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Author’s POV.........
Arjun went to Deepak's new mall. He had a tour around the mall even though it was raining heavily.
"Looks like it's nearly finished" Arjun said to Deepak.
"Yes Arjun, within 2 months the construction will be done and then stock will start coming in" Deepak replied.
"Oh cool!! I'm so proud of you Deepak. At this small age you’re reaching heights" Arjun said to Deepak for which he smiled.
"Why didn't you bring Vadina?" Deepak asked Arjun.
"Ermm she seemed like she was busy" Arjun said.
"I rang her when you were on the way because you weren't answering your phone. She said she wasn’t doing much" Deepak said looking out of the window.
"Oh" that was only Arjun managed to say.
"Are you still struggling to accept her?" Deepak asked due to his curiosity.
"We are living in that house as friends and we are happy that way" Arjun said wanting to avoid this conversation.
"But what happiness will you get from that? It's been four years since Anjali has passed away. At least try to understand each other and give a chance to this relationship" Deepak advised his brother.
"I'm not interested in this conversation Deepak. It's quite late now. I'm leaving" Arjun said and then left the place. The car was parked a little far from the construction site, meaning Arjun got drenched as there was no umbrella as well.
After a few minutes drive Arjun reached his house. Arpana was sitting on the couch watching the TV when Arjun opened the door. "Oh my god! You’re all wet" Arpana said, widening her eyes. She ran upstairs and came back with a towel and started aggressively drying his hair. Arjun stood there with shock. Even though she was struggling to reach him due to her height, she tried her best.
"Are you trying to rip my hair off?" Arjun asked her chuckling. Arpana frowned and looked at Arjun when she realised her actions.
"Oh I'm sorry Arjun. I just did it because you were all wet" Arpana said clutching tightly onto the towel. "There you go. You take a bath and by that time I will heat up the food" Arpana said and went to the kitchen to prepare some food for Arjun.
Whilst Arpana was making some side dishes, Arjun went to his room, had a quick shower and changed into a sweater and shorts. Meanwhile, Arpana came out of the kitchen with two plates filled with rice, sambar and some other traditional side dishes which looked delicious for Arjun.
"Did you make all this?" Arjun asked Arpana.
"Yep I did" Arpana replied.
"Wow! You don't need to do all this by yourself. Whenever I'm here, I'll help you too" Arjun explained to Arpana.
Both of them then settled and started eating. Arjun stared at Arpana and observed her for too long making her slightly uncomfortable so she ate the food quickly. "The food tastes nice" Arjun said as Arpana stood up with her empty plate now. "Thank you," Arpana replied. Arjun then watched Arpana walking away from him.
The rain was pouring now. The roaring winds, the lightning struck the skies. The dark clouds and the eerie silence frightened Arpana. She hated rain. She quickly closed the windows and the door to the terrace in fear of the weather triggering her feelings. Just as she closed the door to the terrace, a massive thunderstorm struck making Arpana jump in fear and dropped to the ground.
The rain, the ambulance, the taunting words all flashed across Arpana's mind suddenly, tears started streaming down her cheeks. Arpana was afraid of rain, as well as Vihan's death. All the negative life events in Arpana's life had rain and wind associated with it....
Sometimes the mind's thunder is more dangerous than the thunderstorms....
Arjun rushed upstairs hearing the sound "Arpana what happened" Arjun said and knelt to match Arpana's height, but Arpana was in another world. Arjun slowly shook her, not understanding what was happening. "Arpana! Arpana!" Arjun called out.
Immediately Arpana wrapped her hands around Arjun clutching tightly onto his sweater.
"What happened, Arpana?" Arjun asked her not knowing how to feel about her sudden gesture. Slowly, Arjun placed his hands around Arpana trying to comfort her. Arpana was crying so much and eventually, Arjun stopped asking her questions. He allowed Arpana to release her pent up emotions. After a very long time, Arpana stopped crying and realized what she was doing. She slowly lifted her head and stared into Arjun's eyes, slowly releasing her hands.
"I'm sorry," Arpana said quietly. "I don't know what happened exactly but the rain triggered my past and brought out all the feelings I was trying to control" Arpana told Arjun.
"It’s fine Arpana. You’re not weak when you cry. Don't forget you are a human. It's okay to have a meltdown sometimes. It’s a way of showing your strength by crying" Arjun replied to which Arpana nodded. She replied "But no matter how much I cry, the baggage is not leaving me Arjun. I'm still hanging onto my past" Arpana said.
Arjun didn't understand in what context Arpana was saying this because Arpana had told Arjun that she had accepted Vihan's death but he didn't want to dig deep into her past and trigger her emotions again. "I can understand you Arpana, maybe I'm the one who can relate to you the most. Hopefully one day, we will be able to move on and start fresh..." Arjun said slowly standing up from the floor and soon was followed by Arpana.
"It’s quite late, shall we go to bed?" Arpana asked Arjun, diverting the conversation. They then went to their respective rooms. Arpana was feeling a lot more relaxed and calm now. Over the years, many people have tried to comfort Arpana and have told her to move on but Arjun’s words have managed to create the effect in Arpana that everyone else has failed to. Arpana sat on the bed and kept on thinking of Arjun's embrace. Strangely at that moment, Arpana liked the warmth and the protection she felt when his arms were around here.
The rain is also calm now, just like her mind. Feeling peaceful, Arpana placed the blanket around her and went to sleep.
Meanwhile, Arjun was walking back and forth in his room. He was worried whether Arpana was okay in her room. He saw her in a vulnerable state today. Whenever bad things happen to him, she is the one who motivated him. But he realised the agony behind all those motivational speeches. Arjun liked seeing Arpana happy...
Arjun was feeling nervous as well. Arpana was creating a huge influence in his life more than what he had expected. He was thinking of her more often and starting to become more attached to her. Arjun didn't want to see Arpana in another way.
Thinking of all this Arjun sat on his bed and looked at Anjali's picture and sighed. "Did you see everything that had happened today? A police officer visited me in the morning to enquire about your death. Your family thinks that I have killed you. It's like a knife being stabbed into my heart. Why did you have to leave me Anjali? Why did I have to go through everything I did in life?
Today I saw Arpana vulnerable. I don't know why but I felt something after seeing her in that state. What is it Anjali? Is it just empathy or something else I don’t know?
Then just when he was asking all these questions, Arjun remembered Deepak's words but this time in Anjali’s voice...
"At least try to understand each other and give a chance to this relationship".
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"Grief is like an earthquake. The first one hits you and the world falls apart. Even after you put the world together again there are aftershocks and you will never really know when those will come."
-Unknown
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I had published this chapter yesterday night, but I don't think many of saw it. I am not sure why that happened, so I am publishing it again.
How was the chapter ?
I have published a bonus chapter for my first story 'The Arranged Marriage', if you were a previous reader of the story please do check it out.
Thank you kiki8775 for editing the chapter ❤