Unedited.
Target: 290 votes
Dhruv's POV:
"Dhruv!" Just when I was about to go upstairs, I heard my name being called by someone. I instantly spun around to see my grandpa coming from the garden.
"What are you doing out at this time?" I asked him since it was so unusual of him to stay up so late at night.
"I am waiting for you," he said monotonously.
"Why?"
"How long? How long do you guys plan to play hide and seek?" Instead of answering my question, he implored me. Though he didn't say explicitly, I understood what he was implying. I just sighed in return and tried to give him a small smile.
"Don't smile at me, okay! Believe me, I really hate to see that lifeless expression on her face. This house seems so scary to me without her giggles. I hate her being so distant from us. Who asked you to marry her in the first place? Okay. Fine. You married her but who asked her to become one among us in such a short time? Who asked her to be so lively and caring? If only she was a little less lovely, it would have been so easy for us to face her indifference." He said in a sad tone and I gulped a lump in my throat as I knew I was the reason for all of this.
"Why is she punishing us? Without her nagging and jesting, my day doesn't seem like a day at all. Bring her back, you punk. You are the only one who can bring back her cheery self. Try your best without giving up. I want my granddaughter back." He grimly asserted while pointing his finger at me.
"Don't worry. You will witness her cheerful laughter soon. Very soon. Believe me," Saying this slowly, I went to my room and slumped on the couch before leaning back tiredly as my mind drifted back to the memory of having the first-ever conversation with her mom.
•Flashback•
"Bava? What are you doing here? Where is Akka? Didn't she come with you?" Swaru chirped, the moment I stepped inside their house.
"No. She doesn't know about my visit here." I said while moving ahead and she mumbled a simple 'oh' before gesturing me to take a seat.
"Swaru! After... After that day, have you tried talking to your sister?" In reply, she just shook her head slowly.
"Why? Are you also blaming her like the rest? Do you also think that she is responsible for your situation?" Hearing my words, she hurriedly waved her hands in front of me in protest while shaking her head profusely.
"What? How could I.. I mean...why would I blame her when there was no mistake of hers in the first place?" I sighed and shook my head a little.
"Then why didn't you call her at all? You know what she is thinking. She is assuming that you started hating her after knowing the truth as you didn't even call or attend her calls and started blaming herself for everything." I stated and stood up when I saw her getting up from the couch.
"What an idiot! I am really sorry about that. I completely forgot about her overthinking self while wrapping up my head around the newfound truth. I better call her right now and clear the air between us." When she attempted to go to her room, I stopped her.
"No no. Don't call her for now and do me a favor. Tell me Where your mother is, I mean, where is Athayya?" I sounded awkward as this was the first time where I even got a chance to address her formally.
"Mom? She must be in her room! Why are you asking about her?" She asked me while guiding the way to Athayya's room.
"Will let you know soon. Can I have a moment with her?" She nodded at me and excused herself from there as I hesitantly lifted my hand to knock on the door. When I heard the slight 'come in', I headed in slowly.
She seemed to be surprised by my presence when she saw me in her room as she hurriedly stood up from the bed and walked up to me.
"Is everything okay?" She asked me in a worried tone.
"Yeah. Everything is fine. I came here to talk to you about Aaru if you don't mind." I stated the purpose of my visit politely.
"Aaru? I understand. Take a seat first." Giving me a curt nod, she gestured me towards the chair in her room. Once I got settled, I kept quiet as I didn't know how to initiate the talk.
"How is she doing?" After a while, she asked me in a low voice.
"To be honest, she is just living," I said while shifting my glance towards the window.
"What?"
"Only you can help me in bringing a little life in her," I said, trying to gauge her reaction.
"What do you mean? What exactly had happened? I thought she would do good after opening up her heart in front of you." She asked me with a frown.
I could clearly sense the worry in her tone and witnessing it, my heart eased a little as she would definitely pay heed to my words. The obvious concern in her tone was the only reason why I was still sitting in front of her and decided to go ahead with my conversation.
If it was another way around and she was least bothered about Aaru, I would have definitely walked out the minute I noticed her indifference because Aaru was better off without the people like her and like me. But thankfully, that was not the case. She seemed to be genuinely worried about Aaru.
"Well. Actually, I am the reason for it and I am not proud of it. I don't know how to mend everything and bring a smile to her face. So the least I could is to at least cast one of her worries away from her heart." Instead of saying anything, she stayed silent while listening to me calmly.
"I know I am neither in a position nor worthy enough to suggest the elders when all I do is, hurting her every damn time but I really hope to mend her relationship with you. I want her to feel the mother's love that she always craves, at least for once in her life and I can say that, you really care for her and love her but I don't know what's stopping you from expressing it. She would be really happy if you chose to put everything behind and show some of your care towards her openly."
Hearing me say all these, she took a deep breath while blinking away her tears.
"After everything has happened between us, is there still a chance for making amendments?" She gave me a self-deprecating smile.
"No. After inflicting so much pain on her innocent heart and soul, do I even deserve to be called a mother? No..right? So she is better off without a mother like me." She wiped the tear that escaped her eye as I shook my head.
"I can't comment on whether you deserve to be her mother or not but I can only say that she deserves your love. Having faced a lot in her life, she deserves everything even when they are unworthy of being in her life. She needs you even when she won't say anything. I hope you will give it a thought and let me know your decision soon." I said what I want to say, leaving everything up to her.
"Also please let her experience a normal life at least from now on," I mumbled while standing up to take my leave after I saw her thinking deeply.
"I will. I will try to seek her forgiveness sincerely." She said when I was about to head out. Turning around I passed her a smile.
"Actually she never wants you to seek her forgiveness. What she needs is your love, not your apologies and I am glad you chose to make amendments. So, Athayya, is it okay for you to visit her tomorrow? I really don't want to delay it further." She nodded at me and gave me a small smile before coming along with me to send me out.
"Are you going to give up on her?"she asked me on the way as I shook my head in denial.
"No. I will never do that. I am just giving her some space." I affirmed and she passed me a genuine smile before nodding at me.
"Swaru, give a visit to her tomorrow along with Athayya!" I told her once I saw her roaming here and there in the living room.
Listening to me, she gave me a look of disbelief before shifting her gaze on her mom as I left immediately without giving her any further explanation as I knew her mom would explain everything.
•End of the flashback•
I didn't even know when I drifted into sleep while still being in the sitting position on the couch. I woke up only to the ringing of my alarm and rubbing my sleepy eyes, I looked down to see that I was still in my yesterday's outfit as I dozed off without my knowing.
After coming back from my morning jog, I swiftly got ready to leave for my office though it was Sunday. Getting ready in the formals, I went to the balcony that was at the very end of this floor to soak in the sun as my routine.
Standing there, I called Swaru and told her to keep this a secret from Aaru. Also asked her to inform the same to her mom.
Ending the call, when I was passing the guest room where Aaru was staying, I suddenly heard the loud thud as if someone had banged the door hurriedly. Thinking of something, I thinned my lips with a frown
"Does she really hate to see my face that much?" At this thought, I felt a pang in my heart but masking the expression of hurt almost immediately, I left the house silently as no one would really bother about my unusual timings because everyone was pretty angry at me just like how I was angry at myself for being a jerk.
As the day went on, I completely immersed myself in the work and when it was evening, Ravi entered my office unannounced and started his whining.
"Anna, why are you torturing me on Sundays too? I thought you changed for good after getting married but no, you have only become worse." He started his nonsense as I massaged my throbbing temples of being experiencing slight discomfort at his loud Irritating voice.
"Stop shouting. I never asked for your presence in the first place. You are the one who chose to come here saying that, 'how can I rest when the boss is working?' You can't blame me for your own decisions and you can leave now if you want." I told him irately and chose to shift my attention back to the work.
"Whatever! If I am going to leave, you have to come with me too as I can't go, leaving you here all alone where I have to keep on worrying about your safety. So it's enough working for today. Let's go." Saying this, he attempted to drag me up from the seat.
"Hey! Leave my hand, you punk. I am not a child for you to worry about me all the time. Go and do your business." I yelled at him, getting irritated at his action while trying to escape from his clutch.
"Huh! A kid is way better than you. Actually, it's an order from uncle to send you home early as you are over-exerting yourself too much these days." Hearing this, I immediately stopped struggling and wriggled out of his hold once he loosened his grip around me.
"I should have used uncle's name before doing all this drama when I knew all my efforts were definitely going to be fruitless in front of you," He stomped his feet like a child and removed the pen drive from the laptop before placing it in the drawer and shut down the laptop on my behalf.
Rambling about something, he kept on following me while stepping on my shoes occasionally.
"Walk properly, you idiot!" I seethed out before entering the elevator as he shrugged his shoulders before following my suit.
Once we were in the parking area, I unlocked my car and settled on the driver's seat before buckling the seat belt around me.
"Thanks for the ride, Anna." Announcing, he shamelessly hitched a ride while grinning at me like he did an unimaginable thing.
"I am too tired. I can't drive all the way to your house and then to mine. So take a -"
"Don't worry! Just drop me at the nearest bus stop. It's fine with me." Nodding at him, I continued driving.
"Anna, are you going to Italy personally?" He asked me out of nowhere and still keeping my eyes on the road, I answered him.
"I am not sure but Darshith is insisting that it would be better for me to go there personally. Let's see what we can do,"
I told him honestly because I was really unsure about my trip to Italy as I didn't want to leave anywhere before making everything right between us. I didn't want to be called a coward who escaped from the circumstances. Her hate or her anger, I would face it without getting wavered from my initial goal of making her smile again.
"Okay! Here, stop here. I will take a cab or bus but you seemed to be really tired, will you be really okay on your own or should I drive you home instead?" He asked me while getting off the car as I stopped it in front of the bus stop.
"No. It's fine. Thanks for understanding," I said as he just waved off his hands at me.
Driving off away from there, I slowly pulled over the car to the side of the road and rested my droopy head on the steering wheel. After a while, when I felt somewhat better, I again started driving and reached home.
As I stepped inside and witnessing the scene that was playing in front of me, all the tiredness that I felt till now had vanished into thin air, and soon a smile tugged at my lips as I stood at the entrance itself to observe her.
She was sitting on the carpet as everyone surrounded her and kept on listening to what she was animatedly saying with utmost interest. She was talking continuously while giggling occasionally while covering her mouth with her hand when she laughed.
With a smile, I slowly ascended the stairs by making my presence as minimum as possible to not disturb the joyful spell in the house.
Going into my room, I had a quick bath and slumped on the bed as my sleep overpowered my hunger. So ignoring the grumbling of my stomach, I soon dozed off with a thought to take a small nap before continuing with my work.
It was nearly twelve in the night when I couldn't resist my hunger anymore and woke up to grab something to eat. Yawning, I made my way to the kitchen and took out some bread.
Just when I was applying some spread on them, I heard the shuffling sound. As I turned around and saw that Aaru was running out of the house hurriedly as if she was in some kind of emergency.
Frowning, I put down the things in my hand and hurried after her. When she was about to get on her bike, I held her hand and glanced at her eyes that were full of tears.
"What happened? Where are you going at this time?" I asked her in a gentle tone and lifted my hand in an attempt to wipe her tears which she swatted immediately and tried to shake my hold off her.
Thanks for reading.
I will try to update another chapter in a day or two.
Also, don't forget to read the note in the next chapter.
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