RagLak – Guzaarish (Episode Three)

Hey Guys,

Hope you all like this update. For those of you all wondering who is playing the character of Dhruv here, its Rohit Suchanti (Since, they’re already a pair onscreen)

Love
xoxo
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Link to Previous Episode : Episode 2
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RAGINI

I have never had averse feelings towards anyone, no matter how badly the person has treated me, but this guy, Lakshya Maheshwari, just brings another level of loathe in me. I can never measure the amount of despise I have for him but if he was on fire and a glass of water in my hand was the only thing that could save him, I would drink that water.

“What are you doing here Mr Maheshwari?”
He smiled and said “I believe we have an appointment today Ragini. And please you can call me Lakshya”
“You’re from ANP Enterprises?”
He gave a triumphant nod

Ugh!! I hate this, I had taken this case because uncle wanted me to.

I hate being cornered like this and the way he’s giving me a smile is shooting up my blood pressure. However, I cannot give him the pleasure of seeing me suffer, so I took a deep breath and gave my best fake smile as I sat across him from the table.

“How may I help you Mr Maheshwari?”
“Ah, where do I start from?” he said leaning back into his chair “let’s start with how you have been avoiding my calls for the past few days”

“Mr Maheshwari I don’t a see necessity to acknowledge your calls or any other form of communication. I don’t owe you anything” I said in a sarcastic tone “Moreover I think you should start taking classes about understanding subtle hints of someone not wanting to talk to you”

He suddenly sat upright with his forearms on the table and fingers interlocked with each other and he had a serious expression on his face. Now, I was curious to hear what he had to say

“I don’t want to beat around the bush Ragini”

This is probably the only trait of his that I admire, he never minces his words and he always speaks out his opinion on your face without sugar-coating. That was one thing that I learned from him.

“The only reason I wanted to get in touch with you was to apologize for what I had done in the past. Maybe we could start afresh. I know it’s not easy to forget all that has happened and I am not saying that I am entitled to forgiveness and I know that you don’t owe me anything, this is just my attempt to make things right”

Was he joking? If he was then this was a very sick joke. He almost destroyed my career even before it started and then he has the nerve to try and wipe it out with a sorry. In all these years I have never forgotten the day I had to sit in the bar council to prove my innocence and convince them not to cancel my license. It was a nightmare

“Mr Maheshwari, I hope you remember what had happened during that week?”
“Ragini, I –” I put up a finger to stop him
“Let me finish, Mr Maheshwari” I said as I stood up walked towards the door and leaned to it, took a deep breath and composed myself

“There is a reason why I have been avoiding your calls and not wanting to meet you and the reason, as you would be aware, is that I absolutely want nothing to do with you at all.”
We both kept our eye-contact and neither one wavered.

“The way in which you have set up a meeting with me and cornered me today is borderline creepy and pathetic”
He again tried to say something and I dismissed him.

“Let us have a little flashback, I had moved from Mumbai to Delhi for my first internship after I graduated, do you know how hard I worked to get an internship with the best corporate lawyer? The answer is No”
“It was my second week of internship and I was given the duty to be with the witness, who was to testify against your then boss. You, Mr Maheshwari, to save your boss, lied to me and made me give the witness some papers which scared the hell out of him and he turned hostile, and put me on the platter”

I closed my eyes to control my emotions. That period was no less than a nightmare for me. I still remember each moment vividly, no matter how much I try to forget it, it keeps coming back to me.

“I was accused of taking bribe and making the witness hostile, my boss turned me over to the council and he tried everything to make sure that I was debarred, all thanks to his contacts. I was lucky that I had proof to prove my innocence and one of my colleagues spoke in my favour”

“Even after all that my ordeal wasn’t over. I had to struggle, inspite of being the topper in bar exams, I had to struggle to find another internship and I couldn’t even share my problems with my family and I was all alone in a new and an unfriendly city. But somehow my luck favoured me and I got another internship in Mumbai and I moved back here.”

I sighed and sat down again, looked him in the eye and asked “Now, Mr Maheshwari, I want you to answer my question. Is your ‘sorry’ enough to wipe away the ordeal that I have been through?”

He was silent for a moment, took a deep breath and said “Ragini, I know there is nothing I can say to ease out or change what has happened with you and don’t even claim to do that”
“I have done some stupid things without realising the consequences of my actions and I cannot change the past but I just want both of us to be able to forget everything and move forward”

“You think it’s that easy to clear your guilty conscience Mr Maheshwari?”

“Ragini, this life is too long but the time we have is too short to live with hatred in our heart”

I have to admit that he was right though I wasn’t going to admit it on his face; I was actually tired of keeping this hatred within. My past wasn’t going to change by hating him for an eternity and it was in turn going to eat me up.

“I’ll cut you deal Mr Maheshwari. From today neither I am wavered by your existence nor would you be wavered by mine. We are complete strangers who can be cordial in public gatherings and occasions”

He gave a smile and I could tell it was genuine smile.

“That works well for me” he said as he stood up and walked towards my side extending his arm to me for a handshake.

I shook his hand and he held on for a moment too long and said “I am good in making friends with strangers. Let’s see how our story goes about”
“I’m at good at warding off strangers I don’t want to interact with, Mr Maheshwari and by the way there never going to be a story here”

He let go of my hand leaned in a bit close and said “This life is too long to say ‘never’ Ragini”

I lifted my arm to point out the door to him “There’s your way out, Mr Maheshwari. I hope this wouldn’t be repeated”

After he left I let out a sigh and sank back in my chair. I have to admit that it did feel as though a huge rock has been lifted off of me. I had this soothing sensation. Maybe I was holding on to too much subconsciously.

Tanya came into the conference room and gave me my coffee as she sat beside me.

“You were going to take an off today” she said
“How I wish I would’ve ignored your call” I said with a small laugh “ANP was Anil Uncle’s reference, I did not want to give a bad impression to them”
“I know it’s not my place to ask, I was just concerned because I heard you guys having a heated discussion”
“Sweetheart, don’t worry about that. Why are you here by the way? I told you to leave didn’t I?”
“I thought I would leave with you. Didn’t want you to stay alone in office on a Saturday, plus Sumi mam has called me and instructed to kick out of office”

Ah, mom. She hates it when I work on weekends too. Her fear is that I don’t have a life outside of my work and she isn’t wrong to be frank, for the longest time I have made work my life and everyone hates that. There are times when Dhruv has to physically drag me out of office.

“Alright, now that your boss’s boss has given you instructions, you have no choice but to obey them. Pack up your stuff too. I’ll drop you on the way”

I reached home after dropping Tanya and I was greeted by Sheena aunty and Dhruv.

“Ragini, why are you working on a Saturday?” she asked me
“Might as well take her class today Sheena, she hardly ever listens to me” mom said

And I could see Dhruv sitting behind and enjoying the show. “What are you laughing at?” I asked him as I threw a pillow.

“I had a meeting with the client that uncle had referred to me. I could not refuse them”
“Start learning to say no to your uncle also. Every time I look at you I feel as if you’re shrinking by inches due to stress”
“Ma not again” I glared at Dhruv to help me out.
“Leave her alone you both, anyway she’s coming out with me tonight” he then turned to me and said “You go get dressed quickly. We have to leave in 20 Mins”

Damn this idiot. All he had to do was to save me from mom and Aunty’s lecture and he now wants me to go out.
“Where are you both going?” aunty asked
“Clubbing” he replied and I face palmed
“Good, take her out somewhere otherwise all she does is travel home to office and then back home” mom said
“Whoa hey, I am going alright. Stop with all the complaining”

I reluctantly got dressed and we went to our favourite club, it’s usually difficult to get in on a Saturday night, but as we have been regulars there for few years now and it also helps that the owner is a friend of ours, piece of cake for us to get onto the list.

We went in and sat at the counter while ordering our drinks.

“I heard Lakshya came over today”
“Tanya?”
He nodded with a small laugh “You never told me what happened between the two of you”
“It was a long time ago and frankly I don’t want to talk about it anymore”
“So you guys were together or something?”

I almost spit out my drink yet I managed to gulp it down “Are you crazy? No”
He laughed at my reaction and said “Just wanted to check how you’d react. It was hilarious”
“Shut up” I said as I hit him on the arm

I could sense Dhruv shifting uncomfortably beside me, like he wanted to say something and it wasn’t something casual otherwise he wouldn’t be so nervous. I noticed he has been acting weird today, he’s never this usually.

“What is it Dhruv?”
“Huh?”
“I can make out when you’re trying to say something to me. C’mon spill the beans”
“It’s nothing”

That is when I noticed he was on his third drink and I hadn’t even finished my first. “Dhruv, I think you have had enough. One more and you’ll be zoned”
“Actually there is something I’ve wanted to say for the past few weeks, but I don’t know how you are going to react to it”
“What is it Dhruv? Do you need my help with something?”

He completely turned his barstool to face me and I signalled him to speak further

“I have fallen in love with you Ragini”

And then everything started spinning around me.

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Note : Now that you have read the update, a lot of you might not like this and I know for a fact that the story from here is going to become a little risky for me as well to blend the situations. The reason for this story line is that I myself don’t believe in love at first sight or falling in love after being bitter enemies, certain traits and insecurities of the character have been taken from my life experience and all I need is a little support to be able to move this story forward.

Hope you guys enjoy reading my future updates too!!
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