Mitali Jain

I saw him walking towards me, and shifted a bit too where Shakti had been sitting a while ago. This seemed really weird, what was I going to talk with him? What was he going to say?

There were so many questions that were bubbling in my head while he sat there, as calm as the rivers. But when he opened his mouth and spoke he had left me completely baffled.

"The first time that Naveen talked about you and had showed me your pictures, I was truly horrified, all my life I had a family, people around me, but none were as crazy as you. There is this picture of yours where you had your nappy worn as a cap, which was the most hilarious one that I had seen."

"But then, you began to grow in his stories, you became mature, yet somewhere you were the same kid. You might not remember but the first time we had met was during the summer vacations at the camp where Naveen had got you, you were what in 10 at that time? That was the first time I came across someone as crazy as you over paintings and art and things related to it."

He looked at me and said, "That was one of the many times when my heart had flipped at the site of you, the passion that you carried around in your eyes for something had me captivated. It was during that time I realized you were so similar to me, we would do anything to get or pursue what we wanted."

His words reminded me of what Daksh had said back in café, I reminded him of someone... and that someone was Jai.

"when I first acknowledged this feeling was when you had gone missing for about 2 hours, Naveen had got mental and was able to show it, but I, it was so difficult for me, it felt so wrong to feel like that you... you were Naveen's sister, I was meeting you for the first time... how was I supposed to like you the way I did back then." He took hold of my hand and held it as if he was making sire I was there by his side with him.

"that was when I realized I loved you, I didn't loved you as a sister, I loved as a man loved his woman, I loved the woman in you who was crazy about paintings, who cared so much for her brother to keep tabs on him, I loved the woman who could go beyond her limits to save someone as unknown as the girl for whom you had gone missing."

For a long while we sat there without saying anything, my heart was beating loudly and as I took in his words, I began remembering him, the days of the camp, the night when I had gone missing, the boy who had came with my brother to scold me for pulling up such a stunt and then I remembered him... the boy who would always be by my side, fighting against my brother to help me.

How long I had missed out the person who was so close to me, yet did it justified the feelings that I had for him?

I still couldn't make it out, as I kept on looking at him, he turned towards me and gave me that smile which had my insides turn as he said,

"that's why I am saying, if you think you like me just by meeting me once, you might have to think about it, and to fall in love with someone, we do not require a reason, the heart chooses what it wants... always, and it's okay to feel like that." He then let out a huge chuckle as he said,

"At least you can call it love at first or second sight, what was I to say? That loved the girl about whom my best friend always talked about?"

My eyes quickly snapped open as the same dream invaded my sleep once again, but alas I couldn't really call it a dream, it was a truth. I had cross checked it for unkempt time for the last two weeks that I had been in my bed, calling out sick with my mom and dad irritated with the dirty avatar of mine.

And I ... I was still mopping on the fact that, yes somewhere he was right, he had a more embarrassing way of falling for me than I had and the fact that I did really had feelings for him.

Shoving my bangs back, I looked around my room and sighed, I have a lot of cleaning up to do, but before that I had a few people to whom I have to make a call. And before I could do that, my mom barged into my room, with the literal - banging the door to the wall, her hands on her waist and her eyes nearly red with anger!

"You are going to get off that bed and be ready for your office in next half an hour and if you don't, I might have to involve your dad in this."

"I am getting –"

"No arguments, out of the bed NOW." And it was a new record that I made, as I dashed out of the bed towards the bathroom got ready and sat back in the table, with a plate filled with breakfast and my mom sitting right in front of me.

How friendly this morning was going to be! I thought.

"Naveen and Dad, I suppose went off to work?" I tried to make a conversation but failed as my mom kept on looking at me, as if trying to see what really wrong with her daughter.

And since I was already been assessed I decided it was better to focus on my breakfast. I had stuffed almost half of my breakfast in my stomach when she finally spoke.

"The evening over dinner, when Naveen said Jai had confessed his feelings for you, we had let that topic slide because we thought you were sensible enough to take your own decision... but tell me Mitali, is there a reason why we should regret that?"

"No mom" I replied quickly, without giving it a thought.

"Then why is my daughter, locked up in her room, calling out to her favorite job that she is sick and won't be available?' she asked and folded her hands on the table.

"its nothing like that, it had been really a while that I had taken a leave." I saw her taking a deep breath as she looked back at me and smiled, the way she always did at me, her own way of telling me that she understood something which even I didn't knew was there.

"you know, my whole life the only people who had been the one whom I could relate my feelings to were just a few, and your father was the very first person whom I could relate that to." Mom had a very faraway look on her face.

We knew that mom and dad had a difficult start in their life, but never had they shared about it with us, they wanted us to make our own mistakes, and learn from them rather than comparing with theirs.

"your dad was a very passionate man, and young any one could have fallen in love with him and would have agreed to marry him, but he chose me, and never had I asked for a reason, not because he was perfect, and who is... years later I know that though he qualifies so many things, there are more flaws to him than anyone else..."

She let out a chuckle and continued, "but the best thing about him was, he knew he loved me even before I did, and had the guts to accept it. A man who knows his feelings, is a gem Mitali."

She took hold of my hand and caressed it lovingly as she said, "and its totally okay to be confused about your feelings, after all you are my daughter, being confused runs in your blood, but you are also your dads daughter, you have an ability to make the right decision, and the best way is what he taught you."

I smiled at her goofily as I completed her statement, "listen to what the heart says."

"he is never wrong, may be you would have a few difficulties but through the years that he has taken all his decision related to us with his heart, and I am proud to say that, they were perfect, perfect for the situations, for us. Don't stress yourself on this, if Jai loves you, he will make you realize the depth of it and will wait for you till you have a decent answer, and if not, I am sure he is mature enough to take yet another rejection." The two of us chuckled at that while I resumed back to my breakfast, and she poured herself a glass of juice.

"so tell me how was this ball, any interesting girl for my son?" and just like that, I was fine... may be for time being, but I was fine enough to think rationally, to let my heart take the matter in its hand, obviously along with jai, and now I had to know what was it that Jai would do to achieve my heart.

****

As I walked back into the gallery and looked across the new collection up on the walls, I realized mom was right something was really wrong with me to miss out this place and be at home.

The new colors, themes and people around it gave such a vibrant environment. Though the holidays were over, people were back to their routines I could see a steady fleet of people walking around the gallery with brochures in their hands. Though there was one thing that I missed – the interns, with many of them done with their apprenticeship, the hallways were now empty without their continuous chatter and giggles, it used to make job a bit fun with their awe worthy expressions and delight.

As soon as I walked inside my cabin, I was greeted with a few files still rested on my table to be assessed and looked into. And finally I could say that the holiday was over.

Taking over the files that were left by my substitute, I quickly shot up and walked out once again to look into the new stock of paintings and match them up with the dates.

The routine had kicked in to me by the next hour when the door to my cabin burst open and waltzed in two fashionably looking people.

The lady dressed in tight jeans and a branded spaghetti top and boots with a Gucci bag on her hand, where as the gentle man was seemingly into his late teen dressed in typical leather jacket and v neck tshirt and pants.

"if we are not wrong you might be this girl?" the lady asked as she showed me mine and Jai's picture from the ball . My eyes snapped from her than to picture and then back at the two.

"yes, but may I know who you are? Or even better should I calling out the police?" I asked getting a weird feeling, though their appreanse seemed a bit off, and with the number of security out there I shouldn't require any police.

I shouldn't right? I thought otherwise.

"I like her wit." The guy muttered as he straightened up again , while the lady assessed me.

"how do you know Jai Kapadia?" the lady asked once again.

"that should my question... rather, how do you know where to find me and most importantly how do you know Jai?" I fired back, trying to act as cool as I could, while on the inside I was all jittery, what ever this was, all I hope this wouldn't be one of Rey's or Naveen's or even better Dhruv's doing.

"you answer our question, how do you know Jai?" the two persisted.

Taking a deep breath, I looked back at them and said, "Jai and brother work together."

"who... Dhruv?" the guy asked,

"no idiot he doesn't have any siblings." the lady snapped at the guy and looked at me and narrowed her eyes at me and said, "is it Naveen?"

"how the hell do you know my brother and his friends!" I snapped at the two and stood up and walked towards them my eyes narrowing at the two.

It seemed drama had become a fair play of my life now... well done Jai Kapadia, very well done. I thought and took another step towards them and greeted my teeth as I spoke,

"listen to me, who ever you are, this room is under cctv, there are about 100 of guards around this premises who will ask you the reason later but shoot you first, so out with it... who are you and how the hell do you know Jai, Dhruv and Naveen?"

For about a minute or so the two kept on looking at me and than they turned and looked at each other made smiled brightly as they squealed and jumped at me to give me a tight hug.

"ohh my you really are Mitali." The two said with me still choked up in their tight hug.

With very much of a difficulty finally they let me go as I asked them trying my best to regain my breath, "who the hell are you?"

"ohh we... this is my twin, vansh"

"and she is my twin Vanshika."

"and we are Jai's only sweet little siblings! " I eyed the two people as I took hold of my phone and called out the concerned person.

"Jai, I think you need to come here."

****

Daksh Chauhan

Walking into my cabin I took hold of the landline and called my secretry, 'shruti please get me a cup of coffee and may be if possible some pasta I am craving it."

"you seem to be in a good mood sir?" she asked. It surely seemed as if I was in a very great mood, and as much as I thought about the reason it seemed literally unkown.

"yes it seems so, and shruti can you please make it quick?"

"sure sir, I will be right back."

Right after 20 min, there was a knock on the door, as Shruti peeped in. nodding my head at her, I flipped the page to the next as she served my eateries.

"sir its ready." She called out. Keeping the file on the table I walked toward the couch and sat back and took hold of the plate and was about to eat it when the smell of the pasta hit right into my head shooting a severe pain as I kept on looking at it and smelled it.

And some how the smell of mushroom made me gag, quickly throwing it away I snapped my eyes back at shruti and roared at her in a loud voice,

"I was very much clear about my food not having any kind of mushrooms in it, I am freaking allergic to it."

"but sir this is a plain red sauce pasta just the way you like it..." shruti argued as I tried to stop the weird feeling that was crawling onto my body. I backed off from there, I was feeling terribly scared as if someone was out there about to harm me.

My eyes went off to the food, than the coffee and then towards Shruti and the cleaner who kept on staring at me. My hands automatically went about my body as if to save me... something was not right, why did I felt so scared all of a sudden?

I began to heave loudly as it seemed difficult to breath in, taking a deep breath I screamed in a loud voice, "get the hell out of here!" and just like that in a minute I was let all alone to calm down, but as I did I came to realize.

Something was wrong, something was terribly wrong with me! I thought as I sat back in the sofa and once again took out my diary and began to write in it.

A/N

This is finally the beginning of the second part of the story. the chapter for this part of the story are written, but I am not that sure of the sequence, hence I might miss out on some updates but each of those updates would be nice.

talking about this chapter, I am sorry I couldnt edit it much better, didnt had much time and nor energy to sit back, I hope I could be excused this time... may be later on in the week I would come back and edit it.

Do tell me why and what do you think the first part of the story according to you was. I have my own theories, first I would love to know yours.

do tell me how did you liked the story.

thank you for reading

Happy reading

Yadni Bagwe