention was still focused on the file.

They both reached the office and were greeted by a bunch of employees who were waiting for Parvati. Then they all entered the presentation room and commenced their meeting. There were a lot of PowerPoint slides and discussions about the company's ongoing projects. While Parvati absorbed all the information very carefully, Shruti just stared at her mother throughout the whole presentation.

The meeting concluded, and everyone left the room except Shruti and Parvati.

Shruti received a message on her phone. After reading it, she stood up hurriedly. "Ma, I just remembered something, I have to go," she said, then quickly walked out of the room.

"What's with her today? She's been acting weird," Parvati murmured to herself as she grabbed her file and left the room.

"Now that the meeting is over, I can finally eat," Parvati said to herself as she walked towards her cabin, only to find Nikhil Mehra standing outside.

"Nikhil" She walked up to him. "Where were you? You were supposed to be present at the meeting today."

"Yeah, I had some personal situations to attend to, so I wasn't able to attend it," Nikhil replied with a condescending tone.

Parvati noticed Nikhil's attitude but chose to ignore it. "What are you doing outside my cabin?"

"Nothing, I just came here to take the file," Nikhil replied.

Parvati handed the black file to him, and Nikhil took it before leaving.

Meanwhile, Shruti was walking around the office, searching for someone. She made her way to the cafeteria and finally found the person she was looking for.

"ASHUTOSH!!!" Shruti shouted in excitement.

Ashutosh Mehra, who was drinking coffee in the cafeteria, turned toward Shruti and put his coffee down on the table. "Di!" he exclaimed, running towards her and enveloping her in a hug.

Ashutosh Mehra is Shruti's younger step-brother. After Om's death, Parvati remarried and became a stepmother to two boys - one of whom was Ashutosh Mehra.

Shruti and Ashutosh were overjoyed to see each other. It had been 3 years since they last met.

"How have you been?" asked Shruti.

"I am fine. How are you?" said Ashutosh.

"I am fine."

"How is Kamal Chachu (Uncle), Dadi?" Ashutosh inquired.

"They're all fine and healthy," shruti replied. He paused for a second before adding, "Wait, you said you would go home directly. Why are you in the office?"

"There was no one in the house; everyone Nikhil and dad came here, so I came here too. Plus, I left a special invitation card for Mom in her cabin," Ashutosh explained.