CHAPTER 23

"Aaj se, exactly one week baaki hain" Kabir exclaimed, as we were sitting in a restaurant, on a Saturday evening.

"Abhi...ko yaad hain kya?" Shreya asked me.

"Haan...shayad!" I exclaimed.

"Why shayad...aren't you sure?" Kabir mocked.

"It's not about me be sure Kabira...

Kuch dino se, Abhi ka schedule thoda busy chal raha hain, so I am sure ki usko mera birthday yaad rahega - but I am not expecting a surprise party or something"

I replied, as I checked the time on the home screen of my phone, which displayed -

20:45

Saturday

22nd April, 2021

That night, Kabir dropped us home, since Abhimanyu had not accompanied us for dinner.

He said that he would be busy, with some other business work of his uncle.

At 10:30pm in the night, I tried calling him, but he declined the call instantly. I thought he would be busy in some work, so I did not call back, and slept.

Nevertheless, at 12:30 in the night, after 2 hours of deep sound sleep, my phone rung.

I did not pick up on his first call, but when he called back again - I answered, in a very drousy state -

"Abhi..."

On the other hand, his voice seemed to be fresh and clear -

"Itne jaldi so gayi..."

"Oh Mr. Mad MAN" I cleared my throat -

"Raat ke 1 baj rahe hain,

Obviously I slept"

"Toh ab meri aawaz se uth jao." He pleaded.

I got up and sat on the bed, as that voice call, turned into a video call -

"By the way Mr. Mantri..."

"Aaj kal tu bohat jag raha hain, raat mein"

"All okay - with that deal?" Abhi had shared with me, some information about the business deal, on which he was working.

"Haan...all okay"

"Ab aisa hain ki - woh deal mein Jiju bhi interested hain - toh now its - Chachu, Jiju and Me."

"Aur yeh bhi chances hain - ki uss deal ke kaam se - April end ya may first week mein - Delhi jaana pade"

"So, won't you be there for my birthday?" I questioned him anxiously.

"29th ko main rahunga ya nahi - I cannot gurantee right now."

"Dekh apne office ka last working day hain 27th ko...and by chance Jiju calls me on 28th or 29th - then I have to go." I was a little sad, when he spoke this.

"But Abhi...its our first birthday together" I tried to persuade him.

"I know Ayesha...but it's not in my hand na"

"See...I will definitely try to be there,

Par agar main nahi raha toh..." he did not complete his statement, so I myself asked -

"Toh kya Abhi...?"

"Toh........" he increased my suspense.

"Toh kya Mr. Mantri...." I was desperate to know his answer, whether he was planning something special for me or something else.

"Toh...

Tumhare party pe kharch hone wale - mere paise bach jaayenge" he started laughing loudly.

"Get Lost MAN!"

"Main phone rakh rahi hoon" I gave a look of annoyance.

"Acha suno na..." he gave a cute-romantic smile.

"Jaldi bol...mujhe bohat neend aa rahi hain!" I spoke at a comparatively faster speed.

"Huh....bye good night!" he responded.

"Yeh ladka pagal hain!" I exclaimed smiling.

"Ab yeh toh batao...tumne phone kyu kiya tha?" finally after our not-so-important but cute conversation, he asked an important question.

"Haan...listen...this is important Abhi"

"I want to share 2 important things -

"Number 1 - It's been a long time, you did not complete your story. And since tomorrow is Sunday, I want to do it tomorrow."

"Number 2 - 90%, yeh baat fix hain ki - 1st May ko, I am going to Indore, during these office vacations.

Mom-dad dono ne bulaya hain and then I will be back, directly in the last week of May."

I purposely informed Abhimanyu, well in time, because I wanted him to react to my decision and come to Indore. This would allow me - to execute my plan, the plan which depends upon his story.

"Ahhh...okay"

"Coming to the story, if it would be possible tomorrow, I will inform you in the morning and we will meet.

And Indore ka discussion bhi milne ke baad hi karte hain"

I simply replied with an OKAY and now it was time to say BYE.

On one hand, I was very restless - when I informed Abhi about my Indore decision - because I was not sure, how will he react?

To add on to this, while saying GOOD BYE, on one hand - he gave an attractive smile, but I abruptly declined the call.

I got up from my bed, opened my wardrobe and removed my clandestine asset.

At first, I had tears in my eyes - when I observed that PINK BOX.

But later, I wiped them off, opened my diary on a fresh new page, started writing -

"Hey Diary,

After so many long months, when I am nearing myself to his end, I am scared.

I am anxious, because I am unable to make a decision.

A decision - whether I should do this or not.

And I am pretty sure - that I will be hurt more than him, if this continues.

The way, I notice that self-harming marks on his hands,

The way, his smile frowns when I mention about her,

The way, he is always scared of moving into his past,

This is turning into the scariest reality of my life.

Please help me.

Or at least, help me in making a decision.

Because this time- the decision is between two lovers.

Yes, the TWO INSEPARABLE LOVERS -

So, it's definitely going to be, one of them -

Either Abhimanyu

OR KAVYA."

Right from the morning, I was waiting for his call, because I was anxious to know what happened ahead in his story.

Although, I myself knew, what was the end of the story, but I wanted to know- what is HIS END for the same story?

Because I was pretty sure, that HIS and MY ends were different.

Finally, my uneasiness paused - when he said that he is free, after 1pm in the afternoon.

When he asked me, about our meeting place, I myself convinced him to come to my place till 4pm in the afternoon.

He reached at 4:30pm.

At first, when we were downstairs in my room talking, he was a little relentless to continue the story.

He told me that the story has a simple end that Kavya died in an accident. At one point of time, I felt bad about myself, because I was forcing him to recollect the worst memory of his life.

The worst memory of his life which was - the death of the girl, whom he loved the most.

But then, I firmly believed that for the actual truth to come out -it was very mandatory for me, to hear the entire story, from the MAN himself.

I convinced him to my fullest convincing power and finally at 5pm, we walked up to the terrace.

It wasn't quite sunny that day, the afternoon heat of Mumbai had given way to the cool breeze and it was pleasant.

I had my phone in my pocket, wherein the recording was already ON.

At first, I embraced him - and then, I continued -

"Haanji Mr. Mantri..."

"Continue with YOUR end of the story"

He gave a frowning look and then commented -

"YOUR end matlab?" he stammered a little, and I could easily sense that he was scared.

"The story has one bad end - and that's it" he firmly spoke.

"Abhi...I know, I am forcing you to do, something really sad - but in our last hearing, you said that -

There was one announcement which changed everything.

What was it Abhi?

What was that one announcement?

I curiously asked.

He took a deep breath, wiped his eyes and then started deliberating upon the most tragic of our lives - his as well as mine.

******************************************

'I' refers to 'Abhimanyu Mantri'.

It was the year 2014, and our first year of MBA had started.

After that accident involving me and the daughter of Sri Sir, one of the Board of Directors, I was in the good books of Sri Sir.

I was the first one, who would get to know information about all the upcoming events and examinations. Sir would personally describe everything to me and would often help me, in some of my decisions.

I had become his favorite student and he was definitely my favorite person in the college.

With person - I mean - person of a higher authority.

This announcement was made by Sri Sir himself, in the college - an announcement that definitely changed my life.

After the completion of our First Semester of MBA, one day, all the students of our batch called in the auditorium of our institution.

That day, I knew that something very important was going to be announced and hence, I sat in the first row itself.

Sir began -

"Students, please take note of this very important announcement, which might bring a significant change in your future.

Listen carefully,

After completion of your 1st year of Master of Business Administration (MBA), our institution will open the doors for jobs and business offers.

This means - that after completing your 1st Year of Master of Business Administration (MBA), more than 50 companies will come to our campus - looking for new employees.

To elaborate - you might get an opportunity to fulfill your dream and find a good-hefty job for yourself, which you can continue after completing your MBA.

After your first year, these 50 top companies, from all over our country, will conduct interviews in our campus.

After the interviews are competed, by the mid-second year of MBA, you will get the results of the interviews.

If at all, you are selected - you will get an excellent job offer, from these companies, wherein you can take job, right after completing your MBA.

So, you don't need to waste your time, in looking for jobs after MBA - plus,

These companies offer a hefty sum of money, as their starting salaries. He smirked.

So, work hard students, score good marks in your 1st year of MBA and prepare well for your interviews.

I expect a lot from this batch and I am sure, you will emerge successful and get your dream job, very soon.

Good Luck!"

TO BE CONTINUED.

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