Good evening! Well, practically good night 😂, but whatever!

Moving on... 💃💃💃

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

Chapter 15 - Admitting the Truth

"Tell. Me. The. Truth."

As she stared into his intense gaze, she couldn't look away. Although she planned to keep the truth hidden, Ragini's resolve broke and she admitted it. "You kissed me Laksh. You kissed me!" Ragini shouted with her voice breaking. "You said that if you die tonight, there was one thing you wanted to do. And then...then you kissed me."

Laksh stumbled back with wide eyes, shocked at his own actions. It was as if someone dropped ice cold water on him. ‘Shit! So that’s why she’s angry at me. I kissed her without her permission. She hates me for it? I guess in my hazy daze, I accidentally admitted my feelings through my actions.’ Laksh surmised. ‘But she’s displeased about the kiss. That means…That means she doesn’t like me back.’ he looked down in sorrow.

"But that's not what hurt me Laksh.” Ragini continued. “What hurt me is that you hate me and already told your mother that you won't ever love me."

"Wh-what?"

She saw him look at her in confusion. "Yes Laksh. I heard you tell your mother about it. I know you think of me as someone who is totally imperfect and broken.”

Laksh flinched at her words. He looked down unable to meet her eyes. After all, she wasn’t wrong. He did think of her as such. But that was before he fell in love with her.

“And yet..." Ragini spoke in a soft voice. "Yet, you kissed me? Why Laksh?" her voice sounded defeated. "Are you playing with me then? Am I just an object, a game to you?"

“What?! I would never!" Laksh shouted, aghast. "I would never play with your feelings. I like you. I really do!”

“Don’t lie! I heard you loud and clear that time.”

"Yes, it was true. But not now. Not anymore! Trust me Ragini. I've changed from that stupid air headed Laksh. I know better now. I find you beautiful the way you are."

"You're just saying that to console me." Ragini let out in anger. "It's better to tell me the truth than feed me lies."

"But I'm not ly-" Laksh took in a deep breath and nodded to himself. "I see. I can see where you've misunderstood me." he looked at her sincerely. "Tell me. You heard me tell my mother that I hate you. Did you hear the rest?"

"Why? To hear more of how much you think of me as a weakling?" she gritted out.

"Did you hear the part where I admitted that I indeed like you?" Laksh questioned.

Ragini looked at him, shocked. "W-what?"

Laksh gave her a wry smile. "Ragini, I might smile and be joyful. But the truth is that a deep pain rests in my heart from what happened in my past." his eyes glistened in the light provided by the flame, no doubt with images tears. "You all call me a prude. But that isn't the main reason I don't date or flirt with girls. My reason is far more intense than anyone could understand. Only my mother knows the truth."

“An explanation for the fact that you will refuse anyone just because they are hurt and broken? What could you have to justify that!?" Ragini shouted in anger. She too was holding back tears.

Both were broken in their own ways. Each wanted to rub away the tears that shone in the other's eyes. Yet, they were too confused and angry to step closer or dare to touch the other.

Laksh, instead of defending himself sat back down. "Come here Ragini. Sit beside me. Today, I'll tell you one important aspect of my past that only me and my mother know about. And now...now, you will know as well."

Ragini didn't want to listen to any explanations he might have. "Why sh-" she stopped however, when she saw the sorrow in his eyes. It touched her heart. He did not seem to be faking it.

With hesitation, she finally moved near and silently sat down beside him. "Okay. I'm listening."

Laksh looked towards the fire instead of her and began his tale. "This starts in my university days. It was when I was immature as any other rich guy would be. It was also the time I met the girl who impacted greatly on my whole life. The girl named...Mansi."

*flashback*

#Raymond College#

A guy could be seen coming through the gate on his bike. As he entered, the boys and girls parted the way for him as if he was the king.

Well, in a way, he was.

He was the king of the hearts of the girls in the college, the king of pranks among his male friends and the crowded king of the College Annual Music Awards.

He was none other than...

"Laksh!"

Laksh brought his bike to a halt upon his cousin's shout. "Dude, how many times must I tell you it's Lucky! Lucky, the coolest vocalist !" he declared, blowing a kiss in the direction where a group of girls were standing. It made them swoon.

"Cousin, your name is Laksh Maheshwari and so I will call you that! It's the sanskari name th-"

"Okay okay shh! Not your morning lectures on etiquette again Sajid." Laksh swung his leg over the bike and got off. "It's not that I don't respect my name. I do. But here, Lucky sounds cooler. You know what I mean, right?"

Sajid rolled his eyes but nodded. "Whatever! Now listen, Mansi is being transferred here to this college an-"

"Mansi? Who's that? Someone pretty?" he asked with a wink. “Another one to add to my group of fangirls I guess.” Laksh arrogantly replied with a smirk.

Sajid looked at him shocked. "You...you don't know about her?" wheb Laksh shook his head, Sajid's eyes widened further. "But...but that's just not right! You sh-"

"It's alright Sajid beta. I'll talk to Laksh." came a voice from behind them. It was Laksh's father. Beside him was another man. One whom Laksh didn't recognize.

Sajid nodded and left bidding goodbye to Laksh.

"Hey Dad! Good morning. What brings you to the college?"

"Good morning Laksh. Meet Mr. Yadav Singh, my childhood friend." introduced Laksh's father.

Laksh moved forward and touched his father's feet as well as Yadav's.

"My my! Impressive. Your son hasn't forgotten his values and principles." Yadav praised, making Raj proud. "I'm glad my daughter will get such a good and well-bred husband."

"Hu-husband?!" Laksh exclaimed. "Dad?"

Raj chuckled. "No need to panic Laksh beta. I'm not marrying you off to his daughter just yet! You've still got six months to know each other better."

*Interruption*

"Wait a second! I thought you said only your mother knows about whatever this is. Then where did your father come into this?"

"Well, Mansi was the girl my Dad selected for me. Everyone knows about her and my marriage that was to take place. Those are the public facts." Laksh explained. "But the true events that impacted my life are known only to my Maa."

Ragini nodded in understanding. "I see. Okay, go on."

*Continuation*

Laksh kept looking from his father to Yadav in confusion. "Dad I still don't understand. What is goi-"

"Papa!" came a shout from a distance. Soon, a girl came running and hugged Yadav. "Papa, what are you doing here? Don't tell me you came to chase off the boys here because of your over-protectiveness."

"Well, what am I supposed to do? They try to flirt with my innocent little princess." Yadav teased. He turned to Laksh. "Laksh, this is my daughter Mansi. And Mansi, this is Laksh."

Mansi smiled at Laksh. "Hello Laksh. Nice to meet you.."

"Hey Mansi! Nice to meet you too." Laksh replied politely, although he was still confused about everything. 'Why do I feel like I just landed in an entirely different planet? I'm totally clueless here! Somebody explain or I'll explode!'

Raj noticed his confused expression and patted Laksh's back. "Laksh beta, you see, I and Yadav promised each other long back that we will marry you and Mansi once you both grow up. You both will make an amazing couple!"

Laksh's eyes widened in horror. 'He decided my marriage without even asking me?! How could he!? I'm not ready to commit myself to one girl yet! I'm only 23! I've got girls to flirt with, hot dates to go on and what not!' however, he didn't want to behave rude in front of Yadav and his daughter. Laksh decided he will talk with his father later in private

"Laksh, all I've wanted for you to have a bright future and I know you'll do great career wise. But I want you to have a life partner who supports you in every decision and holds your hand through every thick and thin. I believe Mansi is the one for you." Raj added.

"I feel the same, being a father. I want the best for Mansi. From all that Raj told me, I believe you will keep her happy in life.” Yadav admitted. “I will feel blessed if you accept my daughter as your wife Laksh. I know you will keep her like a Princess." Yadav spoke in a soft voice looking at his daughter with moist eyes. “I hate to let you out of my sight, munchkin. But you must go to a guy who loves you as their wife.”

"Arre, there you go being all emotional again. What yaar Yadav? At least don't empty the fountains of your eyes in front of the kids." Raj teased. "Come on! Let them chat. I'll get you a cup of hot coffee." saying so, Raj went away with Yadav.

Laksh balled his hands into fists. 'This isn't fair! Dad should have at least asked me once before deciding my future wife. What the heck!?' he thought as he watched them go.

"Judging by your looks, I guess you don't want this marriage to take place either." Mansi said with a chuckle.

"No I...It's jus-" a thought struck Laksh. "Wait a minute! 'Either'? What do you mean by 'either'?"

Mansi smirked. "Laksh, I don't want to marry you either. I mean, you're handsome, talented, rich and also respectful of elders." Mansi praised. "But it's just that I believe in love marriage. The kind of love that's able to touch your very soul. Not that love at first sight kind of thing."

Laksh chuckled. "Yeah, I agree. I too doubt if love can really happen at first sight."

Mansi nodded. "I told my father the same. But instead of cancelling the marriage, he thought of transferring me to this college and have me spending six months here to get to know you better.” Mansi turned to him with a serious look. “No offense Laksh, but you just aren't my type. I don't think I will fall for you, be it a month or a year."

Laksh could feel his bubble of pride being burst like a balloon with a needle. 'I, the college heartthrob, is being rejected by this girl?! Unbelievable!' nevertheless, he refused to show his insecurity. He smirked at her. "Good good. You made it easy for me. I thought I would break your heart by saying that I don't like you in that way."

Mansi raised an eyebrow. "Really now?"

"Of course! In fact, I've got my own fangirls fawning over me. I didn't want one more."

Mansi rolled her eyes at his arrogance. Nevertheless, she smiled and put forward her hand. "Let's just be good friends till I'm here for these six months. After it, I'll find a way to convince my father not to make me marry you. Deal?"

Laksh smiled back and put shook her hand. "Deal!"

*flashback end*

"So what happened? Did you two manage to convince your parents? Or is it that some problem occurred?" Ragini enquired.

Laksh chuckled. "The problem wasn't very much about them then about us. Life has an unusual way of throwing surprises at you, you know. If you can catch it, it's your win. But if you can't, it will hit you and knock you over."

"Laksh, I can't understand anything. You're being cryptic."

Laksh sighed and looked towards the fire. "Me and Mansi. We became good friends over the months. Whenever our parents were close, we would act like we were happily courting each other. But the truth was we were actually both players dating different people each week. Yes, we kept our morals and never went far. But there was always a guilt in us that we were lying to our parents.” he admitted. “Nevertheless, we continued our obnoxious ways until...until three months later when situations came to an extreme. When situations became worse.”

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~ 🌹 Mona🌹