(🚨 Long chapter ahead 🚨)
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I can give myself the award for being the biggest idiot ever alive. I want to go back in the past and beat up my younger self for being a brat and bullying Ved when all he needed was someone to just ask him if he was okay or not.
How could I be so careless to not even notice his sad mood and blame him for acting arrogant when he was just suffering from the biggest loss of his life? I always say he bullied me, but I also didn't do anything to him which can be counted as saintly.
How could you be such a jerk, Sandhya? I am so disappointed...
"How long would it take for you to get done, Kid?" Rajeev asked.
"Just a few minutes," I replied and continued mopping the floor with a spoilt mood.
"You can leave early if you are not feeling good," he suggested.
I shook my head and told him I was okay. He nodded and ordered his cousin to help me in completing the task and left the gym to take care of some stuff. Dhruv agreed, but as soon as his brother left, he rolled his eyes at me and began gossiping with his two friends.
I knew he wasn't going to help me, so I didn't bother with him; I checked the time and decided to get over with my work to return back home and torture myself more with self-guilt. I couldn't concentrate even in lectures and avoided Natural Heater whenever he came in my direction.
He kept asking me why I was looking like a zombie and what was with the rotten expression I was sporting all day. I wanted to apologise to him for being a bitch in our childhood, but I didn't have the courage.
I guess I was a coward indeed. Once a coward, always a coward.
"Can you guys move to the other spot? I have to clean here," I asked Dhruv and his gang.
They ignored me and kept munching on the snacks and littering all over the place. Dhruv was boasting about participating in the U-19 boxing championship coming up within a few weeks. I asked the guys once more, but their reactions were the same. I took deep breaths and told Dhruv to at least pick up the trash he and his friends had created - he still didn't listen.
"Dhruv, I am not interested in getting in an argument. Can you please do it yourself or move aside for me?" I questioned.
"Are you ordering me?" he grunted. "I won't move, so you can just fuck off."
"Listen here, you punk. If you don't want to get in trouble, you better do what I say or I will-"
"Or what? You gonna complain to Rajeev bhaiyya just like you always do?" he taunted, and his friends began snickering.
I narrowed my eyes at him. "Just move - last warning. Don't try my patience."
"I know where you get your confidence from. Sorry to pop your bubble, but I am Rajeev's brother, not you. It's time you know your place and stop acting like you own this gym." Dhruv smirked. "You know guys, my brother is always taking her side; I wonder what kind of 'favour' she is doing to him."
"What the hell did you just say?!" I threw the wet mop on the floor and stepped towards him.
"Are you deaf?" he mocked and burst out laughing.
"I fucking dare you to say that again," I seethed.
Dhruv gave me an arrogant grin and glanced at his friends in a taunting gesture. "I said I wonder what kind of favour-"
Punch!
I punched Dhruv across the face and kicked his legs, making him land on the floor with a loud 'thud'. I towered over him and crossed my arms across my chest.
"I don't care if you say anything to me but how dare you say such a cheap thing about your own brother?" I thundered.
Dhruv got up in a swift motion and curled his hands into fists; his face had turned red with rage and he was staring at me with a murderous glare.
"Bro, don't get in a fight. Rajeev bhaiyya will rip your head off," one of his friends warned.
"I know that, okay," Dhruv snapped. "Listen here, Sandhya. I will let you go even though you punched me because I don't raise my hand on girls."
"I am so impressed," I taunted. "But I am not following your orders, lad. I challenge you to a duel; let me also see whether you are qualified to get into that boxing championship or not."
I took off my jacket and threw it aside. I tied my hair in a tight pony tail and motioned for Dhruv to come to the boxing ring. He told me to stop being overly dramatic and just leave the workplace. I shook my head and informed him that if he hadn't acted like a douche bag, I wouldn't even have bothered with him.
"Are you afraid of losing to a girl?" I irked.
"Don't do it, bro. She is just provoking you; she won't be able to survive," his friend said and glanced between us with a worried expression.
"Is that so?" I asked and took a fighting stance. "I am all ready though. If you retreat now, then it means you quit and are afraid to accept the challenge."
Dhruv lost his temper and took off his hoodie in a flash. He pushed his friends away and told them to stop whining. After warming up, he showed off some moves in order to scare me, but I waved him off.
"I don't hit girls, but I will make an exception for you." He cracked his knuckles.
"Actually, I also want to say a dialogue but you are an asshole, so I won't be wasting my time." I grinned and charged towards him.
I swayed my left punch at him as a decoy, and then moved my right fist from the opposite direction, but as expected, he noticed that and dodged it. He moved his feet and tried to grab my right arm which was extended, but I ducked down and jabbed him in the stomach with my elbow.
"By the way, we won't be following any rules," I informed.
I kicked him on the chest but he caught my right foot and pulled me down. I took that chance and rotated my body and kicked him in the face with my left foot. He cursed and wiped his nose which was bleeding now.
"What the fuck are you doing, man?" his friend yelled.
"Don't worry, I was just warming up; the real show begins now," Dhruv boasted and took a deep breath.
He gave me a warning glare and zoomed at me in a lightning speed. He punched me in the stomach and across the face as I went down. I didn't want to accept it, but his hits were almost on par with those of Rajeev's.
I winced as a jolt of pain soared through my body, but I knew that was the window period Dhruv was looking for to make another attack. But since he was such an egotistical bastard who thought that I would be down in just two hits, he moved back and waited for me to give up.
"Never underestimate your opponent no matter how small they are," I said and copied his moves which he did just a few seconds back.
But I added my own touch to it. After punching him in the stomach and face, I went behind him and kicked him on his back. He stumbled forward and turned towards me like a pissed off bull - I smirked, and when he stomped towards me, I grabbed his right arm and threw him over my shoulder.
I didn't waste any time and got on top of him. I straddled him and started landing punches on him in quick succession. Dhruv tried to shield his face but I squeezed him under me and hit him as I felt myself getting taken over by anger and frustration.
"Hey, stop!" Dhruv's friends shouted.
"Fuck off!" I yelled.
Dhruv wiggled to get out of my grasp, but I didn't let him get away. Mid-way through the fighting session, all of the childhood memories came rushing back to me like a tsunami and I started imagining Dhruv as my older self which needed to be thrashed up severely.
It was all my fault to begin with. If I hadn't pestered Ved and annoyed him even when he was minding his own business, I am sure some of his suffering could have been avoided. But did I do that? No. I acted like an idiot and never tried to know the reason behind his behaviour. Instead, I just blamed him for everything and took him for granted.
You were a really stupid kid, Sandhya. That's why Mom keeps telling you to think before doing something and Surbhi keeps reprimanding to keep your nose to yourself. Stupid Sandhya, stupid, stupid...
"Holy shit!"
Just after I punched the badly bruised face of Dhruv for the umpteenth time, I got pulled away in a tight embrace which was too familiar. I looked up and saw Ved staring at me with a strange expression. I opened my mouth to ask him something but Rajeev arrived soon after and when he saw the scene in front of him, he lost his shit.
"What the fuck happened here?" he boomed.
When no one answered him, he picked up his cousin who looked lost with all the blood oozing out of his cuts, and his friends were looking at me with a horrified expression.
Rajeev glanced at me and then at his cousin. "This fucker didn't listen to me even though I warned him." He smacked Dhruv behind his head and helped him to get up.
"Stop glaring at the poor guy," Ved told me and rubbed the top of my head.
"She started it," one of Dhruv's friend blurted out.
Rajeev rolled his eyes and hit him on the head. "Ved, you take care of Sandhya, and I will deal with this idiot in my cabin. The first-aid kit is in the lower shelf," he said and dragged his brother along with him.
Dhruv's friends followed him, leaving me alone with Natural Heater whom I was avoiding the whole day. Ved patted my back, and I looked at him in confusion when he gave me a huge smile instead of scolding me for getting in trouble again.
He took me to a table and made me sit on it. He grabbed the first-aid kit and a water-filled bowl. After tucking the loose stands of my hair behind my ears, he ran his thumb along the small wound on my left cheek.
"You got him pretty bad, Sandy Pandy. You are improving," he stated and patted my cheek.
He took my hands and cleaned the knuckles covered in blood. I kept staring at him in silence as he took care of my injuries like a medical expert and wondered how he was so strong to overcome the grief of losing his parent and still smiling without a care in the world.
I knew he was hiding his pain and wearing a mask to avoid worrying those around him. He was so good at concealing his emotions; I was feeling so bad thinking about him bearing so much alone at such a young age.
"What are you thinking?" he asked as he bandaged my hands.
"Nothing." I shook my head.
"There is no use lying to me, Sandhya," he said and put the first-aid kit to the side.
He rubbed the back of my palms with his fingers and stepped closer. He brought up my hands to his lips and kissed them while boring his steel gaze in me. My body heated up as I realised our close proximity, but I didn't move back.
I moved my hands from his grasp and pulled him in a bone-crushing hug. He stiffened for a second but wrapped his arms around me when I burried my face in the crook of his neck.
"I am sorry, Princess," I said.
"It is okay." Ved tightened his hold and rubbed my back.
I should be consoling him but it seemed the other way around.
"Aren't you mad at me?" I questioned.
Ved broke the hug and flicked my forehead. "What's the use of it anyways?"
I looked at him in confusion as he kept smiling and glowing like a newly bought tube light. Sometimes, it was really hard to judge what he was thinking - he wasn't hiding his anger on purpose, right?
As if he sensed what I was doubting, he shook his head at me and cupped my face after pinching my cheeks.
"Stop over thinking, Sandy Pandy," he said and kissed my forehead.
Preparing for the launch. Everyone be ready - T-minus 10 seconds. Ready for takeoff; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9... Heart Skyrocket!
And Princess has clean bowled Sandy Pandy! Now what will she do? Stay tuned to find out what happens-
"Oye! Why is your face so red?" Ved poked my nose and tilted his head when I averted my eyes.
The only word ringing in my ears was 'Wasted' and my inner voice was striking the famous Titanic pose on an imaginary ship in the middle of an imaginary ocean.
"Sandhya! In my cabin," Rajeev ordered from his office, and I gulped nervously.
Ved gave my shoulder an assuring squeeze and accompanied me inside the cabin. Dhruv and his friends were standing with their heads low and stealing glances at me. When I saw Dhruv all bandaged up, I pursed my lips.
"I want to know what happened," Rajeev said.
"I challenged him for a duel," I replied.
"Why?"
"We got in a fight over our duties."
"Nothing else?" Rajeev queried. "You hit my brother, Kid. And if you haven't noticed, he is a minor, and you are not. You can get in serious trouble for butchering him like that, you know."
"I am sorry. I know I shouldn't have done that but I promise I won't repeat it," I apologized.
"You never lost your temper on him before, so what was the issue now? Don't lie to me," Rajeev warned.
I glanced at Dhruv who shrunk more in his spot and I deduced that if I told Rajeev that I beat up his brother because he saw our relationship in a bad light, he could actually thrash him up pretty badly. I had already done that, so I didn't see any point in him getting beaten up more.
"He just... got on my nerves." I shrugged my shoulders.
Rajeev let out a huge breath and scratched his head. "Dhruv, you tell me what happened or I am not letting anyone go from here."
Dhruv took a big breath, and before I could stop him, that idiot blurted out everything, and as expected, he received a loud smack across his face when he confessed that he insulted me and put wrong tag on my and Rajeev's friendship.
"Better keep your ego in check, bro," Rajeev scolded.
"Sorry," Dhruv whined. "I didn't mean it, but I was just jealous because you always side with her and pay her more attention than me."
So, he was just jealous? I face-plamed myself.
Rajeev shook his head and hugged him. He consoled his cousin and then moved towards me. I gave him a sheepish grin when he gave me a bear hug and threatened me to never hide anything from him. He scolded both Dhruv and me and gave a long-ass lecture before excusing us.
"It has gotten quite late. I will drop you home, Sandy Pandy," Ved offered and grabbed my wrist.
"I have my own scooter," I replied and glanced at our hands.
"No problem. We will take your vehicle, and I will stay at Nikhil's place." He grinned.
My inner voice was really having a party right now.
My head automatically nodded and soon, we were in the parking lot. After taking the keys from me, Ved hopped on the scooter and motioned for me to sit behind him. Like a robot, I followed his instructions and wrapped my arms around his waist.
"Getting comfortable, aren't we?" Ved teased and looked over his shoulder.
"Focus on driving," I said and laid down my head on his back.
Ved smirked and started my scooter which vibrated for a bit before we zoomed off on the streets. Ved began rambling, and I closed my eyes, trying to keep my inner voice under control.
"Ved?" I asked.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"Your driving is good, but just a reminder; the brakes don't work that well."
Yup, they don't and just like my dad's scooter, my heart's brakes were failing too.