“Hi Naina! Yaar I’m really sorry for that day” Swara said sounding guilty.
“No problem yaar, it happens”naina said in a calm tone and handed her coffee. What is better than having coffee with friends.
“So you were telling me something about their love confession” Swara raised the topic.
“Yeah! So bhai proposed her and she immediately said yes.”
******
(Flashback)
“So Miss. Tanya Singhania are you ready to become Mrs.Tanya Sanskar oberoi? ” Swara asked her kneeling down.
“Yes yes” Tanya said hugging him tightly.
There happiness knew no bounds.
*****
“They dated for about 6-8 months. Then they decided to get married. And their marriage was fixed. But just about 1 month before Tanya started to behave differently. Something changed in their relationship. They used to fight a lot. I would often hear them arguing.”
“What happened? ”
“Bhai tried to make her understand but she didn’t pay any heed to him and one day she walked away, leaving bhai all alone” Tears welled up her eyes as she remembered that day.
*******
Flashback
“We are over Sanskar oberoi” Tanya yelled.
“No Tanya please-don’t” Sanskar begged. “I love you a lot”
“But I don’t love you Sanskar and we don’t have future together.”
Tears spilled out of his eyes. The girl he loved the most walked away from him.
*******
“It was good that she herself left because she didn’t deserve him. He started to drink, he would often come home, drunk.”
She choked remembering his condition.
“He’s not arrogant, he’s just broken. But he pretends to be strong and rude because he’s scared that someone will break his heart once again. Bhai was very close to my dad and one day he got a heart attack and he was no more”
Tears welled up Swara’s eyes.
“Bhai was broken once again. ”
*******************************************
“Shivaay we need to talk, can you just come over to my place?” Anika said on the phone.
“Ya sure”
“Then see you” she hung the phone.
*******************************************
“Should I call her or not?” Tanya paced to and fro.
“I think I should” she dialled her number.
“Hello! Is this Swara kapoor?” she bit her lip in nervous.
“Yes who’s this? ”
“I’m Tanya.. Tanya Singhania.”
“What the hell?” Swara was about to cut but Tanya interrupted.
“Swara you have heard the story from his perspective but what about mine?” Tanya said in a stern voice.
“What do you want?” Swara asked.
“Can we meet?”
“Fine! Just text me the address.”Swara hung the phone.
*******************************************
“I don’t Shivaay but I just want you to know the truth” she said staring her folded hands.
“Yeah! Go ahead.” he said with a smile.
“When my marriage was fixed. It came to me as a shock. I didn’t knew who Reyhaan Shekawat was. I just knew his dad, Mr. Tej Shekawat, the owner of Shekawat industries. But as the Kapoor empire grew, his business crashed, he faced huge losses. He got to know something about my mother that even I didn’t knew until my marriage was fixed.”
She choked as she remembered the worst chapter of her life.
*******
Flashback
Anika was sitting in front of the dress in a red lehanga. Tears brimming from her eyes.
She had to do this. She needed to. There was no other option.
She didn’t knew how her life was going to be after this. Destiny again played her games.
As far as he knew Reyhaan was involved in every bad activity— drinking, gambling and what not.
******
Her trances were broken by a touch. Shivaay squeezed her hands in assurance as tears continued to make their way from her eyes.
“What is that truth that forced you to marry that beast?” Shivaay asked in a soft tone.
“Swara is my adoptive sister” she choked as she finally let the truth out.
Shivaay was shocked but he knew no relation is bigger than that of heart.
“Does Swara know about this?”
“No she doesn’t!! She’ll hate me if she comes to know about this”
Shivaay’s eyes were moist too.
“Anika! You need to tell her the truth”
“No Shivaay. I- I can’t” she broke down.
Shivaay engulfed her in a warm hug. Jis hand reached for her hair, stroking it gently. He decided not to raise the topic. She never felt more safer than she had felt in his arms.
Soon she fell asleep. Her eyes were puffy, face pale and tear marks were visible.
His eyes were wet. His heart aches seeing her in a pain. It was nothing but love.
Ye he realized that he loves her. He looked at her her loving.
Shivaay took her too room. He caressed her hairs as he brought the covers up to her chin.
“Anika! I promise I’ll be always there by your side. You are not alone” he said as he wiped the tears off his face.
*******************************************
“Thank you for coming Swara”
“It’s ok” Swara replied in a serious tone as she saw Tanya. She was tall and skinny girl dressed in a white crop top with denims with no makeup.
“I left him because I realized it was just infatuation and I didn’t deserve him because he loved me too much.”
“And you never told Sanskar about this?”
“No! But tell me one thing Swara. Would Sanskar have been happy with the girl who doesn’t love him? I would have never been able to give him the happiness he deserved.”
“You really think it was easy for me? Never! Sometimes it’s better to let it go than holding on. After I left him I started getting messages calling me a bit*h, a sl*t and what not. I was in depression and then I realized I did nothing wrong because I would have only hurted him.” a tear escaped her eye.
“I’m so sorry. I should have listened to you before judging you” Swara said, sounding guilty.
“You don’t need to” Tanya smiled as she remembered a past incident.
*****
Flashback
“Hey Sanskar! At least tell me why are you so mad at me?” Tanya said as she tried to catch up with Sanskar who was walking on the road in anger.
“Who was that guy?” Sanskar asked angrily.
“Oh my god Sanskar! You are jealous and that too from Randhir.” Tanya giggled seeing her boyfriend’s jealous avatar.
“Yes! I’m jealous and what else I am supposed to do seeing someone so close to my girlfriend” sanskar fumed.
She chuckled. Her boyfriend looks so cute when he’s jealous.
******
Her lips curved into a smile. There are lot of beautiful moments they had shared together.
*******************************************