Hey ya! Hope you like the chapter. Guess I should slowly start with the repairing of our Rag-San relationship, ne?

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

Moving on...

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51. Remembering her Presence

"Ugh!" Sanskar woke up with a groan. "Wha...wha?"

Everything was so dark. He couldn't see anything. Moreover, his head felt like it was filled with cotton.

'Why is everything so dark? So dark...'

"Just like your life?" spoke a voice nearby.

My conscious is talking back to me. Great!

"Being sarcastic now, are we? Cute Sanky, very cute." sassed a voice. "You were talking out loud, you moron."

Groggily, Sanskar tried opening his eyes, only to find them too heavy. Finally, with great effort he managed to open them, only to close them quickly because of the brightness of the lights.

"Why is it so bright? Ugh, the lights. Damn it Lucky, turn them off!"

"Its not too bright. You're just hungover."

"Hungover?" Sanskar tried to recall what happened the previous day, only to draw a blank after the time he marched into the office. 'And then what? The employees were leaving and Manisha, the bitch!' A wave of anger hit Sanskar as he remembered how angry he was at her after what she did at the mall. But that was it.

He didn't remember if he shouted at her or even worse...'did I hit her? Oh God! She better not mess up my business'.

But that still doesn't explain how he got back home.

And what was Laksh doing in his house at the crack of dawn?

"Did you bring me home, Lucky?"

"Like I would be able to carry your drunken arse all by myself. You aren't exactly light weight Sanky."

"Will you stop your lame sarcasm and answer me right for once, you retard?!" Sanskar shouted with a glare.

"Behave Sanskar! He is back after so long and all you do is bark at your cousin brother. You should be ashamed. Is that how I raised you?" Sujata glared at him as she emerged from the kitchen, placing two cups of tea in front of them.

"Maa, explain to me what I'm doing here, how I got here and what is he doing here in MY house."

"Go wash your face and have a bath first!"

Sanskar opened his mouth to argue, but thought better of it. He did smell.

Getting up abruptly, he swayed a bit, but balanced himself by holding on to Laksh's mop of hair.

"Ow! You chickenshit! Control your damned body!"

"Whatever. It's too early for your whinings." Sanskar smirked. Pulling a little too hard on Laksh's hair, he walked off towards his room.

As he neared his room, he heard his mother question Laksh on why he had all the lights on in the room as it was too bright for even her. 'Aish! That shitty brother did turn on many lights just to make me more miserable. I'll get back to you Lucky, just you wait!' slamming his door loudly, he started heading towards his attached washroom.

"So, Laksh...why so early? Were you that excited to see us?" Sujata questioned.

"Nah. I was missing only Ram baba." Laksh joked as he saw Ram emerge from his room.

Ram chuckled. "Ai, that's my boy. It's been so long. How has America been treating you?"

"Is that so? Then I'll stop the halwa that I put on the stove right away since you didn't miss me." Sujata huffed.

"Swell and fantabulous Baba! But their cooking can never match up to Sujata Maa's cooking." Laksh tried doing some damage control for the sake of his halwa.

"Oooo. Does that mean Annapurna Maa's cooking isn't the best? I'll have to inform her then."

Laksh looked up with a smile towards Ragini as she approached. "Good morning to you Ragu."

"Good morning, Lucky." She placed a glass of water and a pill in front of Ram. "You can't eat breakfast without taking this medicine Baba. I've been giving it to you for so long, I'm surprised you still forget it."

"Maybe I keep forgetting because I know I have an amazing daughter-in-law like you."

Ragini smiled a pained smile. "We're not married Baba."

"But we have already accepted you as our daughter-in-law. Sanskar' s ego can go crash and burn for all I care! I know he loves you too." Sujata huffed out.

"I wish it was that easy Maa." Ragini spoke with a soft voice, sitting down. It seemed as if the entire weight of the world was on her shoulders.

Laksh looked at the exchange with a thoughtful face. He was surprised at how things have changed in just a year. 'If Swara was here, she would have known how to change the situation. Swara...' nodding to himself, Laksh knew what he needed to do.

"Sujata Maa! The halwa!"

"Oh! You're right!" Sujata stood up quickly and rushed towards the kitchen.

"How careless of you Ragini. Distracting Sujata Maa like that. Do you hate me that much?"

Ragini looked at him in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"If the halwa burns, apologize to me."

"That's completely unrelated. I didn't even do anything!"

"Guilty say 'what'" he whispered a inaudibly as possible, making Ragini confused.

"What?"

"Aha! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!"

"What are you? Five!?"

Laksh cheered in his mind. He knew he was acting like a bratty child but he didn't care. 'Swara's not here right now. But I am. And I'll be damned if I let Ragini and Sanskar's bond break....something which Swara died to protect!'

"Aish! Quit it you two." Ram scolded good naturedly as he sat across them at the other sofa.

"He started it!"

"She burnt the halwa!"

"I did not! And you don't even know if its burnt or not!"

"So, you admit you want it burnt?"

"NO! Urgh! Stop putting words into my mouth!"

"I'm trying to put it into your brain to increase your vocab."

"Trying to show you're so intelligent, aren't you?" Ragini glared with a killer intent.

"I am fast at comebacks, aren't I?" Laksh preened.

"Yeah, you've always been fast. Guess that's why wisdom and intelligence always couldn't catch up to you."

"Whaaaat?!"

Ram felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to Sujata standing beside him with a soft smile as she watched them bicker. "She looks lively, doesn't she?" she whispered to Ram.

"She does." Ram raised his hand and put it above Sujata's. "It's been a long time since we saw that spark in her." he looked at her, sharing a knowing look.

"You know, as much as I hate to admit it, I think it would be good if we could have Laksh over here now and then. He makes Ragini return to her early self. The happy self."

Ram didn't say it, but only nodded. After all, he didn't see a reason to disagree.

Hearing laughter, they looked ahead to find both Laksh and Ragini laughing.

"Did we miss something?"

"Oh, nothing much. We just remembered something Manish did once and called it a truce. After all we both agree how much of a sissy he becomes before Uttara. Right, Ragu?"

Ragini giggled. "Yes. You know, once we went shopping when she called an-" hearing a door slam, she and everyone looked up to see Sanskar come out with a pissed off look. Seeing him, her smile disappeared immediately.

Ragini stood up to collect the now empty glass.

"Why leaving now? Won't you keep talking like crows in the morning?" he barked out.

Ragini didn't say a word but went ahead to pick up the glass.

"Ignoring your employer now, eh?" he uttered, earning a sharp glare from her.

Sanskar didn't mean to be rude, but watching her be so free with Laksh irritated him. He knew Ragini only saw Laksh as a good friend, but couldn't stop the green monster called jealousy from seeping in.

"Anyone would if the employer is a grumpy bitch like you Sanky." Laksh piped in.

"I wasn't talking to you!"

"Well now you are."

"That's not...that's...ugh!" Sanskar shook his head and grumbled something, moving away towards the kitchen.

"Well, that's odd. He usually doesn't leave without having the last word." Ragini spoke thoughtfully with a raised eyebrow.

"I. Bedazzle. Everyone!" Laksh gloated shamelessly, making everyone glare at him. "Hey, stop looking at me like I'm a hopeless cause."

"Anyways, Ram and I will be visiting a good friend of ours today. Do you want to come with us Ragini beta?"

"I would have loved too Maa, but I think I'll stay back. I got a few new plants which I want to plant today."

"Ah, I see."

"Are you the one who tends to the beautiful garden in front of the mansion?"

"Yes Lucky." Ragini smiled at his praise.

"Wow! Who knew you loved gardening."

"Well, I needed something to distract myself from times when I felt like hitting Sanskar for being a heartless block of ice." Ragini bit out as she saw Sanskar coming towards them, intending fully on making him hear her. 'Bingo!'

"Care to repeat what you just said?"

Ragini ignored him, turned her nose up and promptly left the room.

"How da-" Sanskar stopped and sighed. "It's too early and I need a coffee before I start dealing with idiots."

"You employed idiots in your office?"

The glare Laksh received from Sanskar could have any other guy cower in fear. But not Laksh.

"You have a death wish, Lucky?"

"No."

"Why are you even related to me?"

"Well, the universe runs on balance. So, to balance the evil and less attractive tha-"

"Did you just call me ugly?"

"I didn't but if the shoe fits, wear it San-drella."

Sanskar could feel his head wanting to burst. First, from the hangover and the headache that he had. Second, because of the menace called Laksh Maheshwari.

"Maa, I'm leaving for office. I'll be having breakfast there." Touching the feet of both his parents, Sanskar went to move out.

Only to have Laksh quickly do the same and loop an arm around his. "Drop me off at Mani's please."

"No way! Go to your own car."

"But I walked here. I thought it would be nice to take a morning walk around my hometown after so long."

"Who told you to walk all the way here!? That too in this cold weather!?" Sanskar scolded. "Did you at least wear warm clothes underneath, you overgrown idiot!?"

"Yeah, yeah, I did. I'm not the one who gets drunk on wintry nights and ends up on the sofa."

'Does that mean I brought myself home myself? But why can't I remember? Ugh! I guess I will once this hangover ends.' Sanskar shook his head and walked forward in thought, Laksh too happy to follow.

Sujata and Ram looked on as they left with shocks on their faces.

"Ram, I don't think it's just Ragini that's changing. I mean, every time Ragini and Sanskar face off, it ends badly. But today, it was different."

"Yes. It almost felt as if like it was old days when little Laksh used to tease and trouble his older brother."

Sujata could feel tears gather in her eyes. "Guess Ragini isn't the only one getting her spark back because of Lucky. Sanskar could be changed too. All he needed was someone who would stand up to him and someone whom he couldn't push away because of his harsh words."

Ram nodded. "Laksh. He seems matured Sujata. I can see how he is secretly trying to distract them from their hate. He knows what he's doing. He's not taking Ragini or Sanskar's side but just trying to bring them to their old selves."

"Well, I just hope he's successful. For everybody's sake."

"Me too Sujata. Me too."

#With Sanskar#

Sanskar glared at the road, as if willing to crash and burn.

"You know, yo-"

"Shut it Lucky. Not. A. Word!"

"Ooookaaayyy."

Not only did Sanskar not know what happened the previous night, but the only person who would probably know was Manisha. And he would have to ask her that! It was enough to ruin Sanskar's already ruined mood. Not to mention his head was irritating him too damn much. It wasn't uncommon for him to have hangovers as he got drunk often now-a-days because of work stress and other time to time emotional breakdowns he had.

But it had never been this bad. 

"Do your employees have to face this version of you everyday?"

Sanskar stepped on the accelerator hard, making Laksh yelp in surprise.

"Oi, oi, oi! Slow down you crazed maniac!"

"I told you to shut up, didn't I?!"

"Slow down or you'll get both of us killed!"

"Jump off then!"

"I'll die then too!"

"And I care because?"

"I'll haunt you forever damnit!"

Sanskar grinned and only sped up further. He wouldn't admit it, but he was glad Laksh was back. It felt good to talk to him without feeling the need to act like a emotional prick or a boss of a millionaire company. He was  now just the brother of a bratty kid.

"Sanky you dipshit retard, slow the f down!"

Yep. So very glad.

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To be continued...

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~ Mona