Exile

22. MEMORIES OF THE WOMAN THEY LOVED!!

Advitya's eyes teared up again. He couldn't even say a good bye to her. For the nth time, he cursed himself for not being there on that night!! Advitya gulped the lump formed in his throat and pulled back "She wouldn't want us to cry, Akki. She would want us to bring her Agastya back, to where he belongs. She just wanted us to be happy. Lets not make her sad. Wherever she is, she must be looking at us."

Akshat nodded and the brothers sat down in silence for some time before Akshat spoke "Woh aurat kaha hai?"

Advitya stiffened and his expressions hardened "Vahi hai jaha use hona chahiye!" His tone was biting.

Akshat didn't probe further but he spoke in a daze "Ek Bhabs hain jinke jaane se hum aise hogaye...Ek woh aurat hain jiske aane se sab kharab hogaya." 

"I should have listened to Bhaiyya!" Advitya lamented on his past decisions and Akshat continued "Mujhe bhi sunna chahiye tha. I didn't even let him speak. Yeh sab meri wajah se hua hain."

Advitya sighed listening to that "All of us are equally wrong Akki. Hum galat they per unhone bhi kuch mahan kaam nahi kiya. He needed us after Bhabs......We needed him. I needed him after I got to know how I got betrayed. I wanted to apologise so badly. I still do. BAS EK BAAR DIKH JAAYE! MIL JAYE!!" He wished

"Didn't you say that he has to apologize first?" Akshat taunted him. How much ever his bhaiyyu tried to convince himself that their bhaiyya was wrong, the guiLt was too real, to get convinced completely!!

"He should do that first. Pehle is duniya mein aaye hain...maafi bhi pehle wohi mangenge." He said but he didn't give Akshat any time to retort "Time pass band kar. Let's start with our job at hand. Kuch na kuch toh milega Aaj. I am hopeful" Advitya got up and Akshat followed him, rolling his eyes!! 

While Advitya and Akshat are on their mission "Getting Bhaiyya back", Agastya started to the college, after he had breakfast. Re-analyzing his priorities and putting his mind else where last night, helped him calm down. It didn't hurt him now, or so he thought. As much as tried to remember his girl with a smile on his face, guilt ate him from inside and a sharp pain shot through his chest all the time. 

Agastya got startled when he heard a crash. He looked around only to find a boy falling off the bike. He ran to the boy's aid, helping him with the bike. Before he could assess for the boy's injuries, a woman came running to them, probably the boy's mother, and started fussing over him. She yelled once she saw that her son is fine "Jab chalani nahi aati hai, tho kyu chalata hai tu? ..." She went on and on until she is done and finally looked at Agastya. 

The scowl on her face is replaced with a warm smile. She thanked him for the help and Agastya started hiccupping at the same time. The woman patted his back "Koi yaad kar raha hoga!" She said with a smile and Agastya smiled to himself before he walked away while the woman started teaching her son, how to ride a bike without falling down.

A smile graced his face as he remembered how Amrita used to laugh it off when someone said that to her about hiccups. She was the sweetest woman he ever met. 

He never liked to admit himself, but he envisioned a future with her, just at the first sight of her. He could never forget that day and neither could he forget how he zoned every other person out of sight, in a stadium of 2000 students!! 

Even at the first sight, she managed to have his whole attention for her. She was always a charmer. And she charmed Agastya Gautam without even trying to!! But that charm became the bane of his existence, when he had to stay mad at her!! Staying mad at her in itself was the hardest thing and whenever she tried to use her charm on him, it became hardest to the power infinity. But he always managed to pull it off and he can't be more proud of himself for that!! 

As he walked himself to the college, the memories walked through his memory of one such incident when she made tried every tactic in the book to pacify him.

******

Agastya Gautam never had to teach anyone how to ride a bike. Advitya learned it by himself, going behind his back, for which the boy got thrashed badly as Advitya took the bike without telling anyone and the boy was just 17 then!! Advitya taught Akshat and he only ever had to teach Amrita but he had to back off because of Amrita's medical history. 

When he had to say NO to Amrita, he felt much more bad than she felt. 

Who would like to say NO to their girlfriend's firsts? Absolutely No one! 

Not when the girlfriend is Amrita Singhal. There is absolutely nothing that she didn't do before he met her! Even at the age of 19, she behaved as if she saw the world, which she did. 

She is the sweetest woman, but just for him. The woman who is wronged her own relatives after her parents' deaths can be anything but sweet. It took her 3 years to trust him completely and he never pushed her. He just made sure that he is worth her trust. After that there is no looking back! She just wanted love and he had that in abundance. 

He believed in marriages and tradition but she did not. Yet, she respected his choices. They decided to enjoy their girl friend - boy friend phase until they got married. He wanted to make her his wife for almost 6 months now, but she is in the peaks of her career and he didn't want to disrupt it in anyway. Because when they are married, he wanted her to himself for atleast 6 months!! Whenever that facilitates, he won't delay it. 

He was in his own thoughts when Vivek knocked the door. He composed himself and realised that there is a board meeting fixed. He got up, buttoned his suit, ignored the phone that is pinging with messages and walked to the board room. 

As Agastya entered the boardroom, his commanding presence filled the space. He demanded attention and the other members of the board instinctively straightened in their seats, a sign of respect for the man who leads them. 

Agastya outlined the Agenda with precision, expecting nothing less than excellence from each person in that room. They were half way into the meeting when the door of board room opened irritating Agastya like anything. He looked at the door and his anger only intensified. 

The audacity of this woman. 

He looked back at his board 

"This meeting is over ladies and gentleman." He dismissed the board in the middle of a meeting!

Amrita walked in while everyone left without a word. She is not at all surprised that none asked questions. Agastya Gautam is not in Asia's top 5 just like that! 

But If Agastya thought that he will be able to avoid her, then he is definitely wrong. If he is The Agastya Gautam, then she is his girlfriend!! She gave him enough time already. She didn't bother him the whole night and that should be more than enough! She rested her leg like a good girl she is and this is high time he accepted her apology and let her hug him. She walked straight to him and settled down on his lap, before he could walk away. He glared her but she gave him a smile. If she was not at the receiving end of his glare, she would have told him how hot he was looking. 

....To be continued!

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Lots of Love!!
Sathvika!!