Abhimanyu smiled a little and said,
"Baap re! Itna gussa? Don't worry. Aisa kuch nahi hoga. Itna gussa aap pe nahi ayega mujhe. Akshara ho ya koi aur, aake kuch bhi bolega, toh main aapse gussa hojaunga? Aisa karta hoon main?" Abhimanyu asked her and she shook her head.
"Aur aapne toh already sabko mana hi liya. Phir kaisa gussa?
And main kabhi aapse baat karna band nahi karunga. Gussa karunga but baat karna band nahi karunga. Take my PROMISE."
He said as he pressed his hand on hers. Abhimanyu tried assuring her. Then he added, "Abhi shant hojao ur aaram se sojao." But Roohi was in another zone.
"Abhi kahan Poppy? Maine Birla Boy ko manaya nahi tha aur ulta suna diya use." Roohi whined. Abhimanyu chuckled.
"Toh kya hua? Manalena aap. Itne logon ko manaya hain. Abhir ko manana kaunsi mushkil baat hain aapke liye?" He said cheerfully.
"Poppy! Main mana manake thak gayi na. Mujhse aur nahi ho raha" Roohi sulked.
"Ru! That's not done. Woh bhi bahut hurt hua hain aur aap keh rahe ho ki aapne use aur sunaya bhi hain. He deserves an apology Bacha." Abhimanyu coaxed her.
Roohi nodded in agreement. Even she knew that but she just wanted to whine on principle. So, she did.
"Kal subah, first thing, Abhir ke saath sab sort out kar lo. You will feel much better. Abhi bas sojao."
He made her lie down and pulled over a comforter to tuck her in.
"Aapne mujhe sachi maaf kardiya Poppy? For hiding about Mumma...I mean Akshara ma'am?" She questioned suddenly.
Abhimanyu hated that Roohi had to address Akshara as ma'am. It was a reminder about how Akshara has really hurt Roohi and he could never let this slide.
For now, he wanted to address Roohi's question.
"Maaf karnewali koi baat hi nahi thi. Agar thi bhi toh aapko uski punishment already mil chuki hain."
Roohi immediately touched her cheeks while Abhimanyu couldn't bite back his smile.
"So there is nothing to hold against you." Abhimanyu clarified with a smile and his tone was very casual.
"Aapse baat chupayi na maine......aur jab aapne confess karne bola tha, tab bhi nahi bataya maine. Maine pehle kabhi aisa nahin kiya Poppy.
Jab bhi aap confess karne bolte ho, aise ankhen dikhake, main hamesha poori baat sach sach boldeti hoon. And I know that, this time, it was wrong on my part."
She admitted honestly and Abhimanyu found that rather cute. But he couldn't tell her that now. Can he?
"Hmmm! That was wrong on your part. Pehli baar tha toh jaane de raha hoon but ab yeh last chance hain. Don't repeat it again."
He told her firmly and she nodded gratefully. But she was still fidgeting with her fingers and Abhimanyu pushed her to speak her mind,
"Kya baat hain ab? Kuch bolna hain toh boldo." Roohi looked down and shook her head, but she started speaking once she received a glare.
"Maine actually socha tha ki aapko main kabhi nahi bataungi.
Main aisa kar bhi leti but Rohan Chachu ne pakad liya mera jhoot. Unhone warn kiya ki jo bhi baat hain, ek hafte mein aapse ya kisi elder se discuss karloon.
Aur Neil Chachu ne toh Akshara ma'am ko venue pe dekhliya. He made me speak the truth." Roohi spoke meekly.
"Aur agar yeh sab nahi hota toh aap chupalete mujhse. Is that what you want to say?"
Abhimanyu sternly asked her. She nodded wordlessly but she was scared of his reaction.
"Aapko kya lagta hain Ru? Mujhe nahi pata chalta ki baat kuch aur hain? Itna easy hain kya mujhse chupana? Rohan aur Neil hi jaante hain aapko? Main nahi jaanta kya?"
Abhimanyu questioned her looking straight into her eyes. She gulped but nodded. Then she shook her head and again nodded. Abhimanyu rolled his eyes at her and looked past that.
"Why do you think I never dished out the consequences even after you pleaded with me?" Abhimanyu taunted her and she looked at him startled.
"Ofcourse I didn't know what it was but I knew there was something missing. The things weren't adding up somehow and so I was buying time.
Main bina sach jane aapko punish nahi karna chahta tha.
Agar aaj aap sach apne aap se nahi batati toh main ready tha aapse sach bulwane keliye. But you made it easy for me.
Jab sach pata chala aur aapka intention pata chala, mujhe gussa nahi aaya aap pe. I felt bad that you had to go through all that all on your own.
Isliye thoda upset hua tha but I knew ki us baat keliye aapko already punishment mil chuki hain. So maine intentionally ise aur drag nahi kiya." Abhimanyu explained and Roohi relaxed a little.
"Mujhe complete maafi milgayi na?" She rechecked and Abhimanyu shook his head in disbelief.
He soft glared and taunted saying, "Agar maine aapko maaf nahi kiya hota na Bacha, abhi aap apni consequences ko lekar mujhse argue kar rahe hote. Aise aaram se mujhse snuggle karke nahi so rahe hote." He remarked and Roohi shrugged.
"Alright now. Ab yeh betuki baatein apni dimag se nikalo aur chup chap sojao. Subah aapko ek nayi jung ladni hain. So rest up."
Abhimanyu ushered her to sleep and didn't let her speak any further. But he could see that she wasn't so unnerved now. He was patting her to sleep but Roohi spoke again.
"Poppy! Maine bahut socha. But aapko nahi lagta ki mere saath zyakhti hui?" She asked cutely but she meant it. Not the one to let things slide away either.
"Kya matlab?" Abhimanyu responded promptly.
"Yahi ki aapne mujhe maara aur sorry bhi feel nahin kiya. Ab toh aap mere intentions jaante ho na. Aapko nahi lagta ki you were unnecessarily rude to me?" She sassed at her father.
Abhimanyu gave a sarcastic smile and stealthily reached for her ear. He at once, held it tight and asked her, "Aap kuch keh rahe the Ru?" Roohi winced as the hold tightened.
"Ouch Poppy! Lag rahi hain. Chodo. Please. Please. Please" Roohi yelled out but to no avail.
"Lagne keliye hi kiya hain Bacha. Kyunki aapko apni galti bahut choti lagne lagi hain aur meri baatein unnecessarily rude. Maine socha theek kardoon" Abhimanyu admonished.
"Are Poppy! Maine aapki baaton ko thodi kuch bola. Main toh bas itna keh rahi thi ki aap mujhe nahi bhi maarte tab bhi main samajh jaati. Zor se lagi thi Poppy." Roohi justified herself but immediately winced again as he gave her ear a gentle twist.
"Aaah! Ouch! Poppy!" Roohi yelped as Abhimanyu's hold wasn't very playful at all.
"Acha ji! Us din toh meri maar bhi aapko maar nahi lag rahe the. Kuch der pehle aapko yakeen nahi ho raha tha ki maine aapko asani se maaf kardiya. Aur abhi bol rahe ho ki zyakhti thi.
Dramebaaz ke saath saath kya paltubaaz bante jaa rahe ho aap?" Abhimanyu scolded and left her ear.
Roohi rubbed her ear that turned pink and cursed her mouth for bringing this upon her. She had no business riling up her calm father. But she did and that resulted in her ear paying the price.
"Abhi bhi kuch unnecessarily complicated cheezein hain toh mujhse baat karlijiyega. Main aaj samjhane ke mood mein hoon"
Abhimanyu kind of warned her as he cracked his knuckles nonchalantly. Roohi shook her head vehemently and shielded her ears. Abhimanyu had to bite back his smile yet again.
"Exactly! Abhi sojao. Bakwaas batein mat socha karo. Inhi ke chakkar mein aapko nightmares aa rahe hain.
So, watch what you ponder upon, if it's worth it or not."
He suggested and Roohi nodded like an obedient child. She was about to lie down comfortably when she heard her father saying,
"Ruko. Abhi uth gaye ho toh khana khalo. Main khiladeta hoon." Roohi swayed her head in a no.
"Please Poppy mujhe abhi nahi khana. Meri neend chali jayegi aur mujhe bhook bhi nahi hain." She gave her puppy eyes and spoke in a childish tone. Abhimanyu gave up and said,
"Khana main yahi le aunga. Raat ko jab bhi neend khuli aur bhook lagi toh khalena." Abhimanyu advised Roohi and let her slip into sleep. Within minutes, Roohi dozed off.
Once Roohi slept, he went out to look for Abhir. He didn't spend even 5 minutes with him that day. Abhir was sleeping with Anahita like a good boy, and he sighed. Abhimanyu missed his baby boy, but he didn't want to wake him up. He had his food and enquired if Abhir ate. The staff nodded and Abhimanyu relaxed a bit. He closed the door in order to not disturb him and went to Neil's room. He didn't find Neil there.
He went ahead and looked for Neil in the whole house, but he couldn't find him anyway. He went out and checked for the bike and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the bike missing. The watchman confirmed Abhimanyu's suspicion and Abhimanyu's worry heightened.
He kept calling Neil, but he didn't answer.
Abhimanyu called up Abhishek and asked him to track the bike. After the fiasco, Abhishek had installed a tracking device on every vehicle just in case for safety. That move will be of great help now. The minute Abhishek sent him the location, Abhimanyu rushed to reach there.
His gut feeling was warning him to reach as soon as possible, and his left hand was constantly dabbling with the Rudraksh pendant in his neck. Only horrible things flashed in his mind and he hated each one of those with passion.
Neil and bike were never a great match. Especially when Neil is angry, him driving a bike can be really dangerous.
That was the reason Abhimanyu never let him off alone when he was angry. He cursed himself for not sorting things with Neil immediately or at least making sure that he was ok. He just assumed that he needed time to cool off, but he didn't imagine that he would resort to this. Abhimanyu was determined to dispose off the bike immediately.
No matter how much that bike meant to him, he would never want to risk Neil having access to a bike.
That bike was one thing he always kept close, but he was ready to part ways with it. Just as a mere precaution to not have this situation repeated. That's how Abhimanyu Birla functions and it's impossible to take that selflessness out of his system.
Neil on the other hand was caught dodging signals by a traffic police personnel after they got notified by their colleagues. The bike number was circulated, and Neil was caught exactly two junctions after the one he recklessly dodged. The speed of the bike was way beyond and that attracted attention. It was a miracle that they could actually note the number, but their effort paid off.
They wanted to charge him an insane amount to let him go and Neil would have obliged but Abhimanyu happened to reach there at that very moment. Neil immediately back tracked from his word and refused to give the bribe.
He would rather get arrested than get toasted by his father.
The look on Abhimanyu's face screamed danger for Neil and he was willingly riling the police to put him in the lock up. Abhimanyu was rather amused by Neil's antics. Within seconds, he understood what his brother was playing at but didn't intervene. He waited patiently for them to arrive at a conclusion so that he can talk to them.
Till then, he needed some time to calm down the anxiety he felt while he was driving towards the spot where Neil's bike was present. It showed no movement and Abhimanyu was worried thinking whether Neil has abandoned the bike and walked away, or the bike had to stop for some horrible reason. The scene in front of him wasn't a good scenario but was way better than all his imaginations.
Does that mean Neil will be off the hook?
Well! Only in the dreams. Neil is in for it, and he knew that very well. So.......
GOD SAVE NEIL BIRLA!!!
What's your take on Neil and Abhimanyu's argument?
Who is right according to you?
How was the interaction between Abhir and Roohi?
What do you have to say about Neil's stunt?
What's awaiting Neil?
Will Roohi finally apologize to Abhir?
Well! Let's wait and see.