~Tara~
“I told Aarohi that when the marriage was fixed between Alisha/Aarohi and Mayank/Deep and still I wasn’t ready to see Mayank marrying someone else, I didn’t replied Virat about his proposal and didn’t even meet him in these months. It’s a lie that I didn’t meet him in those three months,” I said remembering those sweet memories I made with him in such a short time.
Flashback of previous birth: (FB is of 1991, guys I know there were no laptops or advanced phones at that time but it’s just a story)
It was night and Alisha was sleeping peacefully and Tara wasn’t able to sleep, she sat up and took her laptop from the bedside table and signed into her Facebook account, she saw Virat online and smiled.
She messaged him.
FB chat messages:
T~Hi Virat, still awake? ?
V~So are you, baby doll ?
T~Hows you?
V~fine and you? Why are you still awake by the way?
T~m also fine.. still awake because feeling a little lonely.
V~why? You have everyone there in your house.
T~but you don’t.
V~So? Wanna come over so that we can spend this lonely night together?
T~Really? Or is it just a joke?
V~I never joke with you.
T~LOL yeah!
V~coming?
T~umm.. whatever you say. If you say I will come.
V~you will come but if you’re sure that you wanna come, then tell me to come and pick you as I don’t want to put you in danger for my loneliness, it’s not safe to come out alone of the house at this hour of the night.
T~such a protective friend you are.. yeah sure I want to come over to your house, we can chill around in our pyjamas.. ha ha!
V~yeah.. bananas in pyjamas.. he he he! Ok so coming to you, do leave a note in case someone wakes up and comes to check on you.
T~sure.
End of chat messages.
Tara smiled and looked at the pyjamas she was in and smiled. “He always says that I can be in whatever clothes I feel are comfortable, I know he won’t judge me,” she said and smiled leaning to the bed board. Suddenly the window opened and she startled and stood up but she calmed down seeing it was Virat.
“Virat,” she said enthusiastically and hugged him, he hugged her back as she clinged on to him lifting her legs. “Yes I m here but why are you shouting? Speak slowly, you don’t want to wake anyone, do you? No right? Come on, let’s go,” he said putting her down and got out from the window and signed her to come. She too got out of the window and together they got down by the help of ladder, he got down first and she was still getting down and her foot slipped and she got scared as she lost her balance as her grip loosened.
She closed her eyes as she fell, she opened her eyes as she felt being held by two protective arms. “Virat thank you, I have never done this before,” she said straightening herself. “But now you’re doing, come let’s go now before someone notices you’re gone,” he said and they began to walk forward and she saw a bike parked over there. “Virat, this bike is of yours?” she asked smilingly. “Hmm, and I came along with it because I kinda know that you like bike rides in moonlight, no?” he asked back smilingly.
“Yes I do, wow Virat you know me so well, can’t wait for this ride,” she said and clutched his hand and they sat on the bike, Virat in front and she was behind him, she got hold of his shoulders and leaned her head on his back. They wore their helmets. He rode forward happily as he liked her leaning on him like that. She lifted her head on the midway and surprised him by holding his neck slowly and suddenly. He stopped the bike as he felt that her hands were ice cold. “Wh-what are you doing Tara? He he he!”
“Why are you laughing? I thought you will be scared,” she said. “Scared? Seriously? Your hands are ice cold, give me your hands,” he said and took her hands in his hands and rubbed them till they were warm. She smiled. “Better?” he asked. “Yeah, much better,” she said and he smiled at her through the mirror and she too smiled back at him. He started riding again and they reached his house. “So Tara baby, welcome to my private hell,” Virat said removing his helmet. She giggled. “I have come to yours leaving mine behind.”
She smiled and took off her helmet and they got down the bike, he locked it and they went inside, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “So are you ready to spend this lonely night with me?” he asked. “Of course,” she said as they came inside and they sat on the couch beside each other. “You know I have been so alone since my family is no more,” he told her. “So how you spend time?” she asked. He smiled slightly. “You know I love you and I spend my time thinking of you all the time, baby.”
She sensed him getting sad and kept her hand on his back. “Look I m with you right now,” she told him and smiled leaning her head on his bicep. “Hmm, let’s go in my room and do something fun,” he said and they stood up together as she was holding his bicep. They went to his room together and she sat on his bed. He too sat beside her. “What fun should we do here?” she asked. “We can sit on the balcony under the moonlight and talk over there,” he said and she smiled. “You should’ve said earlier,” she told him.
They got down the bed and sat on the balcony. “Look there are so many stars in the sky, look how they shine for us in this darkness, but you know what happened sometime ago?” he asked. “No, what happened?” she asked curiously. “One star went missing from the sky and came down on Earth,” he told her. “What? Seriously?” she asked taken a little aback. “Yes, and that star is here, right beside me,” he said and they smiled at each other. “So did you thought of an answer?” he asked and she frowned and stood up.
She leaned on the railing and he too stood up and went and stood behind her. “Ok fine, you don’t know, you really don’t know what to do,” he said and started leaving but she held his hand. He turned back to her who still had her back towards him. She pulled him towards her and her back collided into his rock hard chest. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and he pushed all her hair on one side in front of her left shoulder. “Why you stopped me?” he asked. “Now that you moved my hair, see how insane I m,” she said pointing to her neck.
He got shocked seeing a mark on her neck as if someone slit it by a blade. He touched it slightly. “Who did this to you?” he asked angrily and she got speechless. He turned her towards him and held both her arms pinning her to the railing. “Tell me Tara please, who did this?” he asked and she was a little scared seeing him angry. “I.. I did this,” she told him and he left his arms nodding in disbelief and slapped his forehead. “Wow.. just wow, Tara.”
“No one did this to me, I did it, m not lying,” she said and he held her arms again. “Wow baby, tumne to jaise bohat hi bada teer mara,” he said laughing sarcastically. A lone tear rolled down her cheek. “How do you always manage to be so insane? Why did you show this to me? To tell me how much you love Mayank? To break my heart? To make a blo*dy fool out of myself? Or to make a fool out of yourself? Why? Why you hurt yourself for someone who doesn’t even loves you? Why? blo*dy.. why?”
“No! This wasn’t for him,” she told him. “Huhhh, so for which blo*dy loser?” he asked gritting his teeth. “You,” she replied and felt his grip loosen on her. “Me? Stop joking Tara, you can joke in love but you shouldn’t love in joke,” he said totally broken. “This is for you,” she said cupping his cheeks. He felt dizzy hearing it. “Wh-what? What are you saying? For me? I never expected you to do this for me, why you injured yourself?” he asked totally shocked. “Because even when you have every quality I wanted in my dream boy, you have them and even then I can’t love you.”
“Tara this ain’t any reason to cut yourself, please don’t do it again, come with me,” he said and took her inside and they sat on his bed, she watched as he was caring for her wound, he did everything very slowly that she didn’t hiss, not even for once. “I have broken your heart many times, why you care for me? Why you love me even when I don’t?” she asked as he applied a band aid on her neck and moved her hair behind her back. “M done.”
“Answer me Virat,” she asked. “Because I m living with a trust in my heart that one day you will love me back, that one day you will also care for me, and now that I saw this insane act if yours for hurting me, my hope and trust in God has increased that the day when you will love me and finally care for me isn’t so far, I trust you as well, because you’ve been a great support for this lonely night,” he said and she stood up. “Do you want to know what is trust?” she asked and he nodded slowly.
“Fine, then stand down the balcony,” she said and he went out of the room and went downstairs and out of the house and stood down the balcony. He watched as Tara climbed and stood on the railing. “Tara!” he shouted fearing for her life. She jumped from the railing and he went and caught her in his arms in the nick of time. She encircled her arms around his neck and he took a sigh of relief. “This is my trust for you, even after knowing how badly I could be injured, I jumped knowingly that you won’t let me fall and will catch me.”
“Hmm I saw it how insane you are, but you won’t do this again, understand?” he asked politely. “As you say lover boy,” she replied and he kept her down. Then he dropped her back to her house and she climbed in her room by the ladder without disturbing Alisha’s sleep. She waved him bye from the window and gave him a flying kiss. He smiled and acted as if he caught it. He went from there as she went from the window. This was just the start of love.
End of flashback.
~Aarohi~
I got awake hearing two familiar people talk but kept my eyes close because I knew that the moment I open my eyes, they will stop talking and I won’t get to know what they were talking about. After hearing Tara’s secret, I was shocked, why the hell she lied to me? Was only she my sister and I wasn’t her sister? She was meeting him by hiding? Seriously? She keeps hiding things from me, oh and she had even slit her neck from side for him? World’s most insanse sister causing everyone to go insane.
“I wish your love story would’ve started at childhood itself,” Rashi said. “Hmm but things doesn’t always go as we want them to go,” Tara said and then I opened my eyes and adjusted my head in her lap. “Yes they don’t, you lied to me, I think not only this but there were some more lies you’re hiding? No?” I asked and she got speechless. I sat up and grasped her face making her look in my eyes. “The truth is that you never loved me, only you were my sister, I wasn’t your sister, I m going to pick Deepika.”
I stood up and stumbled. “Aarohi, you are not well, please rest, I will pick Deepika, oh and please give me Niku’s photograph so that I can ask about him in the orphanage,” Rashi said and I went to cupboard and took a photograph of Niku in which I was kissing him on the cheek. My eyes got teary as I caressed the photo and went and gave it to Rashi. “This is Niku’s only memory I have, please don’t lose it, keep it safe,” I said and she nodded and went. I fell on my knees cryingly near bed.
I felt cold hands on my shoulders. I looked at the owner of those hands. It was Tara. “Niku,” I said cryingly. “Mil jayega mil jayega, no stress please, dekho Aaru, tum jaanti, main jaanti, stress se cheeks pe zorr parta hai or tears mein high content salt hota hai, us se tumhara ye pyara sa chehra dry par jayega, so no tears please,” she said making me laugh and wiped my tears. “You’re crazy,” I said and stood up sitting on bed. “You know what? When I will return back to the world of dead, everyone will be laughing at me as I couldn’t scare a little girl like Deepika.”
We shared a laugh.
~Deepika~
I waited for someone to come and pick me and I saw Rashi aunty and went to her, she held my hand and we sat in the auto and the auto driver drove off from there and Rashi aunty asked him to stop at the same orphanage where she took me to play. We both got down the auto and she went to the owner of the orphanage and showed her the photograph of the familiar kid with mumma. I knew him.
“Rashi aunty, how does mumma knows this kid? He is the one with who I made friends the last time I came here,” I told her and she smiled with a hope. “This boy’s name is Nikhil Kashyap, right? Sorry but he isn’t here anymore,” said the owner. “But aunty, he was here the last time I came, where did he go?” I asked. “He is adopted by a couple, I know their names, Ridhi Sharma and Aaniket Sharma, wait I will give you their address,” she said and told us their address. We went outside to the auto.
Then we stopped at a house, it was very unknown. We stepped down and rung the doorbell and a lady opened the door. “Who are you?” she asked. “We are here for Nikhil, the boy you adopted,” Rashi aunty said. “You’re going to take him?” she asked. “Yes,” Rashi aunty answered. “But we can’t let you take him, we are his legal guardians,” she said. “But aunty, you can at least let us meet him, we are related to him, we even have a proof,” I said and Rashi aunty showed her Niku’s photograph. “Okay you can meet him,” she said.
We went inside where we were told to go. We went inside a room and it had cute decorations, the bed was the shape of a car and there was a tent near the bed and it was moving weirdly. “Deepu, Niku would be there only, inside the tent, go surprise him,” she whispered to me and I went inside the tent and saw Niku was sitting inside playing with toys. “Hello Niku,” I said and he smiled looking at me. “Come outside,” I said and we crawled out of the tent. “Niku, we have a surprise for you, look,” Rashi aunty said and video called mumma.
She received it. “Bua, how are you? I got new parents, they are very good,” he said. “Bua will come soon to meet you bacha, take care of yourself,” she said and the call ended. “Niku, we will come back with your bua very soon okay, take care,” Rashi aunty said and caressed his face. “Bye Niku bhaiya,” I said and hugged him and we went from there to our house. I went to freshen up. When I came back, I saw papa had come and we all sat randomly for a talk.
~Deep~
“Aarohi, now that Niku will come back so I don’t think we will need a second baby, right?” I asked and Aarohi thought for a while and smiled. “Maybe yes, maybe no, well what made you ask that?” she asked. “Nothing, just like that, well it’s high time that we should get to know Tara’s whole past and send her back to where she belongs,” I said and Aarohi nodded looking at Tara. “What happened after that night?” she asked Tara. “Alot of things, everything we did as friends but in reality we were slowly falling in love with each other,” she said and smiled.