"Mere saaye hain saath mein
Yaara jis jagah tum ho."
[My shadow is with you
Dear where you are.]
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸
••| Chapter 32 |••
Eleana:
Karthik was standing at the door, right in front of my eyes, face to face. I was totally not in my senses anymore. Here I was fixing everything and I encountered with one more problem on the way.
"Heya, fancy seeing you here!" He smirked at me. I wanted to slap that smirk off his face.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I whisper yelled at him. The hall way was empty so the voice was echoing throughout the corridor.
"Seems like you didn't like my presence here." He said as he entered my room and plopped down on the bed. "Well, unfortunately for you and fortunately for me, I happen to be the bride's cousin." He smirked at me in the deadliest possible way.
"Karthik, please I am already in a lot of trouble. Please don't create anymore problems for me. Please let me fix everything. I don't want to go back with the burden on my shoulders. Please let me do it." I begged him as my voice croaked. I was ready to break down any moment.
"Eleana, that's why I am here. I don't want you in any trouble because I love you!"
"What rubbish?" I shouted at him, disgusted by him. I felt uncomfortable and insecure under his gaze. I wanted to run away. "I don't love you. I don't even like you in that kind of a way. I don't know from where you got this signal but you're totally wrong."
"It's not rubbish, my darling. I love you a lot. Isn't it enough proof that I am ready to accept you even after knowing your truth?" He asked.
"Karthik please, can you leave me alone? It would be very kind of you. I'll deal with you in the morning." I requested him.
"Okay, as you wish baby!" He said and went out. At the same time, I saw Aryan coming this way. He saw Karthik leaving my room and it was the time that I wanted to die right away. He would get wrong ideas and God knew what he would be thinking of me.
"Wow." He whispered more to himself as he passed by me. His voice passed like a sword through my ribs. I wanted the sky to fall on the earth or the earth to tear apart and engulf me. My best friend was thinking wrong of me. Could anything be worse than this? I closed the door and fell on my knees. I broke down. I didn't know what to do, I just broke down. My life was at the most difficult phase. I wanted ease and comfort. Crying my heart out, I complained about each and everything that I was facing. After I felt light, I went to the terrace and sat on the stairs. Cool breeze was blowing and somehow comforting me. I wore my hoodie and sat there. I felt someone sitting beside me. My heartbeat fastened. I was literally scared. As I looked up, I found out it was Ricky. I sighed in relief and put my head down in my lap again. He side hugged me and whispered.
"I know why were you crying!"
I looked at him with questioning eyes and then I understood that he was talking about the bus ride.
"Don't worry Elly. Everything is gonna be alright. He'll come round eventually. He's your best friend yaar!" He spoke as he squeezed me lightly.
"No Ricky! You don't understand my inner turmoil. It's so much more than it seems to be. It's not something that can be sorted out within minutes." I spoke as my voice croaked and I again began to cry.
"Shush! Elly please don't cry!"
"It's the only thing I can do to comfort myself. Can I not even cry for him? Do you realise how much I miss him? Do you know he hasn't even said a "Hi" to me since I came here. Everytime I try to go near him, he takes more steps back. He doesn't want to look at me even. He looks at me as if I disgust him. It hurts me a lot when I remember that he used to be my soul mate, my best friend. He used to understand me more than I was ever able to understand myself. It hurts me a lot. He is so cold, he has turned so rude to everyone just because of me. He is so distant with everyone and specially me when all I want to do is to hug him tightly and drown in his warmth. He hates me. He hates my guts. He hates my presence here and he should. I am worth it!" I cried.
"You're not! And Aryan doesn't hate you. If he hated you, he would've settled down by now to take revenge. He's successful and everything. He earns the most out of us all yet he is the unhappiest just because he couldn't get what he wanted the most. Deep down, he still loves you. He's just really mad at you for leaving everything like this. He can never hate you. Believe me!" He tried to console me.
"He thinks wrong of me.!" I whined.
"How can he think of you like that? Are you mad?" He scolded me.
"He saw Karthik leaving my room but it was a big misunderstanding."
"Now who the hell is Karthik?" Ricky asked confused.
Oh Shit!
"Tell me who is Karthik?" He asked again.
"He was my friend in US and he happens to be Naina's cousin. He's here for the wedding. But he'll create much more trouble than you think." I answered honestly.
He sighed. "We won't let him do anything. Okay?" He assured me.
"Now smile, like you always do!" He grinned and pointed towards his teeth. "Like this!" I smiled at him.
"Ae hui na baat. Ye tension wala face na tujh pe bilkul suit nahi karta." [That's more like it. These tensed expressions don't suit you.] He said and side hugged me.
"Ain't you sleepy?" I asked.
"Nah Man! I slept half way through the journey!" He waved it off.
"Same here!" I smiled. "Let's go for a walk in the garden!" I proposed and he agreed. We went down towards the garden. I saw someone walking in the garden and by the silhouette, I knew it was Aryan. I whisper yelled at Ricky to go back. He squeezed my hand and assured me that it was nothing. We went back after a while and I slept in my room. Ricky worked like a therapy. I was lucky to have a friend like him in my life.
Aryan:
I saw a guy, more or less of my age leaving her room, whistling through the hall way. I was frustrated and annoyed beyond words. As I passed her door, I whispered a wow.
She looked like she was ready to cry but I was so enraged at her. I regretted the instant these words came out of my mouth. I thought that maybe this was the reason she broke up with me. If that was so, she could've told me instead of running away. I would've understood but no. And he was moderately good looking but how was she related to him. This question was eating me up.
Wasn't she supposed to be only mine?
I went to the garden downstairs and paced around in full rage. I was trying to calm myself down. The moon light was illuminating the garden and the fountain water appeared like milk dripping down from the top. I noticed her walking with Ricky in the other garden. She was talking to him and smiling but not in true sense of word. Her weak smile melted my insides. I wanted to go to her, hold her hand and walk by her side, talk with her for the whole night. She was the kind of pretty that you didn't really notice at first but once you saw her in the middle of the night with messy hair and tired eyes and tears dancing across her cheeks and dripping onto her mouth, you would want nothing more than to kiss them away. She looked scared as she kept looking here and there. Who was she scared of? Was it me? Yes, she was scared of her own damn best friend. She went back after some time but I stayed there as long as I wanted to.
Eleana:
The next morning when I woke up and went to the dining room, everybody was there except Aryan. Even Karthik was there and he was sitting beside Kabir and Naina. I took my breakfast with everybody else. Ricky was beside me. "Is that Karthik?" He whispered and I nodded at him.
"No problemo! Eleana Darling! I will take care of him. You continue doing your work." He winked at me and I smiled.
"Guys, we are going for sight seeing today. Be ready by 4 o'clock." Kabir announced and everybody agreed.
The Haldi and Sangeet ceremony [Musical Night] was the day after tomorrow. Today, all the other guests would arrive.
"Bro, where is Aryan?" Kabir asked Varun.
"Still sleeping!" He shrugged nonchalantly.
"Go and wake him up, the breakfast will not wait for him." Kabir spoke.
"I'll go and wake him up. I am done." Karthik spoke before everyone else.
No No No. Please No.
"No, it's alright. Obi will go!" Kabir asked Obi and gestured him with his eyes. Obi understood the signal and immediately got up.
"I have told everyone to keep Karthik away from Aryan as much as they can and I'll keep him away from you!" Ricky cleared my confusion.
"Thankyou so much Ricky. I owe you for this." I genuinely appreciated his efforts. He was a true friend.
"No need for this Elly." He spoke dramatically.
Soon, Aryan came with Obi, yawning and rubbing his eyes. It reminded me of the old days when he used to be so carefree and jolly. He joined us and accidentally sat on the chair beside Ricky. Ricky had gone to wash his hands and there was no one between us except an empty chair. Ricky immediately came back to his seat before the tension could build.
"Aryan, be quick! There's a specific timing for breakfast, lunch and dinner here." Kabir enlightened him and he nodded while munching onto his breakfast.
"Eleana, can I talk to you for a second!" Karthik called out on the dining table.
Aryan's head snapped up in his direction. He glared at him as if he would claw off his face if he even spoke my name from his disgusting tongue.
"Umm...aaa.." I stuttered. I didn't want to face this. More over, I didn't want to create anymore misunderstandings between Aryan and I.
"Sorry Kar-theek dude, but Eleana and I have plans already. We are already getting late!" Ricky spoke before I could answer.
I mentally thanked God and Ricky didn't waste another minute in holding my hand and dragging me outside.
"Rick, you're a life saver!" I grinned at him. He bowed down in a dramatic way. After that Ricky, Alia, Obi, Maya, Shraddha, Naina and I walked around the huge house discovering the places. Naina was obviously unknown about all this drama because it was possible that she would take her cousin's side. We walked around the house. It was a huge huge house. There were approximately fifty odd bedrooms, two magnificent dining rooms with atleast an accommodation of five hundred guests each, three gardens at the front, a backyard with a pool, a large theatre room, a hall, an auditorium, hundreds of balconies, three combined terraces and there was a museum in the basement. Aryan, Kabir and Varun joined us in the museum and Kabir began to explain us about the artefacts kept safe there. It was really fascinating to learn this much about Kabir's ancestors. Turned out, he was a Maharaja. We teased him by his new nick name. After that, it was time for the sight seeing. I went to my room to change and Karthik followed me.
Ricky Ricky Ricky.
As if he heard me, Ricky appeared out of nowhere.
"Hey Karthik, you joining us today?" He asked him in a friendly way as he slung his arm around his shoulder.
"Yeah. El..-" before he could complete, I quickly closed the door and locked it.
I was still hearing their conversation.
"So, you're Naina's cousin?" Ricky asked.
"Yeah. Now can you please get away? I have to change." Karthik was clearly annoyed by him.
"Yeah bro, why so serious. Smile sometimes. It's good for health." He spoke and I heard footsteps fainting away. I opened the door and gave Ricky a quick hug before going to change. I wore a black and white striped skirt with a white half sleeved shirt. I paired it with neon green heels and applied some make up.
I looked fresh today. I was feeling much better but I had a feeling that I might get a migraine attack today as it had been a week since I last had it. I was mentally prepared for it so I stuffed my medicines in my sling bag and went out to greet my friends. We sat in the bus and Karthik was looking for a seat. Unfortunately the seat beside me was empty. He was coming towards it but Ricky suddenly jumped from the back row to my row and sat beside me pretending to offer me the trident bubble gum. I grinned at him and took one of it. Karthik's face fell and he sat at the front seat. Aryan was in the last row as always. First Kabir told the driver to take us to Mandore Gardens. I had heard a lot about it but never got a chance to visit that place. Mandore was Marwar's capital before Jodhpur was established. We reached there and found a great number of tourists and foreigners there. Aryan had his camera by his side. He was keenly taking photos of every minor detail. The Mandore Gardens also housed a government museum and a "Hall of Heroes". Various statues and artefacts were present in the museum. It was so fascinating and interesting. I was intrigued by everything. Aryan looked greatly interested in everything as he clicked away. The architectural splendor of the bygone era was clearly evident in each and every spot of this place. After that, we went to Mehrangarh fort. Ricky was on my one side whereas Alia was on the other. They both were trying their level best to keep Karthik away from me and I was more than thankful for that. They would jump beside me everytime they saw Karthik approaching me and pretended to be immersed in a deep conversation with me about the artefacts. But even this didn't stop Karthik from sticking by our side. He was constantly mingling around me and I could see Aryan glaring at him from time to time. It seemed like he would tear him apart if he even touched me.
"Eleana?" Karthik called. I pretended that I didn't hear him and continued walking. Ricky and Alia were nowhere to be seen at this time. I continued to walk at a fast pace. Aryan came in front of him and pretended to take a picture of the artefact placed in front of him, confining Karthik to stay rooted to his place as he didn't want his picture to be ruined. I grabbed it as an opportunity to run away and join Obi, Ashar and Kabir. As we discovered the area, I was beyond happy that I listened to Kabir and agreed to come here. It was such a wonderful place with wonderful people. Mehrangarh fort was a must visit place in Jodhpur. It was one of India's largest forts. The invincible fort stood magnificently 400 feet above the city. Rao Jodha constructed this fort many centuries ago. The style of architecture represented various periods as the fort had taken a long time to be completed. The grandeur in the architecture was awe-inspiring. It offered stunning views of the city. We captured some pictures together. Aryan handed his camera to Karthik and asked him to take a picture of our gang. Though he was standing far apart from me yet I was happy that he wasn't acting rude like before. Karthik frowned at his request but even Naina asked him to capture our group photo in front of that splendid view. He gave in and agreed. As we proceeded to our next destination, I clutched onto someone's shoulder who was beside me as I felt my head spinning. I couldn't see who it was but it was a man.
"Sorry!" I whispered at him as I sat on the stone slab at the side. I clutched onto my head tightly as the pain became unbearable.
"I am having a headache. Can you please take out these medicines from my bag?" I instructed him. He took out the medicines and ran to grab a water bottle from the nearby small shop. He handed it to me and went away. I gulped down the medicines with water and sat there for a while for the medicines to kick in. Varun came there looking for me. "Hey, what happened? We've been looking for you. You were left back!" He asked with concern as he settled by my side.
"Nothing serious. I was having a headache. I took my medicines. I am fine now. Let's go!" I stood up and he mimicked me.
"Elly, sometimes I feel that you're hiding something big from us. You're not the same old Elly." He said nonchalantly. The colour drained from my face but I didn't let my guard down.
Only if he knew.
"Arey, it's nothing like that!" I smiled at him. We reached the bus. I looked at Aryan and Karthik. Both of them were wearing same kind of leather jacket as the person who had helped me. I was partly sure that it couldn't be Karthik and it was Aryan. My heart wanted me to believe it too but my brain asked me to think rationally that it was Karthik and he didn't speak anything as he might have gotten worried. Shrugging it off, I joined the people in the bus and we went to our last destination for today. The Kailana lake. It was a vast and beautiful lake with crystal clear water and small hills on the other side of the shore. It was located in the west of the city. It was an artificial lake built by Pratap Singh and one of the most frequented lakes in Rajhistan. It was called as birdwatcher's paradise. We sailed in the boat and Aryan took some breathtaking photographs of the stunning and awesome view. Ricky took his camera and went through all the pictures sitting beside me. He had taken pictures of every little thing and everyone. I stole quick glances at his photography and he was a pro at that. I didn't know he had started photography as well.
Well, how would I be knowing?
As Ricky went through the pictures, I saw some of my pictures too along with other people. I was stunned.
Ricky smirked at me. "And you say that lover boy hates you. He's still head over heels for you, Darling! Don't you see it?"
"Shut up Ricky! It's nothing but an illusion that you're living in. He has captured everyone's pictures and I am the same as you all." I tried to shake it off.
"But baby, he hasn't taken solo pictures of us looking at artefacts randomly." He said and showed me a picture. It was my picture in which I was standing and observing the piece of art there. "He hasn't captured the pictures of anyone immersed in the beauty of the things with a beautiful background and a beautiful smile on their face and a shine in their eyes. Admit it darling!"
"No, Ricky! I don't want to get my hopes high for nothing." I told him.
"As you wish." He shrugged.
"By the way, Where were you and Aryan when we were coming here. Aryan joined us after some time and Varun went to look for you."
And so my theory was right. It was Aryan who helped me. My insides swelled with joy. I wanted to hug him right there. He was talking to Annie and smiling at her. The scene made my insides melt. But then again, he didn't want me to do that because if he did then he would have done it long ago.
"How would I know where was he?" I answered nonchalantly.
"Doesn't seem like that!" He said and got up to return his camera.
Annie stood in front of him, placing her hands on her hips and pouting. She was posing for different pictures and he was clicking away. She would change her pose everytime and Aryan clicked a lot of pictures of her. We stayed there till sunset. The sunset view was so amazing and I was mesmerised by the beauty of the place.
"Thankyou for today, Kabir!" I genuinely thanked him because I had the most amazing day in four years.
"Are, tu itna formal kyun ho rae hai?"[Hey, why are you being so formal?] He asked slapping my head in a playful way. "Go and freshen up! The dinner will be served at sharp 9." He told and I went to my room. I was tired of staying alone in my room so I decided to get us girls into a single room. It was no fun staying alone in a big living room sized bedroom.
🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸