Do read the author's note in the end.

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Arjun was surprised to see his mother humming her favourite tune and cooking delicacies in the kitchen. The woman who always missed the presence of house-helps in his house was today, cooking with immense enthusiasm. He glanced at his father who was sitting on the couch and pretending to read the newspaper but Arjun knew from his body language that his father was disinterested in the newspaper. Even Bruno seemed to more energetic today.

“Are we have guests coming over today?”, Arjun asked only to receive a chuckle from his mother.

“Yes, son! Get ready soon. Your bride is coming today.” Mrinalini jibed at her clueless son. Neha’s protective nature towards Bruno had surely won her heart. She knew something was terribly wrong with her son perhaps, due to Neha.

She wanted to give both of them a chance to maybe, clarify things between themselves. She did not mean to intrude for she knew that they both were adults but her motherly love gave her an intuition that both her kids were on wrong track.

Ajay looked at his wife with amusement in his eyes while her son reprimanded her, “Are you done with your nonsense?”

Arjun used to lose his temper rarely but this time, he was frustrated on himself. He was going back to his room, when his mother yelled, “Bruno seemed to be close to someone in the park so I have invited her on lunch today”, still smirking at Arjun.

It did not take a fraction of second for Arjun to realize that Bruno could just be close to Neha in the park. He was pissed off at his parents. He could not understand why his parents cannot respect the opinion of Neha. “I did not expect this from you, Papa”, Arjun said to his father with utter disappointment in his eyes.

“Look, I didn’t do, I mean...” Ajay tried to reason, he wanted to tell his son that he respected Arjun’s opinion but Mrinalini was done with this attitude of her son.

“You know, I am sorry, son! I didn’t know that I am a guest here and I cannot invite people I like”, she reprimanded Arjun, glaring at him with anger in her eyes as she caught his wrist and eyed at the breakfast table gesturing Arjun that he needed to finish his meal.

“Hey, mummy. It is nothing like that. It’s just that, I know you have invited Neha.” Arjun tried to explain and come out clean, before his parents, as he sat on the dining table while his mother served him breakfast. She placed another plate for Ajay and gestured him to eat too.

“So what’s wrong?”, she asked as she served herself, the delicious paranthas stuffed with cottage cheese.

“I had asked her out and she had denied. I mean, I wanted to date her but she doesn’t want to.” He told his parents munching upon his food.
“So what? Be friends. You both are colleagues, right!” Ajay reasoned nonchalantly subtly informing his wife to stop her matchmaking ways.

“I cannot, Papa. Whenever I see her dull face, I want to make her smile. I am a goner.” Arjun blushed hard as his ears turned pink while he confessed his feelings for her with a smile on his face. As her face flashed before him, he muttered, “She is so tall and beautiful, just perfect for me”, with a smile on his face.

“So, try to pursue her?” Ajay mumbled, trying not to laugh while his wife was glaring at both of them. She wanted to know what was stopping Arjun to pursue Neha.

“No, I want to respect her opinion. If she doesn’t want to be with me. I cannot force her.” He told his father with determination in his eyes to abide by his decision while his heavy voice wanted to tell that he wanted to go back to Neha, engulf her in his muscular arms and profess his feelings.

“Papa, you only taught that we cannot force our feelings on someone”, he reasoned, with a hoarse voice.

“Try moving on”, Mrinalini challenged, cursing Neha in the back of her mind, for not accepting her son, who was indeed, a gem.

“I wish it were easy, mummy”, he murmured, closing his eyes in despair.
“Not everyone is lucky in love like you guys”, he jibed, to lighten the heavy ambience at the breakfast table.

“True love seeks it’s way, son. It’s not that we had everything in platter in front of us, but we never lost hopes.” Ajay mumbled, remembering the low point of his relationship with Mrinalini. They both had their jobs and the distance between them always brought out their emotions, often in a negative way, during the initial period, however, their love-letters kept them together and he was glad that she never left hopes!

“I cannot keep hopes in a one-sided relationship”, Arjun sighed.

“You are an adult so I will not suggest anything. It’s upto you. Just be cheerful.” Ajay replied, respecting his son’s opinion.

He got back to have his breakfast while Mrinalini, who had been a silent spectator till now, could not stay quiet anymore, when she heard, Arjun mumbling, “I will try”, in a very hopeless tone. Her motherly heart craved to see her son happy even if it meant to coax Neha for a relationship with Arjun. Having seen her son in the lowest point of his life when he had forgotten to smile, she was grateful to Neha for bringing his joy back and she could do anything to keep that joy intact.

“And I will try to confirm if she is surely not interested or maybe, just confused”, she announced.

“Mumma, you will not do anything like this”, Arjun pleaded.

“I will, son”, she replied with determination in her eyes to make everything better. She was a mother and she could not see her son devastated, period.

“For God’s sake, Mrinalini, come out of your literature’s fantasy world. It’s real life. It is not a novel that things will be fine towards the end.” Ajay reprimanded his wife, agitated over the fact that she was not ready to see the sorrows of Arjun who was broken on a rejection.

“I have been a professor in English literature, Ajay. I have been close to classic romances since ages. I have learnt to not lose hope and try till last breath.” Mrinalini smirked.

“You’re a hard core romantic, Mumma, but I cannot disrespect her opinion”, Arjun tried to reason.

“Okay, why does she think that you are not for her?” She asked, still curious to know why someone could reject her son. She had full hopes on her upbringing and she knew he was indeed, one of the best man anyone could find. The way she had seen concern in eyes of Neha when they talked about Bruno and the way she had seen Neha’s eyes lighting upon the talks of Arjun, she could say, she had intuition that Neha also liked her.

“Well! Her family is looking for prospects for an arranged marriage”, Arjun informed still not able to tell about their age difference.

“Are they orthodox?”, Mrinalini asked.

“I have no clue”, he mumbled. He had noticed Neha not talking about her family much but he was clueless if they were conservative or not. He knew she was at verge of slipping into depression and she resorted to cigarettes to uplift her mood but he did not the reason behind her enigmatic yet, gloomy eyes.

“Okay, so shall we go and talk with her parents, Ajay?” Mrinalini asked Ajay with hopes in her eyes.

“Mrinalini, she feels that our son is not for her so we should respect her opinion” Ajay reasoned, still torn between his opinion. Father inside him wanted to plead Neha to come back in his son’s life while the man inside him wanted to respect a woman’s choice of rejecting his son.

“But I feel she is the one for my son. What about my opinion, Ajay?” Mrinalini asked.

“Mumma! Leave it for God’s sake”, Arjun yelled helplessly.

“Move on, Arjun. Let me make your profile on matrimonial site and let’s search a girl for you.” Mrinalini jibed at his helplessness. She had never forced her kids to find their partners like a typical mother but today, she was acting like one, because she knew loneliness was making Arjun hollow and vulnerable.

“No, Mumma”, he mumbled, horrified at his mother’s wish of fixing his marriage with someone by just looking at her picture. He could not imagine to produce kids randomly with a girl after meeting her just once or twice. He smiled when his heart yelled, “Arjun, you can’t imagine producing kids with someone other than Neha”.

“How about Tinder, son?”, Ajay jibed, searching for a perfect opportunity to change the topic.

“Papa, not you, now!” Arjun yelled, glaring at his parents.

“I want you to move on, son”, his mother reasoned.

“I can’t. I try not thinking about her but I am stuck. I cannot think of anything else except her. I cannot focus on anything if I feel she is sad. I want to maybe, hug her and take away all her sorrows.” He confessed his feelings for Neha. Only he knew how much he wished her to fathom his emotions.

“You are in love, son”, Mrinalini chirped. “Try pursuing her. Talk to her at least.” She suggested.

“Mumma, try to understand. I told her that I wanted to date her and know more about her and she stood frozen. She paid for the dinner, disrespecting the fact that I had made the reservations.” He finally confessed the truth, with immense hurt in his eyes, as his voice turned heavy.

“Why?” Mrinalini asked, while her heart pained fathoming his trauma.
“I am elder to her by eight years, well, precisely seven and a half. She is not okay with this age difference.” Arjun mumbled.

“Did she tell you?”, asked Mrinalini, still not able to digest Arjun’s reason. Somewhere in her heart, she knew Neha had a valid reason about the difference in the ages but a mother’s heart was being irrational.

“Come on, Mrinalini. Some things are just assumed. She might sounded rude if she would have said that but he must have understood.” Ajay supported his son.

“She has a good reason, Arjun. Should I talk to her family? I mean, Ajay would you formally approach them.” Mrinalini voiced out her wishes and Arjun shook his head in despair.

“Mrinalini, I am not going to do any such thing. She doesn’t want all this. I respect her. Arjun is not willing to take any chance. I respect that too. I will suggest you to stop all this.” Ajay rebuked his wife as he walked to put his plate in the sink.

“I have a gut feeling that she is the one for you. I want to confirm it.” Mrinalini pleaded once again.

“Do it, Mumma, but in my absence”, Arjun said disappointed at his adamant mother.

“I am sorry, I didn’t realize that you are grown up enough to, you know, decide that whom I should talk to and whom I should be inviting home, right! I didn’t know that you will dictate me now.” Mrinalini began her emotional drama.
She was an educated woman who would not mess things unnecessarily but as a mother, she wanted the best for her son.

“O! Mom. I am done with your emotional drama. Do whatever you want.” Arjun yelled, putting his plate in the sink while his father was doing the dishes. Ajay chuckled while Arjun ran in his room.

“Trust me, you won’t regret it”, mumbled Mrinalini glaring at her husband who had been shaking his head at his wife’s childishness.

••••••••••••♥️••••••••••••

Hi everyone

First of all, Happy Lohri! Happy Pongal! Happy Makar Sankarti! Happy Bihu! 🤗

May this harvest festival bring a lot of joy and prosperity in your life. May God bless each one of us!🌼🌼🌼

I truly love my country for being united with love. May this love stay forever 💕 🌺🌺🌺

Well! I am delighted to post this update and I am overjoyed to see Mrinalini taking things in her hand.😍😍😍😍

I cannot help but swoon on Arjun and Ajay who respect women and their choices 😍 More power to them!🌹🌹🌹

Also, I have a special news to share. MY NEW SURPRISE....🙈

So I wanted to write a story, a thriller precisely and I will be starting it tomorrow on Libri. The title is 'The Love Quest' and I will be delighted if you will try it because it shall be amazing and a bit bold too 😉

For those who have questions about why I am not writing it on Wattpad, the answer is, PLAGIARISM.

I was disheartened to see websites like truyen and novelhd copying my work. I wanted to publish 'Love and Redemption' as a paperback but it was rejected because it has digital copies all over the internet without my permission. DCMAs won't work much and these thieves are quite intelligent. They shut the websites for a while and come up with ten more, ten days down the line. 🙁

Wattpad is helpless too. Exclusive contracts provide safety from data breach and the locked chapters are not copied by such websites. So libri is my new option!🙃

Also, you will be able to read it with coins so I guess, you can try! Right?🤔

Couldn't wait to share my new story with you all!🙈

P.S new update will be on Tuesday. I will update 'Her Mr. Right' on every Tuesday and Friday while 'The Love Quest' will be updating everyday. I hope this is okay.😍

With immense love, I sign off, only to back soon 💜