Hi friends!!!! Missed me or not? but i missed you all soooo much. I hope you all are fit and fine. It is my second story of Raglak after that OS – His love for me. I planned to make it as an OS. But it became lengthy than I thought. How many shots i don’t know. So it will be a short story. Hope you will like it. I don’t know I can justify the characters. Thanks for loving my stories and supporting me. Keep doing it. Need your comments. No proof reading. Love you all!!!
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[Her POV]
Once, she was afraid of being alone in home itself. Now, she has to live alone in this world. Once, she didn’t know what to choose between green dress and red dress. Now, she has to make decisions about her life. Once, her days started with prayers. Now her days end with complaints. She lived in the dream world until the reality struck her hard. The reality, ‘The world is cruel. No one will help you unless they need you. Believe yourself. Be independent. Make your own way to your destination’
I close my pen and diary, looking at the restless sea which is shined due to the faded sun rays. I get up and walk towards it. For some time, the worries have left me as the waves went away after hitting me softly. After few minutes, I gather my belongings and board on the bus. Just then, my phone start to ring.
‘yes, Mr.Mehta’, I attend the call. ‘what?’ ‘Okay’ ‘please, make it soon’, I end the call. ‘Two more months, have to bear those lustful eyes of that house owner’, I say to myself and let a sigh out.
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‘let’s start’, I say and take my position. After teaching some moves, I ask them to practice it and has supervised them. Had I ever thought that I would teach kids the classical dance which I hated once? Thanks to maya! If she hadn’t done emotional blackmail to join me with her in classical dance class, I wouldn’t have this part time job. ‘The things, you have learned would never go waste’, the line she says while convincing me.
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[His POV]
‘bye uncle’, meera says after giving a kiss on my cheek. ‘bye princess. Dance well’, I have replied. I stand there until she disappears from my sight. Had I ever believed before those filmy things – gust of wind, unknown joy, racing heart beat? But, now, unknown to myself, I believe them and look around meera’s dance school. Forgetting to lock the car, I am moving like hypnotized by the unknown feeling.
I start to hear some jingling sounds while reaching the corridor. I turn my head to right and get mesmerized by the scene. There, a lady in a dark blue with golden border cotton sari moves her hands and legs in a beautiful way. Her waist length braided black silky hair compliments her fairish skin tone. Err!! I can’t see her face. ‘Turn’, I murmur again and again.
Finally, I get to see her angelic face. wow!! What a smile!! Those almond shaped eyes with deep brown orbs are attracting me as a magnet. The thin kohl on the edges of her eye lids adds more beauty to her eyes. I want to flick her cute button nose. While registering her features in my heart, my mind says something like, ‘you have seen her before. Where?’. I try to recall where. Yeah! Got it. I can’t believe. It is her. my smile widens.
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11 years before,
‘you are so funny man’, I taunted my friend for his not-so-funny joke and then cut the call. ‘I made a big mistake by telling my accident to you janvi di. Because of you, dad refused to give the bike back. Now, I have to wait for that damn college bus. I will take revenge for it’, I texted to janvi di.
‘excuse me’. I looked up and saw her for the first time. She had worn a school uniform – white shirt with red tie and red checked skirt below her knees. Her hair partitioned into two and braided neatly. She hadn’t applied any make up. Totally, she looked like a cute doll. ‘don’t make her uncomfortable with your staring’, my mind snapped me out of the thoughts.
‘yes’, I says. she extended a chit towards me. I took and opened it. ‘love you laksh’, written on the paper. I was confused and shocked. ‘stop!!’, I shouted when she started to move. She looked at me in nervousness. ‘do you know me?’, I ask and got a negative nod. ‘then, what is this?’, I showed her the paper. her eyes widened in shock. ‘I don’t know. She ask me to give this to you. I don’t know anything else’, her eyes welled up. I felt bad seeing her. ‘it’s okay. who is she?’, I ask calmly. ‘she was there some time before’, she looked at a shop nearby and pouted. I smiled seeing her and says, ‘okay. leave it and don’t do these types of things for others’. she nodded her head. ‘I have to leave’, she says looking towards a school bus. ‘bye ragini’, I says, leaving her in shock. She turned and ask, ‘how did you know my name?’. I pointed towards her id card. She smiled and went. After that incident, I didn’t meet her.
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My thoughts are disturbed by an ‘excuse me’.
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[Her POV]
It has been more than 10 minutes. He is standing near the window outside and doesn’t even blink his eyes. He is making me uncomfortable with his constant gaze. I ask the kids to do the previous step again and go out of the room. He is lost somewhere it seems. I flick my fingers in front of him. no response from him. ‘excuse me’, I say in loud which made him to come out of his thoughts.
‘who are you? what are you doing here? why are you staring at me?’, my irritation is clearly visible in my voice. He smiles at me, making me frown. ‘you dance well ragini!’, he says. His black orbs are twinkling. ‘how did he know my name?’, I wonder. As if he read my thoughts, he says, ‘your id card’. I look down but I don’t wear any id card. Wait! I came across the same situation a long while back. I look at him from head to toe. For that, I earn a chuckle from him. that bus stop boy!! I remember. ‘so you remembered’, he states. ‘wh- what are you saying? Do I know you before?’, I ask as if I don’t know him. ‘liar. You remembered, right? your facial expression told me’, he smirks. ‘uff!! Okay. I remember. Now what do you want?’, I ask, folding my hands up to my chest. ‘a coffee date?’, he asks, adjusting his watch. I am surprised. How could he ask like that? We don’t know each other. Okay! we had met once before. But that was longed hardly for 5 minutes. Does he have any other motives behind it? no! no! It won’t be like that but- ‘I won’t eat you and you are not looking that good either. So stop making any assumptions’, he says, giving a teasing smile. I glare at him. ‘I know you are a dancer. But you have to control your facial expressions. It clearly shows what you are thinking’, he again let a chuckle. No! It shouldn’t be. My face shouldn’t show my emotions. It is very hard to manage my emotions. How does he know it? It might be due to the dance mood. Yeah!! ‘why are you battling with yourself?’, he asks. Again!! he read me. ‘stop reading my thoughts!!’, I say in firm voice. ‘then stop showing it’, he retorts back. ‘I have class. Go from here. don’t disturb me’, I say and turn to go. ‘then, what about the coffee? You didn’t answer yet’, he says. I give him a stern look and continue my work. ‘see you tomorrow’, he says from outside and goes from there. ‘typical man’, I mutter under my breath.
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[His POV]
She is looking same with that innocence. My cutie doll!! What?? From when did she become my cutie doll? We just met two times and she became my cutie doll. What crap is it? I
don’t know about her at all except her name. love at first sight? No!!! big no!!! I don’t believe in these filmy things. it happens only in movies. It must be an attraction. A boy and girl attraction. But I like her. let’s see what has written in our fate. I fall asleep thinking about her.
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[Her POV]
What would be worst than having your hand made not-so-delicious food alone after a tiring day? I am fed up with this loneliness and my hand made food. Should I join in any hostel? No!! they won’t accept you, a divorcee. ‘Don’t conclude anything without giving a try’, my inner voice says. out of the blue, the thought of him, laksh, brings a small smile on my face. What the hell? You are unbelievable ragini. You are thinking about that flirting man? Did you forget everything? But the fact that I am attracted towards him won’t change, right? let’s see what has written in my fate.
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[His POV]
It has been two weeks. after that evening, I couldn’t see her. I don’t know where is she? The next day of our last meet, I had gone to Mumbai since janvi di gave birth to a baby boy. when I reached kolkatta, I was excited to meet her but came to know that she resigned her job. She is just a stranger to me. why should I feel bad about it? but, something is twitching in my heart. That feeling, I can’t bear it.
*Bang*
Damn shit!!! I crashed onto a woman. I quickly move out of my car and run towards her. I help her to up. thank god! It is a deserted road. So not much people present. she also is safe. ‘I am really sorry ma’am’, I say while gathering her belongings. ‘don’t ask sorry. It won’t reduce my pain instead it will boost up my anger. Making mistake and asking sorry is not at all acceptable. you should be more careful’, she says in frustration. I look at her and get surprised. It is her, ragini. Is it a dream? No! again, a filmy scene – meeting the person you have longed to meet, accidently. Are the scenes showed in movies happened in real life? ‘ouch!!’, she hisses in pain. Just then I notice that she has a cut on her forehead which is bleeding. ‘you are bleeding ragini’, I say, making her look at me.
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[Her POV]
God!! Why does these all happen with me? why the people, I don’t want to meet in my life, coming in front of me again? my eyes well up due to the pain. Before my hand can touch the wound on my forehead, he stops me, ‘what are you doing? It might get infected’. I jerk off his hand from mine and snatch the file. He sighs and goes to his car. how rude is he? Just went away? shouldn’t he offer any help to me? ‘who is really rude, you or he?’, my heart retorts back. Then, I see him coming with a first aid kit. I extend my hand to take it but he moves it back. Then, he band aids my wound. ‘I will drop you where you are going’, he says. I want to refuse but looking at the time and the place I agree with half mind. He opens the door and I get in. for the security, I keep hold on the pepper spray with one hand inside my bag and dialing police number on the phone, ready to press green button in case he misbehaves with me. I can feel from his gestures that he wants to say, to be precise, to ask something. He is looking at me often. ‘Please! Don’t irritate me by reading my mind and asking damn coffee date’, I hope. He taps the steering with his fingers and opens his mouth to say something but I interrupt him by turning on the music player. How could I do it without asking him? so I say, ‘sorry, I want to listen some music’. ‘it’s okay’, he replies, while changing the gear. I say the route of my address and look outside. The events of the day start to flash in my mind.
I was getting ready in hurry when I heard a knock on the door. ‘yes, Mrs. Khanna! Come in’, I invited her, wife of the house owner. I offered her water to drink. She took a deep sigh and said, ‘I can understand what you are going through due to my husband dear’. The tears started to form in my eyes. She looked at me with guilt. ‘but I couldn’t help you. I am not strong enough to oppose him’, she continued. I nodded my head as if understanding her words while staring at my fingers. ‘please vacate this house and go to your parents’. I raised my head to see her. somehow, she also had tears in her eyes. ‘a girl like you can’t live in this world alone dear. It won’t be safe for you’. Helplessness clearly showed in her face. I wiped my tears, ‘give me one week. I will vacate the house soon. Thanks for your concern. I will take care of myself Mrs. Khanna’, I said them as polite as I could. We shared a faint smile before her leaving.
How can I return to my parents who are thinking me as a burden? Is my surname and marital status so important than who I am? Does they consider my individuality? what is my identity? A damn divorcee? Am I an open property for anyone to possess? Who once called me as ragini bhabhi, ragini sister is calling me as ragini, ragz, sweetie and so on concerning with their mood. Where went that respect when I married?
I was frustrated. As usual, over frustration and anger led me to break into tears. I took a good amount of time to pull myself together.
Regardless of the worst beginning of the day, I thought the other things go well. But it wasn’t. Indeed it was one of my worst days. I screwed up the interview. After that, the adoption form was rejected due to my low income. I sat in a temple to get a clear idea of what to do next. I always get peace there. the breezes, the slowly playing mantras, the birds chirping sounds, the smell of the flowers and oil, all these gives immense calmness to me. as I closed my eyes, I don’t know when I fell into a nap. I felt someone tapping my shoulder, calling out my name, my pet name, ragi. Who would be? I slowly opened my eyes. A blurred image of the person got a clear view as I came into my complete sense. My eyes filled with tears as my heart filled with pain which later replaced by anger. I pushed away the hand holding my shoulder. I got up and started to move away. ‘please ragi, listen to me’, she said.
why did you do this god? Why did you make me to meet her? don’t you know that it will remind me everything back which I wanted not to remember and move on from it.
she stopped me, holding my hand firmly. ‘please listen’, she cried. ‘why should I listen to you? who are you? I don’t know you before. Sorry, I won’t talk to strangers’, my heart betrayed me. as I was saying this my tears made their way down on my cheeks. ‘I am sorry. Sorry. I got insecure. I should have believed you but I was bound by my blind love on him. I am..’, before she could complete her sentence, I gave a hard slap to her. she held her cheek and looked at me. she wasn’t shocked instead she held my hands and slapped her by own, ‘slap me. one slap wasn’t enough’. I pulled back my hands, ‘I slapped you not because you didn’t trust me. because you didn’t trust our 15 years friendship’. ‘I am sorry ragi’, she hugged me. I didn’t react back. ‘he is really a cheat, bastard ragi. He had affairs with many women. I was a fool to believe him. he tortured me when I questioned about it. finally, that monster died in an accident’, she cried bitterly but I just stood still. I gently released myself from her hug. ‘I forgive you. but the fact that you had lost trust in our friendship won’t change. EVER. So we just part away as strangers, maya. Hope, we won’t cross each other’s path in future. Take care! Good bye!’, I walked away with a heavy heart.
How could she do it? how could she accuse me of trapping her husband? Just this much she knew about me? where went those 15 years of our togetherness, our friendship? she doesn’t even have a single thought that I died that instance when she let her husband call me as a b*t*h. How can the society judge about a divorcee that she/he is wandering around men/women for s*x? Why? Is there nothing other than lust in the world to seek for? Okay! I agree. Some people somewhere is like that. The point must be noted is not all the people. They can’t judge us without knowing us. Don’t they have a heart? Can’t they understand our feelings of betrayed in the desires of living? we all are also human. Being a divorcee won’t change our individuality. Why can’t they get it into their f**king mind?
A lonely tear slips out of my left eye. I wipe them away by rubbing on my shoulder. I notice that we are stuck in traffic. I turn right, feeling a tap on my forehand. He extends a water bottle.
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Note 1: My friend informed me that someone copied and posted my one shot Be happy 🙂 by some other title and it was removed immediately. when I heard it, I felt really bad. Please don’t copy others write ups. If you really like it and want to share it in other websites, please ask permission from the writers or at least give credits to them. Each and every story is like their baby. please don’t plagiarise it.
Note 2: Thank you so much my friends for such lovely comments on my another OS – I found a match. I didn’t expect that It could receive this much response since it wasn’t a love story. I was a little busy with my project stuffs. so I couldn’t reply individually. when I opened it to comment, the comment option was closed. I literally had tears in my eyes, reading your comments. I didn’t exaggerate it. I personally love that OS though I couldn’t portray well with emotions.