Agape & Eros

Demands

Priya remained silent for the rest of the night. 

Ram was trying to coerce her into talking but in vain. She had stopped talking to him when he refused to let her speak to Akshay. 

In Ram's defense, he was saving Akshay from her scolding. In Priya's defense, he deserved a scolding, and she deserved an explanation. 

After a silent dinner and Ram's continuous advocacy for Akshay, Priya calmed down a bit and decided to talk to Akshay without scolding him. She picked up her phone and called Akshay.

*

Akshay and Shivina were on a dinner date. Akshay was telling Shivina about the business proposal of Shubhu. 

Shivi- That will be so cool! But Akki, what about your acting career? 

Akshay- ... I don't know. After the first project, I attained a few more auditions but... You know I am not getting calls from anywhere. 

Shivi- Yeah, I know. But you need to be persistent, Akki. Ram vai always says this. You need to have patience and be persistent in achieving your dream. 

Akshay- About Ram jiju... Something's bothering me...

Shivi- What? 

Akshay- For the business, Shuvu was insisting that we take the capital from Ram jiju.   

Shivi- So? 

Akshay- It doesn't feel right. 

Shivi- Ram vai will be absolutely fine with it. He helped both Shubhu and me in our business. He will help you too. Also, Ram vai never says no to us. 

Akshay- That's fine. But you know that Priya didi taught us to be self-dependent. Shivi, being self-dependent, doing things on your own-- These little things feel good. 

Shivi- And you are going to be self-dependent. Tell me. Do you want this business or not? 

Akshay- It would be nice to have a business besides my acting career. 

Shivi- So? What are you thinking about? If it bothers you so much, take it as a loan. 

Akshay- That will be a huge loan. I can't...

Shivi- It is Ram vai. You can ask for a huge loan. He'll gladly give it to you. He will not even taunt you for that. If anyone... 

Shivi stopped. Akshay smiled a bit. 

Akshay- But mama, mami, and Shubhu can taunt me for that. 

Shivi kept quiet. 

Akshay- Shivi, why don't we do it on our own? Can you lend me some money? We can start the business small and gradually expand it. 

Shivi- That will be great. But what about Shubhu?

Akshay- I will find a way to say no to his proposal. Maybe his intention was good. But have you noticed how he behaves with everyone? Especially with Priya didi and Ram jiju. He doesn't care about Ram jiju at all. And the way he had pushed Priya didi on the floor...

Shivi- He did what? He pushed Pri di? When?

Akshay- When you thought I was having an extramarital affair and went to Kapoor Mansion. I went to bring you back. Shubhu had started to beat me. Priya didi tried to stop him and then...

Shivi- I didn't know this! Why didn't you tell me?

Akshay- It wasn't on my mind. I was even thinking of starting the business with Shubhu. But the way he talked about Ram jiju... Shubhu said, "What do we have Ram bhai for? He is our personal bank."