Unedited.
Aarna's POV:
I woke up when I felt the sun rays seeping into the room through the windows. I squinted my eyes a little and glanced down at Dhruv who was still sleeping in my lap in the same position. I sighed when I remembered all yesterday's events.
I carefully lifted his head and placed a pillow under his head slowly, before standing up while wriggling my sore waist and muscles for some time. I grabbed my phone and sent a message to my peddhamma(eldest aunt).
[Old lady, I am going to bless you
with my presence today. Do the honors of making all my favorite dishes.
-Aarna.]
It didn't take much time to get a response from her as she is always on her as if her life depends on it.
[Really? I am going to the temple with
Sarada. So wait for me at home. I will
make them once I return from the temple.
-Old lady.]
After getting the confirmation from her, I went to the restroom and got freshened up in a jiffy. By the time, I came outside, I saw him sitting on the bed while holding his head.
"Must be throbbing like hell. Good for him. Next time he won't dare to go anywhere near the alcohol." I thought in my mind and stood in front of the mirror before combing my hair and letting them flow down. All the while, I felt the burning gaze of him following my every action which I obviously chose to ignore.
I started packing my bag, placing the new dresses that required the adjustments as my Pedhamma was the one who always takes care of my dresses.
I was about to zip my bag when my hand was suddenly held by him. I glanced at him only to witness that he was looking at my face with a slight panic in his eyes, which he masked it immediately.
I gazed at his hold on my hand and raised my eyebrows at him in a questioning manner. Seeing this, he abruptly left his hold and stepped back a little before clearing his throat.
"Where are you going?" He asked without meeting my eyes.
"None of your business," I told him while rolling my eyes.
"Aarna, I am sor-"
"Save it for another time," I cut him off in the middle as I didn't want to hear his apology early in the morning and I didn't want to forgive him that easily.
Saying this I grabbed my bag and phone and went downstairs. When I saw Athayya in the kitchen, I helped her in preparing breakfast and placed the dishes on the table.
I stayed in the kitchen itself and sent his coffee with Rani aunty while everyone had their breakfast.
"Aarna, why are you standing there itself? Come. Let me serve you breakfast." Athayya dragged me to the dining room while saying so.
When she was about to serve me, I held her hand and stopped her. " No, Athayya. I am not hungry and I am going to my Pedhamma's house."
"You aren't hungry?? You didn't even have your dinner yesterday. No excuses. Sit down. I won't stop you from going to your pedhamma's house but you have to have your breakfast before doing so," she exclaimed.
I didn't want to stay here for another minute as I didn't want to have another encounter with him. So I was planning to leave before he came downstairs but how could I explain this to her?
"No Athayya. Let me go. I am really not hungry. I promise I will have something at pedhamma's house. So don't worry." I tried to convince her and after a lot of persuasions, she nodded at me.
"Good. Don't starve yourself because of certain someone's actions," she said in a taunting tone while looking behind me.
I didn't need to turn back to confirm to whom her words were targeted. I closed my eyes and grabbed my bag before bidding her goodbye.
"How will you go?" She asked, making me stop in my tracks.
"I will take the cab," I informed her.
"What! Wait, Dhruv will drop-, okay. I will ask the driver to drop you." She was about to say Dhruv's name but when she noticed my reluctance she changed her words. God..She is so understanding.
From the corner of my eyes, I could see him looking at me intently. Unable to bear this, I started walking outside when I felt him following behind me.
"No one is available. One went to drop Aadhya at her college and another one took your grandma for her regular check-up" Athayya informed me while coming towards me.
"Let's go. I will drop you there," Dhruv said calmly.
"No need. I can go on my own." I said and nodded at Athayya before walking outside the main gate but he held my hand and dragged me near his car and opening it, he forcefully made me sit inside the car, completely ignoring my protests.
"What the hell? Are you crazy?" I shouted at him. He didn't even bother to look at me and started the car.
"Stop the car. I don't need you to drop me there." Again got ignored.
Now he is ignoring me. Hmph. Looks like he has forgotten his yesterday's antics. Let me tell you, never trust a drunken man. Never.
I crossed my hands over my chest and looked outside the window with a slight pout reminding myself that this was my last ride with him, till he earns my forgiveness. The journey was filled with silence and I could see feel his eyes on me occasionally.
When we reached my Pedhamma's house, like a gentleman he came to open the door for me to which I rolled my eyes.
"Let me know when you want to come back. I will pick you up," He informed.
"No need. You aren't my driver and I am not a child. So I can make my way on my own. Moreover, what should I do when you again leave me once you saw someone on the streets. So no thanks." I spat at him angrily.
How much I told myself to forget his hurtful words, I simply couldn't do it but now when he was looking at me with the guilt clearly written all over his face, I scolded myself for being harsh on him but I again consoled myself that it was fine, I was just giving back the taste of his own words.
"Don't forget to eat something," He said while nodding at me slowly and walked to the driver's side of the car.
"Dhruv,"
No, Aarna. Stop it.
"Indra Anna will drop me. Sorry for my earlier words," I apologized because I didn't want to become a person who wasn't me, and just like that again my heart won against my mind.
Actually, about Indra Anna dropping me was a lie. The purpose of my visit was to take my baby with me as I left it at my peddhamma's house at the time of my marriage and after my marriage, I never got a chance or need to bring it back as Dhruv was the one who always drove me everywhere and when he was unavailable, the driver would always take me anywhere.
But his yesterday's words really hit me hard. So I decided to bring my baby back with me because why should I depend on someone even for these silly things and got hurt in return when they used those things to taunt me back?
Saying this, without waiting for his response, I went inside and greeted Radha ma, who was the housekeeper here. She informed me that Pedhamma has yet to return from the temple.
While waiting for her, I called Ankitha Akka and she attended it immediately.
"I was about to call you but you beat me to it. Answer me honestly about something," she asked me without even greeting me. I blinked my eyes a little and responded to her.
"No greetings! No hellos! Okay. Fine. Ask it," I grumbled.
"I received a call from Shine corporations, last week, asking me to send my CV. I sent it to them, not giving much thought to it. Today morning, they called me and informed me that I am one of the shortlisted candidates for the head designer post and they asked me to attend the interview next week." She said in a one go and I smiled at this information.
"That's great na. Congrats Akka," I exclaimed with a bright smile on my face.
"You can congratulate me later. The thing is I never applied for that company and I also came to know that it is Daksha's family-owned company. I tried to call her to ask about this matter but she is unavailable. At least, you must know this matter..right. So answer me. Does it have anything to do with the both of you? " She sounded stern. I gulped a little and answered.
"Then I will take your silence as 'Yes'. Thanks for thinking about helping me but I never planned on taking advantage of the connections. I always want to depend on my talent. I am really thankful for your concern but I don't need a job in this way." Hearing her words, I immediately panicked.
"Akka, listen. I was indeed the one who told Adi Anna to consider you but believe me, Adi Anna never encourages this kind of thing. He always recruits people based on their talents, not on their connections. All I did was recommending your name. That's it. If you are selected, then it is solely based on your abilities. I am sorry for doing it without your consent but Please give it a chance." I told her honestly, knowing Adi Anna's nature very well.
"Still it's because of you, they called me for the interview, giving you some face. I don't think I will get selected for the job. If not for you, they don't even know about me. So I am not going to attend it."
"Are you crazy? Why are you missing such a good opportunity? You know what, that fashion line is so close to Anna's heart. So he never takes a wrong decision regarding it. He is the one who is looking closely after every little thing about that brand. So he must have seen your ability to call you for the interview. So please give it a shot. I don't want you to regret in the future that you have missed a good chance. Moreover you need a job to look after your child. I hope you will think wisely." I tried to convince her as I know how much she needed a job right now.
"Okay. I will give it a try," she answered after a while, making me smile in relief.
"That's good. All the best for your interview. Be ready to give me a treat in advance. Now, tell me why did you ask me to call you today? And you said that you signed the divorce papers. What's the reaction of your parents?" I asked her and came to know that she accidentally met her ex-boyfriend and he dropped her at her parent's house and her mother-in-law who came to ask her to sign the divorce papers, saw her coming with him and made a huge ruckus. So she didn't have any chance but to sign the papers and tell her parents the truth. Her father completely locked himself in his room, not wanting to see anyone out of guilt.
"It's a good thing though. I didn't know how to convey to them everything but now everything was revealed and I am quite relieved. Now I can focus on my baby." I agreed with her immediately.
"True. Take care of your health. I will try to meet you soon." Saying this I ended the call briefly when I noticed that Pedhamma came back from the temple.
I followed her to the kitchen and propped myself on the kitchen platform and took the coconut out from the brass flower basket which she had taken along with her for the temple and started eating the copra after taking a piece of it with a knife.
"Why did you remember me so suddenly? Done eating the brains of your in-laws and came here to eat mine?" She asked while placing back the water bottle into the refrigerator, from which she had the water just now.
"Why am I feeling like you aren't encouraging my presence here?? If you don't want me to be here, I can go back," I told her with a slight pout.
"As if you will leave me in peace by doing that honors. So stop your dramas and call your Anna to come home today instead of going to his apartment." Though I wanted to protest, I did what she told me to do but instead of calling him, I messaged him to come home if he doesn't want to miss my divine presence.
We both had our lunch together and called Athayya to ask her whether she had her lunch or not. After talking with her for a while, I took a nap. In the evening, I sat together with my Pedhamma and spent all my time with her as she gossiped about all the nosy aunts who attended the kitty parties with her and she filled me with all the events that had happened in the house in my absence.
I didn't know how but our conversation took a U-turn as I decided to ask her something.
"What will you do when someone who we dearly held close to our heart hurts you intentionally or unintentionally with their actions? Will you forgive that person so easily when they apologize?" I asked her and she immediately looked at me with a deep gaze and ducked away from her gaze.
"Had something happened?"
"No, just answer my question." She sighed before started talking.
"The more we consider someone so dear, the more we will get hurt in return but we are humans na. It's completely okay to hold someone so close to our heart but in that process, don't forget to make yourself a priority. Loving someone is not wrong. It's our choice. Since we dared to make that choice, we should be brave enough to face the heartaches and pains."
"Then what will we do when that person who has hurt us confessed their feelings immediately? Is it even possible to trust their words when all they did was hurting us till now?"
"Aaru, It's completely understandable to not believe their words but you know just like how time is the best healer, it will also provide us the answers. So all we should is, give it some time and that person a chance to prove their sincerity. We don't need to accept their feelings immediately but we can give ourselves a chance if that's what we needed right now."
"Still," I paused and continued, "it is not easy to forget their deed..right. I will be honest with you. When my husband was driving his Ex her home by leaving me all alone like I was an unimportant existence in his life and the next moment he confessed his feelings for me in his drunken stupor." I bit down my lips and looked at her with teary eyes.
"What should I do in that situation? Should I consider his confession as a drunken non-sense or should I have to consider it seriously? You know, peddhamma I was so hurt..hell. I am still hurt because of his behavior and his mere sorry is not enough to erase the void and insecurities he has created in my heart."
"I am angry at myself for putting myself in this situation. If I hadn't let my feelings to overpower my mind and heart, I wouldn't have been suffering like this. Maybe this is why Indra Anna kept on asking me to think again about this marriage but I didn't pay much heed to his words. I should have listened to him na. Dhruv is not the one to be blamed too. Hadn't he confessed his past to me before our marriage, I would have a chance to blame everything on him, saying that he was being dishonest with me but he didn't do it. He clearly mentioned his past to me and even said that he can't possibly fall in love with me immediately but it was me, who was being overconfident and told myself that I would make him fall for me."
"So now when the things became like this, I can't blame anyone except for myself. I am responsible for my situation." I buried my face in her lap as the tears threatened to escape my eyes.
"Silly girl, I never taught you to cry over your difficulties. For me, my girl is the strongest person." Patting back lovingly, she continued, " I don't know what to say about your situation but let me tell you one thing, loving someone and being in a relationship is so easy but surviving in it is so difficult. I agree he did the wrong thing, a very wrong thing if I say but he could prefer to not say anything about that lady or he could prefer to not explain anything to avoid further complications but he didn't. He chose to be honest with you. He told you everything that happened because he clearly didn't want you to misunderstand everything? Isn't it showing how much your opinion on him matters to him and how much he is caring for you? Don't think that I am taking his side. Anyone who made my baby girl cry will have to face my wrath and Dhruv is no exception. All I want to say is, you should give him a chance to explain himself once he is sober. Maybe you will get to know something that will lessen your insecurities. About believing his confession, I am not the right one to answer it. Only his actions will prove his sincerity. So now stop being a cry baby." She lifted me by holding my shoulders and wiped my tears and I nodded at her slowly.
"Yeah, but what do you say about him leaving me there all alone?" I asked her with a slight pout.
"I don't want to say anything except for asking you to bring him here to have the taste of my special dishes. What say!" She wriggled her eyebrows playfully at me while I giggled a little at the mention of her special dishes, which are nothing but super spicy and super salty food items. She makes them whenever she is in the need of venting out her anger on my peddananna and Indra Anna. Till now, they are the only victims of her inhuman dishes but I guess Dhruv is soon going to add to that list.
"Peddhamma, why have I never heard of anyone mentioning anything about your family? Why does Indra Anna always seem to be hot on his wheels whenever someone mentions their topic?" I asked her after a while as I popped a soaked Almond which she had peeled its skin earlier, into my mouth.
"Now young lady why are you so interested in this matter today?" She asked me while poked my tongue out and replied." Why else! it is a good time since my grumpy Anna is not at home. So I can be spared with his scoldings even if I take the liberty to ask about them."
She laughed lightly but I could see that smile didn't reach her eyes. Now I am growing more interested to know about this matter. Seeing my expression, she patted my cheek lightly and started saying.
"You might have already heard about it..right. I fell for your peddananna when I was studying in the college but my dad already brought an alliance for me. So having no choice, we both eloped, just before the day of my marriage. Later we shifted to Mumbai and your peddhananna started a small business on his own with the help of his friend. Eventually, we had Indra. Your grandparents forgave us and accepted us wholeheartedly but I wanted to gain the forgiveness of my dad too and I tried my best to contact him. Still he never once talked to me."
"After shifting here from Mumbai, your peddhananna merged his business with our family business which was handled by your dad till then. Your Indra Anna was twelve and you were just seven years old when I was involved in a serious accident which nearly cost my life. At that time, your peddananna tried to contact my family as I always wanted to see them. He wanted to fulfill my wish in case if I couldn't survive the accident. He went to their place along with Indra, thinking that they might get convinced seeing my son, but in return, they humiliated your uncle and sent him back. Indra who witnessed everything grew a deep kind of hatred against them. So he never likes anyone of us mentioning their name here and thankfully I survived the accident but eventually, I stopped contacting them."
" Don't you miss them at all?" I asked her.
"Of course. I miss them every day but now I learned to be content with my little family. Though I still hope my dad will find a heart to forgive me soon." She said with a sigh.
"Where do they live? Why don't you go and visit your dad?"
"I don't have a face to meet him after what I have done. Falling in love is never a mistake but not fighting for it in the right way is wrong. I should have told him about your peddananna when he gave me a chance but at that time I didn't have the courage and by the time, I gathered the courage to confess, he brought an alliance for me."
"Do you have siblings?" When I asked this question, her face immediately lit up with a smile.
"Yes. I have an elder sister and a younger brother. I love them a lot. They were always supportive of me. You know, it was my brother who helped me in eloping with your uncle. He was the only one who stayed in contact with me for the initial two years. He even came to meet us when we visited your grandparents and Indra was just two years old at that time but I don't know what happened after that as he stopped contacting me further. Thinking that he might have his own difficulties, I stopped contacting him too."
"He seems like a good person."
"Not only him, everyone in my family is so good. They can even give their lives for the wellness of others-"
"Ohh really!" We suddenly heard the sarcastic voice of someone and turned around to see that Indra Anna was marching to us with his face set taut.
"If they are really as good as you are portraying them to be, they wouldn't have shown their ego even when you were fighting for your life. So don't portray them as saints. It's so disgusting." He said and Pedhamma sighed sadly at his words.
"Stop talking like that. They must have their own difficulties. Stop judging everyone without knowing their side. It will seriously land you in huge trouble in the future." I retorted as he looked at me angrily.
"You don't have to bother about me. This is how I am. Life taught me to not trust anyone blindly. I don't care what difficulties they had. What matters to me is, how my mom was crying for them every day when they stayed so hard-hearted and how they insulted my dad and refused to see her even when she was fighting for her life. Why are you talking about them here? Moreover, what are you doing here? Did Dhruv throw you out of his house or what? So you came here to take refuge. Tsk..tsk. It took him so long to realize that but he did a good thing though." I knew he is sharp-tongued but I never expect him to use it against me.
"Indra, stop it." Pedhamma reprimanded him.
Though I understood he didn't have any intention of hurting me when he uttered those last words, my eyes still got misted as his words only acted as salt on my wounds.
What if Dhruv realizes that I am not the one for him? What if he leaves me once he came to know about my hidden secrets.
When so many unwanted thoughts flooded my mind, without looking at anyone, I grabbed my scooty keys from the counter and ran outside hurriedly.
I could hear Pedhamma's angry voice even from outside. When I reached my scooty, ignoring the murk that had formed on it, I hopped on it and ignited the engine.
When I was about to go, Indra Anna who was still in his uniform ran towards me hurriedly and stood in my way.
"Aaru, stop. I am sorry. You know I didn't mean those words..right. I just hate that family and when you are taking their side, I couldn't control myself and blurted those words." He explained.
"I know and don't worry. Even if Dhruv throws me out one day, I will never come here to seek refuge... in your words." I threw these words at him and started driving to Dhruv's house. I really thought it would be my home but it didn't take me much time to come out of my bubble. It could never be my home unless he made me feel so.
When I reached there, I parked my scooty safely and stormed upstairs, and saw him already present in the room. Ignoring him, I placed my bag on the couch and went to the balcony.
When I sensed his presence behind me, I decided to go inside but he held my hand and suddenly pulled me into his embrace.
How much I wanted to protest, this was what I needed the most now. So without protesting, I let him wrap his arms around me as a sense of warmth engulfed me, making me want to cry out loud but I held myself back.
"Silly, cry if you want to." and it was enough for me to break into tears. I held his shirt tightly as my tears started flowing down aimlessly.
"Though I wanted to refute, being in his arms always gives me a sense of solace," I thought as he tightened his hold on me.
Hope you guys liked this chapter.
As you all know these books are from the AM series, some scenes in the story are necessary to get an insight into the upcoming stories. Hope you guys will understand this.
Thanks for reading.
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