It had been two days since their little encounter at the temple and Akshara wasn't able to shake the feeling of his hand in hers. For the first time in her life , she felt secure and belonged.
"Agrhh... Why can't i stop this train of thoughts.. for gods sake he is going to be my jeeju in a week" she scolded herself shoving a pillow on her face.
Freshening up, Akshara went out of her room to have a change of environment, when passing through Aarohi's room she heard Aarohi's voice coming from inside.
She opened the door to have a little sister time, but before the door could open completely she saw Aarohi sitting on her bed facing the wall holding a phone to her ear.
" Neil, its not like that" Aarohi pleaded with the person on the phone.
Neil.. Akshara remembered seeing the name on Aarohi's name the other day and started listening intently onto the conversation.
" I want to meet you.. let's meet at our usual place by 8 PM. I will be waiting for you " Aarohi informed the other person and cut the call. Before she could notice, Akshara slipped out of the room without making a sound.
" Who is this Neil guy? Why does Aaru di keeps on speaking to him? I haven't seen her speaking a word to Abhinav, even when she was standing next to him she was immersed in her phone. What is happening?" Akshara's mind was filled with questions as she was walking downstairs where her family was bundled up discussing about the wedding.
She saw the happiness radiating in her parent's face. They were paying so much attention to every small details, they didn't want anything to go wrong in the wedding.
Mimi was busy instructing the catering head about the type of sweets to be prepared for each functions.
Looking at their faces, she turned backwards and looked worriedly at the closed door of Aarohi's room upstairs.
" I can't let anything ruin their reputation and happiness. " she decided .
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It was 7 at the evening, Akshara kept a close eye on Aarohi's activities.
" Maa, I have an emergency at the hospital. I have to go" Aarohi who had just came downstairs informed Swarna.
" Aarohi, you are getting married in a week. Haven't you applied for leave yet?" Kairaav questioned
" Bhai! I don't interfere in your job, it will be better if you don't in mine" she gave him a plastered smile and walked off .
" I don't know how she is going to adjust after marriage " Kairaav commented as Mimi , Swarna and Manish looked worriedly at Aarohi's retriating figure .
In middle of this commotion they missed to notice that another person in the family has also slipped out of the house through the back enterance.
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Akshara caught an auto and followed Aarohi's car . After a good 45 minutes ride, Aarohi stopped her car in front of the park and went inside.
Akshara payed the auto fare and went inside the park and searched for Aarohi for quite a while. Being a huge park, it was becoming a difficult task to spot her sister.
Giving up hope, Akshara was about to walk out of the park when she saw Aarohi standing at a corner of the park and talking to a lean tall guy who looked her age. Hiding herself behind the railing, she tried to tap into their conversation.
" Look Aaru, you can't persuade me into a marriage. I want to enjoy my bachelorhood. I like you but just for that I can't marry you now. Maybe if you could wait for some more years I can think of it"
" Neil, you are not understanding! I don't have the previlage of waiting. My mom has been behind me for years to marry. I put it off as long as I could. But this time I wasn't able to. She was adamant and I had no way but to agree . We don't have time Neil"
" Well then enjoy your married life princess with your arranged knight in buisness suit. I can't make an commitment now" Neil declared walking away.
Aarohi stomped her foot in anger and started walking towards her car.
Akshara took a minute to gather her thoughts.
" So Aaru di loves this guy, then why did she accept to marrying Abhinav? I have to speak to her first " she concluded and walked out of the park following Aarohi at distance. But before she could catch up to her, Aarohi took off in her car zooming away.
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" Uff! Of all days, Vinay had to take leave today!" Abhinav whined driving his car to home.
He liked driving, but only when done leisurely. He didn't like driving after a hectic work day . It was his last day at work, before he takes a break for his wedding. Making sure that work would smoothly flow during his absence had been such a himalayan task. He had almost bit off heads of his general managers who he sure would be cursing him all night.
To add to that, between this workload he couldn't shake off his wondering thoughts . And none of those thoughts involved his fiance, but someone closely related to her. More than the work, this thoughts were what troubling him more.
Shaking his head to clear off those thoughts again, he concentrated on the path again and took a right when he saw a girl clad in a simple tee and a jean inches away walking towards his car . Eventhough she was walking forward, she was facing backward as if searching for something.
Alerted he immediately stepped on the brakes, the car came to a screeching halt but not before grazing the person lightly. Due to the impact, the girl bounced back and fell on the road.
Abhinav dashed out of the car and looked at the girl who was now lying on the road . She wasn't hurt or bleeding and he was thankful for that. Kneeling beside her, he carefully moved the hair covering the face.
It was none other than the person of his thoughts. Akshara Goenka, his to be sister in law.
Stunned , he lifted her head , cradling it near his heart he tapped her cheek calling her name
" Akshara.. Akshara.. utho.." his strained voice echoed in her ears .
A semi conscious Akshara slightly opened her eye.
" Akshara.. tum yahaan akele kya kar rahi hai?" He asked relived that she wasn't in any danger. He checked her hands , legs and head , there were no signs of any injury.
" Wo.. Neil... boyfriend.. Aarudi" she blabbered catching her head which was still spinning due to the impact.
" What?" He asked confused at her words, but looking at her state he slowly lifted her, placing her in the passenger seat, he took a water bottle and splashed some water on her face.
She slowly regained her consciousness and took a look at her surrounding. Her eyes widened as it fell om Abhinav who was standing on the road just beside the car seat she was sitting in. She sprang to her feet, the sudden action making her head spin again.
" Sit first!" He commanded as she caught her dizzy head . He pushed her shoulder into the seat.
" Here ! Drink some water!" He forwarded a bottle to her as she gulped down as her aderaline gradually returned to normal.
" Thanks! " she said handing him the bottle as he nodded.
" Are you okay? I mean.. is it paining anywhere.. shall we go to hospital?" He asked concern feeling his eyes.
" No.. no.. I am okay.. just the fall made me dizzy " she answered truthfully.
" Hmm.. waise.. when did you upgrade from humans to car? Is this an hobby for you?" Abhinav asked returning to his akdu mode.
" Wo.. I am really sorry. I was trying to get an auto to go home. But didn't find any. when I thought I saw some light in the distance, I turned back to see if it was an auto when I dashed into your car. " she apologized looking down.
For some reason, Abhinav find his heart melting at her puppy face.
" Anyway, thanks for helping." Akshara said getting up from the seat
" Sit down ! I will drop you" his voice came out more as a command than offering.
" Huh? No no.. thanks. I will catch an auto. " she said taking a couple of steps.
" Do you even know what the time is? It's not safe .... get in the car " his tone was stringent.
Akshara turned around to face him, but stood there contemplating her options.
She knew he was right. It was well past 9:30 and getting an auto now wasn't the safest option. But in the light of the new information about her sister's boyfriend , she wasn't sure how ethical would it be of her to accept his help.
" I don't have all day" she heard Abhinav's voice and looked at him still standing beside the open passenger door.
Slowly she walked towards him and took her seat. He closed her door and walked to the other side .Climbing in his seat , he started the vechicle towards her house.
They drove in silence for sometime, Abhinav tried to glue his eyes on the road while Akshara just kept on staring outside the window.
After some time, Abhinav turned to look at her. She looked so disturbed by her thoughts.
" Akshara! Is everything okay? " He found himself asking despite the warning bells blaring in his head .
His tone took Akshara by suprise, it was full of concern .
" Haan ..everything's fine" she kept her answer brief , feeling worse about lying to him.
She could not disclose anything to him now , she herself only know what she had heard. Without talking to Aarohi , it wasn't her place to say anything.
"I mean...When you were semi conscious, you said something about Neil.. Boyfriend.. Aaru di.. " he tried to correctly remember what she had said.
Akshara's eyes widened in shock.
"What had I blabbered ! Oh god no! " she admonished herself and covered up her reaction with a sheepish smile.
" Akshara?" He pried as she was lost in her thoughts.
" Wo.. I would have meant Neil .. boyfriend.. Aaraha ...which you would have misheard as Aarohi. I was returning back from meeting my boyfriend Neil at the park." Akshara told the first lie that came to her mind at the time.
" Your boyfriend?" Abhinav's voice had turned dangerously low and coarse.
His knuckles turned white as he clutched the steering wheel tightly not knowing why her having a boyfriend affected him so much.
" Haan.." she said trying to not meet his eyes.
" What kind of a boyfriend abandons his girlfriend at this time ? " He asked anger apparent in his voice.
" Wo.. he ..did ...offer to drop me home... but I ..refused" she stammered closing her eyes in despair at having to lie to him again.
Thankfully, he didn't catch her action and her house came into sight.
" Can you drop me here? I don't want my family to know what happened! Please" she asked as he nodded and pressed on the brakes.
" Thanks for .. everything " she thanked closing the door behind her and walked towards her home. Her guilt at hiding information from him which would have a huge impact on his life didn't let her to wait for him to acknowledge her thanks.
Only when she had entered the doors of Goenka villa, she heard his car zooming away from the spot he had dropped her .
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