We both entered the elevator. I didn't need it but for the sake of Drishti I went inside too.
"I hope that Veena Aunty gets some courage from this and would get help as early as possible," Drishti said, biting her lips in nervousness.
"Hopefully. But we can't be sure. I mean this a huge matter and not at all easy. I will keep checking on her but if my ghost disappears one day, please go and see once in a while whether she is okay or not. I know this a lot to ask but I hope you will do this," I requested.
"Of course. I will try to help her as much as I can," Drishti agreed with a determined smile.
"Maira, I won't be able to help you today as I need to go for the last minute checkings for tomorrow's competition," Drishti spoke as we got out of my society.
"Oh! Ok no problem. I will just on spy on Alisha and then later go and see Aman," I said.
"Alisha will also be there with me along with all competitiors. So, I will look out for her. And about Aman, I am not sure if he is back from village," Drishti informed.
"Village? When did he go?" I asked as at the time he was going to leave for his village, he was there at my funeral.
"He left after your last rituals were done," she replied, with a somber smile.
"Oh! Still, I will go and check. And yeah, please be careful on your way. If one of the competitors is the murderer and they might harm you too," I said, hoping that my fear wouldn't come true.
"Alright. I will be careful," Drishti nodded and we parted our ways.
I left towards Aman's home with mixed feelings.
We loved each other, always wanted best for each other but our last meeting ended up with a fight of selfishness from both the sides. He was feeling guilty and crying for me at the funeral but later he trusted the policemen when they accused me of being drunk and the reason of my death.
Before I could come to any conclusion, I reached his house.
Entering his home, I heard him talking to his mom.
I took a breathe of relief upon hearing him. He was back from the village.
"You should have stayed with your father. He lost his mom and needed you more," I saw his mom saying this to him.
He sat on the corner of his bed while his mom stood beside him, with her hand on his shoulder.
"I know dad needed me but so did you. What did you want me to do? Leave you stranded in an unknown place to wait until dad was done with the rituals?
"I can't believe how cruel his side of family is. Someone died and instead of focusing on that, they found it more important to stop you from entering the village," Aman spoke angrily, wiping the tears that had left his eyes.
"It's nothing new. They have never accepted me as I am from lower caste. I have come to terms with it but they have accepted you so....," his mom spoke but Aman interrupted her.
"So I should have left you alone under the sun to wait for us. Is that what you are trying to say? Mom, I have never liked the discrimination towards you and I won't like it in future either. You are one of the best person in my life. You understand that? I won't let anyone insult you," Aman spoke firmly, while standing up.
"One of the best? Whose the other?" His mom asked cheekily, trying to uplift Aman's mood.
But the opposite happened as his anger turned to guilt and sadness.
"Someone whose feelings were crushed by me just because I wanted to attend Grandma's funeral.
"Can you believe that I hurted one of the most important person of my life for the person whom I have hated since childhood. Now, I can't even apologize to her," Aman cried and his mom gave him a tight hug, patting his back to calm him down.
"Don't be like this. She wouldn't want you to cry in guilty. I am sure that she must have forgiven you. If she is that important to you then she must have known that the decision of going to village was hard for you too. She would have wanted you to remember her with a smile and not your ugly cry," She said, coming out of the hug and pinching his nose at the end.
Aman chuckled at that. Nodding, he promised, "You are right. Maira too didn't like to see me crying. I will remember our happy memories."
"That's like my good boy," saying this his mom left his room.
He sat back on his bed, holding my photo and started reminiscing of the days when we had just started dating.