Three days later

As I was getting bored at home and was done watching eight movies and three web series in just two days, Mom took me on a shopping spree to get my lazy ass some air. I was already feeling completely fine, my injuries were almost gone, my internal wounds had healed, and I was in a better shape, but I didn't feel like leaving my house even once.

Why would I afterall? What was the use of going out when I couldn't see Ved? Everything would seem bland without him, so I preferred to lay in my bed whole day and messaged him whenever I saw him online. Since he was busy with National trials, just like Nikhil and rest of the players, he wasn't able to reply to all of my texts. But still, he managed to send me at least one emoji and that itself was enough to make rest of my day blissful.

"Sandhu, what do you think about this skirt?" Mom asked while pointing at a pretty blue skater skirt.

"Looks good, Mom. I didn't know you were planning on wearing skirts," I said.

Mom smacked me behind the head and told me that she was buying clothes for me, but as I was too busy daydreaming about my love interest, she deemed it best to ignore me and do it herself. I gave her a sheepish smile and hugged her.

"Should I talk to Ved's parents? I think he is the only one who can handle you now," Mom teased.

"Come on, Maa. Are you already tired of your one and only daughter? Don't you love me anymore?"

Mom shook her head at my antics and told me to help her in shopping, or we would get late to reach home. I agreed, and we continued roaming around the huge mall with our shopping bags in hands. We were near a watch shop when I heard a very familiar voice which made me smile the instant it drummed my ears.

"Sandhya Didi!"

Veer ran towards me, and I picked him up in my arms before he crashed into me. He giggled as I tickled his tummy, and he pointed in his mother's direction, who was coming towards us with a bright smile on her face. She stopped in front of us and greeted Mom.

"Nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Rai," she said and hugged Mom.

"Same here, Mrs. Rajput," Mom resonated.

"Me too, me too." Veer wiggled in my arms and asked me to put him down.

I did as told, and once on his feet, he extended his tiny right hand towards Mom and stood like a new recruit. "My name is Veer Jaiwant Rajput. Glad to make your acquaintance, Mam."

"Nice to meet you too, big guy." Mom smiled and shook his hand.

We began laughing after seeing Veer's professionalism, and his mom, Krittika Aunty, explained that he was highly affected by his elder brother and father who were always busy in work. She herself was responsible as she was also a philanthropist and Veer spent most of his time in their workplaces.

"How are you now, Sandhya?" Veer's mom asked.

"Fit and fine," I said.

"Why don't you take Veer on a tour while we old souls spend some time together?" she said and exchanged glances with Mom.

"Will that be okay?" I questioned.

She nodded and told Veer to go with me. Veer instantly agreed and took my hand in his. He assured Mom that he would take care of me and she didn't need to worry about my safety. After hearing his cute voice, we went in a second round of laughter, and Veer dragged me behind him, acting like a guide.

"Would you like to eat something?" I suggested.

"Ice-cream!" he said excitedly.

"Butterscotch?"

"Yup." He nodded. "And vanilla too."

"Just like Ved," I commented.

"I miss Ved bhaiyya."

"Me too."

"He always buys me a lot of chocolates, cake, lollipops, games..." Veer started counting on his fingers as I bought three cones of ice-creams.

After licking his vanilla ice-cream, he continued, "chocolates, cake, games..."

"Didn't you say that already?" I laughed.

"I did?" he asked and smiled awkwardly.

"You are so cute." I lightly pinched his right cheek.

Veer began his story session, and by the time we had gobbled down our dessert, it seemed like he had narrated his whole life story. We decided to move on after drinking water; I was enjoying my time with Ved's mini replica - Veer was also a ball of unlimited joy, but unlike his younger brother, Ved somehow looked to be keeping it under control now that he had grown up.

While I was again daydreaming about Ved, Veer squealed loudly and ran inside a toy shop. I followed him and sighed in relief when I spotted his Maggie like hair in the far corner of the tiny shop. Veer was jumping up and down and pointing at something on the shelf.

I went towards him and widened my eyes when I saw what he was pointing at. He told me that he wanted it and wouldn't leave unless I got it for him. I tried to convince him to buy something else, but he shook his head vigorously and pouted when I didn't listen to him.

"Why don't you buy a car instead?" I suggested.

"No! I want this tea-set only. Lavanya has it, and she was teasing me about it in school. I also want it," he explained.

"But she is a girl, right?"

"So?" Veer raised one of his eyebrows. "The colour is different: Lavanya has yellow, so I want the pink one. I know it looks pretty."

"But, Veer-"

"Please, Sandhya Didi." He stuck out his lower lip more and gave me his puppy eyes.

Damn, man. How am I supposed to refuse him now? But what if I give him this tea-set and then... then... Ugh! I don't want him to suffer just like Ayush did.

"Please? Pretty please? Pretty pretty please please? Pretty please pretty plea-"

"Okay. I will buy it for you." I stopped him before he sang a whole poem consisting of just Pretty and Please.

"Yay!" He jumped on me.

"But not now. I think I should gift it you as a birthday present, what say?"

Veer pondered over it for a minute, and then a beautiful smile crept up his lips. "Wonderful! My birthday is next week, so you can gift me the tea-set then. Lavanya will be there too, and I know she will get jealous."

What? His birthday is next week? I was just trying to distract him... I am feeling like crying. Why can't my plans work for once?

"What happened, Didi? Are you going to cry?" Veer poked my cheek.

If only he knew. I shook my head and took him out of the shop. As soon as he saw a few balloons tied on the railing, he dragged me there and made me buy a bunch of multicolored balloons for the time being. Soon, Mom joined us with Krittika Aunty, who scolded Veer when she saw me paying for the balloons.

"It is okay, Aunty. He is like a brother to me too; he can demand anything from me, and I will be more than happy to fulfill his wishes." I ruffled Veer's hair.

"You casted your spell on Sandhya too?" Veer's mother teased her son and took him in her arms.

"Had a good time?" Mom asked me and Veer.

Both of us nodded, and Krittika Aunty thanked me for taking care of her son. After spending one more hour together, we parted ways and bid goodbyes to each other. As Veer left with his mother, Mom and I also got on our scooter and zoomed off towards our home.

When we returned, Dad had already prepared dinner, and the three of us had a good time recounting our day; ninety percent of the conversation was comprised of Veer and his jokes. Mom and Dad retired to their room as I went to mine, where my bed was waiting for me.

I jumped on it and spread myself flat. Veer's cute voice echoed in my ears, and I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

I woke up totally refreshed and ready to make my comeback at college. I rummaged through my newly bought clothes and settled on a green crop top and brown shorts. I left my hair open and went downstairs after slipping on my sneakers.

(Sandhya's outfit👆)

"Wow. My Princess is glowing today," Dad commented when I landed in his arms.

"I picked up that top," Mom informed and gave me my breakfast.

"Of course, my wife's choice is always the best." Dad smirked and pointed at himself.

Mom shook her head at him and told me to hurry up before I got late. Within ten minutes, I was done eating and was on my scooter, ready to leave. I reached my college after forty minutes of driving, and the first thing I did after arriving was to get a job from Nair Mam.

"I am really happy to see you back, Sandhya," Nair Mam said and patted my back.

"Same here, Mam." I smiled. "Now tell me what work you have reserved for me."

Nair Mam smiled sheepishly and told one of my classmates, Tara, to bring some stuff from the staff room. Tara returned in a flash, and Nair Mam informed us about our task.

"These are some things I borrowed from a shop which supplies material for theatre plays. I couldn't get the time, or say I completely forgot about returning them," she said.

"You want us to return them to their owner, right?" I asked.

She nodded and gave us the address of the shop. I knew where it was, so I suggested my classmate about a shortcut to save time. She agreed and moved to get her bags, but Shree arrived at that moment and announced that he would complete the given task.

I was really surprised to see him; I thought that he wouldn't return so soon after going through such a hard break-up. Instead of looking like a sack of potatoes, he was shining like a polished marble and flaunting his long hair like he never cut them off before.

"Why don't you take a picture instead?" He snapped his fingers in front of my face and took the bags containing drama material from Tara's hands.

"There are too many of them. How will you deliver those alone? Take either Tara or Sandhya with you," Nair Mam said.

Tara and I exchanged glances, and before I could say anything, Tara picked up her books and took her leave. She yelled that she had a lecture and told Nair Mam not to give her extra tasks if she wasn't going to increase her grades. Nair Mam rolled her eyes and motioned for me and Shree to go.

"Are you okay with me coming?" I asked Shree.

He nodded, and we headed towards the parking lot. We decided to pool and took my scooter as it had a space to keep the bags inside it. Shree offered to drive, and I happily agreed as I was getting a free ride. None of us said anything till we reached the shop, which was in the mall where Mom and I were shopping yesterday.

"I think this is the address," Shree mumbled and took out the bags from the dickey.

He gave me two of the five bags, and we entered the shop. As soon as we stepped inside, one of the shopkeepers changed the radio channel and settled on a song. He began lip-syncing while asking us what we wanted.

I shot a worried glance at Shree who was staring at that shopkeeper blankly. I pursed my lips as the song's lyrics traveled to our ears, and the shopkeeper moved his body to the rhythm, pouring his heart in it.

🎶"Sach keh raha hai deewana tumse
Dil na kisi se lagana~
Jhute hain pyaar ke vaade saare
Jhuti hain pyaar ki kasme~
Mene har lamha jise chaha, jise puja
Usi ne yaaron mera dil toda toda
Tanha tanha chhoda~
Sach keh raha hai deewana tumse
Dil na kisi se lagana~"🎶

(Translation:-
This lover is telling you the truth
Don't give your heart to anyone~
All these vows of love are lies
All these promises of love are lies~
The one whom I loved every moment, the one whom I worshipped
Is the one who broke my heart
And left me restless~
This lover is telling you the truth
Don't give your heart to anyone~)

I gave the materials to the shopkeeper, who was now twisting his face in such a way that anyone would believe that someone had indeed broken his poor heart. Shree didn't react at all and let the song play, but when we exited the shop, he looked over his shoulder and shook his head.

I thought it better not to poke the beast and continued walking ahead. But I stopped when I spotted the tea-set which Veer was asking me to buy. I waited for some time and called Shree as I sensed my mind going into an overdrive.

"What happened?" Shree asked.

"Umm... What do you think could be the best gift for a five year old kid?"

"Girl or boy?"

"Boy."

Shree roamed his eyes around the toy shop and pointed at some remote control cars, helicopters, military tanks and mini-drones. I nodded and bought a helicopter and got it gift-wrapped. Once I was done, Shree and I got back to my scooter, and I put the gift boxes in dickey.

"Thank you for helping with choosing the gift," I thanked Shree.

Shree gave me a short nod and started the scooter. Halfway along the ride, Shree decided to open his mouth and said something that I was already expecting.

"Sorry, Sandhya."

"I know."

"I really wanted to punch that shopkeeper. I felt like he was making fun of me on purpose," he grumbled.

"I felt so too, but it is a nice song nonetheless."

"It is still ringing in my ears."

"How about a live performance, then?" I teased.

Shree shook his head in horror, but I ignored him and started singing as if I was the best singer in the world.

"Mene har lamha jise chaha, jise puja
Usi ne yaaron mera dil toda toda
Tanha tanha chhoda~
Sach keh raha hai deewana tumse
Dil na kisi se lagana~"