"Ma it hurts. " A cute little boy weeped and complained to his mother.
"It should you ungrateful little brat. "
The boy woke up from his nightmare drenched in sweat.
*
The orphanage was in a rush.
Some guests were coming to visit it.
But all he cared about was the food that will be served today.
Whenever there is a guest, the cook will make some desert and that's the only time they got to eat desert other than the occasional Prasads from the mandir.
He giggled with anticipation at the thought.
And laddoo loved sweet things.
So he was happy anyways.
Today is going to be a good day. He just knew it.
"Mahika?"
She turned towards the sound then gasped.
"Romeo?"
She ran upto him and took him in a hug.
The said Romeo picked her up and twirled her.
She raised and eyebrow looking at him.
"Look at you. You grew your hair.
Looks good though. " Mahika stated in appreciation.
"And you look gorgeous as ever "
"Oh my god. It's been so long since I heard that. "
She squealed at him.
Dhruv coughed
That's when the friends remembered the presence of her husband and brother.
Mahika dragged the guy by the arms towards them.
" Hey Anil. " He said enthusiastically.
"AVYAAN BHAI...." Anil screamed then started to do some secret handshake with him.
"Show offs" Mahika scoffed but laughed nonetheless.
"Avyaan meet Dhruv. "
"Dhruv this is Avyaan. He was my bestfriend who failed to show up on my wedding."
She said giving him a playful punch on the shoulder.
Mahika was regretting her choice of wearing a simple sneakers. She would need a ladder to look at these giants.
"Avyaan Shekhawat. It's so nice to finally meet you. I have heard so much about you from Juliet right here. " He said extending his hands for a greeting.
She looked up at him with a grin.
"You remember. "
" Of course I do. " He whisper yelled.
"Drama queen " Mahika thought.
" Dhruv Singhania. " Dhruv said accepting his hand shake.
Mahika left her place beside Dhruv to sit beside Avyaan.
"So how do you guys know each other?"
Dhruv asked in a clipped tone.
This man was too charming and charismatic for his taste.
At the same time an entirely different thing was playing inside Mahi's head
What's with her husband all of a sudden?
"We were collage mates. She is my bestfriend. " AVYAAN replied taking matters into his hands.
Dhruv looked at me. Her BESTFRIEND?
"You never mentioned him before? "
"Of course I did. But you were too busy doing other things. "
He looked away guiltily.
Both the men refused to say anything for the next five minutes hoping that the awkwardness woul evaporate.
"What do you do Mr Shekhawat? "
"I am aspiring director. I have worked as an assistant in some of the films. "
"Really? You didn't tell me" Mahika exclaimed.
He nodded.
"One of them is releasing next month."
"Oh my God, I'm so proud of you. "
"By the way , Why didn't you come to my wedding? "
"I was out of town. " He answered as it it was obvious.
"You have to repay me. "
"Anything for my Juliet. "
"Oh Stop. Come to my performance next month. I'll send you the tickets. "
"Which performance? " Dhruv asked bewildered.
"Oh I forgot to tell you. There is a big art festival coming up and I'm performing. "
"Don't worry. I will come to the practice if it meant seeing your graceful dance. "
Mahika blushed.
"How have you not found a girl for yourself with these flirting skills?"
Avyaan answered that question with a charming smile.
"So what is your lactose intolerant ass doing in an ice-cream parlour, Mr Shekhawat?"
"You still know"
"How am I ever supposed to forget that. " She replied with a chuckle.
"Why do you keep calling him Romeo if his name is Avyaan?" Dhruv asked curiously.
It was getting on his nerves to be honest.
"It's like an inside joke kind of think" she replied nonchalantly.
It was what now?????
"We were in a Romeo and Juliet retelling in college. It was so good that people started to call us Romeo and Juliet. We thought it was funny and started calling each other Romeo and Juliet And it just stuck. "
" Well Juliet does suit a beautiful girl like you."
Avyaan replied winking at her.
Dhruv didn't know anything about this guy but still one thing was sure.
He didn't like him one bit.
Arya was sitting under a tree when some of the children came and surrounded her.
Rehan also joined them to know what was happening.
" What's your name? " One of them asked in their cute soft voice.
" Arya. " She replied giving them one of her rare genuine smile.
The smile was not for him. It was not because of him. Yet , that small smile was doing something to Rehan's heart.
" What do you do ? " Another kid , this time a boy asked her.
"I'm a cardiologist. That's the doctor who looks after you heart. "
"Wow really? "
"Wait so are you like a love doctor. "
Rehan was trying so hard to hold back his laugh.
" No no " Arya said panicking.
" I can cure diseases that happen to your heart. I can heal it"
"Like a heartbreak?" She asked innocently.
Arya was speechless. She didn't know what to reply to that.
"Exactly" Rehan replied for her stifling his chuckle for which she gave him a glare in return.
"She wants to become a doctor too. " The boy from earlier said pointing at another girl.
"Is is true? " Arya was awing mentally at the innocent look on that girls face.
The girl nodded shyly.
"But our last caretaker told us that girls don't need a job. All they have to do is marry a man and look after him."
The girl told her looking at the ground.
Arya cursed that person and Rehan fisted his fingers.
"Hey dont bow your head ." She said gently tilting the child's head to look at her.
"You know what , Let me tell you guys a story. "
"So one day a girl was so fed up of everything that she decided to run away from her home. Everyone always told her to do this and do that. They told her to achieve good marks on her exams but when she did they asked her what it's purpose was as she was meant to marry anyway. They broke her confidence and the girl started to believe that she couldn't do anything. So she decided to run away."
"But she didn't know the outside world. She never really went out of her house. "
"The girl sat there on a bench and started crying. She didn't know what to do"
"Suddenly a boy came to her and gave her his handkerchief.
Obviously the girl was suspicious about the boy. She knew about stranger danger. "
"But the boy was really nice to her. He didn't ask her anything. Just sat beside her and looked at her cry.
After sometime he tried to start a conversation with her. "
"The gulmohar trees look beautiful. "
She just nodded.
"Even the sunset look mesmerizing. "
Again she nodded.
"He thought that the girl couldn't speak so he asked me just that. "
"His face was so funny that the girl cracked a smile even when she was crying. "
"When she replied negatively he sent a thanks to God.
The girl didn't look up to his face. Her eyes were always cast down. So she didn't really see him. "
"Why are you crying?"
"Why do you care? "
"No one needs any reason to care of another person in this world. We are all humans and the care we show another human without thinking about anything else but the genuine well being of them are called humanity. "
"I don't know what you are going through or why you are here
But trust me one day you are going be grateful to yourself for not giving up today. Because maybe in the future this head that you are currently pointing downwards will be held high. And that day you will realise that...."
" Nothing ever happens without a reason. " Rehan finished in his mind the realisation dawning on him.
"The girl took the boy's advice and started studying harder towards her aim. And she now walks with her head held high as people looked upto her with respect. "
"So I want to tell you guys the sane advice. Nothing happens without a reason and if something bad happens to you , its to make you stronger fir what's coming in the future. "
" Woah. " All of the children were looking at her with wide eyes.
"Did she ever meet him again? " A small voice asked from the back.
"Sadly no."
Rehan could do nothing but stare at her.
Everything about the story Arya told was true except one thing.
The girl wasn't sitting on a bench.
She was standing on a bridge ready to jump and end her life , once and for all.
"Dhwani I want to talk to you. "
"And I don't. End of discussion. "
"I'm really sorry for yesterday. I was not in the right mind. "
"No need to apologise. You were right. I am heartless. "
Because I don't know how else I'm managing to do this.
"You know I didn't mean it like that. " Veer said trying to justify his actions but failing badly.
"Actually I don't. "
"I don't know what you mean and you don't. "
"Did you mean it when you told me that I was cheating on you ? Did you mean it when you called me a gold digger? "
"You didn't just ruin my respect for you Veer. You ruined my chance at being... At being...."
She controlled her emotions. She wouldn't let him see her tears ever again. She couldn't blame everything on him either.
"Forget it. I don't want to waste anymore breaths on you. "
"I know what I did was wrong and I am not justifying that. I have already told you that. "
" That's why I agr... That's why we are getting a divorce in the first place. "
"Are you finished" Dhwani asked him.
"We have to tell Papa about this. "
She just nodded.
"That's it?"
"You don't have anything else to say"
"There is Nothing left to say" she replied with determination.
Both of their silence spoke volumes in that moment.
"Look it's the quiet girl. "
"Are you gonna cry?"
They turned to see a bunch of kids bullying a small girl.
Dhwani and Veer rushed towards them at the same time but was beaten to it by a much younger boy who couldn't be older than 6.
" Stay away from her "
â
Look who's back with an update?
New charecters= new mysteries.
What did you think about the chapter?
Our story is nearing 20 chapters and I'm curious to know which couple is your favourite.
I'm not a person who updates on weekends but if you get lucky I might.
No guarantee though.
Take care
Love yourself and the world will love you too.
Hugs and kisses
Aswa_maya
"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."