"What are you making bhabhi"

"Gajar halwa(carrot sweet dish)"- kavya replied.

"oh!! looks like bhaiya will have a treat today"- Kavya blushed at Akansha reply."It's his favourite".

"Looks  Like you have become too naughty Akansha"-  Kavya said raising her eyebrows and Akansha mouthed sorry making a puppy face.

Kavya smiled at her and put a spoonful of halwa into her mouth "Now tell me how is it made??".

"It's yummy !!!!".

Both Akansha and Kavya were chit-chatting with each other when  Arpit came there.Before he could speak anything , Akansha shoved the halwa in his mouth and said " kavya bhabhi has made this especially for you". His expression were telling that the dish was indeed very tasty.

"Thank you so much"- He applauded kavya and proceeded to say something.

"I have a arranged a small party at our house this Friday night".
Both the ladies raised their eyebrows in surprise at the word "Party".

"Nothing big. just a small  party with our close circle friends and business associates "- he continued.

"Oh".

"and yeah I have invited our new business partner as well.
Veer Shergill"- His name was enough to make Akansha heartbeat run faster. She clutched the kitchen slab to support herself and acted like she has no interest in this particular person coming.

"It's the least we can do to show our gratitude towards him. He has helped in our worst time when everything went against us"- how wrong it was for her bhaiya to think like this about the person who was the root cause of their business problems, Akansha thought to herself but she can't say anything.

He has made himself a saviour in front of her family and and all he had done was to extract revenge from her because he was heartbroken by her "supposed" betrayal. A betrayal which never happened in reality.

Akansha excused herself from there  and went out of the kitchen. She again came to the kitchen to take something but haulted her steps when she noticed her bhaiya and bhaiya were lost in their own sweet world. Kavya was teasing Arpit with the halwa  and he forcefully feeded himself with her hands. A smile spread on Akansha lips.

The romance between Arpit and kavya  reminded  her of her beautiful past, a past which could have been her present and future if certain events had not happened in her life.  She loved the understanding and compatibility between her bhaiya and bhabhi and wished for same had she and Veer gotten married.

She took back her steps and went from there.

Friday Night

Akansha was combing her hair sitting in front of the large mirror when Aranya barged in her room.

"Don't be so boring di"- Aranya said  annoyingly  when she noticed that her sister was again going for the simple straight partition hair look. She  grabbed a hair curler  and made her sister sit straight and worked on her hair.

"I don't like these stuffs Aru, you know that"- Akansha said but Aranya  was not paying heeds to her sister demands and continued.

After making soft curls on Akansha hair which were gently falling on her shoulders, She also outlined her eyes with Kohl. The kohl laden eyes were making her eyes look bigger and more beautiful.

Akansha looked into the mirror and noticed that her sister has gone out all in making her pretty face.

"It's not like some boy is coming to see me for marriage alliance"- She huffed at her sister who was grinning sheepishly.

"I guess guests had arrived"- Aranya said when she heard the car screeching voice.
"Didi let's go". Akansha didn't wanted to even leave the room but her sister grabbed her hand and both sisters went downstairs.Most of the guests had come but her heart was waiting for  him and only him.

"hello Akansha beta"- She was greeted by Mrs Shergill that means he was here only. Akansha  warmly greeted back Mrs Shergill  who quickly got busy chatting with Akansha mother and her chachi. She also got to know that Veer father, Mr Balraj Shergill was out of town  for some important paperwork,so he couldn't attend the party.

Her eyes were desperately searching for him  but not finding him  anywhere, her hopes started to diminish When   she noticed him entering in her house. She looked at him nervously but he ignored her like she didn't exist ever for him  and went directly towards Arpit  who was talking with Aranya.

She roamed her eyes at the beautiful bouquet of pink peonies and red roses, her two most favourite flowers, which he was carrying in his hands.
"he still remembers my favourites". The thought made her take pride in herself.

He gave the bouquet to Aranya who in her over excited state gladly accepted it. She gave a shy smile to him which didn't go unnoticed by Akansha who was observing her behaviour. Aranya gently nudged the elbow of khusi and whispered"Isn't he too handsome" and both girls smiled at each other. But they didn't know that Akansha was listening their appreciations for Veer which invoked  a possessive feeling in her.

She was looking at the faces  of all people who were present in the party. All were looking happy and satisfied with their life. It was only she and maybe Veer who were the lonely and unhappy souls present there.

Akansha looked in every direction to confirm that nobody has attention on her for what she was going to do next. She mustered all her courage and strength that she has. She took deep breaths and went towards Veer who was busy chatting with some people . Fortunately for her,  when she reached near him, all other person went from there. Now  she could have privacy.

"How are you Veer??"- No greetings nothing else, she directly asked him the question her heart wanted her to ask.

"Same as you left 4 years ago"- Anger and pain  clearly visible in his eyes and answer too. Akansha lowered her eyes and look at the ground like it was most beautiful thing in the world to see now.

He came more closer to her not caring that they are so many people present there. The proximity between them was disturbing Akansha. She opened her mouth to say something but before she can do that he leaned closer to her and whispered in her ears

"By the way did you get any better lover than me who could satisfy you in bed like I did"-  She gasped at his choice of words. She felt like she could cry any time after hearing his words. No, she couldn't create  a drama in full public space, she had to control herself.

"Don't Say like this"- She said but waters began forming in the corner of her eyes.

"Don't act like  a committed girlfriend ,at least not in front of me"-His every word were stinging her heart.

"I still feel ashamed of myself that I had fallen for a girl like you and wanted to spend rest of my life with you, A girl who didn't love her own flesh"- Veer said  without any emotion and left from there leaving a wretched Akansha with her own depressing chain of thoughts.

She couldn't bear this and went  straight to her bedroom  and closed the doors. She  slide against the door and sat down on the floor. She wrapped her hands around her knees and cried her heart out. All her makeup smudged because of tears.

"What did I do to deserve this pain??"

  Fresh roses smell filled her nostrils and she lifted to see the source of it. Her eyes landed on the flower bouquet that Veer brought.  Aranya must have kept it there, she thought.

She stood up from her position and picked a single rose from it and went to stand by the window side. She saw that Veer was standing by his car and most probably waiting for his mother. She was staring at him like her life depends upon him.

Veer felt like someone was watching him. He looked up but found nothing. Akansha hid behind the curtains of window when his eyes searched the stares.She felt like a kid who has been caught stealing cookies for stealing glances of him. It reminded her of the trekking trip when for the first time she shyly glanced at him and this made her happy. But her happiness didn't last long , when  he sped his car  after his mother came.

She opened her personal diary and wrote....

"आवे न विछोड़ा कोई बिछड़े न यार से
(never come this seperateness, nobody seperates us)
सुनते हैं आंसूओं का रिश्ता है प्यार से
(I heared that tears have some relations with the love)
आंसूओं से दर्द के शोले नहीं बुझते
(and from the tears fire of pain is not extinguished)
मौत चंगी लम्बे इंतज़ार से
(death is better then this long waiting process)
दुःख देना न किसी को इंतज़ार का
(dont give the pain of waiting to anybody)".

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Thanks for reading.