FF : Dil Ibaadat

Chapter - 99 | Pride and Prejudice

"Beta kaisi ho?..."

"Main theek hoon Mam..."

"Aap btaaiye... Aap kaisi hain..." she asked warmly.

"Main bhi theek hoon beta..."

"Tum btaao... Kaisa rha fest?..."

"Us din ke baad tumse baat hi nhi hui..." Aastha said.

Listening to her made Anokhi go silent, bringing back all the memories of that evening yet again. Her thoughts returned to the moment, and she saw his face flicker before her eyes.

"Anokhi..." Aastha's voice broke through the silence, calling her back from her reverie.

With a gentle jolt, Anokhi returned to the present, the spell of memories momentarily broken.

"Huh?..."

"Ah... Voh..."

"Jee Aastha Mam..."

"Asal mein mauka hi nhi mila..."

"Isliye..." she tried to reason.

Aastha only subtly smiled in response. Soon after, she remembered that she needed to disclose something important to Anokhi. She felt it was time to share her decision with Anokhi. She herself would have called her. Any which way, Anokhi had already done it.

After the conversation with Shaan last night, she took her time to make a thoughtful decision. She embarked on a journey of critical thinking. She had to be pragmatic and not get swayed by emotions.

Coming to this decision was no simple task. It wasn't an impulsive decision, or a hasty choice driven by emotional fragility. Rather, she deliberated over it for a significant amount of time, taking various aspects into account before arriving at the final conclusion about what to do next.

It was only this afternoon that she conveyed her final decision to the institute and received confirmation.

Now, the task at hand was to share the news with Anokhi, and her heart raced with anticipation. She herself was yet to recover she had ultimately made this decision. She was aware that Anokhi had been awaiting news about this for several days.

The silence that reigned unnecessarily long over the call made Anokhi aware of hesitation on the other end. She sensed that her Aastha Mam wanted to say something but seemed restrained by an inner trepidation.

"Aastha Mam?..." she called for her, concerned.

"Anokhi..." Came the voice after a brief pause.

"Darasal mujhe..."

"Mujhe tumhe kuch zaroori baat btaani thi beta..." Finally, she mustered the courage to initiate the talk.

"Boliye na Aastha Mam... Aap itni pareshaan kyu sunaai de rhi hai?..."

"Kya baat hai?... Aap theek to hona Mam?..." she tensed up.

"Anokhi... Beta shaant ho jaao..."

"Main bilkul theek hoon... Mujhe kya hoga..." Aastha tried to ease her.

"Asal mein... Main..." she faltered.

"Main vo apne Kapurthala vaapas jaane ke baare mein baat kar rhi thi Anokhi..."

Anokhi tensed up even more.

"Kal call aaya tha us institute se... Unhone mujhe apna decision sunaaya..."

"Aur maine bhi apna faisla le liya hai Anokhi..."

"Usi baare mein baat karni thi tumse..." Aastha could finally exhale her bated breath.