"...some secrets beg to be betrayed. The secret of undeclared love is like that."
- Robin Hobb, Golden Fool
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Shravan walked hurriedly towards his father who had just walked in.
"How was your party?" Shravan asked him with a smile as put the book in his hand on the side table nearby and took his father's coat from him.
Suman's eyes followed him and somehow his one action was enough to solidify the fear she felt as soon as Ramnaath Malhotra had walked in. He would choose his father, she knew that, no matter what, he would always choose his father...
Closing her eyes, she let out a painful sigh and when she opened them once again, there was a new determination in her eyes, enough to challenge the man standing in front of her.
"Huh? It was good," Ramnaath said in response to his son's question while his eyes were on the girl standing in front of him.
With a sweet smile on his lips, Shravan nodded but his eyes narrowed as soon as he took in the silent interaction happening between his father and Suman, he tilted his head, trying to understand what was that he was not aware of? What were they trying to hide from him?
"Suman, you were here to give him company?" Ramnaath asked with a forced smile. "Good. I was worried that he would get bored," he tried to joke when he noticed how Shravan's narrowed eyes were following their interaction.
"I had told you, Bhaisaab, Shravan can take care of himself," Lala ji said as he came to stand between them.
'Something is very wrong,' Shravan thought to himself, his father's voice was sharp and his smile forced as he glared at the girl standing in front of them while she stood there frozen under the spotlight. Having studied both of them for years, Shravan could tell by the coldness of their interaction, something has happened, something that they didn't want him to know...
"We will let you young people be, I and Lala are going to have a cup of coffee," Ramnaath said and both men made their way to the study room. Reminded of something, Ramnaath suddenly turned around "Oh, Shravan, I wanted to remind you of Singh's birthday party, when I met him today, he was insisting that you must come."
"Papa, wait!" Shravan called out, stopping his father in mid-step.
"Please, papa, I don't want to go to these parties of yours, they are so boring. And anyway, I and Sumo already have plans," He whined as he used her as his shield to run away from the parties where aunties analyzed him from head to toe as their potential son-in-law...
"Oh, really, Bhaiya? Sumo, you know the Magistrate Singh, right?" Pushkar jumped in, becoming a part of the ongoing conversation with the intention to not let go of this opportunity.
"Yes, of course, he is one of Nanu's students," she answered, nodding, ignoring Shravan who was shaking his head to stop her.
"Suman Putter, you free the next Saturday evening of this month?" Lala ji asked, catching up to the point his son was trying to make.
"In the evening, Lalaji? Why? Did you need something?" Suman asked, confused as she looked between the father and son duo, before turning to Shravan who had smacked the palm of his hand on his forehead.
Hearing the conversation, Ramnaath turned to glare at his son and asked himself how much his son was changing nowadays and why? For whom?
"Shravan?" Ramnaath called him out disapprovingly.
"Yes, papa?" He asked guiltily as he glared at Suman who still was looking confusedly between the men. Taking pity on her, Pushkar told her the party was on next Saturday evening.
"Suman, you are a businesswoman, right?" Ramnaath turned to her, shocking her with how easily he could wear the mask of politeness.
"Yes, uncle," she responded hurriedly before turning around to look at Shravan who was standing with his head bend, knowing he was about to be scolded.
"Then you must know the importance of these kinds of gatherings. Half of the people you meet can be your potential client, one day, while this boy continuously avoids social gatherings. I don't think you are a positive influence on him," Ramnaath said to her with a glare even though the tone of his voice was light, knowing she got what he meant, he turned to look at his son whom he found looking back at him with a frown.
Realizing he must have said something alarming, Ramnaath forced a smile on his lips and toned down his voice, pretending with ease, if only the girl with clenched fists could do the same. Her face said it all, she was offended, a reaction he wanted from her, but he didn't want her to react in front of his son as such.
Shaking his head, Ramnaath once again looked at the girl standing in front of him before smiling at her in a friendly manner, he forced some lightness in his voice.
"This one, Mr Shravan Malhotra, says that he gets bored there and that's why he won't go with me to any of these parties," he said with a forced laugh.
As Pushkar kept looking between the two best friends, an idea struck him and with a smirk, he jumped in the ongoing conversation once again.
"Sir, I am thinking, why not sent Sumo with him, he at least will have someone to give him company. Sumo, why don't you go with him next time around?" Pushkar suddenly asked her in between.
"Me? No, I can't... Magistrate Singh has invited you guys, how can I go?" She asked as she looked at Shravan with a question in her eyes.
"Of course, as Shravan's date," Pushkar answered with a beaming smile, shocking each of them.
"Pushkar!" Four shouts of his names rang out, each having a different tone. Surprise, warning, anger and an excited one too. Confused, he looked at them, asking himself if he had said it way too soon. With a sigh, he realized he has, no one could be as slow as the two of them, he thought as he looked at their flustered faces.
"Pushkar, what an idea. Wow. Problem fixed!" The very excited Lalaji said, ignoring the rest, he approved of the suggestion.
"Suman, Singh has invited Tiwari ji too, but as always, he won't show up, but I feel if you come Singh would be happy that someone came from Tiwari ji's side to wish him," Ramnaath said, taking the situation in his own hand, hoping that would be enough to end any joke of her being his son's date.
"Okay, uncle," she stuttered, before taking in a deep.
"We will be there," she said with a smile after she saw Shravan nodded in yes as the response of the question she had in her eyes.
"Wow! Now Sigh's party will be extra fun!" Lalaji said with a happy grin before running off to his room when he heard his wife calling him.
"Let's meet there at Singh's party, Suman!" He yelled before walking away.
While everything was happening around him, Ramnaath could only curse the bad timing, the situation was slipping out of his hand day by day and he could do nothing to separate Suman Tiwari from his son, as much as he tried, he couldn't find a loophole, a crack in their friendship without hurting his son and his mentor, Tiwari ji.
"Well then, I will let Pushkar tell you both the details. Goodnight," Ramnaath said with a nod before walking away.
After a few steps, when he turned around to look at his son and found him looking at her with a soft smile on his face and the sight made him frown. With worried lines appearing on his forehead, Ramnaath turned away just when Shravan had looked at his way.
With only the three of them left, Pushkar started to feel as if he was 'kabab main Hadi' - the unwanted company and romantic at heart, he thought to leave them alone with the hope that they would make some progress.
"Good night, 'friends'!" Pushkar said, a smirk and a victorious superiority in his every step as he walked towards his room.
"Pushkar!" Shravan shouted out in warning, understanding the teasing.
With a fond smile on his face, Shravan kept shaking his head as his eyes followed his younger cousin and laughed out loud when Pushkar gave him one last smug grin before closing the door of his room.
When he turned back to look at her, he found her staring at him with a soft smile on her face.
"Your father is right, you know. You need to go to these parties, increase your social circle because, within a few years, you and Pushkar would have to take over his responsibilities and move his legacy forward. You are here now and you need to get to use to these things," she said with a soft tone.
"I know," he said with a sigh, "still these parties are boring as hell. Are you okay with going there with me?" he asked her, unsure as they made their way to the main door.
"Shravan, I really don't care where we go, to me it's enough that we will be together," she told him softly, making his heart skip a few beats.
"Okay, now I have to go, after all, soon I have to start hunting down a perfect dress for this elite party of yours. Bye!" She added in a hurry as soon as she realized she may have said too much, too soon.
Before he could answer her, she made her way out in hurry and when she closed the door behind her, she put her face in her palms, scolding herself for talking without thinking despite promising herself that she won't make him feel as if they were rushing into something he wasn't ready for.
They may never have said it out loud, but both of them knew something more was there in between them, something which scared them as much it excited them. In the past months that they have come to know that to others, that something has made them stand out more as a couple than the only best friends they pretended to be. There always had been something unsaid, unacknowledged about their relationship - they knew it but for a reason or other, they never have been able to acknowledge it out loud.
"Sumo, wait!" He called her out as he closed the door behind him, making her stop and turn around to look at him as he walked to where she was standing.
"I will walk you out," he said as he came to stand beside her.
She didn't stop him nor did she tell him that she was just a few steps away from her car, she let him walk beside her and for once he was glad how there was no need to tell her the reason why he wanted to prolong her stay. When they got to her car, she turned around and looked up at him, her face, in the shadowy moonlight, was alight with tenderness.
"What?" He asked her quietly.
"Nothing," she whispered.
"Sumo?" He called her as he looked down at her.
"Hmm?" She asked, not looking away from him.
"I am going to test the theory," he told her with an expression that confused her.
Suddenly, eliminating the distance between them, he moved closer to her making her take a few way steps away from him, only to have him shaking his head at her in disbelief.
"What?" She asked confused.
"Yesterday you had told me with so much confidence 'Shravan, you can hug me anytime you want'," he mocked her as he mimicked her, "and just now...I should have known that - as always - you are all talks, no action," he said with a huff as he shook his head at her.
"What? Were you about to hug me?" She asked, amused.
"No, Miss Suman Tiwari, it's fun to invade your personal space unnecessarily," he said sarcastically, making her laugh.
"It's your fault," she said as she whacked him, "you were the one talking about 'testing the theory', you nerd, how would have I known you were about to hug me?" She said with her eyes narrowed.
"So, what? I should have just pulled you in a hug like this?" He asked as he suddenly pulled her towards him as he held her waist in both of his hands.
He was still glaring down at her but as soon as she leaned up closer, standing on her tiptoes and warped her both hands around his shoulder, every intention of arguing with her slipped from his mind. As he found her gazing up at him with a look of fondness in her eyes, with so much of warmth in them, his heart suddenly began to beat faster as the longing to sweep her into his arms and kiss her senseless tore through him.
"Shravan?" She whispered, "you are still not hugging me," she informed with a smile, making him laugh and pull her up, off her feet as he tightly wrapped his arms around her small back.
A few minutes after, she moved her head and as he felt her lips graze his ear, he shuddered.
"I will be waiting for the next Saturday," she whispered and unwrapped her arms around him, indicating him to put her down on her feet once again. She stepped back as she kept looking at him with a grin and slowly turning around, she climbed in her car.
He stood there until her car was no longer in sight and despite blinking countless time, he still felt dizzy with contentment, shaking his head with a smile on his face, he slowly turned around to walk back in.
There was a smile on his lips and his molten honey eyes seemed lighter, shining as if they were lit with the brightness of millions of fireflies - a sight that Ramnaath would never forget as he stood by the window of his room - in shock after witnessing their interaction - he once again looked down at the letter he had found in the book he seen his son holding close to him for years...
A letter his son must have written to Suman Tiwari, a decade years ago and had preserved it for as long...
He dragged himself to the bed when he felt his legs would give in any time, his hand shook as he opened the letter once again to reconfirm that his son has been in love with ever since he was sixteen with the same girl who now was hell-bent on destroying his world by bringing back Nirmala Malhotra into their lives...
"What should I do now?" He asked himself out loud and as a response, the sight of his son he had witnessed a few minutes ago swam right in front of his eyes.
His son was finally happy, could he be the one who would take his happiness away from him? He questioned himself until he admitted there wasn't another way...
No matter if it was him or Suman Tiwari who would break it, his son's heart was meant to broken, again and again...
There was no other way...
Nothing that could be done...
Shravan Malhotra's heart will break, once again...
It was meant to be broken...
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A/N:- I have been excited to post this chapter because of ShraMan's interaction & Ramnaath's dilemma. I feel that apart from all the things that went wrong for ShraMan, what I really wanted was Ramnaath, the protective father, to handle the things differently because he knew how much his son has suffered...So, don't panic after reading the last lines... ;)
I hope you all liked the chapter, please, leave a comment or two and let me know your thoughts and feelings... :)
Thank you for liking, reading and commenting and for all your support and encouragement! :)
Thank you! :)
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