Everyone comes with a baggage. Find someone who loves you enough to help you unpack. -Ted Mosby, How I Met Your Mother.
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Chapter twenty-five: blast from the past
Children were running around while the elders were all busy arranging the ceremony final preparations. It was the Sangeet ceremony and everyone had been practising their dances. There were two teams: the bride's side and the groom's side.
Tanya was training the bride's side since last night. After the mehendi, everybody had their dinner and Tanya ordered them to come to the recreation room. She had thought of the songs and the moves.
She had fifteen people in front of her and she was ready to train them for hell.
Mahaya had to time and again remind Tanya that she wasn't going in for a war. This was a mere competition.
Perhaps the only competition Mahaya didn't want to participate in. Especially not when Tanya was in this mood. Mahaya was more of the behind-the-screens person here.
That night she noticed Yashraj was absent in the dining area but then, so were the boys.
She called Kartik who informed her that they were at Rishabh's bachelor party. Mahaya asked if Yashraj was there but Kartik said that he had called it a night.
Suspiciously, Mahaya made it to his room.
Why did he not go? What's so important that he was holed up in his room?
Mahaya had noticed Tanya's cousin flirting with him but Yashraj had politely rejected her advances. And Mahaya wasn't jealous. She was secure of their relationship, now that they'd declared their love for each other.
The conversation in the car came rushing back to her.
"And what am I to you, compared to him?" He had asked her with that expression on his face.
The expression in which he looked like a poor child who wanted to be his mom's favourite.
But this was way more complicated.
Yashraj had asked the question which was the heart of the dilemma.
They were in a relationship where both of them loved each other, made each other completely happy but they had this unknown hurdle in front of them.
They were running together but neither of them knew if they could cross this hurdle.
This obstacle was what decided if they were going to make it or just be left in each other's memories.
Mahaya rang the door bell as she took a few deep breaths.
She wasn't hoping to find Ariana, Tanya's cousin inside and if she did, next day there would be two bodies found.
After a few moments, Yashraj opened the door.
He was wearing a black t-shirt, with track pants and was drying his hair with a towel.
And he looked sexy doing it.
His hair flicked over his mesmerising brown eyes which looked at Mahaya in confusion; he was surprised and glad, yet somehow afraid to find her here.
"Hey." He nervously smiled.
"Hi." Mahaya narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she stepped in.
"Anyone in here I need to know about?" Mahaya asked, looking at Yashraj's face.
It's a well-known fact that you can easily to lie to someone by looking in their eyes, despite what shows and movies tell us.
But that's not what Mahaya was searching for.
When a person lied, their pupils dilate, their heartbeat fastens and the face pales.
Pupils dilating and heart rate fastening are almost impossible to spot. But when the face loses colour, that's spottable. Not so easily done but if someone has a quick eye, it's possible.
And unluckily for Yashraj, Mahaya had that eye.
"Just me." He smiled at her genuinely though he was still nervous.
"Why do you ask?" He asked in confusion.
Mahaya shook her head. He wasn't cheating on her but there was something he was hiding.
"What are you doing in here? Why didn't you go to the party?" She asked as she dried his hair for him.
"Not exactly fond of Rishabh." Yashraj muttered grumpily.
Yashraj couldn't figure out what Tanya saw in him. Tanya was a beautiful, head-strong woman and Rishabh, according to Yashraj, was a douche. Though what he did for Tanya was commendable and impressive.
"So what were you doing?" She asked as she sat on the bed.
"Watched a movie then took a shower. Needed to clear my head." He muttered as he dropped his towel on the couch.
"Alright. I need to check my emails." Mahaya said as she opened up his laptop.
"Go ahead." Yashraj said as he opened up the mini fridge.
Mahaya opened up Chrome to see his Facebook already opened.
Yashraj realised the blunder he made. He rushed to Mahaya, only to see her look at him with shock.
She silently turned the laptop to face him.
Yashraj saw what he expected. Abhishek Verma Facebook page was opened and he was in big, huge, deep sh*t.
"I...I can explain." He stuttered.
"What?" She asked in a tight voice.
"I...I was-" he didn't know what to say.
What was he supposed to say? He was caught, red-handed.
"Curious?" She prompted.
Yashraj nodded hesitantly.
Mahaya sighed and got off the bed.
"I understand." She said as she stood in front of him.
Yashraj blinked twice, not believing what he heard.
"You-you do?"
"Yes. I mean, you were curious and you've been in dark for a long time. And." She looked at him with pride and adornment in her eyes.
"And you were patient, so very calm and mature in this situation. So, I think you do deserve to find out the truth."
Both of them sat down on the floor.
"I had began my LLB, first year. That's when I met Abhishek. He was this nerdy, goofy guy in my class. And the only one to ever outsmart me." Mahaya smiled fondly at the memory.
"You should have seen him. The first day, the professor asked us a question and as usual, I was the first one to answer. And professor happily accepted my answer but Abhishek contradicted me. He challenged it and went as far as to proving that my entire belief system was wrong." Mahaya shook her head softly, smiling to herself.
"I respected him since that moment. I know I intimidate people. I use that to my advantage. But Abhishek never stirred. He always made me know when I was wrong. That's one of the reasons why Tanya loved him too."
"He was perfect, you know? He was smart, handsome yet oblivious to his beauty. He was goofy and geeky yet hot and sexy. He was mature, so mature that I was instantly attracted to him."
Yashraj never interrupted Mahaya, though he wanted to, at many times. He was wanted to shout that yeah, maybe he wasn't perfect but he was perfect for her.
But he kept quiet. Mahaya was opening up to him, finally.
"Into few weeks of knowing each other, we started dating. And that was one of the happiest times of my life. Two years were over and both of us had turned twenty. It was his best friend's wedding and Abhishek hinted he had a surprise planned for me. Abhishek was always the one about surprises. Be it my surprise bday party, or anniversary party, you name it and he has one ready. So, that's what I was expecting. But when I went to his room, I knocked and opened the door and there he was, on his knee." Tears sprung to her eyes.
Mahaya couldn't believe she was going to relive the darkest, the most painful moments of her life.
"H-he proposed." Her voice broke and she clenched her fists together in order to stop crying.
Yashraj looked at her, helpless. This was the most vulnerable and emotional he had seen her. And he wanted to do anything to make her feel better. Even if it meant listening to her babble about her ex-boyfriend, or fiancée in this case.
He slowly unclenched her fists and held her hands, giving it a soft squeeze.
Mahaya looked at him surprise, not believing he was there. His touch assured her that he was still there. And that willed her to move on and finish the story.
Mahaya took a few deep breaths, steadying her nerves and telling herself that it'd all be over soon.
"I told him that we were twenty, and too young to even think about marriage yet. Abhishek said that he understood and just wanted me to be his promise wife. He said it was a thing." Mahaya rolled her eyes.
"So I told him I'd think about it. And we went on with our lives. Three months, that courtship phase, it was the best of my life, and I was contemplated to say yes, to accept his proposal and be his wife. And I was, on his birthday. So the night before his bday, I went to his place and waited there, for hours."
This was it. This was the worst moment of her life. The moment where her entire world fell into pieces.
"To tell him that I was agreeing to be his wife. So I waited. It was two thirty-two in the morning. I distinctly remember. I had a mocha latte, to calm my nerves and not fall asleep. I had called him so many times but it was unreachable so I was pacing around the room when the home phone rang. I quickly picked it up and it was the police." Mahaya took a deep breath but this time, her tears didn't stop. They sprang to life and began flowing down her cheeks one after the other.
"They said that he had been in an accident. Blunt force trauma to the head, resulting in instant death. The driver who hit him was drunk. In one moment, my entire life crumbled. Abhishek was gone." Mahaya cried, sobbing and choking.
Yashraj didn't know what to do. She was crying over the death of her ex and Yashraj was set to default of hating every single one of them.
But then he decided to put his ego aside. This was his Mahi and she needed him.
So he did what he had to.
He pulled her close and hugged her, assuring her that he was there and that he wasn't going to let go. Ever.
One day, someone will hold you so right that all your broken pieces will fit together.
They don't know how long they sat there, on the cold floor, in each other's arms.
And Mahaya was content. She felt a heavy cloak being lifted off her shoulders. Yashraj was here. And he was still accepting her despite all her baggage and flaws. And she loved him for that.
Abhishek held a special place in her heart, he always will. But that doesn't mean that she won't love Yashraj. She loved him with all she had. She felt it was impossible to love him anymore.
She was ready to speak again.
"So that's why every two weeks or so, I disappear. To visit-"
"His family house, I know." Yashraj completed her sentence.
Mahaya looked at him in confusion and Yashraj knew he made a huge blunder.
"How do you know?" She asked and then Abruptly got up.
She started pacing around the room.
"It couldn't have been Kartik or Tanya as none of them know where I go. It couldn't have been me as I am careful enough to not let that just slip through."
The lawyer in her was resurfacing. And once she figured it out, Yashraj was going to die, literally.
"And no one else knew where I go so you couldn't have possibly known unless-" She looked at him, figuring it out.
Yashraj's face paled.
"You followed me?" She asked, not believing her question.
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Hey folks! So how was it? Good? Predictable? Unexpected? Cliche? Intense?
How was Abhishek? Cute? Goofy? Adorable?
How do you think Mahaya will react now?
Tell me all about in the comments. And also, vote!
Until then,
Laters baby!