The hunt for Daksh’s doctor had been quite successful till the time I was back from the heated conversation with Shakti, and it was since then that we had been waiting for the said doctor, Dr. Shah, had been kind enough and though we were still unknown to her identity as to how and what she looked liked, we were glad to know that she was ready to be here the very moment we had asked her to. 

I looked up at Jai and took hold of his hand, this person; he looked so tired, yet was working off his ass at his own speed. For hours he had been on calls, though we had tried to be as laid down and secret as we could, naming this whole thing as a getaway for our engagement… the .media had found us. 

And looking at the worried glances that my brother, Jai and his father were sharing now and then I felt as if there was yet another storm that was to greet us any time soon. 

“Mitali, please take him to the room he looks very tired.” Jai’s mom said as then looked at Jai who had once again began to refuse and somehow it was amazing to see how with one look from his mother, he quickly took hold of my had walked towards his room. 

Though Kaka insisted us to come and stay at Daksh’s place, it felt as if we were invading his privacy and hence it seemed to be the best idea to get settled in the guest house round the corner. 

We walked to the end of the corridor where Jai had claimed his room to be. The small walk that I had thought would be filled with talks and nagging was quite silent and comforting at the most. Both of us lost in our own world of thoughts. 

Opening the door and switching on the lights Jai made his way into the room. The warm confines of it somehow didn’t comforted anyhow. At that moment I realized, how different this whole thing would have been if we would have been in Mumbai, if this actually would have been Jai’s room where he had spent almost whole of his life this void or coldness that we felt at this moment wouldn’t have been much. 

Jai walked up towards the window and opened them, letting a gush of wind blow throughout the room. It felt good all of a sudden to have something else other than that awkward environment around us. 

With soft and steady steps, as if I was walking on broken pieces of glasses I walked towards Jai and hugged him from behind, his muscles so stiff as if he had something really bad going through his head. 

“Daksh… we should have known about his situation.” 

His one statement made me a bit tensed and in some strange manner relieved. He speaking it out on his own made me glad… I didn’t want to go with the whole lecture on we are into this together at this moment. And whatever it was, I am glad he kept his promise. 

 “I agree we should have, but then you, you say right, they are mature enough to know which is the right time to tell us.” I said, my head still rested on his back, with my arms around him…caging him between them. 

“You know the moment I realized that Daksh might have really got lost, I was so scared… it reminded me of the day when we had seen his wrecked car back when his family had got into that accident.” 

“Daksh has been through a lot of difficult things Mitali, he should not be like this… he should have got himself that girl whom he likes, got married to her, have wonderful children and what not…” 

“Jai, he still has time, I am sure the doctors might have some cure” 

“You and I both know Mitali, though medicine has done wonders but this…” 

I stopped him and made him look straight at me, my eyes might have not been as convincing as I wanted them to be, but I really hoped at that moment that my words would. 

“Jai if ever it wouldn’t we all are there…many of my favorite painters have been schizophrenic, the case though cannot be sorted with medicine… here love and care of your loved ones work a lot… it’s just us who now has to be there for him.” 

 The silence that engulfed us was suffocating, we didn’t wanted to reach that stage, not because we weren’t ready to take up that responsibility, it was just that we couldn’t see him in that stage. 

“I…. I tried and looked into cases of schizophrenia, it’s scary… the way it comes out, the way it affects the person, Mitali, each day out there Daksh is losing onto himself.” Jai whispered. His words were a shock for me, for it hadn’t been much of a time; he had been always there on phone calls, looking after something or the other. 

It made me wonder if that was what being friends for a longer time meant… taking out a few minutes of whatever time that we had and do things that could actually help your friend. 

It made me wonder what was it that I was doing all this while… brooding, cursing, wondering on what was it that was wrong with my luck…and why did I landed in such a situation? 

I should have been here all this while, with Jai, looking out for the various solutions and cases around the world. Surely I knew a bit about them… but I should have thought about this… Jai needed me here and as much he needed me, I needed him to be there as well. 

“Jai, the cases around the world are different, we ourselves do not know what is it that’s actually wrong with Daksh, how deep is he into this, but more than that, I am worried about one thing.” 

Jai looked at me, his eyes quite curious, and somewhere though this was a concern; it was somewhat weird for me to think about this at this moment. 

“Jai, if the news goes out right now, and the board comes to know about the situation, it will be difficult to handle stuff… I remember Daksh talking about how similar situation was occurred with a business man in Italy, he was removed from his CEO position…and Daksh, and he lives and breathes business. It wouldn’t be great for him.” 

“I know that, the talk has already started around amongst the board members. I don’t know how they came to know about this, but it’s known that Daksh will be removed from the position. Especially with his case now it’s even more difficult to find out a solution.”  Jai walked off to the bed and sat down with his head in his hands. 

“But how could they do that… that’s not right, and its Daksh’s company he inherited it from his parents it was his birth right.” 

“He is as well a human Mitali, and it’s a Law, a person with unstable mind cannot be in a position where he is right now.”
 

Jai’s words, though I knew he hated to spell them out, were cruel. I just couldn’t hear him speak like that about Daksh. Time and again I would be reminded of the Daksh whom I had met in the gallery… the one who was healthy, who argued with me about paintings, who helped me to make rational decisions and what not. 

Who would be more suitable than Daksh to take up that business, the one that his parents built from the scratch the one that he handled from the tender age of 13. 

“you know once Daksh had just casually told me that, he could handle that business even if his eyes are closed, or under the influence of alcohol, or worst on his death bed, awaiting his death… and of all people you must know that Daksh isn’t mentally unstable, at least not known to us…we do not have a proper report on his case as of now… so you can’t just say anything. “ 

“Mitali, do you think it gives me pleasure to talk ill about him… more than you I know how much he values that place, it’s his home, his family, his everything… but I as well know that if there was anything to happen to it because of him… he wouldn’t forgive himself as we as us.” 

Jai walked up to me, and wiped away the tears that I then realized had escaped my eyes, he kissed my cheeks and said, 

“I know you are worried for him, so am I, but you must know I would never let anyone harm him… we will sort this out together… just be there with me, believe in me… okay?” 

As I nodded my head, he planted a kiss on my forehead and hugged me tightly. In those few minutes did I realized, this was what I wanted the most, to be there with Jai, to just know that I could actually believe him… to have an assurance that things would actually go well for once. 

A/N
Hi everyone,  I hope you all are doing well. 

I understand that this book had going too slow for anyone's liking,  but recently I have been quite disturbed due to certain things,  but now that I have sorted them out,  I am back to business. 

A good news is that I have the last chapter of this book ready with me,  so say from about 5 to 6 chapters from here the story will come to an end. 

But surely that wont be the end of all our lovely characters as I have a sequel planned for this.  Its my first time writing a duology, and I really hope you all will like the way the story is going to progress now. 

By next chapter I will be announcing the name,  summary and the cover of the sequel,  please do keep an on notification as well by next week 'Enchanted Pursual' will come to an end as I plan to update every alternate days. 

So stay tuned,  keep me posted on how you find the ending chapters and what do you think the squel will be all about. 

Happy Reading
Yadni Bagwe

P. S I really hope the announcement makes it up to all the lost time. 😊🤭