"Patharon ko pighalte waqt nahi lagta"

~ Author ~

Mumbai, India

Meher watched Kabir posing for the photos and to say she was impressed would be an understatement. He was natural in front of the camera as he posed like a professional model. The photographer after every click mumbled words like 'fantastic, 'bravo'. The camera absolutely loved him.

Along with that, she admired Arya's new collection, the designs totally gave into the new summer vibes with the florals and whites making a statement.

Now, Kabir was dressed in a floral pant suit, he just had a coat over with no shirt, showing off the bare.

Meher pried her eyes away from him to look at other girls ogling at him quite openly and him not being bothered by all the googly eyes he was getting. Rysa, too, looked like she was ready to pounce upon him if he was left alone with her.

She snorted. A little louder to catch everyone's attention. She looked around, embarrassed, mumbling an apology. At that moment, her eyes found Kabir's, who was already smirking at her. She narrowed her eyes on him and made her way to the table where he was supposed to have an interview with her.

She skimmed through her questions one last time to check if everything was on the line and that's when her eyes fell on the last question, freshly written in pen upon his request.

Last but not the least, what is happening in the personal life of Kabir Raizada? Do we hear some bells ringing any time soon?

The question itself was very suggestive. It was as if people knew about it already. And she realised how pathetic she was in this field of fashion and entertainment media. She mentally thanked her gods as she chose her major in some other field.

"Meher, are you ready with your questions? Hurry up!" Rysa barked from the other corner and Meher wanted to roll her eyes at her.

"He is supposed to sit here," she pointed to where she was seated currently. "I know!" Rysa huffed a response, not before oh so politely pushing an annoyed Kabir towards the table.

Rysa made sure to sit beside Kabir as if she was being interviewed and Meher wanted to pull her hair out. How much desperate was too much desperate?

"Go ahead, Meher Mathur, I am ready," said Kabir, as he adjusted himself a little away from Rysa.

And then it started. The back and forth of questions made the flow easy for her to be more confident to understand how all of this works, she was slowly getting confidence.

To say Meher was a little surprised by the amount of articulation Kabir had in himself. She understood why he was the best in the field, and why he was the most deserving candidate to become the Chairman. The amount of experience he had within himself in such less time made her feel that she had a long way to go.

She may be far more intelligent than him, but clearly, he was more deserving and experienced.

"Moving ahead to the last question," Meher crossed her legs and shared a glance with Kabir, who nodded to go ahead, "Going a little personal with the last question, so Mr. Raizada, tell us something about your personal life. Are you still keen on keeping up the most eligible bachelor title or we can hear some bells ringing in the near future?"

Kabir laughed, his deep voice ringing through the silent studio as the people in attendance waited for him to answer. Meher wanted to snicker, knowing how fake it was because the question was input, he wanted to be asked that question.

It was so easy for him to act, to mold into situations as if he was already a part of it. He was so natural that it could never cross anyone's mind if he was really into it or faking it.

"Nice question, I must say, Meher," his laughter tones down a decibel, as he prepares himself to answer, "My personal life had been going fine until someone special entered my life," her breath hitches as she feels his gaze on her, she to look above his head, to avoid to look at him in the eye.

"So you have a girlfriend?" It was not Meher, it was Rysa who had asked this question and couldn't hold her curiosity in.

Kabir wanted to tell her off but chose to answer, "Let's just say, she's the one I am going to marry soon," Multiple gasps blew up in the room at the sudden revelation, and the whispers and murmurs increased with each second.

A glass shattered in a corner, and all the heads turned to see Aanchal standing there in disbelief.

"The fuck," Arya who was standing behind Meher whispered in bewilderment, the latter turned to look at her best friend, only to notice her jaw dropped in disbelief. The disbelief had a lot of reasons. First, Kabir never shared anything personal in his interviews, this was the first time he agreed to answer a question like this. And second being, she realised how far her brother could make something fake look so real.

He never smiled fully, let alone laugh. But today, to carry a lie, he did all that. He did that for power. People are shrewd, her brother was on some next level.

Meher sensed what Arya was feeling. Kabir's side was not foreign to her, she had seen a lot. But, this was something very different.

The shoot and the interview had finished on time. While things were getting packed, Kabir had gone back to change while Meher and a few others were there wrapping up the stuff.

She put her stuff in her bag and got up when she heard a notification bell go off. Meher took out her phone to check what it was only to see that it wasn't her phone that had pinged.

It was Kabir's, who had left it on the same table. The phone pinged again, forcing Meher to pick it up so that she could hand it over to him. And as the phone was in her hand, the screen came to life and she felt her feet sticking to the ground.

It was a picture of Radhika on his lock screen.

She clutched the phone tight in her hands when slowly the realisation was dawning upon her.

All this while she had forgotten about Radhika. Kabir never spoke of her, it felt like she never existed in his life and she too had forgotten all this while.

How could she forget that she held similar pain as him?

Kabir was a man with so many layers. One could never know what he truly was.

He was so brave. He too, was hurting inside all this while but no one actually saw through it. Everyone believed he had forgotten his love. But Radhika Saklani was his one great love. The love which made his stone like heart warm for so many years. The love that had transformed Kabir into the man he is today.

Gone but not forgotten.

I am so sorry Rads for taking that place where you deserved to be, she whispered to herself, the tears slowly forming in her eyes.

*   *   *

"Meher! You must definitely know something, after all, you stay at the same place," Amrita follows Meher to her desk, followed by Tanay. The duo took a seat on either side of her, which was in fact, their desks, turning towards her.

Meher leaned back on her rolling chair, looking bored. "He stays separately," she corrected them.

"Oho Meher, but the rest of the family stays there na," Tanay countered, "It's marriage talk obviously the family must be involved."

"Seriously, I have no idea," Meher almost pleaded, mentally killing Kabir, "don't you have any work to do?" She chastised, typing away on her laptop.

"We can see what you're doing, Meher," Amrita said, "after all we come from different circles and we're just colleagues, right," Meher shook her head at the pathetic attempt to blackmail her, and she laughed.

"You're not good at acting Amrita, better luck next time," she giggles, sharing a wink with Tanay. "Work on the project Rysa has assigned to us, she is grading us for this one," Amrita let out a dejected cry, realising the work she had left to complete.

"What's the point," Tanay grumbled, "when she has to give us a C."

"True!" Meher and Amrita chorused, mentally cursing Rysa. She connected her phone to her laptop, preparing to transfer the recording of the interview to her laptop so that she could later write an article on it.

Her phone dinged on the side, and from the rear, she noticed it was Kabir. Sighing, she picked up her phone to check what he had sent.

Get done with work quickly, we have to go and get our engagement rings.

Yeah, the rings, how could she forget? The first knot of their relationship.

"What is it?" Meher got out of her trance, hearing Tanay's voice. She shakily smiles, shaking her head.

*   *   *

Meher waited outside the office premises. She made a mental note to buy herself a car since she was carpooling with the twins to the office. After her marriage, travelling would get complicated as they wouldn't stay in the same place anymore and she doubted if she would want to travel with Kabir.

A car honked in front of her, startling her. The windows came down and three heads showed up from inside. "Get in," Arya waves at her. Meher thanked herself for the last minute idea to call the twins over to tag along otherwise it would have been an awkward moment for both of them to give each other company.

Meher quickly got seated in the back with Arya while Aryan and Kabir were in the front. A wave of awkwardness flew in when their eyes clashed through the rearview winner as Kabir adjusted it. The duo looked away and the car revved to life again as they drove towards their destination.

The journey wasn't that long as they reached their destination within fifteen minutes. Kabir handed the keys to the valet and headed inside the store followed by the trio.

One of the saleswomen escorted them to one of the empty seats, where they were made to sit and served some refreshments.

"Good evening Sir, Ma'am?" The lady greeted, "How can we help you?"

"We are looking for engagement rings for my brother and my soon to be sister-in-law," Kabir glared at his brother over the interruption, then nodded at the saleswoman to proceed with their request.

As soon as she left, Meher smacked Aryan on the back of his head. "Sister in law, really?" She asked, looking offended.

"Stop hitting me, woman," He winced, rubbing the part where she had hit. "And it is what it is, Mehru. Why deny the reality? You have signed up for it," he reminded her.

"Quite literally," Arya murmured, nodding in agreement.

Meher sighed. A reality, truly.

While they waited for the rings to arrive, Meher looked around the place, admiring the different pieces of jewellery that were showcased.

She loved wearing jewellery, in her mother's language, it was the only normal female trait she possessed. Even now, she was adorned with some fine jewelry which went well with office wear.

Soon, the rings arrived. Arya gasped at the sight of them, each piece looked very beautiful.

Meher was in awe of the collection. Most of them were couple sets, but the single pieces possessed some of the best designs.

"Meher!" Aryan nudged her, "Choose for Bhai."

Meher glared at him again, cursing over his pathetic attempt of trying to ignite something between them, with the help of his twin who for some reason agreed with everything he said.

Meher looked at Kabir, who surprisingly, was looking at the female rings. This act of him made her deliberately skim through men's rings, looking for which would best suit Kabir and match his personality.

Her fingers skimmed through the rings, feeling the cool metal, until her fingers stopped on one fine piece.

"Great choice Ma'am!" The saleswoman cheered, picking out the ring and handing it over to her. "This is one of our best pieces. A twenty four carat gold and platinum band with a 41.4 carat diamond solitaire. Truly one of a kind. Extremely beautiful. Now, you can make sir wear that and make a choice. Sir?" All this time, Meher hadn't looked at Kabir.

The wave of awkwardness still lingered as their eyes met, knowing how difficult it was for them to be in this situation together. Kabir had watched Meher choose the ring, a little half heartedly, and smiled to himself.

He did not want to admit it, but they were indeed similar in so many ways. 

"Your hand, Kabir," she calls him and he at the moment gives his left hand and suddenly all the murmurs around him stop. Kabir looks at Meher in confusion, who is staring down at his hand. So did the twins. He follows their line of vision and notices the ring on his finger, a platinum band.

It was not just any ring, it was his engagement ring.

"Ah, this," he exhales sharply, "I will remove this," as he proceeds to remove his ring, Meher holds his hand, stopping him.

"Don't," she whispered softly, shaking her head in disagreement, "give me your right hand," she advanced to take his right hand and slipped the ring on his finger.

"It looks beautiful," she said, smiling at him. It wasn't just any other smile, it was a smile of understanding, sympathy, and reassurance that he didn't have to forget his love for the pretence of this marriage.

"It indeed does," Arya gasps, towering over Meher, to get a better look at the ring. Meher immediately leaves his hand, and the warmth of her hand immediately gets replaced with the cool air of the AC.

It actually did. Kabir took a look at the ring, which was shining on his finger. He gave a nod, satisfied with the design.

Aryan smiled. "We'll take this one. Bhai, have you chosen Meher's?"

Silence followed his question as Kabir looked through the rings. Then, his eyes fell on one particular ring, it was simply beautiful. "Are you eyeing this one, sir?" the lady picked out the ring and showed it to him. He nodded. "I must say, you have exquisite taste, sir. This is a blue diamond solitaire, it's one of the rarest diamonds in the world. It symbolises trust and loyalty, a perfect pick!" she hands him the ring.

Meher forwarded her left hand and Kabir slipped the ring on, the former couldn't help but gasp at the sight of it. It was a light and delicate ring, with pear shaped blue solitaire in the middle and diamonds covering all over the length of the band. It was classy in its way. She could see why he chose that, it fitted her.

"Bhai, your choice is so good," Arya gushed over the ring, as she took Meher's hand, inspecting the ring. "This is beautiful," she said, looking at her twin. Aryan smiles in agreement, "We'll take this one," Meher takes out the ring and gingerly puts it back on the table.

"We'll go and bill this, you guys can go and wait outside," Aryan pulls Arya with him to the billing counter, leaving the two behind.

Kabir and Meher walked out of the store and stood in a corner, waiting for the twins to come.

"The rings are beautiful," Meher started the conversation, cutting the tension.

"Yeah," he mumbles, looking up at the sky. Today after a lot of days, the sky wasn't cloudy. So many stars were shining together, the sight seemed a little unnerving to him.

"Can I ask you something?" she gulps as Kabir turns to her. "What?"

She breathes. Kabir waited for her to gather herself and ask whatever was there on her mind. "D-Did Sahil ever speak about my life in college?" it didn't take Kabir to rack his brains over thinking what she was indicating.

"You mean about your relationship with Abhimanyu Tripathi?" Meher's reaction made him believe that he had hit the nail in the coffin. "Yes, I am aware. But it wasn't Sahil who had told me, I had found it myself."

Meher hummed in understanding. If it was any other time, she would have taken a serious offence. But today was different. "he was like what Radhika was for you. You must know that I understand how you feel. It's not easy to accept someone you don't particularly like to hold such a significant relationship in your life even if it is namesake. I feel the same, it's difficult for me too."

Kabir chuckles and a sad smile lifts his lips. "I knew you would be my best choice," he stares at her giving her a genuine smile. Meher felt the sincerity in his expressions, as she smiled too, narrowing her eyes at him. "How long were you planning all of this?"

"Not long, just enough for me to know why you were the best of the lot."

"And, why was I the best of the lot?" she quoted the phrase, amused at his choice of words.

"Because I wouldn't be burdened with expectations," he admitted. "I cannot be the husband that a girl would wish for, I have too many scars and pains of the past which haven't recovered. Choosing you was a guarantee that our relationship would be strictly business, as you would understand what I have gone through as we share a similar past." Meher hummed in agreement, appreciating his honesty.

"I think, that would be the saving grace of our relationship— at least we understand each other at some level," she joked and for the first time they shared a laugh together, probably it was the first in the almost ten years of knowing each other.

"That was what I was talking about," Arya pointed out, smiling proudly. "This was the chemistry I was talking about. Don't you feel it, Aryan?"

"I do," he said, wrapping his arm around his twin. "This was the longest they had gone without fighting or taunting each other. There is hope."

"There's no hope, Aryan. There's a belief that it going to happen," Arya emphasised. "Believe in my belief, bro. Bhai and Meher need each other. The universe is paving its way on its own, we don't have to do anything big. Look at that," she points out to their laughing faces, "their story has already begun."

And here we end another chapter. I would pat myself on my back for giving two updates this week— I made the most impossible thing possible. Kabir and Meher softening for a moment, the sun rose from the west, probably. How did you find this chapter? Let me know in the comments.

The wedding series will begin in the next chapter, I am so excited as it will be the first time I am getting my main characters married in between the story lol. How excited are you?

How has Navratri been for you all? Did you play dandiya?

Please do VOTE, SHARE and COMMENT. Comment a heart letting me know that you enjoyed reading this chapter.

With Love,

Akii.