Raglak : Love me Like you do : Chapter 12
Hi Guys… I am back.. Hope u guys liked the previous chapter .. The link for the same is below…
Thanks to all my lovely silent readers assuming there are some and the readers who have commented.. all the comments have been answered personally… Thank U fairy, Sindhura, Ammu, Ragz_teju, fouz arshi, lis, fats, piya, Megha , Spp, Lovely, Ruhani and Anonymous.
So let’s begin our journey
Recap : Ragini and Shefali’s talks.. Distance between Raglak
(Ragini) Two days before our company’s annual party, I reported to dad. “Papa, I need to speak with you.”
(RP) “I have told you a number of times not to talk about personal things in office.”
(Ragini) “It is business.”
(RP) “So soon?” He looked stunned.
(Ragini) “Yes. Lets hold a meeting tomorrow and discuss the rest of the terms.”
(RP) “I trust you are confident.” He said doubtfully. Its just like him to have this reservation. Who wouldn’t if the job is over so soon?
(Ragini) “Never been any less.”
(RP) “Very well. I will set for meeting tomorrow. Get ready for it. Go now.”
(Ragini) “Thanks, Papa.” He just nodded and looked disappointed. It was obvious that he wanted me to stay with the company. But I didn’t want to and couldn’t now, if I have to see Laksh.
(RP) “Ragini, are you alright?” as I opened the door to go out.
(Ragini) “I am fine. Why do you ask?”
(RP) “You don’t look good. Is something going on your mind?”
(Ragini) “Nothing big.” He didn’t seem convinced but he didn’t dig further.
(RP) “Sigh. Go on. Call Arjun in.”
Christmas eve(the Annual Party of the Singhs are held nearing Christmas), I was called to the Singh’s head quarters. What is it that they want suddenly? Do they want to change something? I was shown into a conference room where Ragini and Arjun Singh were sitting with their Dad Rudra Pratap Singh (RP) at the centre.
(Laksh) “I am sorry I am late. I was held up.” The air was tense and heavy. Is it something serious?
(RP) “Thank you for coming here. I do hope Ragini has continuously been in touch with you about the research work?” She has done an exceptional job. I cannot complain about that.
(Laksh) “Yes. Also, she had the agreements for patents purchased and their usage along with the application of patents for the research product. Excellent executive. An asset to the organisation.”
(RP) -“Then, I am sure you would have noticed that only approval for patent and from the medical institute is pending. Henceforth, the work from here on is going to be taken over by Arjun here.”
(Laksh shocked) “Why? Isn’t she doing an outstanding job?” Why this sudden change in personnel?
(RP) “I never discussed this with you because it was inside our family and company nor do I have the obligation to discuss about the reason now, but you see, I promised Ragini that she can privately practice as a doctor if she completes this project for me. Like you said, she is an exceptional asset to us. She had the job that would have taken likely more than a year completed in around six months. As a part of our deal to using her in this venture, she has fulfilled her part. Now, it is my turn to fulfill my part of the agreement.” I see. It was a pact with her dad. I cannot tell anything. But not being able to see her, I suddenly felt hollow and like something sucking my energy off.
(Laksh) “I see. I have no objection to this.” I got up. What am I going to do? What should I do? It is clear that she is not interested in prolonging our engagement. Do I want it? A million things passed through my mind not connecting to one.
(RP) “Also, my youngest daughter’s marriage is two weeks from now.”
(Laksh) “I am aware of it. We will be attending as guests.”
(RP) “I do hope that the engagement will continue till then.” That is the least of my thoughts right now.
(Laksh) “Wasn’t that the mutual understanding? If that is all, I will leave. My secretary would contact you about the next meeting to be held.”
(RP) “Thank you for being thoughtful about the personnel change. I do hope to meet you tomorrow evening.”
(Laksh) “You are welcome. I will be coming.” I left. In a way, I am glad I am not going to see her but I am conflicted with uneasiness growing ever since I came to know about the feelings I have for her. I need to something about this.
(Ragini’s POV) On the day of the party, Laksh was surprisingly a gentleman. He stayed with me throughout the party. Spoke courteously, treated me like a princess. It felt like all news were rumours and gossips; were all lies. He looked devoted. How nice it would be if he really treasured me! No, I shouldn’t hope for it. I am sure I will be upset since I know of the outcome. I should just leave it at that and let time do its work. But I am sure, there will be no other than Laksh to make me feel miserable and happy at the same time. He took proper care of me during the party, asked me to dance towards the end of the party. While dancing, suddenly he asked,
(Laksh) “You never told me about the deal with your Dad?” Why ask that suddenly?
(Ragini) “Did I have to tell it?”
(Laksh) “It would have been better, maybe for both of us. Work is over then?” What did he mean? I couldn’t understand his words.
(Ragini) “Didn’t Papa say that yesterday?” He didn’t respond. Almost to the end of the dance,
(Laksh) “Heard you have been chummy with Samuel Parkson? Is he your type?” It sparked anger in me. Here I am upset that I may not be able to get over you and you talk about
my type! To Hell to my type!
(Ragini) “Like I told you before, I have no intention of having a physical relationship with anyone.” I am scared of it. Don’t you realise that? Now, I couldn’t even if I want. My head is filled with you.
(Laksh) “So, you do have the mind of dating him.” Why does he care about that!
(Ragini) “What I Do Is None Of Your Concern! Our Engagement Is Over With Nisha’s Wedding.” He makes me crazy! I gritted my teeth in rage, trying to control myself. I would cry if I could.
(Laksh) “I apologise. I stepped over my bounds. Let me get you a drink.” Saying calmly, he left. I couldn’t see the look on his face. I couldn’t make out what he wants when he speaks devoid of feelings. After sometime, he did come with a drink for me.
(Laksh) “Here you go.” After a sip, I realised that it was too strong but he seemed to drink it without any problem.
(Ragini) “Isn’t it too strong?”
(Laksh) “Really? I am not too sure. It seems fine.” If he can drink such strong alcohol, then so can I because I am known as a strong drinker. Within few minutes, I knew I was drunk to the extent that I couldn’t even stand properly. Laksh, who had been hovering me like always in parties, caught me. I vaguely remember him talking to Papa and carry me to the lift. The next day I got up, I found myself dressed in a huge shirt and my head felt like it was banged against the wall. Where am I? Surely not in my room. Laksh came out, all dressed up from the hall. He looked like he didn’t sleep too comfortably.
(Ragini) “How did I get here?” I asked politely. I couldn’t demand an answer. I clearly remember being drunk but nothing after that.
(Laksh) “You were dead drunk. If you found the drink to be heavy, why drink it?” Ragini didn’t care to answer his question seeing his face show no reaction.
(Ragini) “How am I changed?”
(Laksh) “You vomited. So, I had to change you. You are not the first girl I am to see naked.” Ragini blushed at his words.
(Ragini) “I am sorry to have given you trouble.” I still wanted to ask how I came here but it would be very rude, seeing that he helped me. But he answered me without asking.
(Laksh) “I would have taken you to your room, but I didn’t have the card. Also, none of your family were free. Since mine is a double room, I brought you here. Anymore questions?”
(Ragini) “No. Thank you.” Somehow, he seemed distant, no, more like reserved.
(Laksh) “Well, if you are well, and want to leave, you can take these pants and go to your room. You don’t have to return them. I am leaving back to my city. We will meet again at your sister’s wedding.”
He was about to leave. I really didn’t want him to leave or stop working with him. But how could I tell him that?
(Ragini) “Laksh”
(Laksh) “Yes?” I have to part. It would be for the best. I took a deep breath.
(Ragini) “It was a good experience working with you.”
(Laksh) “I must thank you for the never before experience. Bye.” He looked like he wanted to say something but turned back and left. I heard the door close outside. I dressed
up and went back to my room. I wondered what he wanted to say. After Nisha’s wedding, I will be free of this family.
Two weeks later, Nisha’s wedding took place in a grand manner and she looked like the happiest person on earth while I was the most depressed. That was the last day I saw Laksh. We parted on good terms at least. I wondered if things would have been different if I had come out to him. But I know I am coward and I would never do it.
For a break, I moved in with AP Chachi and decided to decline Shefs’s offer and go somewhere countryside to work. Swara was having the time of her life, while she looked off-colour for the first five months of her pregnancy. Staying at home, after all that insistence by everyone for more than two months now, she was happy to have someone to talk to. Around the beginning of February second week, I started feeling sick. I couldn’t eat anything and felt tired and nauseous. One day, having lunch was the test of my limit.
(Swara) “Are you okay, Ragini?” When we were having lunch. It left like I could puke just by looking at the Pineapples.
(Ragini) “I don’t know. Eggs make me so nauseous. I don’t know why. Am I getting allergic to it?” Don’t food allergies become known when young? Do they start in when one is twenty seven?
(Swara) “How long have you had this problem?”
(Ragini) “Started around last week. Why do you ask?”
(Swara) “Did you visit a doctor?”
(Ragini) “Swara, I am a doctor. As a doctor, I really don’t know why. I am not able to pinpoint any reason to my sickness.” I looked away from the table. I just couldn’t take it
anymore.
(Swara) “Ragini, I know it is not possible and that you are a sincere person. Please forgive me for asking this, please, but are you pregnant?” I was about to blow off the roof when I looked at her concerned face. She looked very worried. I tried to laugh about,
(Ragini) “What are you talking about” No, she is right. The symptoms are correct. I didn’t keep track of my cramps; come to think of it, when was the last time I had it?
(Ragini in disbelief) “Impossible! How? It Is Not Possible!” Impossible!
(Swara)“Ragini, calm down!”
(Ragini) “How Can I Calm Down! I Am Pregnant, Swara. Its Not Possible! I Haven’t Slept With Any….. Laksh!” The one night that I don’t remember was with him. He was the only one. Not possible! Why would he?
(Swara) “What?”
(Ragini) “Annual party night…………, I was drunk and I don’t know what happened. I woke up in his room………. changed……. It has to be him, it just has to be……………” I sank down on the chair, shocked. Why? Why would he? Didn’t he hate me? Or does he hate me that much? Why? Confusion, doubt, anxiety, everything came together. I couldn’t understand why he would? Tears filled my eyes.
(Swara) “Ragini, calm down, are you sure it is Laksh?”
(Ragini) “Why wouldn’t I be? I may look playful but I am scared of touch! I wouldn’t even let anyone stand close to me other than family. There Is No Way I Could Have Slept With Anyone!”
(Swara) “I understand. For God sake! Calm down, Ragini! I fully understand your anxiety but Laksh isn’t”
(Ragini) “Then You Think I Am Lying? I am telling you, the only night where I don’t know what I did was when I woke up in his room! Does he hate me that much that he wants me to see how much more miserable I can get; what I would be when I break down!” I could only cry.
(Swara) “Ragini, calm down. Get up. Come with me. We will talk to him and get things cleared up.” I was frozen. I couldn’t think right. To meet him now, I would really break down.
(Ragini) “No! I cannot meet him now! I just can’t. Give me sometime. Please. I am not ready to meet him. Please.” What am I going to do? I don’t want to live with him when he hates me this much. “Swara, if I go, what will I ask? If he hates me this much….., No, I don’t want anything from him”
(Swara) “So, you are going to sit and take this from him? Well, I Am NOT! I Am Going Whether You Are Coming Or Not.”
(Ragini) “Swara, don’t! It is not good for you” This is wrong. She is seven months pregnant. She cannot get tensed like this.
(Swara) “What Is Not Good For Me! That ass How Dare He Do This? I will mince meat him. You just wait here. He will come begging to you.” She left shouting. I need to think of something fast. I need to get out of here. I cannot see him.
(Laksh’s POV) It has been almost more than a month since I saw her. I wonder how she is, what she is doing.
“Sir?” This isn’t what I should be thinking right now. I should get to work. Things that I want will happen soon enough.
“I’m sorry. Please continue. You were saying…………” Suddenly, we heard a racket outside. I could hear my secretaries shout.
“Mam! You can’t go in there without an appointment. Mam! Please stop.” The door opened wide forcefully. I half expected Ragini but I didn’t expect Swara to turn up. I looked at my executive personnel. I heard Ragini was staying with Swara. I calmly instructed my employees.
(Laksh to others) “We will continue this after lunch, if not tomorrow. You can leave. Please close the door as you leave.” Anyone can see she was angry, mad, more precisely enraged. She didn’t say anything at all, except glower at me. I wanted to bind Ragini to me and what I wanted happened.
(Laksh) “What brings you here, Swara? You are not supposed to be angry when you are pregnant.” She walked up straight to me.
(Swara) “You blo*dy Egotistic person How Dare You!” She struck me hard at my face. “I Never Thought That You Would Do This! All this time I thought you were proud, conceited and authoritative man; but not once as a man without morals. If I had known, I would have never even faced you, gotten to know you. How Could You Ruin A Person’s Life So
Easily? Did You Think For One Moment What Would Happen To Ragini?” True, I didn’t think of her but she wanted to get away from me. I didn’t know any other way. She would never accept an actual relationship with me.
(Laksh) “You would never understand, Swara.”
(Swara) “What Would I Not Understand? That Ragini Is Having A Child Of Which She Had No Knowledge Of! You drugged her!”
(Laksh) “I didn’t. She was drunk.”
(Swara) “So, Does That Mean It Gives You The Right To Take Advantage Of Her!” No, It Doesn’t But What Could I Have Done!
(Laksh) “I LOVE HER, SWARA!” I shouted. I didn’t realise I said it aloud. Swara looked astounded. Who wouldn’t be? I sat down feeling miserable. “I love her. When I heard that she was quitting from the project, I didn’t know what to do. The fact that I may never see her again, terrified me. I thought I would be fine without her but I just couldn’t imagine my life without her. I couldn’t imagine her with some other guy.”
(Swara) “You should have told her that!”
(Laksh) “I did. I mean I was about to. But I couldn’t. She treated me like an enemy. At first, she was a source of entertainment for me, so naive and ignorant to the worldly deceit. But as I got along with her, I realised, it was not that she wasn’t aware, she just cared to ignore them. Somewhere along the line, I fell in love with her. I couldn’t control my emotions in front of her. I tried to separate from her as much as I could but…… I just couldn’t. I had to see her at least once. She didn’t want a relationship. What was I supposed to do? Do you even know the misery I have been through the past few months? I had to tie her to me somehow.”
(Swara) “You idiot!” Swara didn’t say anything. She just cried. I wish I could. I know what I did was not right, but I didn’t have a choice. Ragini wouldn’t even look at me.
(Laksh) “Come with me right now. Tell her what you told me.” Swara dragged me with her. I didn’t resist. We got into her car and went straight to her house.
(Swara) “Where is Ragini, Bargeman?” He looked restless.
(Butler) “Mrs. Swara! I was just about to call you. Ms. Ragini just left with her bags packed. I was surprised. She said she was clearing out. I wanted her to wait till I confirmed with you but she was gone by the time I came back.” She saw her phone. It was in silent and missed calls over and over again from about an half hour ago.
(Swara) “I need to contact, Sanskar.” Her hands trembled.
(Laksh) “Please don’t him that she is pregnant.”
(Swara) “You!!! You……… SHUT UP! You Are The Source Of It! Why shouldn’t I tell? She is pregnant, For Lord’s Sake! And now, she has taken off not telling where! I am scared for her!”
(Laksh) “She won’t do anything wrong.” It felt like I was assuring myself. I hope that she wouldn’t. For the first time, I felt scared like I was going to die. “It would be terrible for her if it was known that she is pregnant. Let us get her first. I will take the responsibility for whatever happens later.” She hesitated.
(Swara) “Sanskar, its me. Ragini ran away from home. No, I Am Not Joking! She Ran Away! I don’t know why! Don’t ask me! Please find her. Please.” While she was talking, I started making phone calls.
(Laksh) “You first sit down. What car did she take?” I made her sit on the sofa. The butler answered.
(Butler) “She took the Porsche.”
(Laksh) “The number?” I took it down and asked a friend in the police to track the car immediately. “Swara, calm down.”
(Swara) “Get Lost! Don’t Come In Front Of Me Ever Again!”
(Laksh) “Swara! Calm down!”
(Swara) “I SAID GET LOST! GET LOST BEFORE I KICK YOU OUT!”I didn’t know what to do.
(Laksh’s POV) The butler urged me to go outside the room. The butler came behind me. I took down the details I wanted from him and left. From outside, I could see Swara sitting worried. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I thought that she would come to me, if she got pregnant and that I could finally have her, marry her. I am really an idiot to believe in such a thing. I should have been open about my feelings. Mom said that pride will kill the love but I never believed it. Now, my stupid pride has lost her. If she took her car, it would be easier to catch her. I have made enough mistakes. This time, I don’t care about pride or anything. I will be open about my feelings. Even if she hates me, I am not going to let go of her once I see her. I will make her understand. Please, let nothing have happened to her. But it was like she disappeared. She couldn’t be found. Swara didn’t tell anyone why she ran away. Ragini’s family were searching for her like mad, hiring detectives, any means to find her. I got an initial report that she had drawn considerable money as cash from her account and sold her car to a dealer. She got a car that didn’t have a GPS. The car she got was very common that could be found anywhere. Three days later, I got the engagement ring by post, nothing else, no note, no letter. It was posted from here. With that, the leads were dead. No police report was filed fearing what she may do if she came to know. For weeks, I couldn’t concentrate. The detectives I hired were searching for her. How could no one find out where she is? Two months later, one day, during a meeting I got a call that they found her. I applied for unconditional leave and started to the place that day itself. I didn’t even care to tell Swara. I am going to meet Ragini. That was all I could think of.
Precap : Another Tragedy…
Hope it was a good long chapter.. Please don’t hate me…