Dark Secrets

6

Hey readers the new Chapter is       here,umm...listen to this song in the background to feel the feelings written here in this chapter better..enjoy the experience😊

'I don't understand why some people have to be so rude!' Shreshtha exclaimed. It was the morning after she had been harassed by the ill-mannered boots in hercafe. The unpleasant episode preyed on her mind and played over and over in her head on a loop. Sh had narrated the entire incident to Yuvansh when he visited the cafe after Kishorilal's call. He even made an unofficial complaint to the local police station just in case the hooligans returned.

'Some people get a high by bullying others.' Mr Srivastava said. They were sipping tea on the patio. Shreshtha had served Bubbles her breakfast, which she was wolfing down with gusto. Her mother emerged from the inner recesses of the house with the tea trolley on which she had arranged fresh toast, fried eggs,baked beans,tomatoes and mushroom. It's all about the upbringing',she said ,transferring the dishes onto the patio table. 'Nurturing makes such an impact on people that they will always behave with propriety throughout their lives.'
'I agree,'said her husband ,buttering a slice of toast.' I hope those three rot in hell',Shreshtha was still furious ,partially with herself for lacking the gumption to retaliate spontaneously.
'Perhaps they already are',said Yuvansh.
Shreshtha could hardly believe her eyes when she saw Yuvansh on their doorstep that morning. It was a rare phenomenon when he came to meet ger this promptly because there was usually month's gap between their meetings. 'Why didn't you tell me you were comming?' She asked ,flinging herself into his arms.

'I wanted to surprise you,' Yuvansh grinned.
She held his arm and drew him to the patio at the back of the house. The best thing about their love story, Shreshtha thought, was that she didn't have to hide it from her parents. They knew who Yuvansh was. Surprisingly, she didn't have to introduce him to them either..(famous author pros flexing**). After the 'incident' , as her parents,and later Yuvansh ,had told her,he visited her at the hospital all the time. He had told them who he was and also they knew him earlier as the famous thriller writer YUVASH SINGH THAKUR. Yuvansh was the kind of man that no parent would have objected to if he were dating their daughter.

Her father soon excuses himself as he had to get ready to go to the cafe and her mother also disappeared indoors on some pretext,leaving them alone outside.
'It feels like a dream to see you here today,' Shreshtha said.
'We've lived in dreams enough ,my love. We are each other's reality now,'Yuvansh said softly.
Shreshtha leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on his cheek.
'I have something for you,' Yuvansh pulled out a pair of ghungroos from his sling bag and gave them to her. She looked at them with shining eyes.
'Oh my god! These are beautiful'.
'I 've arranged for a kathak dance teacher for you. He'll be here soon.'

'How did you know that i was dying to learn a new dance form?'
'That's what happens when two hearts connect as our's have and when you date a writer', laughed Yuvansh.
'You're amazing!' She exclaimed.
Bubbles danced around the table woofing  seeing them.
'You're my everything, Shreshtha, that's why I am the way I am.'
Shreshtha's eyes were moist with the joy she felt.
  'Sometimes i feel scared. When things are so perfect, it feels good but there is also this,perhaps irrational, fear that perfect things are transient and won't last forever. Do you feel this fear as well?'
   'No. I've lived half my life yearning for something I thought I could never have. Now that i have it, I dont have time for fears anymore. I want to live this life without fear.....Ranisa.'
  'Why do you say you ve been seeking me half your life?'
'When people are meant to be together, however far apart they are when they re born,their journey towards eachother appears before they appear before the other. It's magic that makes two apparent strangers meet and realize that they belonged together,forever.'
She looked into his face ,mesmerized.
'Im not your lover ,'whispered Yuvansh,'I m your  jogi. My very life is a spell cast by your love.'
'Sometimes I feel so lucky that I think that if I died right now. I wouldn't complain because my every wish has been fulfilled.'
Yuvansh hushed her with a finger on her lips.' Never talk about death in my presence.'
'Is this the Srivastava house?' A voice broke into their reverie. It was the dance master.
Shreshtha's mother bustled in and conducted them to the terrace where he could train Shreshtha. A narrow runner carpet had been laid out on which the instructor sath down and tuned his instruments. Yuvansh helped Shreshtha fasten the ghungroo on her ankles and then left her with the dance master and went downstairs.
Mr. Srivastava waylaid Yuvansh at the foot of the stairs. 'I have a request ,sir'said Mr. Srivastava. Yuvansh raised an eyebrow. 'My son is ill. I wondered whether i could have an advance on next month's salary.' Mrs Srivastava joined him and looked at Yuvansh pleadingly.
'Sure i'll transfer both your salaries later today.'
'Thank you so much,sir' ,they touched his feet,making him acutely uncomfortable.
'How many times have I told you to not to do this?' Protested Yuvansh,drawing away.
'You 've changed our lives and we'll always be grateful to you.'
Yuvansh took his leave abruptly, asking them to tell Shreshtha that he would he would return soon.

Later that day,Sanam came to the cafe to meet Shreshtha. She found her showing some guests the pottery corner. Sanam's animated expression told Shreshtha that she was bursting with some exciting news. She excused herself from the guests and turned to her bestie.
'Look at this', Sanam showed her phone to Shreshtha.
On the screen was a boy's facebook profile. His name was Vivan Mehta.
'Who's he?'
'My new boyfriend. He is coming her in a few days'.
'New boyfriend? What happened to--'
'Varun? Done and dusted'.
'But weren't you in love ith him?'
'I thought so. But I think i'm in love with Vivan now.'
'Okayyyy! Shreshtha wondered how they could be best friends- she being faithful to the bitter end,while Sanam changed affinities with the same speed that she changed her clothes. Perhaps it was this disparity that made them besties. In the last one year, Sanam had changed four boyfriends and had fallen in love seven times. In the last three instances, that love wasn't even reciprocated. Sanam launched into a description of Vivan, their chats,pictures of his motorbike,the tattoos on his gym-trained body;Shreshtha could not help but wonder how she and Yuvansh remained each other's constant. As a contradiction to the volatility of life,the quest for something that was constant and outlived everything, justified one's existence. The epiphany that came with this thought made Shreshtha smile. This was a conversation she needed to have with Sanam one day.
'How do you know that your love for Yuvansh is real if you haven't tried other guys?' Sanam would often ask.
'The very fact that I dont want to try anyone else tells me that my love for him is rela.'
'Don't you think he's little old for you?'
That was true. There was quite a bit of an age difference. But that could not preclude live between them.' All I know is nobody will or can love me more than he does. For me that answers all my doubts.'
Not that she judged Sanam for guy-hopping all the time. Shreshtha knew that Sanam too would stop the moment she sensed it from her core taht she had finally got her man. That was the power of TRUE love because it blurs out everything else except for the person.
When Shreshtha returned home after shutting shop for the night, she quickly had her dinner and retired to her room. She messaged Yuvansh-

I MISS YOU.

She opened her diary to pen her thoughts. After her meeting with Sanam in the cafe ,Shreshtha felt a sudden surge of nostalgia that made her flip to the page where she had written about her first meeting with Yuvansh,
That was , as the date suggested, three years ago.

Dear Diary,

I met someone today. He was kinda familiar but I could not recognised him as he was wearing a mask. While billling I asked for his name.YUVANSH SINGH THAKUR. He was the YUVANSH SINGH THAKUR, the writer known for his novels and looks. He was looking handsome ,elegant tho he was in a basic casual outfit with a mask on. His dimples were adorable which got visible when his name rolled out of his tongue. He was alone,seated at a table in our cafe. I had gone there from college. I couldn't tear my eyes away. There was something weirdly magnetic about his personality. He didn't look at me even once. Most men ogle at me in a ghastly way. I accidentally split some of the coffee on his uniform while serving him. Some of the coffee had split on my off white chikankari  dress as well. The poise with which he handled the entire embarrassing situation was commendable. When he looked at me before leaving the cafe, it wasn't a look of disvorey. It was a look of recognition. It was as if he had always known me. I felt that familiarity as well. Is that how soulmates feel when they meet for the first time? I hope he visits the cafe again because i don't know anything about him. But I want to know everything.

Shreshtha smiled, revelling  in her thought of that day. The memory of that day wasn't very clear and so she read and re- read the diary entry. She suddenly frowned and sat up with a start in her bed. She rushed to her wardrobe. It took her a few seconds to locate the neatly folded dress. It was the one she had been wearing on that she had first met Yuvansh- the one described in her diary entry. But it wasn't a off white chikankari  dress. It was a red chikankari dress. She didn't have any other chikankari dresses as far as she could remember.

  That's odd she thought. Why would I write a lie about my own dress in my own diary? Or was it just a slip,she wondered.