Author's POV

AVNI RAICHAND.

The name was in the headlines on most news channels, entertainment tabloids, trending key searches on social media, the very next day.

It started as a brewing rumour last night when social media was surrounded by a few pictures of some people with the actress - who looked ravishing as she smiled for the camera.

A few weeks ago it was hinted that the actress was seen around the marine drive, however with no proof captured, people considered it as mere speculation resulting in the news dying down early.

However, events of last night surged the internet, predicting her sudden appearance while on a break, and concluding it as a dinner date.

Fans gushed seeing her after a month, happy and healthy with a smile on her face. They were less bothered with the questions that ascended upon her visit to the restaurant.

Eyes trailed over the captions of the posts leading to gossip and a few rumors surrounding the actress's love life.

Some blurred pictures surfaced, focused on the man that had her hands locked with the actress, his back ripped, jawline chiselled, and what seemed like a crooked smile on the pictures.

So today, when Lovely woke up, he saw endless notifications lined up on his screen, and unfortunately, calls unanswered.

He picked up his phone and proceeded to scroll, stumbling upon a few articles, all of them leaving him with a sickening feeling.

Shutting off the buzzing thoughts and preparing himself for what was to come, he reached Avni's doorstep just after an hour, finding her casually sipping on her morning coffee.

His sudden appearance made Avni curious, the creases between his forehead screamed that something surely went down, and it was worse.

Images were warped in her mind. What was the worst thing that could happen? A producer cancelling her off? Sponsors retracting her from a contract? Honestly, that wasn't something shocking because, since the accident, the retracted contracts had been a usual thing. However, the tense atmosphere gave the certain feeling that it wasn't just that.

She was swaying away from a certain thought that kept floating in front of her eyes. There was a possibility, yes, but it didn't mean she was ready to hear it.

Though one of her worst fears came to life right there.

Her date with Neil was the centerfold of leading bollywood articles. It did shock her, however, it became more gut-wrenching when she saw that Neil was partially recognisable. Anyone who knew him somewhat could make him out from the pictures.

Their date that was special, though holding not so pleasant memories 'cause of her fears, was out in the open, and man - did it feel awful.

Nothing concerned her more than Neil. Did he read it? Did he finally see what she was worried about?

Damn, she didn't even know how to call him without feeling like an insensitive person because, because her words from last night seemed nothing like ending on a good note, and everything of the possibility that she had rejected him.

To be honest, she didn't want to.

But how could she follow the path, knowing that there was only heartbreak waiting at the end? Maybe, not necessarily for her.

Avni would never want to be the reason why Neil was sad. Happiness suits him better. After all, those moments when he smiled wholeheartedly rendered like a memory in her mind, bringing up a smile of her own.

Thoughts studded like a scar, emotions whirling around, building a hurricane of anxiety, Avni ran up to her room. Too stunned to speak, Lovely watched until she came back dressed in a long frock that flowed along and reached under her knees, presentable enough.

Lovely waited. He waited for a reason, an answer, as to where Avni was headed, or worse, what else was going in her mind. As much as he knew, Avni never bothered to care about articles revolving around her love life or rumored affairs. She always told him, "Don't fret over it!" He always wondered if there was a part of her who didn't care, but maybe it did and that's why she kept things like this. Just how it's supposed to be.

But when she saw confusion stamped on his face, she only gave him a vague answer. "I need you to drive me somewhere."

🎬🎬🎬

"Mom, please," Neil grunted, feeling exhaustion wearing his body as his mother wouldn't stop putting another paratha dipped in clarified butter on his plate, nagging how weak he looks these days. "God, please, okay - just one. No, don't. Please, mom."

His mother's lips turned into a frown, pouting when she took away the last one, sighing as she sat across her chair, beside Neil.

"But really, you look stressed. Eat well." His grandma commented, smiling before she dug up on her breakfast.

"Not you too, Bebe." Neil feigns the eye roll, laughing when his mother hit his arm playfully.

"So, did something happen?" His Bebe started, curiosity as well as a glint of endearment swirling in her eyes. Neil snorted, eyes refusing to meet anyone's, realising it's only a matter of time before they get him. "What are we going at? Just spill."

"Bebe, I saw this news in the morning earlier," Shweta starts innocently, looking at her mother-in-law as if she didn't want to direct it at her son. Bebe nods, grinning like it's something she's been dying to hear, like, she doesn't already know. "You know that beautiful woman I told you about? Apparently, she went on a blind date yesterday. Maybe, she's trying to settle down or..."

When Shweta looks back at Neil to watch his reaction, he's deeply engrossed in the phone, typing away something with urgency.

She sighs, pouting, fingers pressed under her chin. "Doesn't matter. Neil's always so busy, we don't even get a vacation anymore."

It seems as if the word vacation caught Neil's attention, his eyebrows raised in surprise at the request. "Vacation? Where?" For a moment, it seems like Neil's head grew horns because his mother and grandmother stare at him just like that.

"You're considering?" His mother's eyes gleam, excitement running in her veins when Neil smiles at her. "Of course, this prince is here to fulfil the queen's request."

Shweta softly pulls his cheeks, grinning, before placing a kiss on his chubby cheeks. "Aw, my handsome and cute baby, thank you but it's okay if your work is important. I know you can't take a long leave."

Neil shyly smiles, shaking his head. "I think I can take a few. And besides, I don't have anywhere to go." The twinkle of pain in his eyes fades as quickly as it appeared.

They resume their breakfast, giggling, sharing a few things, and Neil coos when Bebe tells them that Sasha fell asleep in his father's arms in the garden, possibly under the spell of the storybook he was reading her.

"I had to wake him up because it was late in the night. He can't just sleep there. And Sasha? She could catch a cold." Bebe lovingly sighs. "I love to see them together, playing, enjoying, living happily."

A moment later her gaze trails upon Neil, her lips curl upward into the brightest smile she can muster. "I want to see you like that too, Neil. And it's no hurry, but as much as I know you, I think you would want a future like that."

Neil hangs his head low, smiling but somehow tears still graze his eyes. Memories go by in a flash, along with the thought of what-ifs and whys. Even though the memory is somewhere far away, it still lingers, as well as the hopes of his family that were tied with Aditi, someone who is no longer there but her essence still is.

"Bebe, do you think I'm selfish?" He mumbles, slowly trailing his gaze from his lap to his grandma, and while he is sure of the remnants of tears that threaten to fall from his mother's eyes, he doesn't dare look at her.

"Selfish?" She pronounces that word so softly, it feels as if the word isn't scary. It's terrifying, agonizing, tempting.

"And why do you think that?" She softly asks, however, Neil doesn't think he can give her a spontaneous answer.

He looks away, sighing, "I think I am. I am greedy. Months ago, I tried so hard to believe she is not gone, still here, with me, even if our relationship is nothing but friendship. Honestly, I would love to live like that. But time passed by, and I think, I desperately needed distraction and I think, I think I made a mistake."

Neil doesn't realise when his mother stood up to come up to him, embracing him in a warm, comforting hug, but as soon as he does, he tightly wraps his arms around her waist, cheeks dampened.

"Is it something bad? Illegal?" Bebe questions, her tone is hesitant. When Neil shakes his head, she exhales softly.

"Is it a person?"

Neil doesn't answer this time, clinging onto Shweta more, and she lets him vent in silence. And maybe, his grandma understands his silence so she speaks again. "If you find comfort and happiness in a person, it's a good thing. Isn't it? You're not selfish to want your person, Neil. I think you are brave. You are brave enough to try, to try your best and seek refuge in a person's arms."

Neil's cheeks are dry, his tears soaked by the cotton of her mother's dress. He looks up at his Bebe, face flushed, eyes glistening, tight-lipped. "Trust me, Neil. It's okay to move on. You are feeling guilty of not telling her your truest of feelings that's why you are making yourself believe that."

His mother caresses his hair, fingers brushing through, kissing his temple. "Finding love isn't selfish. Neither is falling in love."

Love? Neil doesn't know the boundaries for that word. He doesn't think it's what he feels. The word is scary, deep, and meaningful. It's hard for him to pinpoint a certain moment where it occurred to him that it's what he feels. However, he knows that his feelings for Avni are far more intense than he imagines.

Her brightest smile makes his day, like the sunrise after a rainy gloomy day. His eyes twinkle in delight when hers form crescents like the moon just shown them their light. Embracing her feels like warming up hands above the dark campfire on a shivery night. Kissing her makes him feel on top of the world, his world spins, his vision turns airy, ignites a feeling of desire, compassion and something more, like, she is made just for him, and he belongs just to her.

🎬🎬🎬

It's late in the afternoon, the sun is almost drowning, the burning flame faded into a red flushed glow, descending the horizon.

Avni shuts the car door, sighing softly. It's been a tough day. She barely could keep it together, thoughts momentarily going back to the news and Neil.

Avni doesn't remember a time when the creases on her forehead loomed because of a certain love affair that the media speculated. However, she surely gets surprised these days. Wanting to spend time with someone, finding peace in someone's arms, needing to have them by her side. It's a loophole of feelings.

All this time, she had a motive. She didn't care if any of her relationships were gossiped about, because she cared enough about her family. As long as people had the stuff to talk about, they wouldn't care to know more about her other relationships.

Her mother. Her not so sensitive father. Abhay...

No. She won't let anyone get to them, that story at all costs. It's better if they don't catch on to it. Though, Ali, well, he was a different story. Not many could correlate their family history because she and him never had an engaging history, to begin with. He came into her life not long after Abhay. But as Avni travelled to Mumbai, they didn't get to spend much time together anyway.

The truth was...

Ali was adopted.

She still feels her chest tighten when she remembers that she always ignored him. Whenever he wanted to spend some time, watch a movie, play, she looked at him with that pang of annoyance and walked away.

In the end, he always came back. To her. For her.

But that was too long ago, she was in her late teens then, now grown up into a woman in her late 20's, doing something she loves. Act. The admiration came to her when she was just a kid. Though she always wanted to study law, she loved judgements, and guns ready to knock a criminal out. But after that incident of her baby brother, she knew that the bravest thing that she could do was run.

It's been a crazy time, and now, she is here, sitting in her car thinking about why she is so scared of taming a certain someone's image in her guilty plan. She doesn't want Neil to be a pawn in her play pretend. She wants Neil to...to

be with her. Honestly. Without any games.

She cares about him, about what he thinks, what he feels, what he does, whether or not he would despise her if he knows.

But a thought again. What if her childhood gets exposed? His dad is an addict. Furthermore, a criminal. How will Neil react to it? He is a police officer. A humble and patriotic one at that. She can't give in, knowing he would walk away or worse, he won't care and ruin her reputation. The latter is something she can't even imagine him to do, he isn't capable of going that far.

But her fears gnaw at her skin. All the damn time.

"Ma'am?" Lovely spares her a look through the mirror.

"Um, let's go."

"We are already home, ma'am!" He concludes, chuckling a little, though it doesn't carry sarcasm.

Avni whips her head around to see the building, while they're in the parking lot. She chews her lip nervously, wanting to let this terrible feeling out, erase the bubble of nerves that refuse to go down her throat.

"Drive to the police station."

"Sorry?" Lovely blurts out in shock.

"You heard me."

"Ma'am, we can't go to the police station. You can be in the news. Someone might see you."

"Then try to be as discreet as possible. And by the way, you are going in."

Shock surfaces his face, hands clamped on the steering wheel, momentarily shaking. He hesitantly utters, "Ma'am, but you can speak for yourself."

"Right!" She nods. "But since you are so concerned about me, I'll let you protect me." She carries nothing but a mocking smile on her lips. Maybe, she knows his weak point.

When they reach there, they are confronted with confusion with the information that Neil isn't there. Digging up more did no good as the other officers refused to let them anything else regarding him.

For a moment, Avni contemplated but she gave him a call after the messages that never saw the light of read or more perhaps, delivered. She just knows that luck has gone on a faraway trip because even his phone is switched off.

Still anxious about where he had been, Avni's eyes light up when she stumbles upon the idea of him being at his single apartment.

Though, it gnawed in her mind that maybe, exposing that place to anyone else wasn't her choice to make. So she decided to search at a place he once told her to.

His home.

Strangely enough, the guard told her that the family isn't at home. Did they go somewhere? She didn't want to seem desperate but she called him up again, three more times. Fuck trying not to look desperate! At this point, she didn't care. She wanted to meet and talk to him.

"Avni Raichand?" Someone called her name from behind.

|××××××|

No! I didn't abandon this fic 😂

although I may have forgotten about it for a while 💀
(sorry uni is hard 🙃 stressing me out)

A/N:

anyways, a few things were revealed in this chapter, along with a certain hidden part which is great if you can figure it out 😉 I made the dating banner last year in September lol🥴

also thank you for being patient 😭 I literally bow down to you 🥺❤️ see you in next chap! Updates will be slow but consistent 🤸 ( no big tremendous gap months, I hope)

Much love, taeva🧚