Hello everyone, Before jumping into the new chapter, I wanted to make two quick announcements-
1. This story will be updated every Tuesday or Wednesday. I wanted to give a window since real life sometimes gets busy with other commitments, so I don't want anyone to be disappointed if I don't upload on the first day.
2. Do you follow me on Instagram? I have created a fun character asthetics and trailer with the cast that I imagine. If you would like to check that out and get spoilers and learn about me outside of Wattpad then do follow me at- thebutterflyeffect31
So without any further ado here is the new chapter.....
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Dhara threw her bag on to the ground, not even bothering that it had landed on the mud pile. Jumping out of the back seat of the car, she picked up the bag and flung it over her shoulder.
"Are you still mad, Dhara?" Sushmita, one of her trekking buddies, asked as she stuck her head out of the window.
"We'll plan another one soon." Sushmita's husband, Krish, mollified from the driver's seat.
"Yeah, right!" Dhara scoffed. "You know how long it took us to organize the entire trip and get everyone on board. I had to work so hard to get my grandmother's permission. There is no in hell that she would let me go on more overnight trips. Stupid landslide! Ruined everything!" She stomped her foot in annoyance.
"We can't control the weather," Sushmita said, laughing.
"I know that, obviously!" Dhara folded her hands over her chest. "I am just so upset." She sighed loudly and managed to pass her friends a small smile. "I'll get over it..."
"Look at you being all mature for a change," Krish said which made Sushmita laugh and Dhara glower at him.
"Whatever!" Dhara rolled her eyes and tugged at the strap of her bag to reduce the discomfort it was causing in her lower back. "Do you want to come in for lunch? My Dadi can make the chicken curry that I always tell you about."
"Not today," Sushmita said, looking at Krish with a smile. "We might just go have a romantic lunch somewhere on our way back home. And you need to get some sleep. You were awake all night driving us through that landslide."
Krish leaned over and kissed his wife against her temple.
Dhara smiled at the small moment of the couple with the tiniest amount of yearning- not that she would admit it to anyone in the world. She didn't need anyone in her life except her grandparents and sister. Her only dream was to build a better life for them and she couldn't afford any distractions. "Suit yourself, love birds!" Dahra laughed and did a small salute before turning around to walk towards the gate.
"Oh, Dhara!" Sushmita called out. "For Preetika's wedding, Do you want to come with us?"
"Sure! Why not?" Dhara shrugged. Her grandmother wouldn't agree for an overnight trip and to Delhi all by herself anyway. Asking Soumya to accompany her would be another challenge that she really didn't want to take on.
Sushmita smiled and then her face turned solemn, "Sounds good...You know that Rishi will be there too, right?"
"I know! Preetika called me a week ago," Dhara said with a small shrug . "It's fine. You guys seem to be more awkward and worried about my ex being in the same vicinity as me than I am," she said, chuckling. "Relax, you guys! Please don't make this a bigger deal than it is."
"Call me!" Sushmita yelled as she stuck out her upper body out of the window and waved while her husband drove away.
Dhara vigorously waved her above her head at them from the spot before opening the gate of her house, looking forward to a shower and then a long nap.
"I hate everything," Grumbling under her breath, she dragged her feet into the house. "I am home!!" She announced to her grandmother since their family car wasn't parked on the driveway and it was a Friday which meant her sister was probably already at work and her grandfather was playing bridge with his friends at the club.
"Ahh, I missed you!" She exclaimed as Sweety came trotting towards her. Picking up the little puppy, she began walking towards the interior of the house to find her family. "Did you miss me? At least you came to see me. Where is Dadi and Manoj?"
The little puppy wiggled in Dhara's arms as she licked her chin and fingers. When Dhara let the puppy down on the ground after a few seconds of her licking and nipping, she ran upstairs through the veranda.
Guessing Chandni was in one of the bedrooms on the second floor, Dhara began following Sweety upstairs. "I look like shit." She said cringing at her reflection. Hair in crazy knots, eyes red and puffy from the lack of sleep and she even smelled of sweat and smoke. Deciding to shower first before her grandmother saw her condition and decided that she looked 'hippe' and never sent her on another trip.
She opened the door of her room and dropped her bag at the entrance of it. "What the hell?" She mumbled when she saw the condition of her room. Her things had been moved around and clothes lay all around the room like a cyclone had hit someone's wardrobe. No cross that. Men's clothes lay all around the room like a cyclone had hit someone's wardrobe. Using the tips of her fingers, she picked up a red t-shirt and stared at in confusion.
Dhara almost let out a startled cry when she heard the water in her bathroom running. There was an intruder in the house. Showering in her bathroom. Had he done something to her grandmother? Panic gripped her mind and body as she tried to think about the ways this scenario would play out. Forcing herself to take deep breaths and think logically, she reached into her pocket to call for help. "Shit!" She swore under her breath when she realized that it was dead.
Her fear grew deeper when she heard the water shut and then someone stepping across the tiled floor that was wet from the shower. She ran towards the bathroom door and locked it from the outside. Her heartbeat hard against her rib cage as the adrenaline levels in her body soared. Maybe she should go down and bring her grandfather's gun but she didn't have the bullets. Scouting for them in her grandparent's room was going to be too time-consuming and the stupid lock on her bathroom door wouldn't hold on that long. Why hadn't listen to her grandmother and have the stupid lock fixed? "Please, God. Let Dadi be okay. I swear if she's okay... I'll do anything. I promise." She didn't have much time if the attacker had finished her shower, she only had a few seconds, before he tried the door. As she was looking for tools that she could potentially use as weapons while gauging her chances at the potential of a bluff with the gun, her eyes fell on her cricket bat. Her clammy, shaking fingers tightened around the handle and she lifted and swung it in the air for practice. If she could beat the crap out of neighbourhood boys who thought eve-teasing was okay with this bat then she could do the same with the man inside her bathroom.
The door rattled slightly and Dhara jumped. "Come on, Dhara. You can do this!" She gave herself a pep talk as she walked towards the bathroom door again with small, but determined steps.
The lock on the door shook once again as the attacker tried to open the door from the inside. Taking another deep breath, she slowly unlocked the door and waited for the man to open the door completely. As soon as the door opened, Dhara swung the bat in the air and hit the man on his bicep.
The attacker yelped in pain as his footing slipped and he fell on to the floor on his side with a loud thud. Using the moment in her favour, Dhara swung the bat again and hit the bat on the back of his shoulder. "Where is my grandmother?" She screamed and kicked the back on his legs because she thought, she had won, but the scumbag had the audacity to swipe his arm around her ankles which caused her to fall backwards.
Dhara let out a painful shriek as her back hit the wet tiles. Luckily, she didn't crack her skull open but the back of her clothes was soaked. She began panicking when the man grabbed her wrists and pinned them beside her head. Raising her knee, she tried to kick him where the sun didn't shine, but the man was quick enough to block her blow.
"You?" Dhara screamed as she recognized the man in front of her to be the same man who dared to insult Kohli in front of her. "What did you do to my grandmother?" She demanded again, yelling and struggling to free her wrists from his hold. "Tell me, you asshole!" She twisted her face and bit his arm.
"Calm down!" He held her from the back of her shoulders as she had managed to turn to her front and let go of her immediately as she kicked him in the stomach. "What the hell is wrong with you, you crazy lady?" He asked as he wrapped his arm around his bare torso.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" She shrieked and picked up the bat that had dropped from her hand during their tussle once again. "I am sorry that I am not very friendly to a criminal who has broken into my house, sauntered into my bathroom and decided it was completely okay to take a shower in my bathroom. So, if you don't want me to kill you then you better tell me where my grandmother is. I even have a pistol in my room. I'll count till 5 before I go and get it."
"Relax!" Akash held his hands up in the air. "And I am not an intruder, Ms. Crazy lady with a cricket bat."
"You lost your chance," Dhara yelled and lifted the bat higher in the air.
"Dhara!" A familiar masculine voice called out from the entrance of the door.
She looked up at him, still out of breath with the fight she had with the man. "Manoj! Thank God! Where the hell were you? Call the police. This man has done something to Dadi." She instructed before her attention flickered to the man beside Manoj, who looked as shocked as Manoj as his eyes oscillated between her and the man clutching his stomach in discomfort. She should have kicked harder. "Who the hell is this guy?"
Manoj took quick strides towards Dhara much to her confusion and pulled the bat out of her hand. "Dhara, This is Akash Rawat." He pointed at the man on the floor and then moved his hand towards the other man at the door. "And that is Dr. Rudra Rawat."
What the frig! Was she supposed to know who that was? Guessing Manoj noticed her confusion, he explained, "Purshottam Rawat Ji. Bauji's friend cum neighbour. You know Maaji always talks about them." Recognition finally hit her and she let out the breath that wasn't laboured or panicked.
"Well then what are you doing in my room and my bathroom. And all those clothes in my room." She demanded with her hands on her hips.
"They have been assigned your room for their stay." Manoj almost whispered but the murdering look that she gave him, he wasn't sure which one was a better idea- Lie to her or tell her the truth.
"They have been what?" Dhara asked through her gritted teeth.
"Soumya did it." Manoj blurted out and Dhara charged out of the room after cringing at the sight of her beautiful room that had been messed up by the inhabitants who clearly lacked basic decency to clean up after them.
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"What was that about?" Rudra asked as Akash slowly limped out of the bathroom. He had no energy to change his wet clothes right now.
"Dhara didn't know about us having guests and she just assumed that there was an intruder. Please don't mind her." Manoj said trying to diffuse the situation. "I'll go check the wifi again and this time I'll get it to work." He hurriedly left the room so he didn't make Rudra, who already seemed upset by the slow wi-fi speed that he had requested to be shown the utilities room so he could check the settings on the router. Which is where they were when they heard screaming from Dhara's room and upon their arrival they found the strange fight unfolding in front of them.
"That girl is absolutely crazy. Who the hell treats their guests like this?" Rudra snapped when it was only the brothers in the room.
"She didn't know I was a guest. She just assumed the worst." Aksh said as he tried to look at his shoulder and he could already see a bruise forming tomorrow.
"Still!" Rudra scoffed. "Whose first reaction is to beat a man to a pulp without finding out the truth first? Why didn't you fight back? What happened to your black belt?"
"It all happened so suddenly that I didn't have time to react." Akash placed his foot on the bed to examine the damage.
Rudra didn't move from his spot but his expressions and tone of voice changed to worried. "Are you hurt?" He asked with one hand in his pocket and one hand pointing at Akash.
An expression crossed over Akash's face, but he quickly masked it with indifference, yet again. "I am fine. Is the doctor inside you bubbling to remind me of the Hippocratic oath you took?"
"Why do I even bother?" Rudra huffed. "And for God's sake put on some clothes." He ordered and threw one of Akash's t-shirt at him.
"Are you jealous that I have six-pack abs and you don't?" He raised his eyebrow at his brother.
"You're impossible!" Rudra shook his head and left the room.
Akash laughed at his brother but quickly stopped and grunted in pain when the dull pain in his stomach grew. "Game on, Ms. Dhara Awasthy. Game on!"
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Soumya shut the boxes of counted syringes and placed them on top of the other boxes before checking it off the list. Just as was about to open the package of alcohol wipes, she noticed through the glass window of her cabin that Dhara was stomping her way into the clinic.
"What happened?" She asked, alarmed at the state of her sister when the door flew open and Dhara entered the cabin with her damp clothes and dirty shoes. "Is it raining outside?"
"No! It's not raining outside." Dhara snapped and plopped herself on of the patient chairs. "Why didn't you tell me that we had guests over?"
"Uhhh..." Soumya's eyes widened as she struggled to answer her sister's questions in a way that wouldn't make her angry. "You'll catch a cold. Let me help you...." She placated as she dug out a clean towel from one of the drawers and walked towards Dhara to help dry her hair.
Ripping the towel away from Soumya's hands, Dhara pinned her down with a glare. "And that's not even it... You gave my room to those.... those... morons! How could you, Di?"
"Your room has the best view in the house," Soumya said defensively. Circling the table, she went and sat down on her chair, in an attempt to put as much distance between her and Dhara as possible.
"Your room is bigger and has a better geyser in the washroom." She cried out and fit her first on the table.
"But your room is cleaner... You know how messy my room is."
Dhara rolled her eyes. "Your room is as clean as mine... Just admit that you are selfish and didn't want to give up your room so you sacrificed my room."
Soumya opened her mouth to put up an argument but the truth was that she had none because Dhara was right. "Fine! But in my defence I thought you wouldn't find out because the renovations were to be completed and we would have moved the guests to that room before you got back."
"Traitor!" Dhara yelled, startling Soumya. "How could you give my room to that preposterous, arrogant man who has zero knowledge about cricketers or the game?"
"What are you saying? I am so confused... And what are you doing back so early anyways?"
"There was a landslide and I am so glad I came back home to see my sister sheltering a Kohli hater in my house and in my room." She said in the shrill voice that only came out when Dhara was angry or excited.
"Dhara, I need some context... And stop yelling. This is a clinic." Soumya warned.
The slight reprimanding from her sister had her sitting back down. "That asshole who was using my bathroom is the same guy who I had a fight with at the cricket stadium." She mumbled.
"Seriously?" Soumya frowned. She already knew that the Rawats were at the match, but she didn't realize that one of them had an argument with one of the greatest fan girls of Virat Kohli. Not that she had any doubts regarding which brother had fought with her sister, but she asked anyway, "Which one? Dr. Rudra or Akash?"
"The one that resembles an ape." She retorted. "How long are they going to stay?"
"Dhara!" Soumya admonished.
"I don't like him," Dhara said through her gritted teeth. "Actually, I don't like either of them."
"You don't like more than half of the people you meet. We can't just stop being a part of the society because they don't like your favourite cricketer." Soumya shook her head and picked up the list of supplies again but didn't really look at it.
"Geez..." Dhara frowned and leaned back on the chair. "You never get angry at me whenever I behave irrationally then why..... Oh! Wait a second!" She stood up and rushed towards her sister and held her by her shoulders. "Isn't Rudra Rawat the same guy you love."
"What? I don't love him!" Soumya said appalled by Dhara's declaration. Her protest was loud enough for Reema who was sitting at the reception table to look up at them.
"This is a clinic, Dr. Soumya." Dhara mocked. "And you do love him. You are blushing like you do when you see Hritik Roshan on screen. If they printed Doctor posters, then you would for sure have a wall devoted to him."
"I would not!" Soumya protested. "And keep these ridiculous and crazy thoughts to yourself. I don't want Dadaji and Dadi to...Plus, I am pretty sure he has a girlfriend."
"If he didn't have a girlfriend..." Dhara raised her eyebrows suggestively and snickered. "Okay! Okay, relax!"
"Are you going home?" Soumya asked when Dhara began walking back towards the door. "I feel like I should ask... what happened here?" Pointing at the now damp attire and hair.
"No ways! I don't want to see the ape again and don't even bother asking because you don't care. Because if you did, you wouldn't have given my room to anyone without my permission. I am never going to forgive you. Have you seen the condition they have my room in right now?" She announced dramatically. "I'll ask Reema if I can use her bathroom and borrow her clothes," Dhara said and shut the door behind her for a second before bursting it open again. "And for the record you totally love him."
Soumya looked around her for something to hurl at her sister when she ducked and closed the door. Shaking her head at Dhara's immature ways of getting back at her, she went back to finishing her task at hand.
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"How come there are no patients?" Dhara asked when she returned from Reema's place, which was essentially a room at the back of the clinic. When their father had built the clinic, he had also built three overnight suites with bathrooms and a small kitchen for patients and their families to stay but he soon found the rooms to be unnecessary in the town such as theirs.
"Most of our patients come on Fridays or Mondays when they need sick notes for their work," Reema said as she passed the labelled boxes to Soumya so she could store them on the shelf near the ceiling of the room.
"I am starving!" Dhara announced as she sat on the chair with her hand across her stomach.
"What's the time?" Soumya asked as she dusted her hands. "Manoj should be bringing lunch shortly."
As in on cue, they heard the jeep pull up in front of the clinic.
"I'll go help Manoj," Reema said as passed the box in her hand to Soumya and sprinted out of the room.
Both the girls laughed when they saw Reema fixing her hair before she ran towards the door.
"Dhara, pass me the box," Soumya instructed and pointed at a box on the ground.
Dhara groaned dramatically but stomped her way to the box to help. "Are you doing a Diwali cleaning?" she asked she held the ladder her sister was standing on.
"Are you serious?" Soumya scowled. "I told you we picked the date for our yearly medical camp. It is basically in two weeks and you said you told your friends about volunteering but I am guessing your lying. If they don't come then I don't know what we are going to do."
"Well... " Dhara grinned sheepishly. "Don't worry. My friends are exactly like me. They'll do anything to skip class and do anything else other than studying, so relax."
"Dhara, I swear-"
"I promised you five volunteers and I'll get them to you. Relax, will you," She huffed but held out her hand for Soumya to hold on to and jump off the ladder.
"So, the Rawats, huh?" Dhara plopped back on the clean chair. "Why are they back?"
Soumya sighed and caught Dhara up with the real reason for the Rawats visiting.
"That's so sad," Dhara whispered. "I wouldn't want anyone to face the death of a loved one."
"It is." Soumya nodded and hugged Dhara around her shoulders as she sat on the arm of the chair that Dhara was sitting on. "Which is why we have to be kind and compassionate towards our guests."
"Well... I kind of beat him up."
"You did what?" Soumya asked, alarmed by Dhara's claim.
"It's true," Manoj said as he entered the cabin. "The crazy girl thought he was an intruder and beat him really badly. The poor guy was limping."
"What else was I supposed to think? I didn't think that my family wouldn't tell me about guests coming over to our house and staying in my room."
"I am sorry, Dhara." Soumya clapped her hands and folded them in a prayer position. "I shouldn't have done that and I promise I won't do it again. But if Dadaji or Dadi find out about your little stunt then..."
"How is this my fault? If anything it is that Akash's fault. Why couldn't he just tell me the truth right when I asked him the first time?" Dhara opened the lunch carrier and began smelling each of the items.
"Did you give lunch to our guests?" Soumya asked, rolling her eyes at her younger sister.
"Yeah, they ate. Although, I don't know what Rudra Bhaiya's problem is. He never says anything when he eats and I can never tell by his expressions. Maybe he has that disease... Reema, what was it?"
"Alexithymia," Reema repeated with a smile. "You were listening." She grinned.
"Of course I was." He said incredulously. "What do you think, Soumya?"
Soumya laughed and shook her head. "He is just extremely reserved that's all."
"Obviously you would know," Dhara mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear as they served themselves lunch. "You know since you love him."
"Dhara, you make that joke once more and I'll be really upset," Soumya warned as she wagged her finger at her sister. "Any of you!" She warned when they all looked at her with an amused expression.
"You guys are absolute idiots." Soumya shook her head once again and continued to eat her lunch quietly. The more reaction that she gave the trio the more they'll tease her. It was best to stay quiet and let them kill the joke themselves. However, this was the last of her worries. She had to figure out a plan to ensure that Dhara and Akash were able to co-exist in the same house without killing each other.