A huge gap...😥 sorry darlings .
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Recap - At his home - Rishi asking forgiveness to his mother - Rishika -Priya moments

Rishi dropped his sister in the college and went to his office . As usual Rana was there . The staffs were glad to see him and they greeted him . Rishi was also happy to see that everything was going fine under his friend. He really looked after the office without any mistake .

Rana saw Rishi walking towards him . He was surprised to see him there.

'Bro you're back ?' He asked in a surprised tone.

Rishi nodded .
Both of them have a friendly hug.

'Priya ?' He queried .

' she is in my home '

'What ?'

Rishi narrated everything that happened.

'See I told you right ? Uncle and aunty will be angry . I tried warning you several times. Just a few more days and everything will be fine . You don't worry '

Rishi gave a faint smile towards him. Rana patted his back.

'See now that you're back , I'm gonna take leave for a week. No ifs and buts. I'll take . End of the topic. '

Rishi had no other way than agreeing to him.

Priya nervously entered the kitchen and started choking the vegetables to prepare lunch. Lakshmi didn't say anything , as usual she did her chores.

Meanwhile Priya thought about her aunt and Divya . The thought of her aunt's wrath scared her.

'Will she take me away from this home. ?' She thought .

'Ahhhhh'
she came back to reality when the knife made a cut on her finger .

Blood started oozing out.

Lakshmi heard her cry and rushed to see the blood coming from her fingers. She took her hand in a swift motion and held it under the tap.
Priya glanced at her face . Worry was written all over her face . She took her to her room and took the first aid box , started applying medicine. Priya flinched at when the medicine touched the wound.

Lakshmi blew air to lessen the pain. Priya was looking at her face with tears in her eyes. She was deprived off the love from a mother . Now she thought how blissful it was to have a mother and she saw all the motherly love and concern for her child in her.

She finished applying the medicine and looked at Priya . She wiped the tears off her face .
Priya took Lakshmi's arms to her heart and mumbled a thanks.

' be careful ' She patted her head and went.
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Days elapsed ,

Prakash and Lakshmi started liking Priya , seeing her sweet talks and smiles makes them happy. They hadn't forgiven Rishi still. While Rishi was happy to see the smile on her face and he wanted to give her every happiness . Rishika makes the atmosphere more noisy. She was pampered like a princess by Priya .

It was lunchtime. Priya and Lakshmi brought the dishes to the table. Prakash was sitting there already.

' aunty you also sit . I'll serve. '

Lakshmi nodded and sat in a chair while Priya served food happily. And she stood aside fiddling her fingers with the end of her dupatta .

' why are you standing there ? Come sit with us. ' This time it was Prakash who spoke which surprised both Priya and Lakshmi.

' no no uncle . I'm used to this in my home also . I used to have food only after serving and cleaning the plates. There were days even when I was made to starve without having any food. '

She thought about the old days , eyes moistening. But she put the thoughts aside and gave a faint smile to them. Both felt really bad for her.

' in this house , you can sit with us. You're not a servant. Come sit here ' Prakash showed her a chair.

She hesitantly sat there.

Lakshmi filled her plate. All of them started eating. Priya ate slowly.

' wow...these dishes are really good ' Prakash spoke . Lakshmi agreed .

Priya smiled at them.

' I really loved it. '

She was happy to hear the compliments from them.

They were melting slowly. Actually they had no problem with her. It was Rishi whom both of them were ignoring.

Lakshmi took some food in her hands and fed Priya. Prakash also did the same. Priya unknowingly shed tears. Happy tears.

She was an orphan. But now she was enjoying the love and care of parents. She felt how blissful the feeling was and it should last longer.
The threesome had an amazing lunch.
They cleaned the dishes even though Priya insisted Lakshmi that she will clean. But she was adamant not to let her clean alone.

After cleaning ,

' now go and take rest . You look so tired '

'No aunty . It's ok. I'm used to this .'

'So when will you sleep usually ?'

'Around 11.30 P.M , after cleaning the dishes '

'When will you wake up ?'

'At 5 in the morning '

' you don't need to do that here. You can sleep whenever you want '

Priya nodded smiling .

'How is your hand now ? Is it paining too much ?'

'This pain is nothing compared to the pain that I've experienced from my home '
she gave a faint smile.

Lakshmi sensed her hurt .

'Your parents ....?' She asked hesitantly .

' They .....died in an accident '
A hardness formed in her throat

She continued ' I was small then. From then I stayed in my aunt's home along with her daughter .'

' Your studies ?' This time it's was Prakash who spoke.

' I studied only a few classes in the school. They didn't allow me to go to school . I was bound with the house and it's chores. I wasn't permitted to see the outside world. I felt sad at times when i saw girls of my age going to the college for studying '

She broke down sobbing uncontrollably.

Lakshmi made her sit on the couch and consoled her.

'They only wanted the money that was written in my name. That's why they allowed me to stay there. ' She lowered her tone keeping a blank face .

She narrated few experiences about the torture of her aunt and daughter.

At the end , Lakshmi was crying hearing the plight of the girl sitting beside her . Prakash too was shocked , sad and angry .

'Aunty...don't cry . Please '

Lakshmi held her face tenderly and placed a lingering kiss on her forehead.

Priya relished the feeling. A motherly love.

After few seconds , she spoke.

'Uncle ...aunty ...Please don't hate Rishi. What he did was wrong. But please forgive him. I'll leave from this house. You've more expectations regarding his marriage. I won't be there as a distraction. ' She lowered her head .

Every words she uttered , broke her heart even more. But Priya was ready to sacrifice her love.

' call us amma and appa. You're our daughter and how can you leave your parents ?' Lakshmi spoke lovingly while Prakash nodded his head in approval.

Priya looked at them with tears in her eyes. Finally she has got someone to say - Parents.
Both of them hugged together . She hugged him back closing her eyes with a wide smile on her face , relishing the warmth of their love.

'Amma....Appa...'She muttered .

Prakash and Lakshmi places a kiss on her forehead.

'As for Rishi , let him understand his mistakes . Let's see whether we can do anything about forgiving him.' Prakash said.

Priya nodded her head hoping that everything would be cleared soon.
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Few days later ,

' akka...akka...' Rishika called Priya from her room.

'Coming...' Priya replied walking towards the room.

But soon a hand pulled her into another room.
Rishi covered her mouth with his palm instantly before making her shriek.

He just had a bath proving by the water dripping from his wet hair.

' where are you going ? Why are you ignoring me ? All are against me in this house and now you too ..?' He pinned her to the wall.

She chuckled.

'Hey ....what's that ? Why are you laughing ?'

Priya shook her head in no. Water droplets from his hair fell on her face .

' See...You haven't dried your hair properly. '

She took the towel from shoulders and started drying off.

Finishing the work asap , she pushed him aside and started walking out .

Holding her wrist , he pulled her making her collide on his chest.

She blushed hard. Rishi placed a soft kiss on her cheek making her go red even more.

'Let...m..e..go ' she stammered trying to come out from his hold.

'No...why are you so busy ?' He held her closer .

'Akka...'Rishika's call startled Priya . She pushed him lightly and ran out of his room giggling. While he stood there like a lost kid in a temple fair.

Things were going smooth ,

' Rishi...there is an important meeting today. I won't be there to attend. And I need you to be present there on my behalf '

That was more of an order than a statement.

'But..nana...how can I ? You need to be present there ...I...'

Prakash interrupted ,

'I've called them telling about my absence and your presence '

Without any other option left , he went attend the meeting.

Once he went Prakash and Lakshmi hi-fied each other laughing.

Priya gaped at them with her mouth open.
'Appa...Amma....' She took their attention while herself blinking eyes protracted.

'Let's play like this with him. Don't tell him ok ?' Lakshmi chuckled.

Priya laughed understanding their plan while nodding her head.

They made him attend all the meetings on behalf of his father unknown to the prank played by his parents.

Even once , they sent him abroad for a conference.

Rishi started missing Priya as days went by. She too missed him for she didn't have phone to call him or him to call her. Oh no ...Priya won't do that even if she wanted to. Shy - she is.

So he tried calling on landline hoping her to pick but only ended up his mother attending the call. He immediately disconnected .

' where is she ? I'll try Rishika's number .'

He called her.

'C'mon pick up..pick up...'

On the other side ,

'Akka...see who is calling. My brother is so impatient . I wonder how he is managing there with the love of his life sitting in this home.'
Priya's cheeks held a tint of red .

'Let the phone ring.'

'Pick the phone no...' She was almost pleading aa she craved to hear his voice.

'No...my brother won't stop at one. He will call again .'

True to her words , Rishi called again.

Irrevocably , at the 5th call she attended the phone.

'Where were you ? I've been calling many times. Didn't you hear '
He asked angrily.

'Actually...I was downstairs . Didn't hear the phone ringing.' Rishika winked at Priya , who widened her eyes.

'Hmmm..'

'You need anything ?'

'That ...er....how is appa and amma ?'

'They are fine . You called to ask this ? I'm cutting the call . ' Rishika stucked out her tongue at Priya .

She pouted , beseeching with her eyes not to.

'No..no don't cut the call ' came a reply from the other end swiftly.

'What ?'

'Actually...I need to talk to... where is Priya ?' He questioned.

Rishika raised her brows at Priya smiling. She bent her head in shy.

'Oh...akka ...She is in the kitchen helping Amma. Why ?'

Priya opened her mouth .

Rishi's m.v - she is always in the kitchen. Why ?
He didn't know what made him curse himself.

'Uh...umm...nothing . I just asked ' He muttered disappointed.

'Ok...stop acting. Why don't you tell me to pass the phone to her ? I'm giving. Akka is near me. Talk. ' She said finally making both happy and nervous at the same time.

She tapped on screen to turn down the loudspeaker and passed the phone to Priya who took it with trembling hands.

'Hello...'

Rishi heard her sweet voice and momentarily he closed his eyes smiling .

'Hello..'

Silence.

'Priya...You there ?'

'Yes.'

'Hmm....how are you ?'

'I'm fine. When will you come ?' She blurted out and faceplamed herself.

He smiled as he knew what could have happened on the other side.

'Day after tomorrow '

'Hmm...' Priya hummed rapturously.

The same time , Lakshmi called them down for lunch.

'Amma is calling. I need to go. Take care ' she said softly .

'Ok. Bye. See you soon '

He disconnected the call wondering whether he heard right ? When did she started calling his mother ,amma ? Not because he disliked that. He will be more happy for her . Or was he missing something ? Did they accept her ?

Yours ,
Aiswarya2018.
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I got much time to draw in this quarantine .
Dedicating this to all Anushka Shetty fans including me. 😉😍

Stay home , Stay safe. 🤗