Hi ya!
What to do with Laksh? Shall I make him good and understanding eventually, or shall I make him the villain through and through?
Do say!
😁😁😁

And oh! This fic is getting some good amount of readers. I hope the number of votes increases as well. Silent readers, please do vote!
🤗🤗🤗

And a big, Big, BIG! thanks and a hug to all my voters and commenters! Love you all! 😘

Onwards!!!

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

(Words in braces) - Telephone conversation

Chapter 14 - New Beginnings

Sanskar sighed in frustration. 'Still nothing? This is unbelievable!'

He had been trying to find a job advertisement in the newspaper. However, every job that he has seen either requires skills that he does not possess or requires qualifications which he never thought would cause him this trouble. After all, being a Maheshwari, he never thought he would need to search for jobs.

In his frustration, he scrunched up the paper and crumbled it in his hands. He looked up when he heard someone clear their throat. It was none other than Shekhar, looking at him with a deadly glare. "I still haven't read today's paper."

Sanskar looked at his hands holding the rumpled paper. He gulped in fear. 'He already hates me. Did I really need to give him another reason to hate me more?'

Sanskar gave a nervous laugh. "Ehehe...Th-there was a c-cockroach on the p-paper an-and that's why I w-was trying to kill it." 😅

"It would have run away if you just shoo-ed it away you know." 😒

"T-t-true. I guess it s-skipped my mind!" Sanskar laid the paper on the table and started straightening the creases. "There! Good as new. Here Shekhar ji." he forward the paper towards Shekhar with shaky hands.

Shekhar snatched the paper from him. "I still want to punch you. Only reason I'm letting you live here is because my family has forgiven you. The moment I find you doing something troublesome, you're out!" Shekhar pointed two fingers at his own eyes, and then turned them to point at Sanskar. "I'm watching each and every move of yours. Remember that!"

Sanskar could only nod in fear. He let out a deep breath once he saw Shekhar leave.

It had been ten days since he came to stay with the Gadodias. His family was still not ready to accept him. However, Laksh had come to the Gadodia house the next day after the incident and apologized to him. Sanskar forgave him. After all, he had already mistaken Laksh's intentions once. He didn't want to do the same mistake a second time and misjudge Laksh.

Only if he knew the truth.

The neighbours had no doubt raised many questions on his stay there. The Gadodias gave an excuse that he had come to stay to help Shekhar in some work. However, Sanskar knew that they won't be able to hide the truth forever.

Once the society finds out the truth, they will not only look down upon him, but the Gadodias as well. A young man staying there when two young girls are in the house. The society won't accept that. He didn't care what happens to him. But he'll be damned if he let any mud on the Gadodias' reputation. That is why he decided to search for a decent job so that he can buy his own apartment and shift there. Too bad he wasn't being able to find a single job for himself.

"Good morning Sanky!" spoke Swara, as she came bouncing to the living room.

"Good? What is so good about this morning?"

"Eh? Why are you being so pessimistic in such a beautiful day? The weather is great, the breeze is calming, the birds are singing an-" 😊

"Yeah. Everyone is happy except for me who is drowning in misery." 😤 Sanskar said with a glare towards Swara.

"Dude... you're not only ruining your own mood, but other's as well. Why make such a poo-face?"

"Leave it. Go be happy in your own life and leave me to my misreable fate." 😖

"Oho...Quit being dramatic! What is the matter?"

"Forget it Swara. Nothing can cheer me up. The Universe hates me and I hate everything!" 😥

"Arre... Tell me!" 😣

Sanskar was about to reply, when he saw Ragini approach them. "Good morning Swara. Good morning Sanskar." she said with a smile towards them, although her gaze stayed longer on Sanskar.

"Good morning Ragini!" Sanskar responded, smiling from ear to ear.

Swara looked at Sanskar with narrowed eyes. 'Didn't he just say that he hates everything? One look at Ragini and he's like a kid with a candy!' 😑

"Swara, I made pancakes for you. Th-"

"Speak no more! Onwards to the kitchen!" Swara rushed past them towards the kitchen. However, before leaving the room, she looked back with a glare. "And handle your boyfriend. He's spreading his gloom all over the place!"

"I'm miserable here! Can't you show a little bit of kindness?" Sanskar shouted back, as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Ragini put her hands on her hips. "Why do you two always end up fighting?"

"Its nothing serious. Just some jija-saali arguments."

"Sanskar, we aren't married yet, remember?"

"So? We will be in near future though. Unless, you're cheating on me!" Sanskar placed a hand over his heart. "How could you? Oh, you just tore my heart into pieces, ripped it into shreads, chopped it into bits!"

Ragini looked at him in irrtation. 'You just love pulling my leg, don't you? Let's see how you like it when I do it!' She sighed and sat down with a 'thud'. "So I guess you finally found out."

Sanskar froze at her words. He leaned forward with wide eyes. "Wh-what?!" 😓

"I didn't want you to find out like this. But since you already guessed, I should tell you the truth." She spoke with utmost seriousness.

"Ragini! What are you saying!?" 😲

"I'm saying that there is someone else that I have fallen in love with Sanskar. It was love at first sight! He looked so handsome! Oh the swag, oh the body!" she sighed dreamily.

"Body?! Ragini you were supposed to be the innocent one!" 😱

"That...that aura that he oozed off. It was like...like he screamed of power!"

"Who is this guy?! Tell me right now! I will make sure he never dares to go near what's mine. Ever!" Sanskar spoke, while cracking his knuckles. 😠

"You can't beat him Sanskar. You will probably hurt yourself. Besides, no matter what you do, you can never be like him." Ragini said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. She was enjoying seeing him jealous. Swara came near them, her hand holding a plate of pancakes.

If Sanskar was a little kid, he would proabably be stomping his feet repeatedly and screaming his lungs out. "I'm sure I'm more amazing than him." He grit out.

Ragini shook her head with an arrogant smile. "Nope! Never Sanskar."

"Just tell me what he does better than me. I can show you that I can do the same, only a hundred times better!" Sanskar shouted. 'I'll kill that guy! Revive him and kill him again! If possible, bring him back to life and kill him once more!'

"Well, he has a beautiful design, a mileage of 11 kmpl and a top speed of 299 kmph. Can you run as fast as he can?" Ragini asked with an innocent face. ☺️

Sanskar blinked...and blinked again. "Wha...what?"

"Laksh's bike. The Hayabusa. Its such a bae! Can you be like him?" Ragini spoke with a raised eyeborow. Swara paused her eating on her words. 'Ragini said bae? Wow! She is really changing and keeping up with the new trends. Its for the good thou.' Swara lost her composure once she saw Sanskar's face and burst out laughing.

Sanskar just sat there, looking at Ragini with an open mouth and his eye twitching in the sheer ridiculousness of the matter. 'Was I getting jealous over a bike? My competition was...was a bike?! Someone shoot me!' 😑

"Ahahaha... Nice one Ragini. Haha...You should see your face Sanskar. Wait!Let me take a picture!" Swara took out her phone.

Sanskar flushed in embarrassment and stood up abruptly. "You both are evil! E-V-I-L I tell you! I'm out of here!"

Once he was gone, they both burst out laughing. "Your boyfriend sure looks cute when he is blushing. If he wasn't yours, I may have fallen for him." Swara spoke, winking at Ragini.

"Hehe...is that so? Too bad he's my man now. Laksh is the one for you."

Swara chuckled. "You know Ragini, I've seen a big change in you. You're no longer the shy, introverted girl I knew. Now, you show confidence and don't hesitate to answer back to others."

Ragini looked down shlyly. "Is...is it bad?"

"Of course not! I love this Ragini! Don't ever change!"

"Thank you Swara. Sanskar is the sole reason of my happiness." Ragini said with a smile, which slowly dimmed. "Although I wish I could do the same for him."

"Don't blame yourself sis. You're doing everything you can."

"But my best isn't good enough. I...I dont know what I could do to make him feel better."

Swara looked deep in thought. Suddenly, an idea struck her. "Ragini, the entire cause of Sanskar's misery is because he feels he is a burden to us, doesn't he?"

Ragini nodded. "I told him that's not true. But he isn't ready to accept that, no matter how much I try to make him think otherwise!"

"Then the only solution is to get him what he wants, which is a nice job."

"You're right! Why didn't I think of this before?"

"Because my dear Ragini, I've always been the smarter one. And prettier too!" Swara boasted.

"You won't change will you? Always praising yourself." Ragini said with a smile.

"What can I say? I'm amazing!"

"Okay okay, you are. Now lets think of getting Sanskar a job. You try to ask Laksh if he knows anyone who can help. I'll try to search the internet."

"No! I'll search the internet. You ask Lucky."

Ragini looked at her confused. She thought Swara would love the chance to spend more time with Laksh. "I thought you would want to partner up with Laksh."

"Yea, I do. But we both would end up romancing instead of doing any useful work. Its better if I work separately."

Ragini still didn't look convinced. 'I think she is hiding something from me. Is there any problem between her and Laksh?'

However, before Ragini could question Swara further, she heard her mother call her. "I'll be back Swara."

Swara nodded in acknowledgement. Once she left, Swara got up and left the house. She didn't want Ragini to question her further. She had indeed lied to Ragini about her refusal to work with Laksh.

The truth is... Laksh and she weren't working out so well these days. Ever since that day, Swara hadn't been able to forgive Laksh completely for his mistake. Although she knew he did it with good intentions, she still felt he was to blame. Not only that, now that she had distanced herself from Laksh, she was beginning to notice things which she didn't pay attention to before. Like how Laksh tried to be more apologetic when he was in front of Sanskar or Ragini, how he always tried to stand close to Ragini whenever she was around, how he didn't ask her to spend time with him like before.

As Swara walked through the busy street, she thought over the last few days. Now-a-days, the only times she and Laksh met, he would simply tell her she looks beautiful and pull her into a kiss. Swara, still being in his love, would kiss him back. However, before things could move further, he would simply pull away and start talking about other things. It was on different topics on different days. But one thing was common. Each day, the topic which he always ended up discussing was about Sanskar and Ragini. 'I still can't figure out this matter.'

Swara first thought it was because one was his family and the other his best friend. However, she would be lying if she said she didn't see his knuckles turn white when she mentions about them being happy together or how he seems relaxed when she informs him of an argument between them.

As she was walking, still lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice where she was going and fell down after colliding with something. Or someone actually. She looked up to see a guy standing there, with his back to her. Slowly, he turned to look at her with a glare. "Can't you see where you are going?"

Swara got up and dusted herself. "I'm really sorry. I was actually thinking about something and I-"

"Save it. You middle class girls are all the same. Only need to see a rich guy and you try to make an excuse to talk to him."

"O, Hello? I don't even know you, alright?! Yea, I collided onto you, but that was unintentional. I don't care who you are Mister!"

He rolled his eyes. "Anything useful you want to say besides screaming?"

"Yes. I want to say that you are nothing but a pompous pig walking on two legs!"

The guy looked at her shocked. "Did you just insult me? Me? Manish Dobrial? Don't you know who I am?"

"Who cares!? I surely don't! You may as well be the Prince of England. Still I'll call you an arrogant pig, you pig!" Swara shouted, pissed off.

"You...you witch! You're nothing but a wrinkly old witch!"

"What!? How dare you?!" Swara pushed him as hard as she could. Manish would have fallen down, if it wasn't for someone coming and holding him upright. It was none other than Laksh.

"Thanks bro. Whoever you are, if it wasn't for you, this expensive suit would have been ruined because of this crazy witch!"

"Its alright. I'm Laksh by the way."

"Laksh, leave him! He deserves to be in the mud. His ego needs some colouring!"

Manish looked at Laksh in shock. "How in the world does a good person like you know this crazy lady? I hope you aren't related to her."

"I'm her boyfriend. I apologize on her behalf. She is a nice person though, just loses her temper sometimes." Laksh moved towards Swara. "That's enough love. Lets go inside." He spoke to her sternly. He didn't like her wasting his time...time in which he could be with Ragini.

Swara and Manish kept glaring at each other. At last, she relented. "Okay Laksh." She turned to Mani again. "Don't dare show your face to me ever again!"

"Like I want to see you ever again! Be gone!" he shouted behind them as they left. "That girl was unbelievable!"

"Mani? What are you muttering about?" asked his father, as he an his wife came near Mani.

"Nothing Dad. Did you find the address?"

"Yes beta. I finally found the location of my childhood friend."

"Thank goodness. I thought it would take you forever!"

"We didn't have phones at that time beta. Or else I would have kept his number. In my days, w-"

"Please Dad. Not here too!" Mani exclaimed. He knew once his father started telling tales of his own days, he wouldn't shut up.

"How rude of you! Anyway, lets go home now. I've got an important meeting. We will go to meet my friend tomorrow."

"By the way, Dad. What was the name of your friend again?"

"His name is Shekhar Gadodia. The man from whom I got Shekhar's address told me that Shekhar has two young daughters." spoke his father Raj, while looking at Mani.

"Are you thinking of marrying one to our Mani, Raj?" asked Mani's mother, Shikha.

"Well, I won't mind making Shekhar's daughter my bahu."

"Dad, I'll only marry if I like the girl myself. Otherwise, its a no-no."

"Well son, I guess we will find out when we meet them tomorrow." saying that, they moved inside the car and Mani drove towards home.

**********************************

To be continued...

If you liked this chapter, please consider giving a vote. Thanks!

~ 🌹Mona 🌹