Hey guys!

Hope everything's fine and you are doing good.

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Before proceeding with the chap, prithee do have a look
on these appealing edits
by a super talented
sweet soul - _sxmriddhi_💞

Aren't these exquisite???
Let me know your views on these once you finish admiring them keenly...

Once again many warmest
thanks to you _sxmriddhi_
for these lovely little gubbins.
I really appreciate & admire each one of them...❤️
And I'm so glad that I came across your work.

And my dear lovely ones if possible kindly check out her
compelling & super exciting books in your leisure time : -

TALES OF THE FIVE
&
STUCK WITH HER

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

Please give this update a try.

And if you like the story, please show some love by voting and commenting on this chap.

You may begin now.

🏵️⭐🏵️

~~~

This chap is affectionately dedicated to - sagarikarout🖤✨

~~~

~Manjiri's Pov~

"Falling in love is just knowing
that a person heightens your sense of happiness so much, that you know you'd be empty without them..............."

Well if anyone is way too curious to know about -
'How does it actually feels to be treated as an outsider?'
Then let me take the honours to manifest -
It's fantastically alienating!
It's sufficiently distraughting!
And it definitely doesn't feel good to be ignored!

No matter how hard I try to fit in..... but why is it always me who is left out? Why did people marginalize me?....
My opinions?....
My accedes?
Did my presence wholly diminished in his eyes?

He is leaving for Chandigarh in less than 3 hours, and I?.......
Stupid and oblivious I didn't even have any idea of his leaving until 15 minutes ago.
Seriously, how funny and frustrating is that?

Perhaps he would have informed everyone in the house yesterday only, that was why they all had a knowing look glued on their faces......
But not even once did he bother himself to notify me about it. How ignoramus he obliquely made me feel by not having any clue regarding his prompt and recent - decided plan of actions'.....

How sensible and accountable of him???
And how heedless and negligent of me!!!

Wait! Is he deliberately doing all this to me???
Moreover, what I couldn't understand is that - which thing is disturbing my tranquillity of mind more - his not updating of his leaving or his leaving in particular.....
I'm genuinely not appreciating the fact that all these things are now bothering me like hell.

With all this tempest of perturbed yet perplexing thoughts, I turned only to bump into none other than Shreya Didi.

Oh Shit!!!
Looks like my crappy luck is on it's peak today...

Believe me or not but I earnestly tried to still the tray in my hands, but a small portion of Shikanji (Sweet lemonade) spilled from a glass onto her floor length kurti.

God please! I beg you to vanish me in the thin air at the present instant straight off.

I unconsciously started mumbling half - hearted apologies and tried to get away as soon as possible.

"Watch where you're going Manjiri!"

I held in a breath when I heard Shaurya's words in a berating tone in place of Shreya Didi's.

"No! No! She isn't at fault here... It was me who ran into her haphazardly."

Shreya Didi's voice sounded like she's not even a bit displeased with me, and this sudden mishap in the slightest.
Is she alright?

My dumbfounded and mystifying eyes travelled between both the siblings. Why they both at times behave so out of the character in such willy - nilly?
Seems like I would have to spend my whole life trying to figure these two complex kinfolks and their fluctuating moods well.

Uff!!!

"You destroyed my peace in a blink of an eye, when you didn't even tell me that I'll have to stay apart from you for some days.......
How will I???

~~~

"Being an overly emotional unemotional clingy but distant private person is wearying........
Don't you think the same???"

Time was slipping away really very quickly, and by now Shaurya's entire packing was almost done. He was just giving a final check to all his neatly arranged necessary belongings in his bag whilst speaking to someone on a phone call from last nearly 25 minutes continuously.

On the other hand Manjiri was silently watching him arranging all the things in his trolley bag; though her agitated heart was not feeling well beholding all this but she was just impatiently waiting for him to end up his call fast, as she was requiring some clarifications.
Her eyes were anxiously trailing on every action he was taking. At that moment she only knew how hard she was controlling herself to not throw his phone down the balcony and have a nice uncompromising hard - headed yet self - opinionated argument with him, but deep down somewhere she very well knew that there was no use of doing all that.....

A few minutes later, unable to endure that long wait any longer and after getting emotionally tired of both i.e. managing her own unsettled sentiments and persistent pointless wait for him, she turned around and started moving to walk out of the room.
But all of a sudden he held her wrist from behind and stopped her from going, still conversing on his phone undistractingly.

Being on the verge of losing temper and patience, infuriated Manjiri tried a little harder to free herself but Shaurya was certainly not going to budge so easily. Taking a defeated sigh in her heart, she turned her gaze back towards his pair of eyes which were obviously warning her to stop fidgeting.

A couple of minutes later after finishing up his call, he quizzed or more like slyly chided her with a slight tricksy grin

"What's wrong with you?
Couldn't you wait for a little longer....Huh?
Fine now say what you were waiting to say as I don't have much time in hands...."

"Oh yes! Why I always fail to remember that you 24/7 have time for your those hands - down absurd screwy phone calls but when comes to the other things... Forget it!
From now onwards let me know before only when you're available so that I make sure I'll be very busy at then....
Now go back to your packing and calling only; and take your hand off my wrist."

Her voice was low yet sarcastically threatening as if she was jeering at him in a sledgy tone.
Closely examining his subtle playful grin pasted face, she looked at him flabbergasted. Jittering on edge she added

"And by the way what's up with this grin on your face? Huh?
You seem so eager and gleeful to go as if someone special is keenly waiting for you there in Chandigarh..."

Letting out an audible breath with an entertained expression, he shook his head and gently placed his hands on her arms and said these words in a beguiling manner. It was more like an attempt to at least persuade her in keeping a company with him a bit longer.... before finally getting segregated for a few days.

"Well I don't have any clue about there....
But I'm pretty much sure that my someone will desperately wait here for me to return....
Huh? What do you think?"

Listening to his these words, something inside Manjiri dwindled. Her eyes were eager to well up from so long, but each time she used to forcibly blinked away the moisture poping up in them.
So this time too she did the same and shrugged off his hands from her arms. Backing away a little from him, she provoked him reprimanded. Her slightly loud tone was incidentally giving Shaurya some hint of her uncontrollable turbulent exasperation and susceptibility.

"Don't you dare utter such not so endearing words to me from your busy mouth now...
I really don't get it when you don't have any sense of belongingness to me, then why you pretend all this?"

Being flustered as hell, she needed an outlet and being the sole reason of her those perplexities Shaurya was exclusively the most appropriate option for her to vent.
So whilst exclaiming, all of a sudden a lone tear escaped through her left eye, additionally making her more emotionally drained. Holding back her another tear she added steadily

"Anyways it's none of my concern, let it be...
You're going then freely, merrily go!"

She hissed whisperingly with more venom then she would have initially wanted to and turned for the door, desperate to escape from him and that situation. She turned the knob; but before she could even slightly open it, all of a sudden Shaurya shut it again with his hand.

"Then why don't you make it your concern?"

Firmly keeping the door closed with his hand, Shaurya breathed out this moving more closer to her in a way that his scent seemed like a blanket around her. She didn't dare to turn, though she felt him standing behind her way too close.

At next second she stiffened self - consciously when she felt him sweeping away her some loose strands of hair, which were at then freely springing out from her braided plait and lounging lazily on her nape, neck and shoulder regions. Bringing his head alongside to her's from behind, he captivatingly ran his nose down her neck inhaling deeply in an hypnotizing manner.

On the spur of the moment, Manjiri realized the real basis by which he was portraying or can say impersonating stand - offish attitude the entire time. Cause reasonably he shrewdly wanted her to crack first..... and damn he played right into his hands. Rationalizing all this she helplessly took a deep but cheerless, audible knocked - out sigh and rested her forehead against the door shrivelling progressively under his spell.

"Please allow me to go!"

Hearing her low voiced pleading words he paused and held her wrist once again to spin herself facing him. He frowned when she refused to loosen up and at last she gave in feebly. It seemed as though when it came to him, her mind and heart always fight for superiority and invariably each time her heart takes the crown; and provokes her to surrender without exception. She did turned her face towards him but didn't dare to meet his eyes, perhaps to hide her nearly approaching in - tears eyes.

Gently tucking Manjiri's few hair flicks behind her ear, Shaurya raised her head holding her chin with the help of his forefinger. Their gazes met, the look in his eyes was too intense that she couldn't help but stare. He apprehended to what she was experiencing. Noticing her inclined to cry stricken face, he spoke to her with a sly smile

"Hey! Don't be like this... please!"

As soon as she heard him saying this, her frame of mind finally fell to pieces at that very moment after a lot of patience and self - restrictions. Without any further ado, she reached out and had her arms locked around him steadfastly; least caring about his decently ironed out shirt. She just let her long held tears soak his shirt near it's pocket area.
Being hell stunned but immensely contented by her this sudden move, he too caressingly and firmly clutched her into his meticulous embrace. The thing that impressed him the most was the determinedness of her hold on him. It was so tight - gripped and persuasive that it seemed to him that she was truly afraid that he would disappear once she let him go.

"Weren't you... you testing the limit of my... my tolerance?"

Nuzzling against his chest Manjiri quizzed him softly, which almost came like a whisper when she felt a warm feeling slowly entering her heart as Shaurya softly rubbed his palms on her back, perhaps in order to make her feel better.

"What do you think?"

Letting out low chuckle Shaurya encircled his arms around her more tightly. For a second both of them wished for time to stop, for them to remain in that beautiful heart - pleasing moment a while longer.
But inevitably deep down both knew that it would have to end soon.....
As no matter how perfect a moment is or how badly you never want it to end... But in actuality - it just does! And at then all you can do is HOPE... only hope to have another one super soon.

Manjiri asserted faintly whilst pulling herself back from his embrace.

"I don't want us to be apart...."

"We literally don't have to be!"

Cutting her sentence in the middle, Shaurya muttered these words and leaned over to press his lips against her forehead.
After brushing a chaste kiss over there, he apologetically smiled a little and said

"It's only a matter of 12 days and then I'll be back, until then be easy on yourself.....
And yes most importantly don't mess around!"

Uttering this Shaurya moved and reached out to drag his bag, turning the knob he opened the door. Watching his retreating figure, Manjiri couldn't help but sense him slipping out of her hands little by little.
Inadvertently she placed her own fingers on her forehead which was still tingling from the feel of his lips. It's lingering feeling somewhat placed her ill at ease heart and mind at composure.

"Shaurya!"

Hearing his own name from her mouth for the second time, he froze on his steps and turned around only to find her standing just behind him.

"Take good care of yourself! And be back soon....."

He nodded with a assuring tiny smile and peaceably held her hand to walk out from the room together.

"The most underrated romantic thing :-
Reminding them to take care of themselves even if it's unneeded......... just to be able to see them smile and nod and promise you that they will, for you!"

~~~

This is it for now. Hope you liked it. I am sorry for the mistakes.

In case if you want to share your views or suggest something, you are more than welcome.

⭐My sincere request to all the SILENT READERS - Do vote this chap.⭐

Till then take care and stay connected.

Love ♥️✨