Chapter 2:

20 July 2016:

                      Pari was heartbroken by the ice cold behavior of Arjun in the past few days. Asha was too little to understand the emotional battle between her dad and best friend.. So when she dragged the whole family to play hide and seek.

No one can help but join in the fun. After an hour of fun and laughter, play time was officially over and Asha who was too tired by then, went to sleep with her daddy. She alternates between sleeping with her best friend, her dida and her father that her own room and the bed was long forgotten.

Leaving only dida and Pari alone.For Dida Pari is just like the Grand daughter she lost,so they both have gotten along well ever since they met. When Arjun asked Dida to live with them and take care of Asha as she was too heartbroken by the death of her grand daughter and her husband.

She immediately agreed in spite of the fact her daughter Sujatha was against it as she wanted Asha to live with them. But even they backed off given Arjun love for his daughter. Albeit not happily as they still blamed him for their daughter's death.

But Dida knew Arjun also needs her not only Asha. And so she become Dida of the house, Dida to Arjun and Dida to Asha. She wont let them call her any other way and now Dida to Pari as well.

Dida:" He is finally smiling again, not just when he was around Asha but regularly.And i have to thank you for that "

Pari:" He hates me or i think he likes me but i am not sure what is it though"

Dida:" Well i think he loves you. I might be old but i know everything , give him sometime. He will come around".

Pari wanted to believe that, his icy cold behavior is bothering her a lot. She spent a few sleepless hours worrying about his sudden change in behavior but in spite of her worry. She finally fell asleep near to midnight.

The next day Pari got up a little early than usual and decided to cook breakfast for everyone,so while she was in the kitchen cooking little sleepy Asha who just got up came for a visit.

Asha: "Who is this in the photo Pari aunty,i found it in daddy room. "

Pari: "Show me the pic Asha dear.Let see i dont know since i dont know anyone. How about asking daddy when he wakes up."

With that she lifted Asha up and was about to take her for bath when suddenly she remembered something. She took the discarded picture once again and though she shouldnt know anyone,she knows the people in the picture.

Well not much just their names. She began to recite them one by one as if checking it out. Durga Prasad uncle, Annapurna aunty, Lakshya,Uttara and finally Sanskar.

The next second Asha was yanked out of her hand in force, she looked up to see Arjun glaring at her. By this time Dida was up as well and Arjun gave Asha to dida and dragged pari out of the house.

Arjun: " How do you know the people in the pic, you dont have memory of anything right?"

Pari:" I dont know them"

Arjun:" Stop lying to me.I trusted you enough to let you in my house and you lied to me . You knew who i was all along right ,that why you pretended to have Memory Loss. "

Pari:" I am not pretending. I really dont know them, i dont know how i remember their name ,trust me Arjun"

Arjun:"I have trusted you enough. Now not anymore. You are leaving this house today. Pack your bags and leave. You are not welcome here anymore. And i cant allow a person i cant trust to stay here any longer"

Pari:"Fine no need to trust me.After this one year if you cant trust me enough to listen to me once, then i dont want to live here either."

She didnt have any bags to pack. She came to this home with empty hand and everything she has was given to her by Arjun and now she dont even have any money or any place to go. Dida slowly approached the girl who was looking lost on what to do next.

She understands Arjun fear but she also knows Pari and there is no way that girl would even dream to harm Asha or Arjun for that matter. So it only took her few minutes to finally find out Pari side of the story and she believed her.

Another few minutes to finally convince Arjun to go and talk to Pari one more time before taking a rash decision . He slowly approached her room not knowing what to speak after his momentary outburst, it took him few seconds to realize he was in the wrong and pari would never harm asha or him and she wont lie to him either.

But he said lot of things that he cant take back now , and dida acted as the final push that made him walk towards her room to rectify his mistake and found Pari looking sad.

Pari couldnt believe he didnt trust her. And now she has no clue what to do next. But she need to prove to him that she is not lying,that seemed important to her more than the fact she might finally find her family and the only way to do that is finding the people in the picture.

And unfortunately the answer about them also rests with Arjun. She couldnt get the courage to go and ask him. Neither can she stay here after what happened. Just when she was almost on the verge of crying .Her eyes spotted him and well she cant cry now can she. With a new found determination she approached him to find the answers to her questions.

Pari:" Sorry , I will leave now. Can you just give me the address of the people in the picture . They might know where to find my family"

Arjun:"Are you sure.You know them. Well if you did then why didnt you recognize me ?"

Pari:"Is it a given if i know the people in the pic then i will know you as well..You were not in the pic though."

Arjun:"I take you there then. Get ready"

So she didnt know that Sanskar and Arjun are the one and the same. But why he doesnt know her. She has no memories but why does he not remember her either.

He wanted to believe her and if this means walking up to the hell that is called his home. He will do that. He stopped the car in the house and before he could get down. Pari was out of the car and ran inside the house.

He didnt trust her and she is going to prove to him she was not lying. She stopped on her tracks once she entered the house. She saw annapurna  aunty and Durga prasad uncle from the picture on the hall having some serious conversation.

They both froze the moment their eyes spotted her . And Annapurna aunty from the photo was the first to get up and walk towards her. Before she could get a word in. A slap was what greeted her , and another slap. Hands were raised once more.Pari closed her eyes for the impact only to have Arjun voice ring out .

Arjun:" Stop it Maa"

Well Annapurna Maheshwari was a devoted wife and loving mother. Nothing else matters to her than her husband reputation and his children happiness.

When she saw Swara the girl who left his son on the mandap and ran away.The ever so calm Annapurna was filled with hatred and anger that she acted out first. She wouldnt have stopped for any reason

But her hands froze up in the air the moment she heard her son voice. He is finally back home. Her prayers are answered

AP: "Sanskar, You are here.Do you finally decided to see you mom once before she dies."

Arjun:"It Arjun maa.And is this how you will welcome me as well. With a slap."

AP:"You dont know what she has done."

Arjun:" Whatever it is. Give her a chance to speak first."

AP:"How can you ask me to give her a chance to speak, After what she did?" "

Arjun:"What did she do, tell me that first."

AP:" She left your Brother in the Mandap and ran away on his wedding, do you know how much our family would have been humiliated hadnt it been for her sister sacrifice "

Pari , No whoever this girl is was supposed to get married to her brother.Shock was an understatement of what he felt at that moment.The girl he loves so deeply was supposed to be his brother wife.

Arjun:"I am sorry i didnt know.But maa she must have had a reason ,you cant slap her without listening to her side of the story. Where is Lucky?"

AP:"You finally remembered you got a brother. Just how Sanskar. You live in the same town as we do and yet you dont know anything about your own family, then tell her to tell me the reason now . Why did she ran away that day after all we did for her"

Arjun:"You know why we are like this, it no use talking about it now. And about Pari"

Before he could speak further, Durga Prasad Maheshwari who has been silent so far, spoke out.

Durga Prasad:" Then why are you here,/Havent you done enough. Working for my competitor just to bring me down. Do you know we lost the project i was so sure to get. Because of you, you must have helped the Friend of yours. Though he lied you dont work on projects concerning us. "

Arjun:" The first thing you talk to your son, and it has to be about the project dad.Well i would have been disappointed if i didnt know you . "

AP:" What do you means project and competitor and all"

Arjun:"Leave it maa. That not important,"

Pari has never been more confused her whole one year than the last five minutes. Every words was jumbled and confusing. They call Arjun, Sanskar. She remembers the name Sanskar but the face she recollects with it is from the photo .

A boy who must less be than 15 years old. And the aunty who slapped her looks bit older than the pic and the uncle too. So the photo must be taken when they were young. So many questions . But one thing is sure. The people in the pic hate her.

Pari:"I am sorry to interrupt, I think i caused you all a lot of pain by my presence. I will leave immediately can you please give me the address of my family "

AP:"Well if your wondering about your sister, after so long. Wait i call her down, And i am not doing it for you. I am doing it because Ragini deserves to see her sister alive. Even if she is your Childhood Friend Sanskar how can you take her side over your family"

Arjun:" She is my child friend,so you mean to say i know her. Wait if her sister name is Ragini.It cant be."

AP:"Yes she is Swara. And you jumped to her defense like always without even knowing who she is this time. Wait i go and Call Ragini down"

She is Swara Gadodia. It cant be, For a full minute he was in complete shock till her hands gripped the hem of his shirt as if trying to make him look at her.

And then when he looked at her.He knew, it was her they were so many similarities. Yet he was blind to them for all this time.She is Swara indeed.

Pari:" Do you know me as well.."

Arjun:"I will explain everything. Yes i know you, but i didnt recognize you now because i saw you last when you were 11 years old. It looks like you have met my family recently and i have been not in touch with them. So i didnt know.."

Before he could say any further. A girl rushed down the stairs and hugged Pari in full force. She was crying for a long time and between her sobs one could hear sentence like how can you leave me alone too , why didnt you call me not even once and so on. It took several Minutes for her to calm down.

Pari: " I am so sorry for the pain i have caused you. I didnt do it deliberately,You are my sister right. Do listen to me once, the thing is i dont remember anything, actually i have no memory of my past. And by chance i saw the pic in Arjun house and i seemed to remember the names of them and so came her to ask if they have any idea about my family. And while i guessed their names , i dont recollect your face or name .I am sorry. "

Ragini:" So how much do you remember, you dont have any memories of the past not even our childhood. "

The casual way Ragini handled the news was odd to Arjun. There was no shock in her face when she heard about her memory loss..Just curious to know how much she remembers.

Arjun:"Everything. She doesnt even remember her name "

Ragini:" And who are you if i may ask"

AP: " You were very young back then but dont you remember .This is Lakshya brother Sanskar."

Ragini:" I am sorry it has been so long i didnt recognize you. So How did you meet my sister. "

Arjun:" It a long story. How about we sit down first. If you have no objection of me staying here for awhile dad"

Everyone could see the tension flying around between the father and son but even Durga Prasad was curious. So he simply nodded not showing either approval or disapproval. And Arjun told them everything.

Now it was Annapurna turn to be apologetic for the slaps and everything though she wondered who could have tried to kill her. And she was still miffed that she ran away from the wedding though the girl barely escaped from the clutches of death .

Pari:" So i was meaning to ask.How can you be sure that i ran away from the wedding. If so when did i ran away. "

Ragini:" Well i didnt want to believe it, i still cant believe you would run leaving me alone. But your wedding was on 28 june 2015."

Arjun:" I found her on 29 th june ,Thats a very short time span between those two events. What if she was kidnapped and someone tried to kill her and hence she missed the wedding,not because she ran away."

Ragini:" That is possible, i wanted to believe that but i found this note written by her. I know her handwriting. It was hers. And in it she mentioned not wanting to get married and wanted to be free.It was hard for me to believe but knowing her like i did, i thought she might want to be free for awhile after all that happened in our life and Marriage might have seemed like a commitment she was not willing to make at that time."

AP:" Maybe something happened when she ran away thus she ended up getting stabbed."

DP:"That why Young people should always listen to their elders.You have not listened to me and it caused you your wife's life and she didnt listen to us and ended up running away and it almost caused her life"

Arjun:" Yeah it my fault she died and no need to remind me again dad, as i never forgot it. But Swara has no memories and you dont know if she ran away or not. Someone could have forged her handwriting. So without her memory no need to accuse her please .And Ragini where is your parents home address.

Tell me i think Shekhar uncle and Shomi aunty might be so worried about her, then why was no missing persons report filled.I check all the new missing persons reports that are filed to see if anyone was searching for her."

DP:" Because my Friend and his wife are no longer present in this world,they died in an accident three years ago. And i felt it was unnecessary to file a Missing person report for someone who left the house on their own,forging handwriting and all only you can come up with stories like that ,why would anyone want to do that, swara is just a normal girl in real world."

Arjun:"You still could have searched for her. Even if she left on her own, you could have atleast tried to find her.And i know it is highly unlikely that someone went to such lengths but she was stabbed .

That too multiple times and normal girl dont get stabbed often in real world too . There must be something that lead to all this events. And dont worry i will get to the bottom of it. And Ragini i forgot to ask.Do you live here now. Can you stay with us for awhile Swara might want to get to know her sister."

AP:"She is married to lakshya , Sanskar. After Swara left the mandap. We would have been so humiliated hadn't Ragini agree to marry him instead. She did it for our family."

Ragini:" Maa can i go with them. Lakshyaji is still on his business trip and i have met Swara after so long. I know she has hurt this family by what she did. But to me she is the only family i got"

DP:" Well Swara can stay here,If Ragini wanted to spend sometime with her sister. No need for her to leave"

Arjun:" That wont work dad. While you may graciously accept Swara as a guest. I cant leave her in an unknown place all by herself. Even if it is my own house, even if it is with her sister. She only know me and my family for this one year. She might not feel comfortable in an strange place."

DP:" You are still the same, always assuming you are right and not listening to anyone else"

Arjun:" And you are still assuming that i am always wrong dad . So Good nothing changed here then ,then we will leave now. And Ragini i will talk with Lucky and make sure you meet your sister tomorrow. I dont want to stress her with too much information in one day . "

With that he simply held Pari/Swara hand and walked out of the house without looking behind as he knew his mother tears might melt his cold exterior. But he cant let Swara stay here not when he still has no clue about who tried to kill her.

P.S - And here it ends for this chapter..This chapter might not have revealed much but this chapter is the final chapter where you get to meet Arjun and Pari.. From now onwards it will be Swara and Sanskar as they both know each other name... And their journey begins and pasts will be slowly unfolded in the upcoming chapters as well.. Sorry if this chapter was a disappointment..Do let me know you feedbacks..

Love

Nita