In the rest room...
As Swara was done with her morning duties, she wanted to relax herself a bit as she felt a bit tired because of these continuous duties. She sat down on a chair and stretched her forearm and wrist muscles.
A few moments later, her phone started ringing. She picked her phone and saw the name of the caller. She smiled and answered the call, "Haan, Sanskar. Bolo."
"Where are you?" he asked from the other side.
"I'm in the rest room. Why? What happened?"
"I will tell you everything when I come there. Till then, please stay there only."
"But..." she scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, but then nodded in agreement, "okay. But at least tell if everything is-"
And next moment she heard a beeping sound from his side. She pulled her phone away from herself and got confused.
"This is so weird. Sanskar never cuts his call like this."
Shrugging her shoulders to herself, she decided to wait here for him to see for herself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Swara heard some sounds of footsteps coming from outside the door. Realising that Sanskar was here, she got up from the chair. The door clicked open and Sanskar entered inside looking at her.
"What happened? You wanted to tell me something? And..." she noticed the smile he was trying to hide, "wait. What's it with you smiling like you are hiding something from me?"
"Oh god, Swara," he chuckled, "How can I dare to hide anything from you? I came here and I asked you also to be here because... someone has come here to specially meet you."
"What?" she asked, "to meet me? Who is it?"
Sanskar just smiled and stepped aside looking at the open door. Swara also looked at the door not understanding who was it but soon enough, a huge smile made it's way to her lips as she saw her dearest Dida coming and standing at the door to show herself.
"Surprise!" Shobha announced her arrival with an enthusiastic smile.
"Dida!" Swara exclaimed in extreme surprise, "Oh my god, what a surprise!"
She ran and threw her arms on her Dida hugging her dearly, and she returned the hug with equal love.
"Kaisa hai mera Shoru?" she asked caressing her hands over Swara's back, "My baby girl. I was missing you, so I thought of paying you a visit."
"I'm superb, Dida!" she broke the hug, "What about you? I didn't know you were going to come to meet me. You didn't even say anything."
"Arey, Shoru! If I would have told you, how would have it been a surprise? Also, I have brought these rasgullas for you," she said showing her a steel box making Swara smile wider.
"Rasgullas! Oh my god, you know how much I love them! Thank you so much, Dida! You're the best!"
Saying this, she kissed Shobha's cheek making her smile.
"And yes... this other box is for that friend of yours. You know... that boy who helped you and Shomi when she was here. Tell him I brought this for him along with my love and blessings. I'm giving this to you but don't forget to give this to him."
"Of course, Dida..." Swara uttered in confusion as she turned to look at Sanskar to know what was going on. Didn't her Dida know that this 'friend' of hers was right here?!
Meanwhile, Sanskar knew what she was thinking but as soon as he felt her gaze on him, he gestured her to hold on. Swara raised her eyebrow but Sanskar maintained his stance.
'Let it be like this for some time,' all she tried to make out from his reaction.
"What happened? Why are you both looking at me like this?" Shobha, sensing a change in the surroundings, looked at both of them one by one, "Am I... am I not looking good?" she asked making Swara shake her head in a no immediately.
"No, no, Dida. You are looking beautiful as always!"
"Really?" she asked feeling good about herself making both Swara and Sanskar smile.
"Yes, Dida," Swara answered, "Are you doubting your Shoru?"
"No way."
Shooting Sanskar a look, Swara pulled him alongside her and came to sit on the chair with her box, "Come on, let us eat this together. Dida, you also come and sit here."
Shobha nodded and then came to sit besides Swara. Sanskar also sat down looking at the box of rasgulla that Swara was opening.
"You know," Swara said to Sanskar, "my Dida makes delicious rasgulla! I want you to have the first."
Saying this, she picked up the first rasgulla and brought it near Sanskar.
"Of course!" he smiled, "She has made it with so much love and I won't eat it?"
Swara smiled chuckling and fed him the rasgulla by her own hands, which he happily devoured.
"How is it?" she asked him in excitement as she really wanted to know how he felt of her Dida's handmade rasgulla.
"Delicious!" he said, "just... no words. I have never loved eating rasgulla as much as I loved eating this one."
"Hai na?" she was delighted on knowing he also loved it as much as she did, "I'm glad you too think so."
"Yes. And Nani ji, if you ever, ever think of opening a rasgulla shop in future, I can say with guarantee that in just few months, every rasgulla lover of Kolkata... or maybe... of whole West Bengal will come to you only to buy rasgullas!" he said truthfully making Dida and Swara laugh too.
"Okay," he announced while picking up another rasgulla and looked at Swara, "You have fed me the first one by your hands. Now it's my chance."
"Gladly!" Saying this, she opened her mouth and he too fed her by his hand. Shobha noticed all that was going on and got confused.
"I thought Shoru likes Sanskar. Then why does it look like she is too close to him? Well... he also seems very nice, but..."
"Looks like both of you are really close to each other," she said genuinely that turned both of their attention towards her.
Sanskar smiled knowingly and turned to look at Swara, "We are really very close to each other," he answered honestly making Swara smile shyly.
"Shoru, where is that other friend of yours? After all, it's him I'm specially here to meet," she turned towards Swara.
Swara sighed shaking her head in hopelessness as she didn't understand why was Sanskar doing what he was doing.
"Shoru, where is your friend, Sanskar?"
She looked at him before revealing, "right in front of you, Dida!"
"W-What?" Shobha gaped in shock and looked at Sanskar who raised his palm to announce his presence.
"Present, ma'am."
"What?!" she was dumbfounded, "Wait, you are Sanskar?" she asked again to confirm that she didn't interpret anything wrong.
"Yes," he said innocently.
"What! You were right here and here I was thinking who this Sanskar is," she admitted, "Why didn't you tell me? I asked you who he is and-"
"You asked me if I knew who Sanskar is. So, I told you," he answered shrugging his shoulders, "If you would have asked me who is Sanskar, then I would have told you it was me, right in front of you!"
Shobha narrowed his eyebrows looking at him. Looks like her future son-in-law just played a prank on her!
But she was their grandmother... in playing pranks too! So, she decided to do the same.
Much to Sanskar and Swara's shock, Shobha reached out and pulled Sanskar's ear while twisting it making him wince, "Aahh! Nani ji!"
"Accha, toh tum hamare saath shararat kiya," she commented feigning anger, "You are acting like that Birbal from that story! You are very clever. Right, my Shomi told me so many things about you but she forgot to tell me that you are naughty as well."
"Ouch... please chhod do, Nani. Bohot dard ho raha hai," he expressed his pain.
"Haan Dida. Yeh Sanskar na aisa hi hai. He is very naughty," Swara, too, decided to pull his leg. It's not everyday you get to see someone win from Sanskar, right?
"O hello, you still love me anyway!" he pointed out to her.
"Doesn't change the fact that you are very mischievous."
"As if you are not," he glared at her and turned towards Shobha, "Nani ji, please maaf kar dijiye. If I knew I was going to get pulled by my ear like this, I would have never played this prank."
"Toh thikh hai, chhod dega hum tumko," she said and left his ear while continuing, "Lekin ek shart par. Tum ko hamara yeh rasgulla pura khatam karna padega."
Sanskar massaged his ear with his fingers before nodding in a yes, "of course! Why will I choose to have my ear swollen over this amazingly sweet dish?"
Both Shobha and Swara laughed and he gave both of them a look. Shobha softened and then she looked at Sanskar carefully, making him feel privileged and anxious at the same time. She wanted to see how her Shoru's choice was.
"I don't understand one thing," she commented a while later after observing him and pulled his arm up for her to check, "Tum itna patla kyu hai? Tum kuch khata bhi hai ki nahi?"
Sanskar looked at Swara and she looked at her Dida nervously, "Umm... Dida, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying right. Looks like I need to take the responsibility of your health now, otherwise how will you take care of yourself and my Shoru in future? And to start with, you have to finish all the rasgullas now," she said pointing at one box full of rasgulla.
"Arey nani ji," Sanskar tried to reason, "there is no need for doing so much-"
"Dida," she corrected while smiling, "You can call me Dida just like Swara calls me. I'm like your grandmother as well."
The heartwarming approach from her made him smile and not refuse her offer any further. He nodded his head and all of them settled down to eat the rasgullas. Swara was more than happy seeing the two of the dearest people in her life bond with each other. They spent some time eating the rasgullas together and Swara and Sanskar shared about how everything began for them with Shobha, which she felt more than glad to hear. Indeed, her daughter was right when she said that Sanskar was the best person for Swara and that he truly loved her daughter-in-law. It was not that hard to understand. She could make out just by the way they both looked at each other that how deeply they felt for each other. And Shobha was thankful to Durga Maa for sending such a boy in her Shoru's life.
When they finished eating, Swara closed both the boxes and they all got up from the chairs. Shobha placed her palm over Sanskar's cheek with affection, "Thank you for all that you did for my Shomi and Swara, beta. People like you are like blessings for the goodness in this world, the world that is filled with cruelty."
"You have nothing to thank me for, Dida," Sanskar said with a smile, "It's because of Swara that I know what it feels like to love and to be loved."
Shobha smiled, "You did so much for my children. Is there anything that you want?"
"If anything, I want your blessings," Saying this, he bent down and touched her feet and Shobha was more than glad to bless him.
"God bless you, bachcha! Your parents must have raised you very well. Not everyone is so well-cultured like you."
"Thank you, Dida. And I promise you that just like I have stayed by Swara's side till today, I will continue to stay by her like this... always and forever. No matter what happens, I will never leave her side," he said truthfully making Swara smile and love him more.
"That is okay, my child," Shobha pretended to think, "But does that mean you will follow her in the bathroom as well?" she teased and that made both of them flustered.
"Dida, what are you saying!" Swara whispered in his grandmother's ear.
"What?" she asked nonchalantly, "Now can't an innocent old woman joke with her future son-in-law?"
The last few words of Shobha shook Swara's whole being and her heart and mind into a frenzy.
"F-Future... son-in-law?" she could not speak any further and she just stood dubiously at her spot. Her heart skipped several beats just at the thought of tying a knot with Sanskar for life.
Before anyone from Swara or Sanskar could say anything, Shobha looked at her watch and got worried, "Oh, no. It's 12 pm. Shoru, I have to go now."
"What? But Dida... it's been only a while since you have been here. Can't you stay for longer?" Sanskar insisted.
"I wanted the same, but I have to look after my shop also" she admitted, "So, I need to leave. Anyway, I had a great time with both of you. And it was glad meeting you," she said looking at Sanskar and he smiled.
"Dida, come," Swara came near her, "I will drop you till the gate.
Shobha shaked her head in denial, "No, no. It's alright. You must be having your duties. I can go by myself."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Shoru. Okay, I will leave now."
Swara smiled sadly and hugged her grandmother once more, "I was so happy to have you here, Dida. Take care of yourself. And tell Maa I miss her too."
"Of course," she said while returning the hug, "You both also take care of yourself."
Saying this, she smiled looking at both of them and turned to leave. The three of them waved bye towards each other one last time.
When Sanskar turned to look at Swara, he found her finding hard to get her heartbeats under her control. He thought of speaking something but that very moment he was interrupted by her.
"Woh..." she chuckled awkwardly, "Sorry about all that. My Dida is very cheerful and talkative."
"It's okay," he smiled, "You know, I already like her. And about being talkative, you are gone after her only."
Swara smiled too and Sanskar noticed her cheeks flushing into red. He held her shoulder and turned her so that she faced him fully, and looked at her trying to understand her feelings at this moment.
"What happened?" After some moments of silence, he asked, confused, "Why are you looking so flustered?"
"Didn't you notice what she said?" she said in an awkward voice, "She addressed you as her future son-in-law!"
Sanskar smiled in sheer amusement as when she was saying it, there was a different shine in her eyes, the one he never saw before. Her eyes beheld various emotions just at the thought of their future together. Seeing her like this, he gently held her by her arms and pulled her chin up so that she looked at him.
"Hmm!" He hummed huskily but deep down, all he felt like to do was pull her in his arms because of how incredibly innocent she was, but he decided to tease her a little, "Is that hard for you to digest?" He asked her stunning her.
"No, it's not!"
"Then? Or do you think we love each other but will not marry each other? Or are you sure you don't want to end up with someone else instead?"
"What... NO! Not at all," she said truthfully in her defense, "Sanskar, I swear to God I can't imagine any other person in your place. How can this thought even cross your mind?"
Just then, she started hitting him everywhere she could with her hands and Sanskar winced while laughing, "Okay, okay! Sorry. I'm sorry! I was just teasing you."
"Don't you dare tease me like that ever again, Mr Maheshwari," she glared at him pointing a finger towards him, "I love you and only you, no one else. There will be no other man in my life other than you. And if you plan to have someone else in your life... then that is your choice."
Her last words caused Sanskar's smile to vanish as he realised she was serious and was offended by his words.
"Wait... what?!" he uttered in shock, "Swara..."
But before he could say anything in his defense, she turned her back towards him and opened the door. She walked out of the room leaving a perturbed Sanskar to stare at the door which she left behind to shut loudly.
"What on earth did she mean by that?" He mumbled to himself in disbelief, "Does she mean... but how can she think like that?" He hit his forehead with his palm and sighed, "But it's my fault. I made her that angry to say all that."
Without wasting any time, he decided to make amends and apologise to her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
And that was the last conversation they had. Because after that, they just did not get to talk to each other again.
For that whole day, Swara refused to talk with Sanskar and she ignored him when he tried to approach her or tried to talk with her. Four to five painful hours passed by just like that and by then, Sanskar had realised she was not going to get convinced this time so easily. When this whole silent treatment from Swara started driving him restless to the point where it started affecting his usually peaceful mind, he turned towards his best friend to get some help to sort out his love life that he kind of messed up with his own hands.
"Toh yeh sab hua tha," Sanskar sighed at the end feeling totally lost as he did not understand how should he convince Swara. On the other hand, Rajat and Anushka were listening to their friend keenly with their arms folded across their chest. Sanskar looked at Rajat before continuing, "Yaar, no matter how much I show her I truly feel sorry for saying all that, she is not even looking at me. Instead, she is turning her back towards me and is giving me silent treatment. I... Ugh! I feel like all those special times I had with her in these last two weeks -- since the start of our relationship -- have come to an end."
"Well..." Anushka spoke up after a long time as she was analyzing everything in her mind, "I won't say that you don't deserve it. You should have known it better that messing with Swara Bose will cost you heavily. You don't even know how terrible her silent treatments are, Sanskar. She has the capability to ignore your whole existence until you do something effective enough to convince her," she said that made Sanskar feel guiltier than he was before.
"But guys..." Rajat expressed his point of view, "I feel like Swara should not be overreacting this much. I mean... Sanskar was just joking at that time, isn't it?"
"Oh, aap toh rehne hi do!" she accused to him, "You boys will never understand us girls."
"Accha ji, as if you girls have done PhD in understanding us boys, right?" Rajat got back at her.
"Guys!" Sanskar said loudly feeling irritated, "I guess I came to you to find a way to sort out my argument with Swara, not to start a new one between you both. Please?"
"Yeah..." Rajat smiled sheepishly, "right."
"What should I do now?" Sanskar folded his arms looking elsewhere almost talking to himself, "I can take anything from her... be it her ferocious self or anything, but not her ignorance. I really can't take it anymore."
"She is Swara Bose, my dear friend. You mess with her, she will make sure you regret," Anushka stated.
"So what am I doing right now?" he looked at her.
"Just take it easy," Rajat suggested lightly, "Give her a dairy milk silk tomorrow, her anger will melt away in a second. Afterall no girl can ever resist a chocolate, right?" he asked and ended up getting a beating from Anushka.
"Only you believe in such stereotypes, the others don't," she glared at her boyfriend who was sulking at this behavior of his girlfriend.
"You know what?" Sanskar sighed turning their attention towards him and he continued, "Let it be. I think this is something I need to do by myself."
"Just give her some time, Sanskar," Anushka advised as she understood he truly regretted what he said, "Even you know she will not be able to stay angry on you for so long. She is like a coconut, she is hard from outside but very soft from inside. With time, her anger will come down on it's own. But you need to convince her and apologise to her with your heart."
"Yes," he said nodding his head and tried to think if there was anything he could do. No matter what happened, he would make sure to convince her before the clock hit twelve!
~*~*~*~*~*~*
'Ab bhi naraaz ho mujh se?'
As Swara was lying down on her bed on her abdomen revising some topics from Surgery subject on her phone, she saw Sanskar's message flashing across the notification bar on her screen. Seeing a message from him made a smile to come automatically on her face no matter what had happened today. Anushka had told her that he was very desperate to talk to her and worried that she might never talk to him again. Then and there only, her anger melted down. But that did not mean she was going to forgive him this easily!
She fell into her thoughts when she suddenly got another message from him.
'I know you are reading my messages. You are just not replying because you are angry, which I know I deserve.'
She chuckled inwardly, adoring him for his cuteness already. He just had that quality in him.
"What does he think... only he can joke with me and I can't. Now, Mr Sanskar Maheshwari, you will see what I'm capable of," she said in determination.
On the other hand, Sanskar sighed in dismay as he saw no reply from her. But there was no way he was going to back off.
'Till when will you ignore me like this, Ms Swara Bose?' he typed another message to her and waited for some time, expecting a reply at least now. A couple of minutes passed by, but all in vain.
"Still no reply," he said, "Okay, Ms Swara Bose. Tum ziddi toh mai bhi ziddi."
As Swara got busy in revising a topic that she felt was a bit tricky to remember, she was startled by the ringtone of her phone. On seeing the caller name, she saw it was Sanskar. She huffed and answered the phone call, all set to utter profanities to him for ruining her revision like this but before she could even open her mouth to speak, she was taken aback by his voice.
"Before you say anything else, please just listen to me," he pleaded, "I'm sorry, Swara. Please don't ignore me like this. I know you are angry because of what I said but I didn't want to hurt you. I know I have, directly or indirectly. I can never even think of that in my dreams, Swara. I was just teasing you because of the reaction you gave towards your Dida's comment. I wanted to see how you will react. I admit I'm too much sometimes, but please... please forgive me one last time. I promise I won't say anything like that ever again. Just... please?"
He held onto his breath as he had no idea how she would react. On the other hand, Swara was trying hard to suppress her laughter as he was apologizing to her in such an adorable way. That's when she realised she could not continue this any further. She finally decided to stop giving him this silent treatment.
For Sanskar, even those ten seconds of silence from her side felt like ten years.
"Swara..." he finally spoke up, "you are making me nervous. Please tell me I'm not just talking to these walls in my room."
And she lost it. She started laughing her head off leaving Sanskar dumbfounded.
"You are... laughing?" he asked.
"Kyu, maza aaya na?" she said in between her laughter.
"Swara!" he scolded, "This is not funny," he stated and she narrowed her eyes as if he was in front of her.
"What you said back then was also not funny, Mr Maheshwari. Even if you meant that as a joke, I felt hurt by your words. I know you don't think like that about me but that statement alone was enough to make me angry," she said.
"I'm sorry, Swara," he apologised genuinely, "I swear I was just teasing you at that time."
"It's okay, Sanskar," she, too smiled, "I'm sorry too. I also overreacted back then and decided to tease you back."
"You know," he sighed in relief hearing her words, "I was so worried that I decided to come to your hostel to meet you."
"Wait... What? Does that mean..." She realised what he meant and then she jumped out of her bed in astonishment, "Where are you now?"
"In my car," Sanskar turned his head to look outside the window of his car where he could see her hostel building, "right outside your building."
"You can't be serious!" she exclaimed, "It's almost 11.30 pm, Sanskar. You should go back home," she said worried for him.
"No. I'm not going," he folded his arms and said in determination.
She shaked her head in disbelief, "Don't be stubborn, Sanskar-"
"No matter what you say, I'm not going before I meet you."
"Sanskar..." she almost felt like picking up something and throw it on the wall, "tum kabhi bhi meri koi baat nahi sunte ho."
"Oh madam," he said in his defense, "yeh toh meri line hai."
"You know what? Just..." she exhaled in frustration, "forget it. I'm coming there."
"Great. I'm waiting for you," his eyes glinted and he smiled.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sanskar's happiness doubled as he saw Swara making her way towards his car with quick strides.
"What is this, Sanskar?" she asked as soon as she opened the door of the passenger seat and shut the door looking at him, "Didn't you see the time? Why did you have to come here at this hour?"
Sanskar smiled sweetly looking at her, "A good evening to you too, Swara," he greeted and earned himself a glare from her.
"Sanskar, I'm serious. Who asked you to drive here so late at night ruining your sleep?"
"Your anger did. Now stop whining about it and tell me..." he got serious and looked at her, "are you really not angry on me?"
"Sanskar..." she shaked her head as she still could not believe all of this would go so far, "I was just playing along with you. I was not angry on you. And you drove here so late at night just because you thought I was angry? I feel guilty that I got you this much worried that you came here."
"First reason was that, and the other reason was... nothing as such," he shrugged his shoulders, "I just wanted to see you."
She looked at him, "You are unbelievable!"
"I have heard you chant this same mantra at least a dozen times by now. But just know this, love, that even you love this unbelievable-ness of mine as much as I do."
"Now this is heights. You think 'unbelievable-ness' is a word?" she narrowed her eyes at him and he shrugged his shoulder.
"May be or may not be, I don't know. But does it matter?"
Swara could not control herself anymore and she leaped onto him encircling her arms around his torso and smiling sadly, to which Sanskar just looked on confused by her action, but a smile still present on his face. He could not tell how glad he felt as she started talking to him again after those torturous ten hours in the hospital. He hugged her back so that she fit in his embrace.
"Why, Sanskar?" she asked, "Why are you like this? What was the need of driving here so late at night when we could have met tomorrow instead?"
"Just felt like it," he admitted, "I just felt this need of having your presence besides me in every minute and every moment of my life."
She closed her eyes, "I knew it."
"You knew?" He asked frowning as they slowly broke the hug.
Swara smiled nodding her head, "Tumhari aankhein padh kar sab samajh jaati hoon. Your eyes are a reflection of your pure heart. You know... in future, if anyone asks me what is that one feature I love the most about my life-partner, I'll say that it's your eyes."
When she finished, she noticed he hadn't said anything since a long time. In fact, he seemed to be in a silent mode. Despite that, she could see surprise in his facial expressions.
Swara, still confused with his stillness, tapped on his arm to bring him back to this world, "Sanskar, what happened?"
At last, he stared at her, "Did you realise... you just called me your 'life-partner'!" he made her realise and she was surprised by her own words.
"Woh..." she tried to say something but just didn't understand what to say. She didn't want to take back what she said, but at the same time she didn't want Sanskar to feel like she was binding him. However, when she stared at the love his eyes were beholding for her, she realised she was wrong. The fact that the word 'life-partner' rolled down her tongue so effortlessly without any prior thinking, it strengthened their belief that whatever they shared was not going to be momentary, but rather for a very long time. It was like an unsaid promise was already made that they would be together forever.
And they both were on cloud nine at the realisation. That indirectly, she had considered he would become a larger part of her life in the coming years.
And without any doubt, even he did.
"Swara..." he called out to her softly, "you were saying something?"
"I called you my life-partner!" her cheeks were red as once again, the expectations of future made their way to their present moment.
"Sach hi toh hai Swara," he kept his palm on her hand, "I'm your life-partner only. Swara, the biggest truth of our lives today is that we both love each other, and along with this there is another big truth, that our love and relationship with each other is not temporary, that it will fade away after some years and we will find someone else for ourselves. I believe our love is for lifetime, Swara, and I intend on having you with me for the rest of my life. You're the first... and the last... the only woman in my life. It's only you who claim my heart and in future also it will be you only, and no one else can take your place."
The honest words from him made her heart leap and she could not control the emotions she was undergoing beneath the surface. Tears filled in her eyes as she did not believe that a fairytale would come alive right in front of her eyes and she was going to be a part of it. Yes, a fairytale, that's what she considered. Where there was true love and a happy ending.
The promise of a future together from Sanskar was enough for Swara to die as a happy woman. No, she did not want to die so soon! She wanted to live at least a hundred years with him.
"And the same goes for me as well, Sanskar," she said smiling with tears still lingering in her eyes, "I love you with all my heart and soul and it's only you I will be in love with, no one else can ever take your place in my life. And if there is anyone I wish to spend my whole life with, it's you and it will be you only. No matter wherever life takes us after this, nothing will ever change for me. You will always be the one for me."
Sanskar smiled and cupped her cheeks. As he felt like words would not be enough to express how happy he felt with her words, he leaned in and planted a soft kiss on her forehead, multiplying her happiness. Only he had that power of touching her soul like this. They spent a few moments in silence just staring at each other lovingly.
After some time, Sanskar saw the time in his watch and then looked at her.
"Okay," he sighed, "now that I finally got to talk with you, I think I can go now," he noticed her smile fall a little and he thought of reconsidering his decision, "Umm... should I really go?" he asked again.
"But... just now you came," she said, "Can't you stay for a while?" she realised that it was weekday and that how much tired he would be after his duties, "No, it's okay if you want to go. You must be tired because of all the work."
"Umm..." Sanskar pretended to think for a while and just then, a smirk made it's way on his face, "No problem! My mood has suddenly changed now. In fact, if you want, I can stay here the whole night and we can have some time together like-"
He winced as Swara beat him on his arm, "A word after this and I will call Ramprasad sir to tell him his son has come to my hostel to ruin my sleep," she threatened him narrowing her eyes.
"No, no! Don't do that, please," he raised his hands in surrender, "Okay, fine. I'm staying here for some time only."
"What about your family?" she asked, "Do they know you are not at home at this hour? Won't this get them worried?"
"Nobody in my house knows I came out, as they all slept... except papa. Actually... he saw me in the parking lot with my car keys. So, I told him I wanted to fill the petrol of my car and I was going to the petrol pump."
"What?" she asked in disbelief, "So late at night?"
"He also asked me the same thing," he admitted, "Then I said I was going to the mall with Rajat tomorrow, so, I needed the car to drive that far and I forgot doing it in the evening. And it was not made up by me. I genuinely went to the petrol pump first to refill my car for tomorrow's smooth journey and then I came to you here."
Swara chuckled hearing the truth from him. Would it be crazy of her to say she fell in love him every time he said something?
"Well..." Swara thought for a while and got an idea, "now that you are here, let's not make it go just like that. Come with me," saying this, she opened the door of the car.
"What?" he asked frowning, "Where?"
"Just come, you will see."
As she shut the door of her side, he, too, opened his side of door and got out.
"Last weekend, you took me out on a date," she said, "Now it's my chance. I will take you on a night date!"
"A night date?" he was amused, "Sounds fun!"
"Exactly. Now come on, just follow me."
"As you say, Your Highness," saying this, he followed her as she took him somewhere.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Dada, zara or teekha dena," Swara requested the shopkeeper as she forwarded her plate on which delicious panipuri were being served by the shopkeeper. On the other hand, Sanskar felt like his tongue was set on fire after eating three spicy panipuris, but at the same time he enjoyed this spice.
"I can't believe this. How can you eat so spicy that you are asking for more spice into it?" He asked.
"I love having spicy," she squealed as her ever-favourite treat was being served in her plate. "You know, he makes really delicious panipuri! That's why I brought you here with me," she said indicating the shopkeeper and the panipuri stall near her hostel.
"Yes. It's really nice!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*
After finishing the six panipuris and satisfying their craving for this delicious treat, they had a walk back to Sanskar's car.
"Swara..." Sanskar called as he thought about something, "just three days are remaining for the anniversary celebration. What are you planning to wear that day?"
"Not decided yet," she replied, "I have nothing good enough to wear so I'm going with Anushka for shopping tomorrow."
"Oh! Is it?"
"Yes. What about you?"
"I told you Rajat and I are going tomorrow to the mall, right? It is for shopping only. Wait, how about this... let us all go together to the mall for shopping!" he suggested enthusiastically and even Swara felt it was a good idea.
"Sounds great! I'm in," she smiled and he, too, smiled as she agreed. And the plan for tomorrow was made.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Next day, afternoon...
"I will be done with my duties by the evening and even Rajat will," Sanskar told Swara as they met each other in the basement of the hospital, "Once you and Anushka get free we all can leave for the mall together."
"Okay. Done!" Swara agreed.
Sanskar was about to say something but soon enough, he heard someone calling out to him, "Dr Sanskar!"
He turned towards the source of voice and found out it was a nurse, "Yes, sister?"
"Actually, Dr Kavita asked me to give you and Dr Swara this," she said.
Sanskar looked totally clueless as the nurse handed him a yellow coloured note with something written on it with a marker. The nurse walked away from there and both Sanskar and Swara read what the note said...
'I'm Sorry!'
"'I'm sorry'," Swara read out aloud.
Sanskar rolled his eyes, "Too late for that, don't you think?"
Swara shaked her head, "Sanskar..."
"What Sanskar?" He looked at her, "Just look at her guts, Swara. After doing all that nonsense she is saying sorry to us expecting us to forgive her so easily. Does it even look like she truly regrets? She would not be giving us this note then. She would come in front of us and apologise with her heart," he stated.
"But what if she means it?" she said in uncertainty, "What if she is feeling so guilty that she doesn't want to come in front of us?"
"Whatever," he folded his arms across his chest, "I don't trust this girl. What if she is being nice in front of us but she is planning something behind our back?"
"Sanskar... tum bhi na!" she unfolded his arms and held his hands, "Kabhi kabhi tum bohot jyada sochte ho. Okay, forget all this. Come on, let's go to the canteen and eat something," she grabbed his hand but Sanskar was not ready to move.
"I'm not hungry," he said in one breath.
"Why does it look like our roles have been reversed?" she asked teasing him, "Everything is sorted now, Sanskar. Kavita has realized her mistakes, what more do we need?"
"Do you really think she has?" He looked at her.
"Even if she hasn't, does she have anything else left to do?" She smiled at him. Kavita was the last person she would expect to drop down her ego and apologise for all that she did till today, but at the same time she also knew it wouldn't be wrong to expect she would mend her ways, "We are together, Sanskar. She can't do anything to break us apart anymore. It's our love that stands strong in front of her hatred. Even if she is planning anything, she won't be able to do anything!"
Sanskar, at last, smiled as he knew whatever she said was right. No matter what Kavita -- or anyone -- did, the ultimate truth was that no force in this world could ever break him and Swara apart. And they both would make sure of it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Precap :- SwaSan shopping and then the anniversary celebration
Important : For all those readers who are still here today no matter how delayed my updates are, I have no words to express how I feel. Thank you a million times for still staying! I was surprised when some of you asked me on my message board when I was going to post the new part, which made me realise I still have my readers waiting and it won't be fair with you all if I don't update today (when I was about to post this chapter on 4th i.e tomorrow). And I'm so sorry for disappointing you all again and again with late updating. Last few months were really hectic for me with my third year university exam going on at that time.
I promise the next update won't be so delayed (not atleast 6-7 month delay) as the following two chapters are 40-50% written by me and are saved in my draft.
I love all of you ❤️