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Chapter 19
“Oh God! I cannot believe that there is a traffic jam at this time of the morning.” Soumya groaned. “Priyanka must be wondering where we are. I’ll text her.”
Simran looked out of her side of the window. ” If she was wondering, she would have sent a message or called.” She breathed in deeply. ” Priyanka is deeply involved with Shikhar’s organization it seems. He wanted to discuss something about it with her urgently, two days before her big day.”
Soumya heard a sharpness in Simran’s tone that made her uncomfortable. ” Uh, yeah, of course. After all, the organization is for the career development of young girls. And Priyanka has overcome a lot of hurdles to reach here. Besides, everyone in this family is very closely knit and helps out with one another’s work. So it is not surprising at all.” Soumya finished her argument feeling a little warm due to the intense effort she had put into it.
A smile broke out on Simran’s lips as she looked at Soumya. ” And Shikhar is family. Hmm. How long have Priyanka and you been friends?”
“Five years now.” Soumya said weakly. Truth was, she had been surprised too that Priyanka had left with Shikhar. Her doubt was a conviction now. But until Priyanka confirmed it herself nothing could be said for sure. “Why didn’t she share this with me?” Soumya thought with some regret. But then she remembered how her and Rudra’s plan had been postponed that morning. “Maybe she is not sure of it herself. Or hasn’t had a chance. Or she would definitely have told me.” Her train of thought having reached a satisfactory station, Soumya breathed out with relief and suddenly felt a sense of deep happiness at the thought of Priyanka and Shikhar.
The buzzing of her phone interrupted her thoughts. ” It’s Priyanka’s message. She says it ok, she is waiting for us.” she informed Simran.
Simran just nodded and kept staring out of her window.
Shikhar stopped the car in front of the boutique. ” Well, you reached before them after all.” He said smiling.
” Yes, that’s a good thing. But I feel bad that they are stuck in traffic. Anyway, I’ll see you later.” Priyanka said as she gathered up her bag to get down from the car.
“Do you want me to wait here with you till they get here?”
“No, the workers will be here any minute. I’ll open the boutique and start working.”
Priyanka said getting down from the car while Shikhar followed her to the doorstep of the store.
“Priyanka” Shikhar said tentatively. Then without any further words, he held her hand, leaned in towards her, and kissed her softly on her left cheek causing her breath to get caught in her throat. ” I’ll leave as soon as someone gets here” he said drawing back and looking at her flushed face. Now that he had let go of himself, he felt impatient to be in her life fully.
Priyanka nodded softly, unlocked the door, and together they stepped into the store.
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Thanks for reading Everyone. I am very sorry for disappearing for so long. Several issues piled up, I lost track of the story, and basically went blank as to how to proceed. I do want to wrap this up in a decent manner so I have tried. It’s a short chapter because it felt natural to break it here. The next chapter is almost done too so I anticipate posting it in a couple of days at most.Thanks to all who have waited patiently and Aashi, Jerry, Samm, Fffan among others who inquired about my well-being and about the story. Can’t express my appreciation enough! Please do leave a comment if you can. I have truly missed communicating with my readers all this while.?