Life is not a bed of roses. Every day is not the same; that is, you can't expect every day to be smooth and joyful. Life brings bundles of surprises with every passing day. You never know if it will make you happy or sad. But we must keep our spirits up. We must always try to find positivity in everything.
This is something that Ruhana has learned from Vineet. They have been spending time together during work and at home as well. Lately, they have been visiting each other's homes. However, it is Vineet who visits Ruhana's home and spends time with Aanya as well.
When you hang out together and stay around each other, individual thoughts tend to affect the other person and this is actually the case with Ruhana and Vineet. She has started to think a lot before making a decision, and Vineet secretly takes it as an accomplishment. She doesn't react immediately and this is enough.
Even Ruhana is surprised at this change, but she's fine with it. After all, her external appearance might be outspoken, rough, & tough, but she's still the same innocent girl at heart that she was in childhood. And somewhere, at times, she also feels that she has come very far away from her roots but something stops her from taking the back steps. That is why people fear her, for she's a perfectionist at work, and even now, she hasn't lost her work ethic; everything ought to be perfect while working with her.
Vineet has become a game-changer in her life, and he has become successful to some extent. She has started to change, and things have become easier for her. Well, with him by her side, her life has always been easier. In the present scenario, she has changed a little bit, and she's happy with it. Lately, she has realised that being honest and direct can be easier than working indirectly and making up stories to get business.
In the past two months, Ruhana has come to terms with the realisation that she can trust Vineet and open her heart to him. Of course, Aanya approves of him, and she has realised that he's highly concerned about her and has started keeping close looks at her and her way of doing business. He often says that he will wait for the longest time until she feels comfortable with him and tells him the truth.
Can she tell him the truth? Well, she has told him a part of her past, but not the whole thing. There's nothing wrong with telling him the truth; he will understand, she knows. Yet her heart is scared to trust anyone easily.
She comes out of her trail of thoughts with Vineet's voice. She finds herself sitting in her office chamber, and Vineet is sitting beside her, gazing at her. He's looking at her questioningly.
"What happened? Is anything wrong?" He asks, concerned at the moment.
"Um, no! I was just thinking something." She responds.
"If you want, you can tell me." He gazes at her; he's eager to know her thoughts.
"I think I can tell you... I will tell you everything, Vineet." She replies, taking him by surprise.
"Tell me, what is it about?" He asks curiously.
"Not here, Vineet. Come home for dinner tonight. I will tell you everything." She says.
"I know; I can tell you everything." She emphasises the last line, and he's surprised.
Now, he has hope igniting in his heart. She's ready to tell the truth to him, and he hopes that things will fall into place eventually.
*****
The day passes in a blur, and the two friends head home. They reach Ruhana's home, and Vineet seems quite happy, for Ruhana has invited him to her home and is ready to reveal bits of her past. They enter the home, and the house is empty; there's just the housemaid, Asha, who takes care of the house in Ruhana's absence.
Ruhana directs Asha to bring coffee for them while she asks Vineet to feel at home and settle down. He's looking around the house when Ruhana informs him that Aanya has returned to Pune for her second year. Meanwhile, Asha comes with two cups of coffee, and Ruhana further instructs her regarding dinner preparation. All this while, Vineet had his eyes fixed on her, watching her moves.
This girl has grown up to balance everything. She can manage the office and home as well. She's getting her sister educated, and this is the best thing she could do for her sister. He's already aware of her love for Aanya. However, Ruhana has made significant changes in her demeanour, and he's happy about it. Now, he's eager to learn the secrets that she's been hiding for a long time. He comes out of his trance at her voice. He looks at her, and she stares into his eyes.
"I know you're eager to know everything, Vineet. You know, everything has two sides or perspectives. Yeah, you might say that I have made decisions according to my perspective, but I had no other option. After my rift with Shekhar uncle, how could I trust anyone else, Vineet?"
"I trusted him because I thought he loved me. But he didn't; I was just a pawn in his hands. And you say that we must trust people, right? So, if we can't trust our family members, what is the use? Tell me?"
"You're right, Ruhana. We must trust our family, I agree."
"That's what I did, Vineet. But my uncle cheated me. That day, in the study, he was looking for the recent research papers that Papa had done at that time. Also, he was looking for the property papers. And when I told Papa about it, he scolded me. He didn't want to believe that Shekhar uncle came into the study that night."
*Flashback Begins*
That night, Ruhana couldn't sleep much. Seeing her uncle in the study had scared her. She wanted to know what he was searching for in the study and what urgency came up that he couldn't wait for her father.
Usually, her father and uncle used to work in the study, but her uncle never entered the room without her dad's permission. Maybe, he was acting sweet in front of his brother. But because she was a teenager, she didn't understand the differences between right and wrong.
The next morning, the girls woke up to have their parents home. Ruhana runs to her parents and hugs them, asking about their well-being. The couple is surprised.
"We are fine, honey. Why are you crying?"
"Papa, I need to tell you something."
"Yes, Papa, Di said there is someone in the study room. She went to see," Little Aanya replies, cradled in her mom's arms.
"What happened? Are you two okay?"
"Yes, papa, but I saw Shekhar uncle in the study," Ruhana responds scaredly.
"But, honey, he doesn't have the spare key to the study room. He can't go there." her father tries to comfort her.
"No, I saw him. I can't make a mistake in recognising him. He was searching for something. Please, papa, check once." Ruhana pleaded, and her father comforted her, saying that he would talk to her uncle.
Ruhana agrees, and then the sisters move to freshen up. As she's walking to her room, she hears her parents talking.
"Even Ruhana suspects him, Sandeep. Please do something." Her mother says this, looking at her father.
"Ruhana is a kid. Let it be; she might be mistaken. You don't know, Rekha ji; things will be fine." Sandeep comforts his wife.
"Fine, but Ruhana won't stay silent. She might use her ways to find the truth." Rekha replies in concern.
"We will see about that, Rekha ji. Let's do some business right now. We need to focus on that." Sandeep comforts her, and everyone gets busy with their work.
A few days later, Sandeep comes to terms with reality when he finds some confidential papers in Shekhar's hands. He comes to know that he had kept duplicate papers in place of the original ones and was cheating him. The two brothers had a long argument, and Shekhar tried to abuse and hurt his brother.
Ruhana knew of the argument, but her mother told her that the argument was resolved and things were fine. Later, after the parents' demise, she again trusted her uncle.
*Flashback Ends*
"I got to know everything later, through our house help. I didn't know that Shekhar uncle could be bad and hurt his own family. Yet, I trusted him. You know what, This is the reason I don't trust anyone."
"You say I can be soft with people around me. But then there are two perspectives on everything, Vineet. And people only show that perspective, which is beneficial for them. Even Shekhar uncle did that, even today."
"I was not prepared to lose my parents, Vineet. I wasn't. And since then, life has been hard. I trusted the wrong people many times, and that is the reason I run behind money and power."
Ruhana says this while Vineet is stunned at her outburst. Yeah, this is one part of the story, and he knows how it feels to be cheated by your own family. She has been through hell. She further says something that leaves him surprised.
To Be Continued.
A/N: word count : 1573 words.
Total word count: 19,892 words.