Heyyo guys! ?
How are you doing? Did you miss me? ? I missed you all a lot. Sorry for the uber late update, but I was super busy and I didn’t have my lappy either. Anyways, here I am with Episode 3 of Find Me. This is when Shivaay and Anika get stuck with the two prison breakers. The story will change from the actual show’s track after this one. Nayantara’s character doesn’t exist in this ff. I’ll need one or two episodes to explain what arc this ff will take. The mystery girl will also be introduced properly in the next few episodes.
? so let’s begin with the episode and don’t forget to drop your comments for me ?
FIND ME: EPISODE 3
MAHI’S PERSPECTIVE
How did I end up here again? I wondered to myself. Here, as Shivaay’s imposter, at Shivaay’s factory which currently needed some brains and a particularly intimidating look of the legendary ‘kanji’ eyes! The eyes, I could manage; and as for the brains, I called in his Bade Papa and asked him to handle it for me. And so it was that for the very first time I had to sit in the air conditioned office and pretend to look through files with non-hawk eyes! But, I had managed it well and soon I could be on my way home.
Home- I suddenly choked up on the word and stood still for a moment while contemplating my next move. Having confirmed Mr and Mrs Kanji Aankh’s disappearance from Ranveer, I decided I might as well go to the Oberoi Mansion once before becoming invisible to the world.
“Bhai, what are you doing? Isn’t the crisis over already? You should be heading home right away!” Ranveer warned me over the phone.
And I ignored him. “Keep looking for them and if there are any updates, let me know right away”, I almost ordered him and hanged up quickly so that he couldn’t persuade me otherwise. Driving towards town in his plush car, I thought and rethought my actions and their consequences, but somehow I was just compelled to keep on my way. The car sped through the deserted road as I observed the similarity between the dry afternoon Sun and myself; both are important only for a little while, but people still curse both! A little snicker burst out of my lips, surprising me with how okay I was with it. Since when did I become so understanding of the world?!
At Oberoi Mansion, I was greeted by an extremely happy Oh My Maata. It seemed to me as if she was particularly pleased with my explanation for Anika’s absence. “She had some work with her friend, but I don’t know when she’ll return.” My made up story sounded hollow to my own ears but maybe hers were stuffed with something already as she didn’t catch on right away. In any case, there were a lot of changes in the short interval I had been gone- the little guy who followed Om around turned out to be his wife! Saumya was going to Australia on scholarship and Rudra was all mopey dopey for being left behind in his palace. The khadoos Uncle whom I had asked for help was now an Oberoi in name only, thanks to his stupidity in not understanding his amazing wife’s love and thus being boycotted by all the members of the house. Well, that explains why he came to me as soon as I called! And so I spent the evening on talking to everyone and solving everyone’s problems. My duplicate was really having a lot on his plate, I acknowledged.
“Hey you, baby monkey! Get out of my way and give my stuff back”, Om’s unusually loud voice claimed my attention and I excused myself from Dadi’s moral lecture to check on the newlyweds.
As I turned the corner, a kinda funny sight met me. Om’s soft features were twisted into an angry glare while the target of his eye-daggers, little Gauri, was hidden behind a tower of boxes that she claimed had everything she ever used as Chulbul. Before they could get further into their childish argument over who should keep those mundane stuff- Chulbul’s friend, Om or ‘Chulbul’ herself- I hurried over to help her with the big boxes.
“Thank you Bhaiya”, she chirped at me and then proceeded to rub it into Om’s hurt ego. “Did you know Bhaiya, you are one of those really rare ‘good’ people who help others instead of always complaining like a 6 feet tall kid! Thank you for helping me out. Otherwise I would have totally fainted or something.” Playing the role of his elder brother to the hilt, I handed Om my heavy boxes and turned to Gauri, gushing over her health and taking the rest of her burden as well. Om watched us incredulously as we chatted about everything under the Sun while he had to needlessly carry the boxes he was fighting for a while ago!
I was kinda grateful when the Momma Crybaby, that is Jahnvi Aunty called me, as I could then heap up the rest on my silly brother and skip away happily. From the corner of my eye, I caught Om’s arms flex as if he was about to drop everything on her feet. Acting quickly, I went back and shoved my way between them and winked at Gauri, “If you need meds, just come to me. I have a lot of them in my room. Okay?”
Then turning to Om, I almost ordered, “Help her get these to wherever she wants, as she’s not well. It’s not ‘too’ heavy, right? I’m sure you can carry these light boxes upstairs easily!” With a final, loud pat on my speechless brother’s back, I went on my way, grinning from ear to ear, like a fool enjoying his quandary. Of course he couldn’t go against his brother’s wish! Payback for all his extra loving bear hugs!
I was hyper aware of him staring at my back and mentally calling me a traitor, but I somehow managed to keep myself from laughing out loud.
Still holding back my laughter, I reached Momma Crybaby’s room and took a few breaths before entering and saw both Momma’s talking. Without any rhyme or reason, I could smell something fishy and I had a feeling my holiday was going to come to an end soon. As I went closer to them a feeling of dejection came over me. “Did you call me, Badi Maa?” I asked as I pulled a chair in front of them. They looked at me in confusion before I realised that Shivaay would never do something even as simple as pulling a chair if a comfy sofa was available. It was too late to imitate his stylish walk to the couch,so I decided to make it work, angling my chair towards Mom.
Without wasting time on chit chat, Badi Maa got straight to the point; also one of the reasons I quite like her more than the others. “Shivaay, Pinky is not doing well. Please take her to the doctor.”
“Yeah sure, no problem. What happened to you Mom?” I asked in a sudden wave of unfamiliar concern. They exchanged a weird happy look and Oh My Maata looked at me funnily. As if seeing me for the first time or happy to see me as she had the first time.
And so it was that my evening was spent in taking Mom to the hospital for a health check up and after consulting with the doctor, who said that the fever was a result of weather change and a little stress, we came back to the Oberoi Mansion. Like a real son, I brought her dinner and put her to bed and sat by her bedside until she fell asleep. The emotional weight of the day was catching up with me so I decided to make my exit. Her Shivaay could take care of her when he came back.
I briskly stalked off from her room and left that cursed palace asap. Avoiding it like the plague wasn’t doing me any good but I wasn’t going to make it worse either. I only saw Rudra on my way out and this time I was grateful for his bear hug, so much that I even told him, “You are my favourite!” His cute little face lit up in a bright smile at that.
Once home, my little two roomed home, I cast away all the expensive clothes and went back to being myself- just Mahi, and went over the instructions I had given Khanna before leaving, and this time I was careful of not making myself too obvious. There’s something to be said about a repeated crime!
Just then I realized how I had been thinking of them as my own family, my Mom and my brothers! I mentally chastised myself and repeated the excuse I had been carrying around with me all day: I was just filling in for Shivaay so that no one realizes his absence and takes advantage of it. I was just feeling guilty for all the trouble I had caused them earlier. Of course, that was the truth. But why did it trouble me so much that they didn’t know it was me, Mahi, who was there instead of Shivaay? To add to my troubles, there was no information on the hot couple’s whereabouts either. It was as if they had run away on a secret honeymoon!
Dragging my wayward thoughts in line, I pulled out my little keypad mobile and dialed a familiar number; more out of habit now, than need or even my occasional floods of concern…
Surprisingly she picked up on the third ring itself and directly asked, “What now, Mahi?”
It might have been my imagination but her voice sounded weary but soft, as if it was just as difficult for her to stay away from me, our house, our little family…
“Mother!” I breathed as silent tears rolled down my cheeks. I sent up a quiet prayer to the heavens, in case there was someone listening up there, “Please let them be safe. I don’t care what happens to me, but Shivaay must get back home safely. Question Kumari too. Please… I’ll leave from their lives too, if my presence is what’s jinxing their happiness! Just please… ”
All the while as my heart cried loudly, my lips remained tightly closed and not a sound was to be heard on the other side either.
Until from far away, for the first time in my life Mother asked, “Mahi, are you okay?”