Yo!
Oh this heat! I wish it was snowing right now!
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

The next chapter and a few more are private. There ain't any mature content, chill. 😂😂😂

Just made it so. 😊😊😊

Anyways, Onwards!!!

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

(Words in braces) - Telephone conversations

Chapter 17 - Bonds Between Us

His hands shook and beads of sweat trickled down his forehead. He licked his lips in concentration. For him, it was a matter of life and death. With shaky hands, he carefully, oh so very carefully, picked up the last piece of his masterpiece. He slowly brought it in front of him, all set to place it in its prime position. With great joy and anticipation, he slowly lowered the piece and was about to place it when...

*beeeep*

At once, the sound of the door bell broke his concentration. His hand jerked accidentally and he could only watch in horror as his masterpiece crumbled in front of his eyes. "Noooooooo! This can't be happening! I'm doomed, I'm doomed!"

Shramishtha ran into the living room to see why Shekhar was shouting. 'What could have happened? I hope he is alright.' She rushed to the living room to find an odd sight.

Shekhar was sitting on the couch, with his hands clutching his head, while he looked on miserably at the playing cards lying haphazardly on the table. "What happened? Why did you shout Shekhar? You seem alright to me."

"Alright? Alright?! How can I be alright when half an hour of effort just got wasted in mere seconds! I've been trying to balance the cards on top of each other and I had only 1 card left to place. But...but its ruined now! Everything is finished! Destroyed! Doomed!"

[Author's note : What did you think was the matter? 😜 ]

Shramishtha looked at him in irritation. "I rushed out here to see if you were hurt. But here you are crying over a castle made on cards? Are you a child!?"

"Whatever! If it wasn't for that doorbell!" Shekhar got up to open the door. 'I'm going to give him a piece of my mind for ruining my masterpiece, no matter who it is. It will be a bonus if its Sanskar. This will give me an excuse to beat him.'

Shekhar opened the front door, ready to rip a new one to whoever it was on the other side, only to get the shock of his life. "R-R-Raj?!"

Raj smiled at him. "It's been a long time Shekhar. Good to see you."

Shekhar let out a hearty laugh and pulled Raj into a tight hug. "Raj! I can't tell you how happy I am to see you! You don't know how much I regret not having any way to contact you. How did you find me?"

"I had no way of finding you either. But a miracle happened. I met our classmate, Alok, while on vacation. Turns out, he was staying in the same resort as ours. While chatting, your name came up. He was the one who told me you were in Kolkata. Once here, I asked around about you and a man gave me your address."

"I'm glad you met Alok." Shekhar noticed a lady come and stand beside Raj. "Is this your better half?"

Raj smiled and nodded. "Yes. This is Shikha. My wife."

"Let me introduce you to my wife. Come inside please." Shekhar brought them inside and called went to stand beside Shramishtha. "This is Shramishtha. My love and my life."

Shramishtha joined her hands and greeted them with a 'namaste'. She looked at Shekhar quizically, as if asking him who they were.

"This is my childhood friend Raj Dobrial and this is his wife, Shikha."

"I see".

"We're meeting after almost 30 years, although I wish I could meet him sooner. Too bad he didn't know my address."

"Oh? But if he is your childhood friend, shouldn't he know your home?" Shramishtha asked with curiosity.

"We lived in Pune then Shramishtha. After college, he went abroad to study, and some months later, my Dad got a job in Kolkata. I had shifted here with my family without getting a chance to tell him."

"I see. I can't imagine how happy both of you maybe right now. You all talk. I'll go bring juice."

"I can help." Shikha offered with a smile.

"But you are the guests. I can't burde-"

"Oho! Its no burden for me Shramishtha ji. Our husbands are best friends and I'm hoping we can be as well. We can talk as we work, while these two make up for lost time."

Shramishtha smiled and nodded. "Lets head to the kitchen then."

#Central Park#

Ragini sat on the bench, lost in thought. It had been two hours since everything happened. However, she didn't want to leave the park yet. She had a lot on her mind to think about.

A cone of ice-cream appeared before her eyes. She looked up to find Sanskar smiling down at her, holding another cone in his other hand for himself. "Take it. Ice-cream never fails to cheer one up."

Ragini gently took the cone from him. He plopped down beside her and dug into his own cone. "Eat it soon or it will melt."

Ragini looked at him with a smile. 'I really wonder if you will ever grow up Sanskar. Always like a child, getting happy at even the smallest things. But...but that is the good thing about you. Don't ever change.' She looked ahead and let out a sigh.

Sanskar paused to look at her. "Ragini, if you're still thinking about earlier, then stop. Those people don't matter to us anymore. Leave it."

Ragini toyed with the cone, deep in thought. "You know Sanskar. The time when you were in the hospital after you saved me from the truck, I stayed everyday for hours beside you. I would forget about my duties and everything and just stay beside you."

Sanskar threw away the cone in the dustbin near their bench and pulled up his legs on the bench, sitting Indian style. He was curious to listen why Ragini was bringing up old things. "What exactly is going on in that cute head of hers?'

"At that time...at that time Sujata Chachi looked after me like her own daughter."

"Ragini I told you not to tak-" Ragini put a hand over his mouth.

"Sanskar please. Listen to me once. Please?"

"Fine. Just know that this won't change anything."😣

Ragini removed her hand from his mouth and continued. "She never let me go hungry. She brought me meals, snacks, chatted with me to keep me entertained and...and at time when I felt really depressed, she would console me, make me understand, cheer me up."

Hearing her words made Sanskar think of his mother. How she cared for him, how happy she was to see him after he returned five years later. Ragini's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"And your father? He blessed me whenever he met me, and called me beti. You probably don't know of the time some of my neighbors insulted me for visiting your house without any relation to you. They doubted my character. It was your father who defended me and raised his voice against their accusations."

"He...he really did that?" Sanskar asked shocked. Everyone knew his father didn't raise his voice on anyone. If he really spoke so harshly to defend Ragini...'He really must think of Ragini as his own child.'

"And Bade Papa? That day at the hospital, Dadi told me how he apologized before everyone without hesitation. He is a man who knows the sense of right or wrong. Yes, it is true that his pride clouds his judgement. But never does he accuse someone until he has full proof of it. As for his anger? Once his anger settles down, he is ready to forgive someone who is family. Why? No reason, but just because its his family."

Sanskar looked at her with pained eyes. With her saying such things about his family, it was becoming difficult to hate them, no matter how hard he was trying. "Why Ragini? Why are you bringing up old things and pouring salt on my wounds? Why?"

"Because you need to see past your anger." Ragini held his hands in hers. "I don't know if what Parineeta bhabhi told us was true. I can't assure you that you're family will ever forgive you. I can't even give you the assurance that they will ever forgive you. But one thing I know is that the Sujata Chachi I know, Ram Chachu and Bade Papa I know, would never say such things about me."

Sanskar looked at her in shock, which soon turned into anger. "Even after everything, you still have faith in them?!"

"Sanskar listen to me. It can-"

"They'll only break your trust!"

"Sanskar please. Jus-"

"Do you want to be hurt by them again?! Those disgusting people?!"

"Shut it Sanskar. Enough is enough! Not one more word against them!"

Sanskar shut up at her words. Never could he have thought that Ragini would raise her voice against any human, let alone her own love.

"You already made a mistake once Sanskar. You misunderstood them and almost ended up destroying your own family! Didn't you say you never want to do the same mistake again? Didn't you say you wanted my help in becoming a better human being? Then here I am helping you! Trying to put some sense into your empty head, but no! You're too full of yourself and your ego to pay any attention to my words!"

Sanskar looked down in shame at that. After all, she wasn't wrong.

"Sanskar try to understand. I'm not saying that Parineeta bhabhi purposefully did it to turn you against your family. In fact, I think she did it to keep us away. Because she was afraid that Badi Maa and Bade Papa's relationship would suffer if she meets us secretly."

"But Ragini. What if they really did raise fingers against your character? Can you bear that?"

"No I can't. I can't bear any insult against you or me. But Sanskar, I know it will never come to that. I trust them. I have faith in them. Don't you?" Ragini held his chin and made him look at her. "I know you do. No matter what you say, how much you hate them...I know that deep inside your heart, you already have the answer."

Sanskar got up from his seat in frustration. "But Ragini. What if-"

"Wasn't it you who once told me not to live in 'what if's?" Ragini came to stand beside him. "Listen to me Sanskar. We are only making assumptions. The problem in making assumptions is that we believe it's true. We misunderstand and take it personally. We react by sending emotional poison through our words and actions. This creates an entire mess and a whole lot of drama for nothing!"

"So what? Am I supposed to forgive them? Go to them and ask if they really said those words? You really think they would talk to me?"

"I never said anything like that Sanskar. All I want is for you to understand that you shouldn't hate them. Don't fill your heart with hatred. I still have hope that they will understand you. It may be days, it may be years but eventually...eventually they will understand. That's what family is all about. We fight, we say bitter words to each other. But in the end, we always end up forgiving each other. Family is like a song. Sometimes with high notes, sometime with low ones. But no matter what, it is a beautiful song."

"I agree with the girl." spoke a voice from behind them. They both looked back to see a guy lying at the bench, smiling at them. "It's really soothing to hear such beautiful words from a beautiful lady after a hectic day."

Ragini blushed at the praise. Sanskar saw this and turned to face the guy in anger. "Who are you and why are you sitting in our bench?"

"The name's Manish, Mani for short. And you said your bench?" Mani raised an eyebrow in question. "Eh? I thought this was a public bench. I don't see your name written on it anywhere." He spoke, placing the open file beside him on the bench as he sat up. He got frustrated with the work load and thought of getting some fresh air. That is why he was visiting the park to freshen his mind. 'But if this guy continues to be rude to me, I won't hold back. Besides, I guess I could use a good workout session.'

Ragini tried to calm down Sanskar. "Let it go Sanskar. Its not a big deal."

'Oh. So his name is Sanskar,eh?' Mani smirked. "Listen to the pretty lady Sanskar. She is not only beautiful, but also smart." Mani said with a wink towards Ragini. Sanskar saw this and pulled Ragini closer to him.

Ragini could feel the onset of a disaster. "Sanskar. Let's just leave, alright?"

"No way! We were here first. He should be the one to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere Sanky-Panky!"

"What did you call me!? That's it! You're dead!" Sanskar moved forward and grabbed Mani's collar. He was about to hit him, when something caught his eye. He let Mani go and picked up Mani's file.

"Oi! That's mine. Let go!" Mani tried to snatch it away. However, Sanskar managed to prevent it from happening.

"You're doing it wrong. If you invest more here, then there will be a major loss in your company." spoke Sanskar, pointing at a spot on the file.

Mani looked at him in disbelief. "No way! I rechecked it two times. There is no way my calculations are wrong." He took the file and checked it, but couldn't find anything wrong.

"Look here." Sanskar started explaining it to him and finally made him realise his error. He also gave Mani some tips on how to lead his company to top position with a better profits and less investments. He easily solved Mani's problems, which made Mani look at him in awe.

Mani abruptly got up, pulling Sanskar along with him and hugged Sanskar with all the strength he had. "Thank you thank you thank you! You're a blessing for me! Where have you been all my life, my bestie?"

Sanskar chuckled. "You're welcome bro. But could you let go a bit. You're cutting off my air supply."

Ragini looked at them in disbelief. 'Weren't they at each other's throats some minutes ago? And now are buddies?'

"You're company must be lucky to have you. You're awesome at this!"

Sanskar's smile disappeared on his statement. "I wish I had one. Right now, I'm jobless."

Mani looked at him, aghast. "What!? Are you freaking kidding me!? Such a talented person is unemployed? This is just a waste of human resources!" At once, Mani got up on the bench and gave a pose. "But do not fear, Mani is here. I'll appoint you in my company, buddy."

Sanskar shook his head. "No. I can't accept that. It would be unfair to accept a position just because of being friends with you, when a more qualified person may deserve it."

"But Sanska-" Mani's phone interrupted him. "Hello Maa?"

(How are you now beta? Feeling better?)

"Better? I feel great! What about you? Did you get to Shekhar uncle's house without any trouble?"

This caught Ragini and Sanskar's attention.

(Yes beta. We're here as we speak. They are such nice people! If you're free, could you come here now? I'll text you the address.)

"Sure Maa."

(Okay then Mani. See you in some time. Bye.)

"Bye Maa. Love you." Mani cut the call and turned to find Sanskar looking at him wide-eyed. He looked at the girl and found her looking at him in the same way.

'Why are they both looking at me like I grew a second head?' Mani wondered.

They continued looking at him that way. Mani turned his head to the right, and then to the left. 'Nope, no extra heads. I still have only one head.' He waved his hand in front of Sanskar. "Hello? Earth to Sanky-Panky? You still there?"

"The...the person you spoke of. Shekhar, isn't it? Is it Shekhar Gadodia?

Mani nodded at him. "You know the guy?"

Ragini gasped. "That's...that's my father!"

#Gadodia Residence#

Swara came out of her room, making sure to keep a happy smile on her face, hiding her pain. Shramishtha had told her about the guests. Although Swara didn't want to leave her room, it would be rude to avoid them. She was somewhat glad that Dida and Dadi were out as they tended to fight at every little thing. She came out to find the guests having tea with her parents. She greeted them and touched the feet of the guests.

"Raj, Shikha...this is my elder daughter, Swara."

"Such a beautiful girl." Shikha praised. Swara blushed at the praise, but thanked her with a smile.

"Indeed she is. But I bet she has got her looks from her mother. Because Shekhar looks like an ape." joked Raj.

"And I bet your son got his looks from his mother, since you look like an orangutan." Shekhar snarked back playfully.

"Oho Shekhar! Still acting like a child, even in front of your daughter."

"Hahaha... My Raj is the same Shramishtha. He and Mani are like toddlers whom I have to take care of." Shikha remarked. Suddenly, she was overcome by a coughing fit.

"Oh dear! Swara go get a glass of water for Shikha."

"Right away Maa!" Swara rushed off towards the kitchen. However, it proved unnecessary as Shikha recovered soon. She cleared her throat and spoke, so as to remove the uncomfortable silence. "By the way, where is your other daughter Shekhar Ji?"

Before Shekhar could respond, a voice came from the door. "Right here!"

They looked towards the door to find Mani walk in, followed by Sanskar and Ragini. "She's with me and her name is Ragini Gadodia!"

"Eh? I didn't know you knew her." Raj stated.

"What a coincidence! I didn't either. I just found out half an hour ago that I knew her!"

Sanskar rolled his eyes at Mani's statement. "What he means to say is that we met at the park and came to know of you all after a call to him came."

"And you are?"

Sanskar didn't know how to respond to her answer. What should he say? That he was someone who was thrown out of his home and he was residing here as a baggage? Or that he was Ragini's boyfriend? Or that he was the future ghar jamayi? Sanskar snorted. 'Yeah. Like that will get me an applause!'

"He's my to be son-in-law." Everyone, except the Dobrials, looked on shocked at Shekhar's statement. Ragini was the worst. She had to rub her eyes to make sure she was seeing right. 'Is that... Is that really my father?'

"He is a great guy and loves Ragini. However, his family didn't agree and made him choose between Ragini and them. He chose my daughter." Shekhar said with a smile as he came to stand beside Ragini and Sanskar and whispered to them. "Don't get me wrong Sanskar. I still want to punch you."

"Now that is what is called true love." Mani spoke dreamily. Suddenly, his nose was hit with the smell of delicious food. At once, he left towards the table.

"Samosas! My favorite!" He was about to put one in his mouth, when someone came and smacked it away from his hand. He looked up to chide them, only to have his eyes widen on seeing the person. "You!"

"Ape!" Swara shouted back. She had just returned with the glass of water, when she saw the arrogant pig, ape...whatever! The point was that she couldn't bear the thought of him being in her house.

"Witch! You're following me now or something? Aishhh! Stalking, old, witchy hag!"

Swara narrowed her eyes and threw the glass of water in his face. "Now you look like the thing you are. A drowned, big fat pig!"

While everyone watched in bewilderment, Sanskar watched the two with mirth. "Guess things are going to get interesting. Something tells me this is only the beginning."

***********************************
To be continued...

If you liked this chapter, please consider giving your vote. Thanks!
~ 🌹 Mona 🌹