Maa(si) | YRHPK SS

Chapter-2

Kunal's eyes shifted from Abir's shocked face to Meenakshi's happy one as she thanked him for the scissors, and back again to see a smile plastered on Abir's face. It almost seemed like Kunal had imagined his brother's reaction. Seeing Abir's smile provided him immense relief that his brother was not disappointed in him and he moved alongside Meenakshi to cut the ribbon and unveil the new logo for his company.

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After the logo unveiling, Kunal spent the entire event meeting with clients, investors and other guests at the party, constantly moving through the crowd in an attempt to avoid conversing with the one person he loved most in the world: his Bhai. During the unveiling, he had sneaked another glance at Abir and at that moment, the way Abir was looking at Parul made it clear to Kunal that he had not imagined the shocked expressions on his brother's face.

At this very moment, Kunal was trying his best but he was also exhausted with the effort he was putting in to avoid the inevitable conversation. After all, they lived in the same house and the celebrations would come to an end at some point in time.

As the crowd started decreasing, so did Kunal's blood pressure. Abir started moving towards Kunal the moment the last guest of the evening left. The only people left on the premises were the Rajvansh and Maheshwari family. Kunal started looking around at the family members eliminating his options on the probability of help they could provide him in this game of hide and seek. His chances seemed to be thinning by the second and Abir's feet were closing in on his location. He could see Abir's mouth forming his name, "Nanko" and right at that second, he heard another voice behind him, saying "Kunal!". He turned around to see who it was and let out a big sigh of relief. He saw the one person who he had been looking for; the only person who could help him delay this inevitable conversation: Meenakshi Rajvansh.

Kunal cleared his throat and said, "Ji maa!".

Meenakshi: "Ab saare guest jaa chuke hain to main tumse kuchh baat karna chaahti thi."

Kunal: "Boliye na maa."

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Abir waiting for the conversation to end. Luckily for him, Badi Maa came to his rescue and took Abir away.

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Kunal walked into the aangan of the house looking for Kuhu. He needed to know if she could help him arrange a small event for his employees. Turns out, Meenakshi wanted to introduce Mishti to the employees and also wanted to appreciate them for all their hard work this past year. What Kunal could not understand was the reason for the short notice. If he could have it his way, he would plan the event properly and not in such a hurry.

He found Kuhu in the dining area, talking to Ketu and Maami. Just looking at her made him feel a lot calmer. Kuhu must have felt his gaze because she turned to look at him right at the second he opened his mouth to call her name but then he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to his right to find the one person he had been avoiding all evening.

Kunal looked at Abir and tried to find words that would delay the conversation but none came to mind.

Abir: "Congratulations, Nanko! I am so proud of you!"

Kunal: "Huh?" What was Bhai talking about?

Abir: "Aise kya dekh raha hai? Teri company ko ek saal poora ho gaya hai. Isliye to itna bada event organize kiya hum sab ne mil ke."

Kunal: "Oh! Haan! Wo actually main kuch aur soch raha tha to thoda confuse ho gaya." So, all this while, I had been worried about nothing? Bhai just wanted to congratulate me on my success aur main pata nahi kya kya soch raha tha. Bhai ne kaha to tha that he will support me in whatever decision I make. Main itni der se bina reason hi worried tha. So stupid of me to still think 'mere bhai ko mujhse better koi nahi jaanta'. Of course, I was wrong!

Abir: "Tu confuse kaise ho sakta hai? Aaj itna bada din hai! Itni khushi ka din hai! Teri company ka naya logo launch hua hai, wo bhi teri maa ke haathon se. How can you be confused, Nanko?"

Kunal: There it was!! You do know your Bhai, Nanko. Stop doubting yourself just because you couldn't see that he was faking being happy for 3months. "Bhai! Mujhe iss bare me baat nahi karni hai. Please!"

Abir: "Kab tak? Kab tak tu sach se bhaagta rahega? Parul maasi hi teri maa hain aur ye sach tu chaah ke bhi nahi badal sakta. Iss baat ko tu jitni jaldi accept karega, utna achha hoga."

At that moment, all Kunal wanted was to run away. He didn't want to talk about this but he also didn't want to upset his brother. His Bhai, the person who chose him over his own happiness. But he couldn't handle it anymore.

Abir: "Soch ke dekh, Nanko. Parul maasi kitni khush hongi. Kitne saalon se intezaar kar rahi hain wo uss ek pal ka, jab unka beta unhe 'Maa' keh kar bulaayega. Jis insaan ne apni poori zindagi tere peechhe nikaal di, unhe tu apni maa ka darja nahi de sakta? Come on, Nanko!"

Nidhi: "Abir!! Ek baar idhar aa ne bhai! Apni behen ko tu hi samjha sakta hai.." and with that, Nidhi took Abir away, pulling him by his arm, while Abir tried to stand his ground but maami was too strong.

Kunal felt completely drained out. He looked around to see Kuhu looking intently in Nidhi, Abir and Ketu's direction and then sighing. He could not help but feel a smile coming on as Kuhu was turning to look in his direction when her Chachi came vying for her attention as well. This was when he realised that Kuhu's family and his family were scattered around the room and chatting away. He didn't want to seem rude so he decided to stick around and walked towards the sofas when Varsha and Shaurya stopped him.

Varsha: "Kunal beta! Main tumhe kab se dhoondh rahi thi. Event ke time tum busy the to disturb karna sahi nahi laga. Main tumhaare liye kuch laayi thi. Ye lo!"

Varsha handed him a gift wrapped box and he touched her and Shaurya's feet to take their blessings and thanked them.

Shaurya: "Khush raho!"

Varsha: "Tum bohot thake hue lag rahe ho! Aaj ka din kaafi hectic tha na? Jaa kar aaraam kar lo."

Kunal: "Nahin Mummy! Aap log mere liye ghar aaye hain aur main hi aap sab ko chhod kar rest karne chale jaaun. That wouldn't be fair!"

Shaurya: "Varsha bilkul theek keh rahi hai. Tumne aaj bohot kaam kiya hai. You need some rest. Hum log waise bhi abhi kuch der me nikal hi rahein hain. Beta, tum jaakar aaraam kar lo."

Naanu: "Bro! Maan le apni saas-sasur ki baat. Teri shakal dekh kar to mai old feel kar raha hoon."

Kunal shook his head as everyone laughed and walked upstairs to his room.

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Thank you much for all you guys' patience. Sorry for this super late update. I had been having a writer's block, as they say. I'll try to update the next chapter as soon as I can. I hope you guys liked this insight into Kunal's brain because this was just the beginning. I hope to completely unlock his thoughts in the next chapter. Till then, please leave your feedback so I can give you a better story.