🎶 Bairiyaa and Jee Karda (play after *)
Published on 28.02.2023
❝ kabhi sukoon kabhi laage bala hai,
kabhi dua kabhi laage hala hai,
naino se ye kya ho chala hai. ❞
🥀
Inaaya and Ayansh sat in her room, both on either ends of the couch.
She kept fidgeting with her fingers, her gaze fixated on her lap.
"I'm sorry for leaving you alone." He says, breaking the silence.
She shakes her head immediately. "It's— it's not your fault. I mean...," she shakes her head again when words fail her. "You know what, just forget it. You're here and... I'm fine," she adds gingerly.
Ayansh swallows. "You thought I left," he murmurs.
She stays quiet for a while before responding. "Isn't that what a normal and expected reaction would be? Why would anyone want to stick with someone like me?" She tried to mask it but Ayansh heard the disgust that laced her voice and it was enough to break his heart all over again.
He gets up and walks near her, outstretching his hand. She frowns, her confused eyes shifting from his hand to his eyes and then back to his hand before she places hers in his. He gently pulls her up and makes her stand in front of the mirror with him standing right behind her. It was strange but there was no sense of awkwardness. They had gone from not even brushing their hands against each other even by mistake to clinging to each other with an intensity where they didn't want to separate even for a second.
Ayansh leaned in, his hands, hesitant and considerate in its own way coming around her, over her stomach and when she didn't flinch, he interlinked his fingers and sighed softly. She stared at him through the glass, trying to not let emotions show on her face, trying to not let him know that she feels vulnerable once again.
"I love you," he says so suddenly and softly and sincerely that it takes her breath away, making her lips part. "And nothing will ever change that. You don't have to hate yourself for whatever happened, it was never your fault," he rests his chin over her left shoulder, "and when it wasn't even your fault, how can I hold you accountable for it?"
Conflict gets etched on her face and she decides not to answer. Feeling comfortable in his hold, she leaned back, putting her weight over him and watched the faintest of smile linger on his face through the mirror which was enough to make her eyes sparkle. "You didn't tell me you were here on my birthday."
The smile falls. The hold still remains intact.
"You made me lemon rice and gajar ka halwa." Playfulness dripped in her tone.
Since the time he had been there, it was first time she saw him looking awkward and it made the child in her giggle internally.
"You made Akira lie too," she raised her eyes in mock impression, "that also for years."
Ayansh scrunches his face and looks away.
"And... you were writing letters in my diary, to me, about myself?" She couldn't help the chuckle that left her mouth and he squints his eyes in embarassment.
"How was I supposed to know that it was you?" He whines, wearing a scowl and staring at her pointed face in the mirror.
"Leave everything aside," she dismisses, "tell me why did you hide that you were here on my birthday with my favourite food cooked by your own hands?"
"If I showed up in front of you, you would've accepted?" He asks instead.
She sees he has a point. "And why did you not tell me even after years?"
He hollows his cheeks, thinking for an answer and then huffs, not finding one.
"On a scale of one to ten, how stupid you're exactly?" She pulls his leg and he rolls his eyes.
She didn't say anything more. She simply stared. She liked it, looking at him, consuming him, without putting any leash on herself, on them and she missed it so much, so so much.
Inaaya sighs. "You remembered?" She asks the rhetorical question.
"What?" He pretends to be oblivious.
"The birthday and cooking thing." A lump gets formed in her throat. It was such a minute detail, mentioned in a light hearted manner with nothing but playfulness and yet he held it in such a high regard.
"And if you don't learn cooking till my next birthday, I'm breaking my friendship and leaving you and never talking to you again. Yes, I'm doing that."
"Remember, I told you that I'm average in everything except studying? I forgot to tell you that I was good in sprinting too. So, don't even think of leaving me or running away from me because I'll chase you and eventually catch you too. Your efforts will be nothing but a waste."
Ayansh smiles at the memory. "Couldn't take the risk of never talking to you again," he exhales.
"You told you would chase me." Her eyes glaze.
He nods. "I did and I tried chasing you too, albeit a little late I would admit but I hope I've caught you."
One moment she was on the verge of crying and the next, a mellifluous laugh splutters through her mouth as a tear too slips from the corner of her eyes and she wipes it off with her knuckle.
"She's the same aunt right? With whom you stayed?" He looks with meaning. "She's the one who taught you baking?"
Inaaya thins her lips and nods at that.
They fall into a comfortable silence with Inaaya leaning against his chest with her eyes closed and him holding her securely in the confines of his arms with his face resting against her temple.
"Inaaya," he calls her and she senses the change in his tone to a more sombre one which forces her to open her eyes. She turns her face to look at him inquisitively. "We're leaving for India in the evening."
She blinks, taking a moment to register the statement. "We?"
"You and me," he affirms.
She searches his face for a sign that could possibly prove that he wasn't quite serious but all she got was a determined expression from him in return. "No," she says in a monotone and moves away from his hold.
Ayansh doesn't try to stop her.
"I've booked the tickets."
"I'm not going," her voice rises an octave, shaking slightly, with rage, with panic.
He stays unfazed. "You're going to come with me to Mumbai, file a complaint and get your Dad behind the bars where he rightfully belongs— "
"I'm not coming to Mumbai. I'm not doing any of this. I don't care about where he belongs to but I'm not doing any of these. What's wrong with you, Ayansh?" She snaps.
He looks away, taking a deep breath and then exhaling, clenching and unclenching his fists. "Inaaya," he takes her name with utmost kindness and moves a step forward trying to hold her wrists when she swats his hand away, shaking her head.
"Don't you get it Ayansh, I can't do this," she grits out painfully.
"And why can't you do it?" He asks bluntly, taking her aback. "Aren't you being a coward now— "
"Oh, fucking stop it, Ayansh!" She screeches in disbelief, raking a hand through her hair and pacing around, her breathing laboured. "It isn't just about me. It involves my Mom and Bhai too. I can't hurt them."
"I get your concerns but do you think you're doing fair to them by keeping them in the dark?" He retorts in the same tone. "Don't you feel they deserve to know the truth rather than staying with a man under the same roof who didn't hesitate to throw his own daughter under the bus?"
She flinches. He regrets.
Ayansh cautiously moves to her and gently cups her face. "Inaaya," he pleads, "they deserve to know even if it hurts."
She shakes her head as tears slowly start streaming down her face. "I can't," she gasps. "Mom— Mom will blame herself. She— she won't be able to take it," she looks up at him, hoping he gets her and honestly, he does but he also knows what's the right thing to do. "She has already suffered in her life. I— I can't put her through more— "
"You aren't putting her through anything— "
"She's going to blame herself," Inaaya cuts him off. "She's going to feel responsible and guilty for agreeing to marry him. I can see this happening if I tell her the truth. She'll break, Ayansh," she sobs and he sucks in a sharp breath to put a lid on his own emotions.
"And— and— Bhai," she swallows, the thought itself disturbing and haunting. "I love him the most and he's going to be so disappointed in himself if he ever gets to know the truth. He's going to think he failed and I can't— I can't... ," she squeezes her eyes shut, weeping inaudibly, dropping her gaze to the floor.
Ayansh pulls her into him as she cries against his chest. He strokes her back gently, his other hand secured around her waist.
"I won't force you," he says in a coaxing voice which had her attention. "It's your truth, it's yours to tell. And if I wanted to put him behind bars, I would've done it by now," he adds, referring to her Dad. "But I haven't because again it's not my place to take decisions and act on them. It's your right and I'm not going to rob you of it. But Inaaya," he pulls back, connecting his earnest eyes with her desolate ones, "your mom and brother too deserve to know the truth," she starts to speak but he gestures her to listen to him for once. "They don't deserve to stay with him, neither does he deserve to live without any repercussions of his actions. And nobody ever said the truth doesn't hurt. Just because doing certain things would hurt certain people doesn't make them wrong, does it?" He arches an eyebrow, his forehead creased.
"Ayansh, please," she barely manages to say.
"It's your decision, completely yours. I'm with you no matter what you choose," he tells her assuringly, removing his handkerchief and dabbing at the tear streaks on her cheek. "All I can do is try to convince you, the rest is upto you but you're coming with me to Mumbai. I'm not giving you a choice."
"But I don't want to," she protests weakly, her hands dropping to her sides, her shoulders slumping.
"I've some work," he explains and I've booked your ticket as well so you're coming with me. Please," he adds the last word in a soft whisper.
"And— and what about the work here? You're the CEO," she reasons out poorly.
"I'm the CEO, I can do whatever I want," he ends the discussion with that statement. "And for now, there are things that are important and need to be addressed."
*
India
It all happened so suddenly.
He was sitting in his study room, all alone, his thoughts have been nothing short of a spinning whirlpool ever since that phone conversation, his body seemed to be tense right from that very second as if every cell, every nerve of him was aware that his time was short, it was nearing its end and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
The lights flickered off.
On instinct, he tried to turn his head back when his movement was cut short, an arm got locked around his throat, pulling him back, dragging him up on his feet, a leg deliberately got tangled with his and pushed him to the front making him kneel. He couldn't even scream for he was gasping for air.
"Stop struggling. I ain't here to kill you."
And he stopped for he recognised the voice.
Avansh Mehra, he was here.
"Didn't think you would give up this soon," he
mused, tying Durvesh Rai's hands with the rope.
Since the moment, he decided to play with his daughter's life, he had been living in guilt. It was like a huge boulder under whose weight he was getting more and more crushed with each passing day. And now, he would do anything if it meant the weight would lessen, even if that meant surrendering himself. He knew he deserved it. He knew he deserved worse.
And when Ayansh kicked him on his back making his front hit the ground, a sharp scream left his lips.
"How could you do this to your own daughter?" He grabs Inaaya's Dad by his collar and forces the man to look at him. Ayansh's eyes burned with unfathomable rage. He wanted to kill the man brutally, just looking at him was making his blood boil.
Durvesh tore his eyes off, the shame and guilt making it impossible to make eye contact. The earlier phone conversation plays in his mind.
"Hello."
"Remember I said the truth always finds a way?" A deep voice says on the other side, making his body go rigid, his heart trashing with fear, the beats echoing in his ears. "I feel like killing you right now."
Durvesh stays quiet.
"Won't you say anything now?" Ayansh mocks. "Won't you try to defend yourself or threaten me or maybe," his tone drops, "try to silence me just like you did with your own daughter."
"She told you."
There's a sound of something breaking from the other side as if it was thrown across a place in anger which made Inaaya's Dad flinch. He could hear Ayansh's heavy breathing.
"You're so damn lucky," Ayansh grits, "that you're still alive and not in the jail but I promise this won't be the case for long."
And then the call gets cut.
Ayansh pushes him back, making him collide with the wall and his body arches as pain shoots up his spine. He takes a dangerous step forward and panting for breath, Durvesh moves back, pushing himself by his feet across the floor, nestling in a corner.
Ayansh leans forward, his eyes glowering making Durvesh Rai shudder in the dark. "She kept begging to you," he forces himself to say, his voice pained. "She was lying in a corner just like you. Begging, pleading to her own Dad and you didn't listen," he scoffs and kicks him hard in his balls.
"Owww."
Ayansh turns around, leaving him writhing in pain with his hands tied behind. He presses his palm to his forehead, his body trembling. "She— she kept hoping that you'll rescue her, she kept praying that you'll realise this is a mistake and take her out of that room," his voice breaks. "And all you did was break her, repeatedly," he spins around, looking at him who was still gasping. "Do you know your daughter hates hotels?"
"Do you know she gets nightmares even today?" He adds, pulling him up to his feet, holding his jaw and then, kneeing him in the gut earning another agonizing scream from the man whose side body collides with the wall and the sound tells Ayansh that he has definitely broken a rib or two.
"I'm sorry," Durvesh finally rasps out. "I'm sorry."
"Years," Ayansh mouths, "It has been years since she has been surviving without telling a single soul what happened to her. Everyday she had to face you and do you know what?" He chuckles bitterly. "She even wanted to die. Your daughter attempted to kill herself and you were the reason behind it."
A welp left his lips followed by a sob before he started crying.
"Why are you crying now?" Ayansh inquires, kicking him on his thigh like he was dirt lying in front of him. He sighs. "I swear I'm not this kind of person. Resorting to violence, taking matters in my own hand but I guess sometimes, circumstances just force you to become someone you're not. And honestly," his voice becomes more solemn, his face appearing more deadly in the grey of the night, "I don't regret any of it."
Ayansh wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist and crossed his arms and watched the man whimpering and quivering and crying and felt no remorse for him. If anything, he wanted to do worse with the man. His phone rings and he picks it up without checking the caller id.
"The police is here." The man whose voice sounded somewhat frantic says on the other side.
He thinks for a moment. "Seems like she has finally confessed."
***
The next chapter is going to be so messy eeks! Also, the next chapter might or might not be the last one. If it's not the last one then definitely the one after that is. Still can't believe we're almost near the finishing line. Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. Don't forget to vote and comment ❤️
• Thank you for reading •