🎶 Kaun Mera
Published on 16.05.2021
● A U T H O R ●
Vihaan immediately went to open the door on hearing the doorbell ring.
"We're supposed to reach by seven and it's already six thirty!" He shot at Aarohi as soon as he saw her on the other side.
"I know but there was this kid- "
"We can talk about your hospital diaries later on. Go and get ready." He said hurriedly cutting her off.
Aarohi quickly removed her sandals and kept on the shoe rack and rushed to her room after drinking the glass of water handed to her by Vihaan.
Vihaan was wearing a white shirt with a black jacket over it and black jeans. Aarohi came out wearing a black anarkali suit which had gold embroidery. She had left her straight hair open and had applied minimal makeup on her face.
"We're twinning." She said with surprise and he turned to look at her.
Vihaan's eyebrows raised up on instinct. Aarohi always looked pretty to him but she looked prettier today. His eyes trailed over her body observing how perfectly the outfit fitted her frame. Maybe this is what people meant when they said women look extra beautiful in traditional wear.
He frowned when he realized something. "Weren't you supposed to wear saree?"
"I was. But we're already late and if I start wearing a saree, we're gonna be super late." Aarohi explained. "Should I change? Amrit really wanted me to wear a saree today?" She asked with genuine worry, fiddling with her dupatta.
"No, it's okay. You can wear saree some other day. She won't mind. Let's go." Vihaan pacified her and they left.
Throughout the car drive, Aarohi couldn't stop sneaking glances at Vihaan who looked quite classy. The black jacket making him look more charming.
Amrit got her results today and she was the valedictorian of her University. She was pursuing biotechnology and has now completed her masters. So to celebrate her achievement, everyone planned a get together with only family people. Aarohi's family was also invited. Amrit had specifically told, actually begged Aarohi to wear a saree since she had never seen her sister in law in it.
Vihaan and Aarohi reached the mansion and Aarohi quickly got out of the car, straightening up her dress. She shared a nervous look at Vihaan, already feeling anxious of everyone's reaction since they were late. They went inside, walking close beside each other.
Everyone was present. They made their way towards Amrit who was chattering and giggling with two of her friends. Vihaan tapped on her shoulder and she turned. "Bhai, Aarohi," she shrieked in joy.
They hugged her.
"I was waiting for you since past one hour." Amrit complained.
"I had an emergency so I couldn't leave early. I'm sorry." Aarohi apologized holding her hands.
"I think we must leave now." One of the girl spoke. "It's already been three hours."
The girls once again congratulated Amrit and left after exchanging few more words.
Amrit turned and her face fell. "I was looking forward to see you in a saree." She murmured sadly looking at Aarohi.
"Amu, I too wanted to but we were already late. Some other day maybe.." Aarohi looked at Amrit with her gaze soft and her voice tender.
"You should have worn a saree." They heard a voice.
"Aarohi, you should have taken care." Aarohi's mother, Rachna said disappointedly.
"Mummy, I said I was getting late." She stated, a little irritated.
"It's fine Aunty," Amrit intervened. "It's not a big deal." She forced a smile.
"You just asked for one simple thing and she couldn't even do that." Her mother expressed her displeasure and Aarohi found it hard to not feel upset over it.
"Mummy, don't worry." Vihaan said to Rachna and smiled. "And I guess Aarohi looks pretty in whatever she wears." He added fondly.
"That's very true." Amrit agreed, understanding that it really wasn't a big deal.
"Let's go and meet everyone else."
"Y'all go. I need to talk to Aarohi." Rachna said when she noticed her daughter not meeting her eyes.
Rachna stood in front of Aarohi when Vihaan and Amrit left.
"The girl was excited to see in a saree."
"I know that and I realise that more than anyone else because she was excited for me." Aarohi shot back rudely.
"Watch your tone." Rachna warned. "These are the small things that you could do to make people around you happy. It's not too much they're asking for."
When Aarohi didn't reply and turned her face away, her mother sighed.
"Aarohi, I just wa- "
"You just want the best for me. You don't hate me. You just want things to be good for me so that I can be happy." Aarohi cut her off. "If this is what you want to say then I already know it. You don't have to waste your energy. Thank you." Saying that, she walked towards the rest of their family leaving her mother dumbstruck.
Vihaan looked at her questioningly and she blinked at him in assurance. Aarohi greeted the rest of her family and took her place beside her brother, Armaan. Rachna too came back.
"This is for you." Vihaan forwarded a wide box wrapped up in gift paper towards Amrit.
She looked at her brother in shock. "You brought a gift for me!?" She asked in pure astonishment.
Vihaan nodded with a smile.
"Oh my god!" Amrit grabbed the gift and started unwrapping it. Her eyes were left wide open when she saw the Apple MacBook Pro.
"You told me a few days back that you were facing some issue with your MacBook so I brought a new one." Vihaan said, crossing his arms.
"Bhai," she looked up at him in gratitude. She flung herself on him and hugged him keeping the MacBook aside. "I love you so damn much."
"You got your results in the morning and by evening, you've the best gift. Lucky bitch." Smriti commented earning a slap on her arm from her mother at her choice of words.
Aarohi felt her mood getting better looking at the endearing scene.
Vihaan excused himself when he got a call. The rest of them immersed themselves in conversations with each other. Aarohi noticed how Vihaan and his parents didn't exchange a word since the time they've been here but atleast his parents weren't making him feel bad again. Seeing Vihaan hurt was the last thing she wanted to see today.
"I'll just be back in a while." Amrit stoop up making her way towards the kitchen. She filled herself a glass of water and was just about to step out of the kitchen when she bumped into a hard body and lost her balance.
The glass fell breaking into pieces. The water spilled.
"Aah." Amrit screamed when a piece of glass cut her skin under her foot, digging into the flesh as blood started flowing. Her eyes welled up.
"Amu!" Vihaan hastily cut the call and shoved the phone in his pockets. He moved Amrit away from the pieces of glass and crouched down. He slightly picked her leg up. "Amu, I'm so sorry." He slowly pulled the piece of glass out of her foot and she once again yelled in pain.
The whole family had arrived by then, looking worriedly at the scene in front of them.
"Vihaan take her to the room. I'll do the bandaging." Aarohi said as Vihaan and Smriti helped Amrit walk and made her sit on the bed. Vanita, Amrit's mother was quick to bring the first aid box and hand it to Aarohi.
"Hey, don't cry. It's okay. Just a little bit of pain." Aarohi tried comforting Amrit who was holding her mother's hand tightly as she started cleaning the wound.
"It's done." Aarohi said fixing the end of the bandage with the bandage clip.
"I didn't want to hurt you." Vihaan kneeled beside the bed, looking at Amrit guiltily.
"Bhai, it was just an accident." Amrit said in a low voice.
"You always have to ruin things, don't you?"
Vihaan straightened up and turned around meeting his shocked gaze with his mother's accusing ones. Aarohi was rooted in her position. Even her parents and brother looked surprised. Aakash pinched the bridge of his nose feeling tensed.
"Bhabhi, no." Vanita warned Sandhya to not create any scene.
"What? Everytime there's something good Vihaan has to ruin it. Everything was going so good and now Amrit is on the bed with a broken leg." Sandhya seethed vehemently.
"Chachi, it's just a cut!" Smriti cried out seeing her aunt exaggerating things.
"And it wouldn't have been if he was careful. We would have been celebrating now and not worried. Amrit wouldn't have been in pain." Sandhya shot back, her every word venomous.
"Chachi stop. I'm fine. I'm not blaming Bhai then why are you?" Amrit argued, totally baffled by her aunt's reaction.
Aarohi looked at Vihaan who was staring at nothing in particular, his fists clenched tight and he looked so broken, so hurt. He couldn't speak anything because he didn't want to inflict the same pain that her Mom was inflicting on him. Aarohi could feel his torment to her very bones and all she wanted was to take him away from this toxic environment.
Sandhya gasped. "You feel I'm blaming him?" She asked Amrit in disbelief. "It's high time he takes responsibility of his actions. He- "
"Enough!"
The voice echoed and the entire room fell silent. Everyone's eyes was fixed on one face who looked beyond furious. Aarohi.
Aarohi stood on her feet and looked straight into her mother in law's eyes.
"Enough Mom. Stop removing all your frustrations on Vihaan. He's your son, please." She said calmly.
"Don't speak when you don't know anything." Sandhya warned.
Vihaan held Aarohi's elbow and shook his head softly, telling her to not fight back. But Aarohi freed herself from his grasp.
"Vihaan has told me what had happened. I might not know the story from your perspective Mom, but I do know it from his. He doesn't deserve to be guilt tripped for something he hasn't done. He's being punished for no fault of his. Just because he doesn't retaliate back strongly, doesn't make it okay or fair. He loves you a lot so he won't hurt you back. But how can't you see his pain? Don't you feel sorry for treating him like that? Removing your frustrations on him, blaming him for every single thing, masking your insecurities, your flaws by making him feel pathetic about himself? Even now, you're doing the same. You're trying to make him believe that it's his fault because the truth is ugly. You're scared to accept that maybe you went somewhere wrong, your parenting went somewhere wrong that Vedika Di found it leaving y'all more convenient than face y'all and tell the truth. And if not that, then you surely know that her fears were valid and that's why you try so hard to put the blame on Vihaan than accept your fault." Aarohi blurted out in one go as the colour drained from everyone's faces.
"Aarohi, shut up and apologize." Vihaan whisper yelled and said to her sternly.
"That's not the way you talk to elders and it's their family matter, you don't have to interfere." Her father chastised her.
"Am I not a part of this family? And the person who's being wronged here is my husband and hence it's very much my matter." Aarohi stated determinedly. If someone is wrong, he is wrong. It didn't matter who the person was for Aarohi.
Rachna strode towards her daughter and grabbed her arm, forcing Aarohi to face her.
"Stop answering back to elders and apologize or else I'll slap you." Rachna threatened Aarohi. "Just because we don't say anything to you doesn't mean you keep crossing your limits. We provided you with everything you need, strived to give you a good life and this is how you repay us? I'm so ashamed." She felt appalled.
Aarohi chewed on her bottom lip when she felt hot tears forming in her eyes. "Just because you're our parents doesn't mean you've to be right always." She murmured softly, her gaze casted down. "Just because everything looks hunky dory on the surface doesn't mean we're truly happy. Agreed that y'all do a lot for us and I truly appreciate that but how does that mean that we do nothing in return?" She looked up with glossy eyes. "There are innumerable occasions where I did things which I didn't want to because you wanted me to." She looked into her parents eyes as she continued. "You people are the first one to scold me when I do some mistake but then why aren't you the first one to appreciate me when I do something good? Am I so- so bad?" Her voice broke as tears started to flow down her cheeks. "I know you both love me, care for me but why is it so difficult to express it? Don't you see how happy I get when you simply acknowledge my efforts? How easily y- you," she sniffled, "you said that you're ashamed of me." She swallowed the lump formed in her throat as those traitorous tears continued to stream very much against her will.
Vihaan gently took her hand in his, interlaced their fingers and pulled her closer. Seeing Aarohi being emotionally vulnerable always managed to crush his heart due to the heaviness. How did everything get so serious? When did something that started off with him getting blamed turned to Aarohi getting hurt?
"Aarohi what are you even trying to imply?" Her father asked, looking completely puzzled.
"Can we just end this here?" Aakash, Vihaan's father interjected. "Let's drop everything. Everyone has been stressed enough for today."
"I guess we must leave now." Vihaan stated with an emotionless face before turning towards Amrit. "Sorry for ruining your day Amu." He apologized.
Aarohi, when she felt sober, looked up connecting her eyes with Sandhya who looked on the verge of crying.
"I'm sorry for hurting you and being rude. But if you can't treat someone right then it's better to stay away or cut them off rather than repeatedly causing them anguish." And although there was a firmness in her voice, her eyes begged to her mother in law.
Aarohi ignored her parents and hugged her brother who mouthed a sorry to her to which she shook her head. Vihaan casted a last glance at others and they exited.
The car drive back home was a silent one except the occasional sniffling of Aarohi and Vihaan tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.
Aarohi didn't want to see either of their parents again or talk to them if this is what's going to happen always. Whereas Vihaan wanted to sort issues between Aarohi and her parents. He realized and understood that the issues between them is because of a lack of proper communication and keeping their emotions to themselves rather than letting the other one know. The day wasn't supposed to go in this direction. He felt terrible to even think how Amrit must be feeling in all this mess which had nothing to do with her and yet her day was ruined. He felt mad when Aarohi fought with his Mom for him but now all he felt was sadness and an abyss of despair.
Aarohi and Vihaan didn't say a word to each other when they reached home. They had dinner in silence and retired to their room.
The next day too passed in a blink. Vihaan left for his work earlier than his usual time and Aarohi came back from hers a couple of hours late.
Aarohi's sleep broke at midnight. She shifted in her place but wasn't able to fall asleep again. She reached for her phone to check the time. It was one am. She sighed. She thought of going to the mini library in their house and grab herself a book to read.
Wearing her slippers, she made her way towards the library only to stop in front of the study room. The lights were still on there. She pushed the door a little to peek inside and frowned when she found Vihaan dozing off in a sitting position. She crossed the threshold and went near him making sure her footsteps weren't heard.
A soundless chuckle left her lips when she noticed that Vihaan had fallen asleep while working. Aarohi closed the MacBook and the other files that were kept open. She removed his slippers and lifted his legs to put them above the couch. She then, gently wounded her hands around his neck and shoulders and made him lie down so that Vihaan could sleep in a more comfortable position. She sat on the floor folding her legs underneath and started adoring him. He was asleep and this was her perfect opportunity to stare at him openly without feeling nervous or afraid of being caught.
Aarohi observed how his forehead was creased, how his lips were settled in a straight line and how his chest heaved. She smiled. She always wanted to ruffle his hair and she wouldn't waste this moment which almost begged her to do that. She ran her fingers through his smooth hair as softly as possible and giggled soundlessly feeling content.
"Why are you so good?" She whispered under her breath, remembering what he had done for her as her eyes gazed at him with an undecipherable emotion. She pushed the small strands of hair grazing his forehead behind.
Aarohi leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his forehead, letting her lips linger on his skin a little longer than needed. When she pulled away she couldn't help but smile as the crease on his forehead disappeared and he appeared at peace.
She didn't know if he was upset and angry with her for speaking to his mother rudely and even if he was, she was determined to mollify him. She had grown accustomed to his presence, addicted to his talks and fond of his very being. He was too beautiful, too precious to lose. Never did she think that a day will come when she would care for him, get affected if he's hurt, get worried if he's in some trouble but here she is, admiring him and feeling at peace with him beside her. She feared ruining what they shared. She didn't know where it was leading her, where it was leading them and she thought it was better if she went with the flow instead of overthinking about the future.
One thing that she was very sure of was that she didn't want to lose what she shared with Vihaan ever.
***
I feel this chapter came out a bit rushed but then I didn't want to extend it more by adding more descriptions.
Anyways, don't forget to vote and comment ❤️
• Thank you for reading •