Chapter 20: chapter 20

Everyone woke up early in the morning and were getting ready. Sandhya came out of the room before Surya woke up to avoid talking with him. She greeted her mother-in-law and started helping everyone.Shashikala was in a hurry and was packing the luggage. Ravi went to Rona even though he didn’t want to. Rona was happy that Ravi was there. She rushed and opened the door. She was wearing a pink saree. He knew her for almost 2 years but never looked at her properly to see how attractive she was the whole time. He wanted to look at her for a long time but thought to himself, “What the hell am I doing?” and tried to act casual.She asked, “Sir, how do I look?”He was a bit hesitant and said, “You look absolutely gorgeous! By the way, do you live alone here?”“Yes, sir. Mom and Dad live in the U.S. They shifted to the U.S because of Dad’s work. Mom loves India and so do I. That’s the reason I work here.”Ravi liked the way she spoke and meanwhile, they reached the bungalow.Everyone was getting into the cars. There were 8 cars and Surya’s car was the 9th. Sandhya smiled at Rona. Rona walked to Sandhya and said, “Thank you, Sandhya.”She smiled back and walked  away as if she had important work to do. Surya walked there, looked at Rona, and was shocked. He checked for Sandhya and noticed her being far away from him but noticed Ravi, who was trying to hide from him. Rona interrupted him and said, “Good morning, Sir. Sandhya ma’am invited me to the picnic,” Surya was shocked and went to Ravi, “Dude, Why did Sandhya invite her?”“I don’t know, dude! Sandhya is determined to make Rona and you close, she took a vow from me to not tell anyone about it.”Meanwhile, everyone was getting into the cars except Sandhya and Rona. The seat next to Surya was empty and Rona asked, “Sir, Can I sit here?”. Surya wanted Sandhya to sit there but she was in Ravi’s car. Surya’s heart was breaking but still, he said, “yeah, sure.” Sandhya looked at Surya and signaled him to enjoy his time with her. Surya’s heart was shattered. They started their journey.While traveling, Sandhya passed a letter to Ravi and it read that she was on a ritual and cannot talk for 24 hours!”.Ravi was furious but couldn’t do anything about it because of Sandhya’s will to save Surya. Everyone reached Bhairavakona by 9 am. The women were spreading bed sheets over the ground to prepare food and the men were helping him. After finishing the cooking, the women, along with Sandhya, went to the temple for the pooja. The men, Surya’s uncles, were playing badminton. Rona had no one to talk to and sat alone under a tree.One of Surya’s aunts called Surya and asked him to bring medicine from the car. Surya wanted to talk to Sandhya but she was busy in the pooja of Lord Shiva. Surya handed the medicine to Ravi. Meanwhile, Surya’s uncle forced him to play badminton and he had to agree. Ravi handed the medicine to Surya’s Aunt, signaled Sandhya to take care of herself and walked back to find Rona under the tree.“What’s up, Rona?” asked Ravi.“I don’t know, sir. I feel like I'm the unwanted one here. No one talks to me, not even Sandhya,” said Rona.“Oh! She is on a ritual today, she doesn’t talk till 12. Even Surya isn’t aware of this,” backed Ravi.“Oh, I’m so sorry. So that was the reason she sat beside you in the car!”“Yeah!”“But sir, I felt dejected that I couldn’t sit beside you.”Ravi became suspicious and said, “What did you say?”“Umm, it’s nothing. So, tell me about you?”Ravi understood she was trying to hide something and wanted to drag the truth out.“I’m the only son of my parents and they live in Chennai. Surya is m dearest friend and I wanted to be with him and work with him. So, here I Am. And coming to my bachelor life, my mom sends me atleast 10 pictures of women from the matrimonial sites and wants me to get married as soon as possible but I reject all of them.”Rona was burning inside. Her face went red in anger and she bursted,“I love you, Ravi!”“What?” surprised Ravi.“Yes, what you heard is absolutely true. I love you. I have been in love with you for two years. I joined the company for your sake. I saw you in the U.S at a conference 2 years ago and I fell head over heels in love. I wanted to convey this to you so many times but I just couldn’t. Every guy in the office was chasing me but I wanted you the whole time. I came to India in search of you. I was miserable everyday when you left the office as I had to wait till the next day to see you. I really love you, Ravi. I can’t lead my life without you,” she bursted into tears.Ravi thought to himself, “I’m an idiot! How did I ignore this beautiful woman all the time? She is beautiful to the core! I shouldnt delay any further.”“Rona, please control yourself. I wasn’t noticing your love all these years, I love you too!” he screamed.Rona was stunned to speak and started crying even more. Ravi realized his mistake and wanted to stop her from weeping and out of the blue, he held her in his arms and kissed her passionately. She thought it was a fairytale, came back to senses, hugged him back and enjoyed the passionate kiss.After a while, they stopped kissing and moved a bit distant from each other. Rona was still in trance and asked, “Ravi, Is this true?I can’t believe any of it.” Ravi was ecstatic but something struck him, “Oh my god! Sandhya believes that Surya is in love with Rona. This was my fault! I shouldn’t have told her name earlier,”Rona, I have to tell you something!”“What is it, Ravi?”“I will definitely marry you but I need some time. I’m in a difficult situation right now and I’m trying to get out of it. I can’t marry you till the problem gets solved. We can’t be close and I can’t tell you the details further. Please understand!”Rona was subdued and said, “Okay, Ravi. As you say! I don’t think I have conveyed my love properly.”“No, No, you absolutely did. It doesn’t mean you have to be that distant from me. We have to be normal in the office but we will talk on call regularly. You are my angel!” he said and wrapped his arms around her. Rona followed him and both of them were on cloud nine.They listened to footsteps of someone approaching and moved apart. It was Surya and he asked, “Ravi, what are you doing here, man? I was searching for you the whole time”. Rona walked away from there. Surya was confused and Ravi explained everything that happened. Surya was mind blown and said, “Dude! You fell in love with Rona! I can’t believe this. I’m extremely happy for both of you, let me go tell this to Sandhya. She will be happy for you,” he said and was about to walk. Ravi held his hand, “What are you gonna tell Sandhya? You are gonna tell her that I and Rona are in love?”Surya realized his move and scolded Ravi, “This is because of you, idiot. If you hadn’t told her name, everything would have been fine!”“I know, Surya. But I can’t do anything about it now, it’s just fate.”“Anyway, you are finally in love and you guys are gonna get married soon. I’m happy for you!” said Surya.After finishing the rituals, everyone was having lunch. Surya sat beside Rona and Sandhya was opposite to them. Surya moved close to Rona and said, “Don’t worry, sister. I got to know everything. I promise you will be married to Ravi.”Rona was ecstatic and said, “Thank you, brother!”Sandhya was watching them being happy and her heart was on flames. She couldn’t eat and went to the Lord Shiva’s statue near the temple and sat by the idol. She burst into tears, “Why? Why do I have to face all of this? I’m doing everything so that I can save Surya but why can’t I handle him being with another woman? Why was my fate written like this'' and she wept hard. Later, everyone reached home. Surya was happy that Ravi found his love.