Continued...
Ananya's office, 4:30 p.m.
'So this is how you will work on the cases, I want all the background data thoroughly researched and please file the petition of Case 7 on the given date without forgetting... If you have any queries contact Mr. Mishra, as I won't be available till 30th...' Ananya instructs her assistants
One of the assistant raised his hand to which she immediately replied
'Not even on the Phone, Sean...' she says and he put his hand down
'So all the best guys, please don't disappoint me... Aditi, send me the progress every week on text, no calls... See you after 3 weeks...' Ananya picks up her bag and her 3 assistants nod and start picking up their files
'Let me book a cab...' She mutters looking at the phone
Just then the door opens and the security personnel comes in and greets Ananya
'Madam, your car is here...' He informs
'I didn't book any...'
'Aayan sir is here Ma'am...' Sean says looking at the security camera of the entrance
She stares at the camera and sees Aayan's Jeep waiting at the entrance of their office, she sighs and nods
'Okay... I'll leave now, take care you guys...'
She leaves her cabin and walks towards the exit, while climbing down the stairs she was thinking about the imagination she had few hours ago with Aayan
I am really losing my mind...
I cannot think about him and me that way... Ever again !!
Things aren't same anymore, they just can't be... I am done with his stupid plays, no matter what Sameer says, you cannot change the inherent insecurity that is being imbibed in your character...
Aayan was never atrocious, he was insecure, he just hid it very well...
This husband wife thing, is just formal, until I find courage to confront my parents that I don't want to be associated with him anymore...
I am not scared of confronting my parents, It's my stupid heart that needs convincing !
While walking slowly towards exit, she didn't realise someone was calling her, she looked ahead and saw Aayan sitting in the car, as soon as he spotted her, he got out of the car and waved at her...
'Ananya...?' the voice grew louder, she got confused, if it isn't him, who is calling her
She raised her hand to wave back at Aayan, when her colleague Abhishek slides right in front of her and halts using the pillar nearby...
'Damn, never slide on marbles, mental note...' he mutters, and his sudden appearance startled Ananya
'Yooo Hot shot ! I've been calling you since 10,000 miles...' Abhi says and she rolls her eyes
Aayan who saw this from a distance, stopped waving and leaned against the car, staring at them
Ananya with the corner of her eyes, saw him and recalled the day in Mumbai, before their marriage when he got jealous of another colleague, who talked to her in front of him
He'll definitely react at this
'Hey ! Serial Day dreamer, back to earth...' Abhi snaps his fingers and brings Ananya back to reality
'Why are you annoying me...?' Ananya says narrowing her eyes
'You leave me with tons of cases, and I can't even annoy you, Wow ! World is such an unfair place... Oww... My poor heart...' he fakes a chest pain and Ananya hits him
Abhi was always a good friend of her, the only person here, who didn't judge her capability because she was a woman
'Drama...' she rolls her eyes and hits him
Aayan who saw this from a distance, smiles and then looks at his phone
'Soo you'll be gone for 3 weeks, Man I'll be bored...'
'That's why I left you with those entertaining cases...'
'That's not fun, Madam lawyer, that's headache... You are leaving me with 10,000 years of depression and boredom...' he sighs
'Why do you exaggerate things so much...?' Ananya says, taking a brief look at Aayan, who seemed to be busy with his phone, Abhishek looked back too...
'I believe in living life king size bro... That's why I call my Alto, Audi and my girlfriend who is 10,000 times prettier than you btw, Katrina...' Abhishek says proudly
'I am sure she is 1 crore times prettier than me...'
'Now that's what we call over exaggeration dude...' Abhi rolls his eyes
Ananya laughs and then looks at Aayan, who looked up and then back at his phone
'Is that him...?' Abhi asks looking at her
'Who...?' Ananya asks
'The tall guy, by that White jeep, is that your Maze runner Husband...?'
'Maze runner Husband...?' she asks bewildered
'Yeah the one who likes get lost in a maze, with an intention of never coming back...'
'Yeah...' she sighs
'Well he seems nice...' Abhi looks at him
'He is nice...' She fakes a smile
Abhi narrows his eyes and looks back at Aayan
'I know he's an asshole Ananya...'
'Hey !' Ananya snaps at him
'Let me finish, I know he was an asshole to leave a girl like you, but he came back, that needs courage, most guys don't have it...' he finishes and Ananya relaxes
'Hey, won't you introduce me to him...?' he leans against the pillar posing like a model, pointing at himself like he was a piece of art, and she rolls her eyes
'No way...'
'Why are you jealous of this beauty...?' He points at himself
'He's not gay...' Ananya comments
'You never know why he keeps running away... Let's find out...' Abhi loosens his top button and she gasps
Aayan will kill him...
'Abhi, I don't think it's a good idea..' Ananya tries to stop him
'Hey come on ! Don't be a spoil sport...' Abhi drags her towards Aayan who looks at them confused
'Abhi he will kill you... You don't know his temper...' she tries to warn
'He seems to be a calm guy who can't even push a guy to the ground...' Abhi says
Only if he knew
'Plus, look at his size, If wind blows any faster, he'll be dragged away by it...'
'Hey !'
'Sorry...' he raises his hands
Aayan who sees them approaching, puts his phone back into the pocket and stands straight..
'Hey...!' he smiles at Ananya
'Hey...' she smiles back and tries to push Abhi back inside
'Go !' she mutters and Abhi rolls his eyes, and Aayan looks at them confused
'Come on Annie, won't you introduce us...' He embraces her with his one arm and Ananya gets scared expecting a reaction from Aayan
She looks at him and he was just staring at them confused, with no hint of anger in his face, not even a frown
'Uh...' she looks at Aayan and he looks at her
'Forget about it, I'll do it, Hey Handsome, I am Abhishek, your wife's office bestie...' he intentionally doesn't leave Ananya and forwards his hands
Here we go Ananya sighs, now I'll get silent treatment all over the way
Aayan takes it and smiles
'Hey Abhishek, I am Aayan... Your bestie's husband...'
'He has a strong grip...' He mutters to Ananya who glares at him
'Isn't she amazing ! I mean everyone adores at her in the office...' Abhi smiles and Ananya sighs
Why is he getting me in trouble
'That's not a news to me, she is everyone's favorite back at home as well....' Aayan smiles and Ananya is surprised because he didn't look or sound pissed
'Of course she is, and you are really lucky...'
'Oh, I am... The luckiest man in the world...' he smiles looking at Ananya
'But she's lucky too, A handsome man like you are really hard to find these days....' Abhi says looking admiringly at Aayan and he smiles taking a step back
Ananya scoffs internally at this...
'It feels good to see, Ananya has a office bestie, because I thought all she does here is to yell at everyone...' Aayan comments and she glares at him
'I learned from the best...' she pats at Aayan's shoulders whose smile fades
'Oh yeah, that she does... But I am one shameless prick, she can't get rid off...' Abhi comments
'That's true...' Ananya says out loud
'Damn woman, you are so mean... You hurt my feelings...' Abhi fake cries
'Drama...' she rolls her eyes and Aayan chuckles
'Aayan, if this woman ever irritates you, don't hesitate to call me...'
'She never does that...' Aayan smiles looking at her admiringly
'Oh, great then... I'll see you around...' Abhi says patting his shoulder
'Yeah, you will...' Aayan smiles and turns to Annie 'Let's go Ananya...'
'Yeah...' she says and shoots a disappointed look at Abhi who mouths at her 'Not Gay...'
She rolls her eyes and gets in the car, while Aayan walked towards driver seat
'Bye babes...' Abhi says to Ananya and she looks at him shocked, while Aayan looks at him too and gets in the car
'You dog...' she mutters, because she knew Aayan will be pissed for sure
'You're Welcome...' Abhi bows dramatically, while Aayan starts the car
'Bye bro...' Aayan says
'Bye dude...' Abhi says and Aayan drives the car out of the complex
At the hospital...
Ved, Khushi and Saanjh stood outside the ER, Ved was frantically walking to and fro, Saanjh too sat with her hands folded, while Khushi held little Shaurya in her arms who was sleeping, and looked towards ER
'Bhai, she'll be fine...' Saanjh says
'She never had those chest pains before, what if it was...' Ved chocked in his own words and wipes his tears
'Bhaiyya please calm down... Nothing will happen to her...' Khushi tries to calm her down
'But how did this happen...! Wasn't she taking her meds or something...? Was she eating...? I think she was, I made sure...' Ved says sitting on the chair
'Yes bhai she was, Deepika Bhabhi made sure she took her meds on time...' Saanjh said sitting beside him
'I don't know what I'll do, if anything happens to her...' Ved burst into tears and Saanjh hugs him, wiping her own tears
'God please have mercy on us...' Khushi prays
Arjun, Vansh and Sash rush towards them and see Ved crying, and Khushi in tears too
Arjun's feet turned cold, horrific scenarios ran through his mind and he couldn't walk ahead...
He didn't want to hear what was about to come, or in his worst nightmares he thought what was about to come
There was no way, Arjun was going to live if something happened to her
Tears fill his eyes, his heart beating fast, he could feel sweat trickling down his forehead
Naina has been his partner since they were kids, she is the woman who brought the best out of him, the woman he loved more than anyone else, mother of his kids, but most importantly his best friend
Even if she went away for few hours he'll go restless, he didn't even want to think what will happen if she leaves forever
'What happened...?' Vansh asks Khushi
'Maa was playing with Vedika and Shaurya, I went to her room to feed Shaurya, when I saw her lying on the floor, gasping for air, so I called Ved Bhai and we brought her here...' she informs admist tears
Vansh too went blank for a moment, he took a deep breath and looked at his brother crying like a baby and then at his father who stood there like a statue...
He wanted to cry too, but he can't he had to take care of his family...
He pats Khushi's shoulder and then caressed his son's face who was sleeping peacefully in his mother's arm, looking at him Vansh felt slightly good, he sighed and looked helplessly towards the ER room
'Bhai, have a seat, she'll be fine...' Sash makes Arjun sit beside Khushi who looked at him worriedly
'Papa, Maa will be fine...' she assured him
Arjun caressed Khushi's head and nodded
'I know she will be... She better be... Or else I am going with her...' he said
'Paa... Please....' Vansh held his shoulders
'Ved stop crying, your Maa will be fine...' Arjun scolds him and he sniffs, wiping his tears
'Yes Paa...' he said, his voice cracking
Vansh went and sat beside Ved, holding his arms tightly, they look at each other and nod
'Khushi beta, you should take Shaurya home, hospitals aren't good for children, especially kids that young...' Sash says
'But Chachu...'
'Beta, he's right... Staying here is not good for him...' Arjun insists too
'I'll take you guys home and send Deepika bhabhi...' Saanjh says
'No need, someone should be there at home as well...' Sash says
'Okay... Do let us know if you need anything...' Khushi says getting up
She looks at Vansh, who looks at her too and nods, she gives him an encouraging smile and walks towards the exit along with Saanjh
Arjun closes his eyes and leaned against the wall, trying to calm himself down... Glimpses of their happy marriages pass in front of his eyes, their marriage, Naina forgiving him, their children's birth, marriages everything
'Mr. Thapar...' Doctor's voice broke his train of thoughts and he looked up
Ved and Vansh were already there near him, and Sash stood near Arjun, he helped Arjun stand and they walk towards him
'How is Naina doctor....?' Sash asks
'Mrs. Thapar had a stroke sir, she's very weak... We did a test, she needs a pacemaker installed into her heart, because her natural SA node is totally damaged... We need your consent...' he says, Vansh - Ved hold each others hand tightly and Sash did same with Arjun
Arjun's throat went dry, he began sweating, but then took a deep breath
'Will she be okay after the... Uh... What are you going to do...?' he asks
'We'll perform a surgery sir, and yes if she responds to new pacemaker, she'll be fine...' The doctor informs and forwards him the consent
'Can you assure me that nothing will happen to my wife Doctor...?' Arjun asks again and doctor gets uncomfortable
'Bhai, you cannot say anything with precision in such cases, Maa had this too remember... She was okay after the surgery, I am sure Naina will be too...' Sash assures Arjun
'Then why isn't he saying anything...?' Arjun looks at doctor
'Because he cannot... No one can guarantee anything in such cases...' Sash reasons
Arjun gets angry, he takes the consent and signs it
'You better save her, or else I am suing your hospital...' he glares at doctor
'Paa...' Ved tries to calm him down
'That's okay sir... I understand... We'll save her Mr. Thapar...' Doctor says and goes inside
Vansh hugs Ved and cries as he couldn't take any longer, Ved hugs him back, trying to calm him down
'Bhai why don't you take a seat...' Sash points at the chair
'Let me look at her once...' he walks towards the ER
He peeks through the window, but sees no one inside, and then looks around to see another door, which opened into another room, she must be there...
He sighed and then held the door..
'You better come out of that door safely Naina Malhotra, or else you know what I can do....' he says and then goes back to his seat
Arjun closed his eyes, and leaned against the wall again
'Did anyone inform Ananya...?' Sash asked
Arjun and his sons looked at Sash and then at each other
No...
Aayan's car,
Sardar Patel Marg, New Delhi...
'Thanks for the lift, but it wasn't needed...' Ananya says putting her bag in the back seat
'I was in your neighbourhood for my work, got off early so, thought why not ?' Aayan says adjusting the gear
'Since when did your work shift from Hooda city to here...?' she raised her brows
'Uh... Okay... I thought you are not well, so I might pick you up...' he says not looking at her
'That's really thoughtful of you...'
'Well, I brought some chocolates for you, they are at the back, so that is thoughtful of me too...' he smiles, looking at the road
'Really...! Thanks....' she excitedly grabs the bag from behind
'You've never done this before...' She says taking out a candy bar
'Of course I did, I mean would've... Uh... Did I ?' he got confused
'You hardly noticed...' she rolled her eyes
'See there were no behavioural changes in you at the time of your periods, you were whiny and fiery 24x7, and looking at me, it somehow escalated... So I wasn't ignorant, I thought that's your nature...' he tried to reason
'Oh yeah, that's the effect you have on women...' she says sarcastically expecting a sharp reply from him
'Ooo... That hurt...' Aayan fakes hurt
'So how did the meeting go...?' she asks taking a bite of her chocolate
'It was good, they said they'll think about it... So hopefully I get an investor soon...'
'Why don't you ask papa to invest...?' Ananya suggests
'I've never asked anything from him, atleast for my career, so yeah, I won't ask him now...'
'This self made bug really bit you hard...' she comments
'Yeah, only good thing ever happened in my life... Well two good things actually, the self made thing and you...' he smiled and Ananya couldn't help but smile
'Since when you started flattery...?'
'There are so many things I didn't do before, I want to do them now...' he looks at her, and she went speechless
His eyes bore truth, she couldn't help but stare, Aayan couldn't look at her in the eye, when he lied, but today he did...
Maybe he will stay...
Stop it Annie...
He focused his attention back on the road, and Ananya got back on the chocolate bar..
'Didn't your mom teach you sharing...?' Aayan says eyeing the chocolate bar in her hand
'I remember my mom teaching you manners as well, but you hardly used it...' she taunts and Aayan started laughing
'Man you are on fire today...' he laughs
'I am always on fire....' She said proudly
'That wasn't a compliment...' he rolled his eyes
'I'll take it anyway....'
'Damnnnn....' Aayan said and took a left turn
There was silence for a while, when Aayan decided to speak
'Your friend...' he began
Oh here we go..
'He's nice...' Aayan completed his sentence
'Well yeah, the only less annoying man in that hell...' she says looking outside the window
'I am glad you found a good friend there, people like him make work easier...' he said smiling
Ananya was bewildered to see him not frowning, while mentioning another male in her life who is not her brother or father...
'Did you know he was different...?' Aayan asked
'Uh... Different as in...?'
'I mean, see don't take it the wrong way, but I think Abhishek is into guys....' Aayan says
Ananya couldn't help but start laughing at this, and Aayan got confused
'Don't laugh Ananya, it's his choice, we shouldn't ridicule someone for their life choices....' He says
'Oh my god....' Ananya laughs more at this
'What....?'
'He isn't gay, he has a girlfriend... He did that to test whether you are or not...?' she blurts out, and immediately regrets saying it...
There was an awkward silence between them, Ananya didn't say anything, while Aayan took sometime to process the info
'Uh... Why would he think I was... Um gay...? He asks
Damn it
'It's nothing...' she replies instantly
'Please tell me, because he is not the first guy to think that...' he whines
'Who else said that...?'
'My answer first....'
'See... He knows about our situation, I mean... The part where you were away for like.... 3 years....' Ananya says hesitantly
'Oh..'
'See I didn't tell him intentionally or something, it just came out one day when that fucking senior of mine tried to make a move on me thinking I wasn't with someone, so I lashed out, beat him up, almost got arrested for breaking his leg and in heat of anger I said it to Abhi...' she sighs
Aayan's heart clenched at this...
'I am so sorry Ananya... I mean because of me you....' he began but she cut him off
'So... Abhi thought maybe you are into guys that's why you left me...' she finished
'Jesus Ananya, I didn't leave you...' he exclaimed
'It looked like, you did....' her tone got low
'See... I had to change for you, for us... Had I not left, god knows what I else would've done !'
'That's so not an acceptable reason Aayan...' she countered angrily
'I pointed a fucking gun at you damn it...! And guess what even pressed the trigger....' Aayan matched her tone
'So you just leave after it ? Without giving me an explanation...? So classic of you isn't it...?'
'You wouldn't have let me go ! I had to punish myself.... And being away from you was the worst I could get...'
'The only person who had the sole right to punish you for that was me... Not Paa, not Vansh bhai, not even you... It was me ! You took away that from me...' Ananya said at verge of her tears
'Ananya sometimes a man has to own his crap and deal with it himself...! You did change me, but the core Aayan Varma, who was so damn impulsive had to go ! And no one could drive him away except Aayan Varma himself...' he points at himself
'You just don't abandon your wife like that... And you were just lucky that you didn't didn't get promoted to ex husband after your return...' she snaps at him, trying to control her tears
'I very well know that....! And guess what I was kinda prepared for it....'
'You are unbelievable Aayan...' Ananya gives up
'So we are not having this conversation anymore....?' he asks bewildered
'Absolutely not...'
'So Am I going to be treated like a stranger for how many months....?' he asks
'I am not talking to you about this....' she declares, massaging her temples
'Fine... But you have to, one day...' he said
'I know that.... Now just shut the hell up...' she says and he sighs
There was silence for few minutes with Aayan driving silently and Ananya wiping her tears
'Wow, that conversation escalated quickly from me being a gay to me being a prick...' Aayan comments and Ananya chuckles admist her tears
He smiled, seeing her smile too
'See... I am sorry for making you cry and for everything else... There's no justification for it, except that I was a designated loser who wanted someone to blame and not face the reality... And I know it was wrong to scapegoat you for all of it....' he stated with seriousness in this voice
'Aayan...' she began
'See... I agree it all started with a lie and hate, but one good thing happened here, and I swear to anything, that was true and the best thing happened to me... I fell in love with you...' he said looking at her
'You know those words won't flatter me anymore...' Ananya sighed
'I am not doing this to flatter you... And I know you've changed... That... I changed you... And I really sorry I did.... I...' he couldn't find words to speak
'See... I am not going to start with that crap happened between me and my parents, and why I was like that, because you probably know it... I just want to say something, that I never shared with anyone, not even Ved...' he sighed, wiping his tear and Ananya looks at him
'See... When Maa left, Papa was lost, and why not, he is the best guy, who will betray him right ? But, life is a bitch and it happened to him... He was shaken, he was broken, he was disturbed... He wanted to get things off his mind...' he says, and wiped his tears
'I understand...' Ananya held his free arm
'Thanks, and me constantly whining about Maa wasn't helping him... So the real reason why I was sent to boarding school, was not because you ratted me and Ved out, or we beat up that guy.... It was because my father wanted peace... He needed a break from my questions... He wanted peace...'
'Papa would never do that...' Ananya tried to defend Jai
'See... I am not blaming him anyway... Answering my questions meant revisiting those painful memories again, and he didn't want to do that, I wasn't an understanding kid like Nitaara, I was a headache, I mean you saw me... I was a hard kid to handle, I wouldn't just get it when he explained things to me once, I would ask over and over, and he got tired of all this... He had no other way...' Aayan sighed
'I wish I understood this earlier, all those hate years would've been saved...' He sighs
'So... I turn to Maa... Whenever I visited her.... All she would say was 'Everything will be okay Aayan, we'll figure it out...' To every question of mine she would repeat the same thing
'Maa why did you leave...?'
'Everything will be okay Aayan, we'll figure it out...'
'Maa when will you come back...?'
'Everything will be okay Aayan, we'll figure it out...'
'Maa why do you live here, why can't you live with us...?'
'Everything will be okay Aayan, we'll figure it out...'
'Maa why is Papa angry all the time...?'
'Everything will be okay Aayan, we'll figure it out...'
To every damn question, she would answer the same thing, the same fucking thing....' he gritted and his grip on steering tightened, Ananya gets scared looking at his face
'Why don't you stop the car somewhere, and we talk...?' Ananya suggested
He nods and parks the car few miles on side of a less crowded road
'So Maa, wasn't helpful, like always... Then I turned to Ved, but I don't know why he was so mature of his age, he would start consoling me, before even listening... I wanted to speak...! I wanted to fucking express what I felt that day... But everyone would say, You'll be fine Aayan... Everything will be okay Aayan, Have courage Aayan...' he said frustrated, Ananya could see he was frustrated..
'Don't fucking console ! Listen damn it... Listen what the so called 'Victim' has to say, don't start consoling... I was sick of the sorry faces, So I decided I won't speak... Let them assume whatever they want...' he said angrily
Ananya could feel the angst inside him, this was the second time he was opening up to her, his mysterious side was opening up, she felt good, she felt involved instead of shut out, her pain worked, her suffering did work afterall...
Was it supposed to happen now...
He had to change when she was thinking to leave him...
Aayan leaned against the seat, and massaged his temple, he looked in pain, but equally relaxed at the same time...
'And you... You were a headache at the start, no offense...' he said not looking at her
'None taken...' she smiled
'See I screwed up, I know and I am sorry, I had to get rid of old habits... I know my method was pathetic... But I had to... Punish me all you want... Don't treat me like a stranger please...' he said and covered his face with his hands
There was silence again, they just held hand and sat in silence
What a simple yet complicated marriage they had afterall...
Ananya decided to speak, she held his arm and he looked at her
'Aayan, What did you feel that day...?' she asked looking at him and his eyes filled with tears
He held her arm and she held it back..
'I...' he began, but then they interrupted by Aayan's phone ringing
He sighed and looked at the caller
'It's Papa...' he said and answered it
'Yes Papa....' he answered and what Jai said next, made his hands and legs turn cold, his expression turned worried, he looked pale..
Ananya panicked, she could feel his hand turning cold
'Aayan, what happened...?' she asked
'We'll be there...' He said and hung up
'What...? What is it...?'
'We need to go to the hospital...' he said and started the car and they drove towards the ending pages of their story...
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