Basking in the warmth of the former king, I could feel what I was craving for a long time. Content and loved.
"Where have you been Laado? Why did you leave? Why did you not tell me anything? Do you know how worried we were? Did you not even care to think about how worried this old man might get loosing his favourite grandchild?" He kept questioning me.
Rather than feeling guilty, I kept a small smile on my face.
Only if I could tell you.. I thought
"Calm down, Dadu. We can talk about this later." I gave him a small smile. His eyes twinkled with joy.
"Yeah, we have a lot of time now that you're back. Don't we?" He asked me with a huge grin. I couldn't tell him that I was here only for a while. That my life was now in Java and the streets of Rajasthan gives me immense pain. I didn't have the courage to tell him the truth.
"Of course, Dadu." Is all I could say. I know it was wrong to give one false hopes. But I didn't want to break his heart.
"I am going to find your grandfather. Hurry up and meet Lady Don, first. Let's see if that old lady could identify you." He chuckled lightly and patted my shoulder.
My gaze followed his retreating figure as his eyes searched for Dada Saheb. He now walked with the help of walking stick. Oh how the time flies!
Feeling someone's intense gaze, I turned around to see my bodyguard, Tamir watching me in amusement. Oh yeah. We had an audience.
I cleared my throat and began walking again. As I was about to take a turn towards the living room, I heard soft whimpers from the passage on my right. I don't remember this passage being open, ever.
Despite my survival skills warning me not to follow the sounds, my curious heart pulled me towards the passage. Debating for a second, I finally decided to follow the sounds.
The whimpers had already turned into full blown sobs, making my heart clench. I was very familiar with the feelings the person might be feeling for whatever problem he has been going through.
The passage lead to a beautiful indoor pond. As the clear blue water reflected the lights, fake lotuses adored the water giving it an ethereal look. At the farthest corner, sat a small boy, merely 9 year old, sobbing as his chest moved up and down. His gaze was fixed out of the window and he was so lost in his miseries that he failed to notice the presence of an unknown soul. Me.
As I looked at the boy, all I got was the flashbacks to my past. The way he zoned out while crying was a clear sign of his little mind wondering, where he went wrong. The way he sobbed was familiar with the way I did when I felt neglected.
Walking upto the boy, I sat down beside him. The wandering droplets of water might have been sticking to my hundreds of dollars suit by now, but I could careless for a while.
The warmth radiated by my body must have shifted his attention to me. He looked at me with his big doe eyes. Now, that I look carefully, he looked exactly like Meera di.
This little guy was his child. As if coming back to India wasn't painful enough, my fate lead me directly to sit beside their crying son.
"Are you done with crying?" I asked him. I did make an effort to not make my voice cold. It might be monotonous, yes, but not cold and rude.
"Why do you care?" He softly retaliated. The same rebellion personality that I had. I could only wonder how the universe could make an exact replica of my personality.
"Because when I cried, no body ever cared." I replied looking out of the window.
A long period of silence prevailed. He slowly wiped the tear stains from his cheeks.
"Why did you cry?" He asked me in a low tone.
"Because no body loved me." I shrugged.
"Same here. Nobody loves me, except my dad." He said. I clutched my eyes shut at the mention of his father.
"Your mother might have loved you too." I said. No matter what, Meera di loved everyone, except me.
"No, she didn't." He said firmly.
"Ya ya, I know. If she loved you she wouldn't have left you alone in this world and gone to God's place, I know that logic." I scoffed.
"That's where you're wrong. She didn't love me at all. Neither when she was alive, nor when she died. And that God's Place logic is a complete bullshit." He said picking up a fake lotus in his hand.
I was astonished to hear the little boy cursing the logic his mates might be following. The fact that he was sure his mother didn't love him, was amusing too.
"Good to see people still act mature in this hopeless world." I said. He hummed in reply.
"I hate her. I hate my mother." He said, venom lacing his voice. Gulping down on nothing, I looked at him. "Me too. I hate your mother. As well as mine." I said. He looked back at me with a small smile.
"I allow you to be my friend then." He remarked. I raised my eyebrows in amusement.
"I feel very honoured?" I asked. He gave me an arrogant nod and turned to the other side just to giggle.
"I am Vedansh." He introduced after sobering up.
"I am Sanskriti." I said.
"I don't care. I'll call you Angel." He said. I scrunched up my nose in disapproval.
"That's cringey." I should have known better than to let these words leave my lips. I absolutely regretted opening my mouth when I saw his lips curling up to form a smirk. Same damn smirk as his father's!
Moments passed and I noticed him staring at me consistently. I didn't mind for a few seconds but when his eyes refused to leave my face, I began shifting in my place.
"I know I am beautiful. But you need to know I am out of your league." Is all I could say.
"What kinda league?" His nose scrunched up. "Football?" He mumbled in confusion.
Not acting as Mr. Smarty Pants now, are we?
"You look really familiar." He said. He might have seen me in his family albums with his great grandparents. I absolutely don't expect Meera di to have my photo let alone show it to his son who absolutely despises her.
A look of realisation seemed to pass through his eyes, soon it got masked with a look of amusement.
"I am going to meet your great grandmom and your grandfather. Wanna join me?" I asked him, absolutely ignoring the looks he was giving me.
"Sure."
~•~•~
I really feel appreciated reading your comments. Don't forget to motivate me to write the next chapter because I have a really lazy ass. 👀
Untill the next chapter. Good bye.