Chronicles of Life

#chap51 #chroniclesoflife #Sagas_by_Irvika #sweetlovestory

That magical moment didn’t last for long and the lights were back. They pulled apart with a jerk. Thankfully, they hadn’t been noticed as it had been quite dark.

Atharva ran a hand through his hair in frustration for losing control in public. Never ever had he let that happen as he loathed such a display. Shruti could judge his reaction and couldn’t suppress a giggle. She teased, “Atharva the great lost his control in a public place? Unheard of! Happy New Year!”
Before he could respond, she walked away towards the friends and greeted everyone. Atharva shrugged and joined them.

They enjoyed for a while more and decided to head back.

To be continued....

They were half way back when Atharva heard a beep. He checked his mobile and was shocked to see so many missed calls. He quickly checked the call list and saw that they were all from Minish. In that one moment, a hundred thoughts crossed his mind as to what must have happened and cursed under his breath for having missed the calls. Shruti jerked her head towards him as he did so and gave him a questioning look.

He immediately called, “Sorry Minish. Didn’t hear the phone ringing coz of the loud music.” There was sound of muffled sobs from the other end, which added to Atharva’s restlessness.
Minish could barely utter, “How long will you take to come home?”
Atharva replied, “15 mins max. Will reach as soon as possible.”
Judging from his voice, he could make out the reason and refrained from asking further as they weren’t alone in the car. Shruti squeezed his hand to assure him that everything will be alright. He simply urged Krunal to drive as quickly as possible, not bothering to divulge any details.

Soon they were home. Atharva and Shruti were shocked to see the state in which Minish was. Atharva asked Shruti to fetch a glass of water for Minish while he took him in the room, since it was quite late and everyone seemed to be asleep.
Atharva held him by the shoulders and asked, “Tell me what happened Minish. You were alright till we left.”
Shruti had come by that time, offered Minish to have water which he refused. Atharva said a bit authoritatively, “Minish, have water first and calm yourself down.” Minish gulped it down, after which Atharva patted his shoulder and inquired, “Now tell me. Why have you been crying like this?”
Minish said in his tearful voice, “Papa refused to agree..”

Atharva and Shruti were shell shocked to hear and Atharva immediately chided him, “Why did you bring up the matter right now Minish?! Just yesterday we had decided that we shall take it up after the marriage is over.”
Minish shook his head and said in a desolate tone, “I wasn’t left with an option. Rhea had called up in the evening saying that her parents were insisting her to meet guys. She had been postponing it since a few months saying she wasn’t ready. But today evening, she had no excuse to put it off anymore. One of her relatives has suggested a very good family and inspite of her refusals, her parents were quite adamant that she should at least meet up. I was in a desperate situation, couldn’t tolerate her crying like this and ended up talking to Papa. But he… he didn’t even bother to listen. I had thought mummy will support me, but seeing him in such a foul mood, she didn’t speak a word.”
By then, tears were continuously streaming down his face. All of them felt helpless as Mr Shah was tough to please and unreasonable at times.

Atharva tried to console Minish and said, “Let it sink in Minish. We knew his views, right? We shall take it up with him tomorrow. Let’s hope for the best.”
Shruti couldn’t contain herself any longer, “But why did mummy not say anything? She knows about it. She could have at least defended and said something positive!”
Both Atharva and Minish winced at her words and Minish returned, “Mummy will never do that when Papa is in a foul mood.” Atharva agreed, “Yes, or else Papa will blast on her as well. We need to handle this tactfully.”
It was past 3 a.m. by the time they slept. Although everyone was weary, they were mulling over the matter, trying to think how to convince their father.