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AR Fashions, New Delhi
9.30 am
"How are things at home?" Aman asked walking into the cabin.
"Di asked me to leave" Arnav said looking down on the floor, "Asked me never to return!"
Aman paused for a bit and said, "Aarav had called me. He...they are leaving"
Arnav shot looked up at him. "What?"
"Aarav and bhabhi are leaving to Texas. He got a job offer as an oncologist in one of the best hospitals there!"
Arnav gulped down a lump at his throat and asked, "Can I meet her? Just once?"
Aman shook his head and said, "It's better for them to leave"
Arnav looked at him in shock and Aman said sighing, "Do you really think that she'll continue her life with you? With a person who has a son with another woman? This betrayal is been imprinted on her forever ASR. She can never forget the fact that she is not the woman who carried your child!"
Arnav buried his face in his palms and Aman said shaking his head, "I don't know what to do. But I think it's better to leave her to take decisions. Let her decide!"
Arnav looked up and whispered, "I want to meet her".
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City Hospital, New Delhi
9.30 am
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"Thank you for your days here Dr. Raizada. It's been a pleasure to work with you!" the senior doctor said shaking his hands and Aarav thanked him.
"Good luck"
"Thank you doctor" he said smiling and walked through the corridors of the hospital, he learnt, practiced and operated his field of study! A faint smile appeared his lips as he walked through the familiar wing where he worked for late night hours.
A sudden gush of wind was felt and Aarav saw a figure storming towards him. Shreya ran to him and clutched his arms, "Is it true?" she asked in tears, "Are you leaving?"
"Shreya" he hissed and looked around to see people around them watching them. "Not here" he whispered looking at her.
"What do you mean by not here?" she shouted, "How can you leave?"
He held her wrist and dragged her to his cabin. Shutting the door shut behind him and locking it, he turned to her sighing, "I got an offer. At Texas. I'm joining there"
She looked at him in tears and he said, "I know it's...unexpected but...I'm leaving. I'm joining there. I'm taking mamma with me!"
"So it's all decided! You took decisions alone!" she asked chuckling through tears.
He nodded and said, "I don't have anything left here. All I have is mamma. I'm taking her with me!"
"What about me?" she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"I think we should call it off" he said shrugging.
She stared at him and took a deep breath. "You know about my family. They are stereotyped people and it had taken me a lot of convincing to let me come here and stay in a hostel, to be a doctor. They even bought a flat here in Delhi so that they can come and stay here for some days, so that they can have a reign over me!"
"I know that. Why are you telling me about this?" he asked curtly.
"I let go of my family's views, my parents' instructions, my relatives' orders, just to be with you. I even gave you the flat keys! I...I came with you, wherever you took me....because I love you. And now...." She whispered, and slumped on the chair, "Now you tell me I think we should call it off!"
"I can't deal with this right now Shreya" he hissed.
"YOU HAVE TO!" she shouted, "You can't end this...just like that!"
He rubbed his face and looked away, "I'm starting a new life Shreya. My mother is the only person in it. I'm cutting all my strings here!"
"Why me?" she whispered taking a step towards him. Cupping his face she whispered, "We can fight this together!"
"No" he said shaking his head and shoved her hands away.
"Why?" she cried.
"Please Shreya...please don't overburden me!"
"I'm a burden?" she whispered.
"Stop! Go. Go away!" he shouted.
"Don't be a coward!" she shouted, "You're doing exactly what your father did! Running away! He ran away from that woman and you...you're running away from everything!"
"SHUT UP! HE IS NOT MY FATHER AND I'M NOT RUNNING AWAY!" he shouted.
Shreya looked at him gulping her throat, hearing the loudest voice he has ever used.
"Go" he whispered, calming down. She looked at him and he said, "I'm in a mess Shri. I don't...want you in it!"
"I want to be in it" she whispered and hugged him, "Please don't go" she said, draining her shirt with her tears.
He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you" she whispered and hugged him tighter, "You can't leave Aarav. No"
He opened his eyes and pulled away from her. "I have to" he said hoarsely, "It's time to choose Shreya. You or my mother. And when it comes to her, I'm sorry but I can't choose anyone over her. It's always mama. Always mamma!"
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.
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"What do you want?" Khushi snapped walking towards him, entering his mother's garden.
Arnav looked up from where he was sitting under a tree and stood up seeing her.
Khushi looked at him pale face, messy hair, tear strained cheeks and red eyes.
"I wanted to...talk" he whispered.
"Fine. Talk" she said crossing her arms.
"Aarav...and you are leaving" he said.
"Yes. Tomorrow. He's joining next week but we're leaving early. We really don't have anything left here so..."
"Khushi please...." He whispered, "Please don't leave me?"
"Ha" she scoffed, "You still expect me to be with you? Are you that idiotic or that selfish? Selfish, I assume!"
"I can't live without you" he whispered.
"You lived...when you were with her!" she whispered.
"It happened Khushi" he said sighing, "It wasn't in my hands. But what happened after that was my fault. I ran away. I hid it from you. 'Coz I was scared to lose you and Aarav. I had got you after a long series of troubles and I didn't want you to leave me. I wouldn't have survived!" tears rolled down in cheeks.
"Would you have accepted me if it was me in your place?" she asked coming closer to him. Standing right in front of him, she whispered, "Would you? If I had slept with someone and had a son with him, would you have accepted me and the child?"
He looked away and she hissed, "Look at me and give me an answer"
"I don't know! But I would love you. I love you" he whispered looking at her.
"I cannot" she whispered, "I cannot carry on with you!"
He looked at her in tears and she whispered, "I have been a selfless woman, all through my life...but not now. I cannot stay in the same room that you are...coz when you come close to me, now, I can smell her on you. I cannot sleep with you knowing that you had another woman's breath on you, every single time, when you came close to me"
"Khushi...."
"Let me go Arnav ji" she whispered, "I'm not stubborn. I'm not angry. I'm exhausted. Tired. I cannot take this anymore!"
She looked up at him and said slowly, "I loved you. I think I still do. But there is something called self respect. And I tend to have that more!"
She turned to walk away but stopped. Turning to him she said smiling, "I'm going to Texas. The last time I went there was with you. But unlike last time, I'm confident now. I'm determined now. And I think, I should thank you for that! Thank you for giving this middle class woman a chance to be elite!"