The Birlas' - BHAVANA

Chapter - 3: Truth Revealed (Part - A)

"Are! Rohan Maa ke saamne acha bacha banta hain na. Uska raudra roop sirf hamare liye hi hain." Anahita hissed. 

Neil gave it a serious thought and asked, "Woh sab chod. Tujhe kya lagta hain? Maa ne mere liye kya bola? Nautanki karnewala ya pareshaan karnewala?" 

Anahita also responded seriously, "Samajh nahi aa raha yaar. Donon hi hum donon pe suit karti hain." Abhir who heard their talk burst out in laughter alerting Neil and Anahita. 

Neil placed a hand on Abhir's mouth to stop him from blurting out while Anahita eyed him to not say anything. By the time Manjari turned to see why he laughed, she found everyone doing something or the other. They weren't looking up or even at each other. Just then, her phone rang and the name Harsh flashed on it. Roohi handed her the phone, but she cut the call without blinking twice. That made it clear to everyone why she was in such a foul mood. 

All of them kind of slipped off from there after silently having the snacks because they knew that only Harsh can sort this out. They didn't want to be collaterals in their couple fight. Anahita and Abhimanyu went to freshen up while Abhir shifted to the living room with his stuff. Neil pulled Roohi aside and whispered, 

"Roohi! Abhi Bhai ko sab kuch batado. Aur delay mat karo. Unhe Abhir ko bhi prepare karna hoga na...Agar unhe kahi aur se pata chala toh bahut bura lagega." Roohi nodded but looked skeptical.

"Humne car mein baat kiya tha na...... ki kyun important hain.... ki yeh baat aap khud apne Poppy ko batao. Ab back step lene ka time nahi hai Bacha. 

Unhe definitely shak hogaya ki issue kuch aur hain. Isliye woh ab tak aapse us bare mein discuss nahi kar rahe hain us din ke baad se. Ho sakta hain ki he is waiting for you to come clean to him." Neil tried to coax Roohi. 

"I know Chachu! Even I can feel that. Kuch toh difference hain unke bartaav mein. But mujhe samajh nahi aa raha hain ki main kaise bataun. Jab poochenge ki ab tak kyun nahin bola toh main kya bolungi?" Roohi sounded worried.

"Sach bolo. Aap jaanti ho na Bhai ko. Agar aap khud se unhe sach bolne jayengi toh woh zarur appreciate karenge is baat ko. Rahi baat aap ki punishment ki....woh toh aapko milni hi hain.

Isse pehle ki woh aapko kuch bhi bole, aap khud jaakar sab kuch batado. Face the consequences bravely and never repeat it. Simple." Neil advised her to which she finally nodded affirmatively.

 Neil just wanted Roohi to confess so that he can discuss with his Bhai about Akshara and try to see if there is something more than what met the eye. He got a work call and left to attend the call. Roohi was walking back and forth in the lobby, waiting for Abhimanyu to come out after freshening up. Abhir happened to come up to pick something from his room when they both collided. 

"I am sorry. Main bas..." Roohi apologized but Abhir curtly replied, 

"It's ok Di. Never mind." He went to his room and Roohi followed him with an annoyed expression.

Here she was worried about confessing to her father and this boy has shown her attitude. She wasn't thinking straight and barged into Abhir's room taking him by surprise. She didn't give him time to react and straight up started yelling, 

"Kya hain tera? Kyun muh bana raha hain baar baar? Jo bolna hain bolke khatam karna...kya silent treatment diye jaa raha hain? Main nahi ghumne wali tere peeche peeche tujhe manane.

Aisa behave kar raha hain jaisa tune kabhi kuch galat nahi kiya. Aisa bhi  kya hogaya?" She blabbered without realizing the impact it is having on Abhir. He was hurt by her reaction. 

He knew that she was apologetic about her actions, and she was handling the anger of too many loved ones. But wasn't she the one who brought that upon herself? Wasn't it her own doing? If she was facing the brunt of her actions, was it his mistake? If he needed time to deal with the fact that she left without informing anyone for an audition she rejected, was it actually his mistake? Was it too much to ask?

All these thoughts were going on his head as soon as he heard Roohi's words. On the other hand, Roohi was getting irritated by his prolonged silence.

"Abhir! Chup kyun hain ab? Bada tashan de raha tha na mujhe. Ab bol kyun nahi raha? Ek galti hogayi mujhse toh aise behave karega mere saath?" Roohi lashed out at him. 

That cleared the fog in Abhir's mind. His mind just refused to look beyond the hurt Roohi caused him. He was trying to give her a benefit of doubt, but her outburst snapped the last thread he was holding on to. Now he was stubborn enough to not look for reasons to forgive his Di. He decided to stay put on what he felt and didn't have the heart to consider anything else. Roohi observed the shift in his body language. 

Abhir stiffened a little and his anger was a lot more visible than before. Suddenly, the realization hit her. She has vented out her frustration on Abhir for no mistake of his. He was already pissed off with her and now she ended up making him furious. She could see the determination in his eyes. That very moment, she knew for a fact that she messed up big time again. 

Abhir can be very stubborn if he chose to, and she would have a very tough time pacifying her younger brother. Roohi was sure she wouldn't like it a bit. She tried doing some damage control immediately. 

"Dekh Bhai! I am sorry. Woh kisi aur cheez ka frustration tha jo tujh pe nikal gaya. I am really sorry. Gusse mein pata nahin kya anaap shanap boldiya maine. Please dil pe mat le." She requested. 

"Jo dil mein hota hain na, gusse mein wahi bahar aata hain. Aapne definitely aisa kuch nahi kaha jo aap mean nahi karte ho. 

Aap ko bas hosh nahi tha ki aap kya bole jaa rahe ho, isliye dil ki baat bahar nikal gayi." Abhir's response worried Roohi. She didn't understand why everything was just going out of hands.

Abhir continued, "I can understand aap ko aisa kyun lag raha hain. Aapko toh lagta hain ki main chota hoon aapse toh mujhe aapse itna gussa nahin karna chahiye. 

Sorry, disappointment nahi dikhana chahiye kyunki maine gussa toh kiya hi nahin tha in the first place. Aur agar galti se maine apni DISAPPOINTMENT express kardi toh woh meri ATTITUDE banjata hain." 

Abhir responded sarcastically and Roohi gulped at the prospects of this escalating with time. She predicted that all hell would break lose before they eventually patch up because both of them knew how to trigger each other. She didn't want that. She was too guilty to even put up a fight even if Abhir decided to start one. 

The fact that she was hiding such a big thing from her Poppy was making her nervous. She didn't want to let that feeling to complicate anything else for her anymore. So, she decided to go and speak to her Poppy. He is the only one who could help her sort this mess out even if he would make her regret giving into the urge so irresponsibly. She was ready to face all that instead of over complicating things and hurting her loved ones further.

She didn't realize when Abhir left. He was too upset to even share the same space as her without blasting her off. So, he chose to move to the terrace just to calm himself. Neil who was at the terrace answering a call saw a glum looking Abhir and wondered what must have happened in such a short time. He looked all fine at the dining table during snacks. He was on the call, but his eyes were fixated on Abhir.

He saw Abhir dropping and doing pushups aggressively and immediately understood that he was very, very angry. Abhir had done an excellent job with respect to controlling his temper and he often looked for a distraction that isn't harmful. He would have resorted to weights, but the recent fiasco made him skeptical about that being a safe enough option. So, he was rather inclined to doing push-ups. 

Abhir looked super tired and in pain, but he didn't stop. Neil got worried seeing his condition. He picked up a water bottle and rushed to stop him. Abhir's hands gave up and they were shivering when Neil reached out and supported him to get up. Abhir looked up to see Neil, but he looked away unable to match his Chachu's gaze. He knew he now owed him an explanation, but he really didn't feel like speaking.

To Be Continued......