As you know, I've decided to keep Laksh as the main villain for sometime. Later, I guess I'll bring him to the bright side. 😉

Anyways, Onwards!!!

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

(Words in braces) - Telephone conversation

Chapter 15 - These Complications

"Stupid, egoistic, good-for-nothing, moronic, idiotic, bastardish, stuck-up, rich snob!"

"Swara calm down. He's gone, alright? No need to keep shouting at someone when he is not even present here." Laksh tried to reason with a pissed off Swara as they entered the Gadodia house.

"Calm down? Calm down!? Why did you have to be so polite to that arrogant pig!?"

"Swara, you could have handled the situation in a different way. You need not have blown up like that you know."

Swara looked at him in indignation. "Whaaaaa! Is it that you agree with him and not me?!"

Laksh raised his hands in surrender. "No way! You can never be wrong! He was the one who did the mistake."

"Laksh, why are you providing more air to her already inflated ego?" Ragini remarked playfully as she came near them.

Laksh smiled at her. "Hello Ragini. How have you been?"

"I'm good Laksh. Good morning."

"Good morning. You look more beautiful today. Any reason you're smiling more today?" He asked, hoping he was the reason for her smile.

"Nothing like that. Its just that I gave Sanskar his own medicine today. Right Swara?"

This made Swara forget about the incident with Mani and she high-fived Ragini.

On hearing about Sanskar, Laksh's entire demeanor changed."I see." At once he tried to change the topic. "So, did you make breakfast? I know Swara doesn't cook, but you do."

Ragini smiled and nodded. "Of course. Come inside. I'll serve you." she was about to move inside when suddenly a thought struck her. "I almost forgot about Sanskar! He left without having anything. I'll go get him from his room."

"I just saw him go out beta. You'll find him outside." spoke Shramishtha as she came to stand beside them, nodding at Laksh in acknowledgement. "Swara, come to the kitchen as well. Its time I taught you to do some chores." saying that, she left.

"I'll go get Sanskar." Ragini tried go past them but stumbled. Laksh managed to hold her in time.

She was about to thank him when she completely lost her balance. Ragini closed her eyes expecting the impact.

She would have fallen down if it wasn't for Laksh, who grabbed her waist in time to save her from falling. At once, Ragini grabbed onto him in fear of falling down. It so happened that Laksh's face ended up in the crook of Ragini's neck, with her hair falling over it.

Laksh took a deep breath, inhaling Ragini's scent, the sweet fragrance of her hair, enjoying the feeling of having her in his arms. He tightened his grip on her waist, pulling her closer to himself.

Ragini, on the other hand, finally recovered from the shock and opened her eyes. Although she was grateful that Laksh saved her, she felt wrong being in his arms. Once, she may have wanted him close. However, now she felt uncomfortable being so close to him. She tried to straighten up and get some distance between them. Laksh felt her trying to break free and gripped her harder, moving his head closer to her neck.

Ragini was confused as to why he wasn't letting go. She gasped as she felt something wet on her neck. At once, she used all her strength to push him away and straightened up.

Ragini couldn't make herself look up with all the confusion in her mind, with her heart beating at the rate of a bullet train. She still couldn't make sense of what had happened. 'Why...why would Laksh do something like that? Would he really do that?'

Finally, after a moment, she gathered the courage to look up at Laksh. He was blushing and was rubbing the back of his neck."I...I'm so sorry Ragini. I accidentally...accidentally I..I.." he was stuttering to form words.

Ragini let out a breath of relief. It seemed she had wrongly assumed Laksh. 'I guess his lips accidentally touched my neck. After all, he couldn't have predicted that I would stumble. He just surged forward to catch me and it happened.' She nodded to herself. "I-Its okay Laksh. I know it wasn't intentional."

"I'm still sorry that it happened Ragini. I'm sor-"

"I told you its okay Laksh. Now don't make me hit you for apologizing."

Laksh looked suprised to hear such a reply from Ragini. Nevertheless he nodded. "Your wish is my command."

"Alright you two. I'll go get Sanskar. Bye!" Laksh watched Ragini go with a smile. 'It was a good morning indeed.'

He turned to look at Swara. She was standing there, looking at him with wide eyes. He went and waved a hand in front of her. "Hey, Swara? Swara? Don't tell me you got stupefied by my handsomeness." he joked.

Swara gave a nervous laugh. "I-its nothing Lucky. Why don't you go to the kitchen? Maa will serve you. I'll go freshen up first." Laksh nodded and went past her, humming away merrily.

Once he left, Swara put a hand over her mouth in shock. She fell down on her knees as the realization of what she just witnessed dawned on her. Ragini may not have noticed it, too busy looking down. But she did. She saw Laksh's face when he released Ragini.

His eyes were looking at Ragini intensely, like he never wanted to let go. She could see lust, love, passion in his eyes. 'No no no! Just no! This can't be true. Laksh doesn't...he couldn't love Ragini. He loves me! Laksh loves Swara, which is me! Not Ragini! Then...then what did I just see? Was it my imagination? Was it my insecurity presenting itself!?'

"Shona? Shona what's wrong? Why are you lying here?" asked her Dida as she came near.

Swara looked up at her with tear filled eyes. "Dida I...I'm losing Lucky. I don't think he loves me anymore."

Dida made her get up from the floor."Shona, come with me and tell me everything. From the beginning to the end."

#With Ragini#

Ragini looked despeartely through the streets to get a glimpse of Sanskar. She felt like a fish searching for water. From the corner of her eyes, she saw him sitting at a tea stall. At once, she rushed towards him. "Sanskar!"

Sanskar looked up as he heard someone shout his name. "Ragini?" He slowly got up, still looking in her direction in confusion.

Once Ragini was close enough, she abruptly engulfed Sanskar into a hug, confusing him further.

"Um...not that I mind your hug. But may I know why you're suddenly showering me with so much affection?" Sanskar asked playfully. However, his smile disappeared when he felt his shirt getting wet. "Ragini? Ragini, what's wrong?"

Ragini's only response was to hold him tighter. Sanskar stopped speaking and just wrapped his arms around her.

After a moment, when he felt Ragini calm down, he slowly broke the hug and made her look at him. He rubbed away the tears on her face and made her look into his eyes. "Ragini, what happened? Tell me."

Ragini shook her head. "Its nothing Sanskar. Its just me being silly."

"Ragini.... Tell. Me."

Ragini looked down, unable to look into his eyes. "I...I just...I just felt like I cheated on you."

Sanskar raised her chin and made her look into his eyes again. "Did you?"

Ragini's eyes welled up. "Never Sanskar! But it...it just happened and...and it felt so wrong and I fe-"

"Ragini shh." Sanskar made her sit o the bench and he sat beside her. "Now, tell me what happened."

Ragini narrated the incident that happened with Laksh. She slowly looked up towards Sanskar to see if he was angry. She felt fear grip her when she saw his face harden and look down, his hands balled into fists. "Sanskar it was an accident. Please don't be angry. I didn't mean to get so close to him and neither did he meant to do it. It just...it just happened. Please believe me!"

Sanskar looked at her with narrowed eyes. "Don't be angry? Of course I will be angry." Ragini felt a sense of dread settle in. However, his next words shocked her. "When such incidents happen with Lucky, Shekhar isn't there to chide him. But me and my luck! Shekhar always appears whenever I'm near you! This is so not fair!"

Ragini blinked at him. Slowly, she let out a smile. "You...you mean you aren't angry at me?"

Sanskar rubbed away her tears. "You? of course not! You already said it was a mistake. And I believe you more than anything. I know you wouldn't betray me. Even if the entire world accuses you, I would still believe you." Sanskar spoke, opening his arms for her. She happily obliged and burried her head into his chest.

"Thank you for understanding Sanskar. I was afraid you would think otherwise." Ragini could fell soft laughter rumbling in his chest.

"You and your over imaginative brain. It will get you into trouble one day Ragini. No wonder you have a large forehead."

Ragini pushed him away with a glare and crossed her arms over her chest with a huff. "Don't talk to me. Here, I'm being serious. But you keep finding ways of insulting me."

"Awww...okay sorry." Sanskar spoke while holding his ears.

Ragini narrowed her eyes at him, but eventually nodded, accepting his apology. "So...you really aren't angry?"

Sanskar shook his head. "Not one bit." However, he knew he was lying. He was angry, though not at her. He was angry at Laksh.

Although he may have not been present at the time when the incident happened, he may not know the entire truth, he may also not know how it happened. But one thing was for sure. There was something wrong with Laksh.

He had a hunch that Laksh was plotting something. Ever since Ragini started paying more attention to him since his recovery, he had noticed that there were some changes in his behaviour towards Ragini.

At first, Laksh was indifferent to Ragini, moving behind Swara after he had gotten her as his girlfriend. But then...then it was the tiny things that caught Sanskar's attention. Like how Laksh tried to make sure Ragini was giving him her attention, that he was close to her. Even when they had gone out for an outing, he felt that Laksh was paying more attention to Ragini than Swara. Another thing that caught his attention was the fact that now, Laksh jumped at any chance he would get to be with Ragini. 'After what happened today, my suspicions are increasing. Call me crazy, but I think Laksh might be trying to take back Ragini.'

"Hey. Sanskar? Sanskar!?" Sanskar was broken out of his thoughts by Ragini calling his name repeatedly. "Sanskar, I'm asking you something."

"Huh? Wha? Sorry Ragini. I got busy day dreaming. what was it again?"

"I asked what were you doing here?"

"Oh. Its...its nothing. Just needed to think about some things."

"Things like?"

"Like searching for a job? For an apartment? For something to do with my life to not be a burden to you?"

Ragini smacked his arm. "I'm sick and tired of telling you this over and over again. You are not a burden to us! Why won't you understand?"

"Telling the same thing over and over again won't change the reality."

Ragini opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself. She knew it was useless to argue with him. "Fine. Did you find any jobs then?"

"No."

"Sanskar...me and Swara were thinking of asking Laksh to ge-"

"You won't ask Lucky anything. I don't want to gain a job through others."

"But its not just any other. Its your own Lucky."

"I don't care Ragini. I want to get a job through my own efforts! I don't want someone to give it to me as charity! I don't want anyone's mercy or pity, least of all from my own family."

"But Laksh won't pity you. He would help you because you are his brother! His family!"

Sanskar turned away from her in anger. "I don't care Ragini! All I know is that I will find a job on my own. And if can't, then I will leave your house. You deserve someone better than a good-for-nothing garbage like me."

Ragini jerked his arm and made him face her. "Are you insane!? How could you say something like that about yourself?! You are not garbage Sanskar."

"Yes I am. That is why you don't believe that I would be able to find a job myself! That is why you want to ask Laksh to find me one!"

"None of it is true Sanskar. We just thought to ask Laksh because we...we thought you wouldn't mind taking help from your brother. We were just trying to help you!"

Sanskar could see the truth in her eyes. He wanted to yell at her and Swara of even thinking that he would want a easy job through Laksh's connections. He would never do that. But...but on the other hand, they were only trying to help. How could he be angry on such innocent souls?

Sanskar sighed in defeat. "Like it's said 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions.'" He came near Ragini and took her hands in his. "I'm sorry Ragini. Its just that I'm so frustrated with everything. But more than that, I fear for our future. What will happen if I'm not able to give you a life you want in the future? What if I fail as a good husband? I don't want to ruin your life."

Ragini looked at him in understanding. She gripped both his hands i hers. "Listen Sanskar. no matter what happens, no matter what the situation is... I will be okay as long as you are with me. I don't want riches, I don't want luxuries. Everything that I want and would ever want is for you to be always beside me. If we are together, I know there isn't anything that we won't be able to tackle."

Sanskar kissed her hands lovingly. "I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you."

"You won't Sanskar. I'll always be with you through every joy, sorrow, misery, pain....everything. Always and forever."

Sanskar smiled at her with moist eyes, touched by her words. Even in the state of hopelessness, she always managed to bring a ray of hope for him. He doesn't know what awaits his future, he doesn't know if he would be able to improve his condition or not. But one thing is for sure. He won't lose hope. For Ragini, he won't give up. For Ragini. For his love. "Always and forever."

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To be continued...

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~ 🌹 Mona 🌹