Just as fast as sleep had dawned on him, it had vanished the previous night when he had heard Bhargavi's soft groan, as if she were in pain.

Alarmed, he had opened his eyes to notice that his right arm was placed on her back. Quickly removing his arm, he had gently lifted up her head and gingerly placed it on a pillow.

He had seen her lips tremble like she wanted to say something. Seating himself beside her, he softly caressed her head. She uttered a few sentences,that sounded like hilarious snippets " Damn! I wrote some really awesome shit! Yet was being yelled at by that moronic creature called Boss".

Her mind was meandering and ruminating. It was the ramblings of a befuddled mind. She ended up blurting out her darkest secrets, that she told no one," I...I don't know what to expect from anyone... anymore.

Bhawani says that I hate her. What she doesn't realize is...I know what kind of a person Ishaan is. He definitely is not a bad person, maybe he even likes her but doesn't love her enough to trade his career for her.

Do I even have a home? Maa, Bhawani both of them hate me."

Prabir listened to her attentively. It was painstakingly clear to him that she was being quite hard on herself, often holding back a lot of things, that she was spilling out in a  subconscious state of mind. She was having a strained relationship now, with Bhawani was purely alarming to him.

What did Bhargavi know about Ishaan, he pondered for a while. He heard her cry out loud in her sleep, it was an emotional breakdown, similar to the time when she had been unconscious, back when Prabir was beaten up badly by the henchmen of Mayank.

Wiping her tears delicately, he hummed a song ' Surmayi Ankhion mein nanha munha ik sapna de jaa re', a song that he used to sing for Parul when she was a kid. He softly caressed her head and she drifted back into a deep slumber.

Placing his heavily cushioned chair beside the bed, he sank down on it and carefully remarked her. His lips curved up slowly into a mischievous smile. He had plans to surprise her in ways she could never imagine. Closing his eyes, he leaned back on the chair relaxing for a while, listening to the light tingling sounds of the bells hung on the dream catcher as a light cold breeze blew in.

The entire night, he had been sitting on the chair and drowsing, till he heard the twittering of birds and the warm rays of the Sun hit his face.

Taking a black gel pen from his study table, he had made whiskers on her face, before leaving downstairs. He had wanted to playfully tease and annoy her to divert her attention from all sorts of stressful issues hovering in her mind.

******************

"You yourself have not fully recovered Bhargu. In any case, I am not leaving you alone to take care of an elderly person", he shrugged.

"Why did you make whiskers on my face?" She asked," It is so unlike you".

"Why is it unlike me?" He asked with a serious expression on his face.

"You always treat me like a fragile doll or a queen, sometimes even like a child but I  never knew you were this childish".

" I am still a child at heart... and would love to grow up and grow old together, with you".

Bhargavi understood that with no amount of convincing,could she send Prabir to college.

They sat in the guest room beside Mayank's mother, and Prabir lit up the gloomy atmosphere with sarcasm and humour. He narrated some short stories with great zeal.

Mrs. Jyotshna was delighted to listen to the stories, and was thankful for their presence. She had always enjoyed Prabir's company, even though she could never speak out; her eyes glowed up instantly, when she heard Prabir's voice.

Placing some lukewarm water in a big container he left the room, while Bhargavi gave Mrs. Jyotshna a sponge bath and changed her clothing. Bhargavi hurt herself several times, as she tried to change the clothes of Mrs. Jyotshna but giving up was not in her dictionary.

Forgetting all about her pain, Bhargavi caressed her( Mrs. Jyotshna's) face once she was done, with a warm smile.

"Prabir" she called out stepping out of the room. Walking in with some hot steaming soup in a bowl, Prabir smirked at both the women. He quickly, lifted Mrs. Jyotshna and placed her on the wheelchair.

Blowing two to three times on the hot soup, he fed her holding up the spoon with love and care, as if feeding a small child. Though, Mrs. Jyotshna couldn't speak,he questioned her continuously and spoke about random nonsensical things, " You like the soup? Is it hot? What's your favorite dish?"

Knowing well Bhargavi would be hurt if she tried to undress and change Mrs. Jyotshna's clothes, Prabir was left with no option as bath time could be awfully awkward and embarrassing for him as well as Mrs. Jyotshna.

"You okay?" He voiced softly, arching a brow at Bhargavi.

Nodding back with a smile, she came close to him and asked him to take Mrs. Jyotshna around the house on the wheelchair, as she looked quiet better than the day Mayank had first brought her.

Gladly agreeing, Prabir pushed the wheelchair and informed Mrs. Jyotshna that she need not worry about Mayank, Mr. Banerjee would become his acting guardian and that he himself would be paying for his school and tuition.

"I have already spoken with Ghosh Uncle and he is willing to let Mayank stay with him, in his house after his daughter and grandchildren leave.
However, he refused to accept rent, rather insisted that he will be taking care of all of Mayank's day to day expenses", he further added.

With a quizzical look, Bhargavi inquired," He will be staying here and traveling up to Simpson everyday for school?"

"Yep! He agreed to that.
He doesn't want to leave his mother behind once again", Prabir said.

"Can't you convince him? He has left her in your care. He doesn't need to worry about her anymore. He could easily come on weekends to meet her", Bhargavi replied.

"I can but I won't. He needs to learn to take responsibility of his life.

We need to place a constant vigil on him and keep reminding him, that he needs to fulfill Keya's dreams and not drown himself in self-pity and agony.

He might end up on a path of self destruction; his wounds are still raw and fresh Bhargu", Prabir sighed.

"Yes! You are right. I can only hope that he doesn't cause more trouble".

"What kind of trouble are you indicating?"

"Come'on Prabir, he drinks and smokes frequently, uses filthy and abusive language, is extremely arrogant...rude.

I can't personally vouch that he won't try to harm Parul or Bhawani. A bad person is always a bad person.

Yes! I do agree that people can change with time, but I'm not sure if we should be gambling when the stakes are so high".

"Bhargu. He won't harm anyone. The only person we need to protect him from... is he himself".

"How are you so sure?"

"He's broken Bhargu, broken people seldom try to hurt others.

Yeah! Hurt people hurt others but they hurt themselves much more. He may spew venomous emotions on to those around him because he's hurting inside. He's marinating himself everyday in a hot bath of angry emotions and offenses.

Nobody wants to be alone at a proverbial pity party. He needs people to be around him Bhargu...to bail him out of the self-imposed prison cell, he has created for himself".

Stunned by what she had heard Bhargavi stood impasse, and then saw a drop of water trickle down the left cheek of Mrs. Jyotshna.

Receiving a call, Prabir walked away towards the kitchen to speak with Bhawani.

"Hello! Bhaiya!"

"Yes! Bhawu"

" Bhaiya. I...I need to tell you something. Please please don't tell Maa or Di" she pleaded.

"Don't hesitate. Tell me. What is it?"

"Bhaiya. I failed in physics, chemistry and maths. Di told me many times to join a good coaching institute but I neglected her words. I thought I would easily mange using the text books from the school library. The coaching institutes demand a lot of money for admission, Di was already having a hard time"

"Why did you never ask me to help you with your studies?"

"I am really sorry Bhaiya. Please forgive me. Day after tomorrow, we have the PTM ( parents teacher meeting) and I am scared to even talk about this. Help me please"

"Relax! I'll talk to Bhargu"

"No! No no Bhaiya please please. She will kill me"

"Okay! How about me attending your PTA?"

"Can you do that? I am so happy. I promise I'll work harder than ever and won't let this happen again" she rattled out cheerfully.

Turning around Prabir saw Bhargavi giving him a cold stare as he disconnected the call. " I have given Mrs. Jyotshna her meds", she informed calmly and turned around to leave.

"It was Bhawu. She has failed in physics, chemistry as well as maths", Prabir said softly.

"Did you congratulate her? Was she begging you to attend her PTM?"

Silently taking note of her mood, he asked,"Why do you think she hates you?"

"Guess I am not a good sister. She is not comfortable with...calling me up and asking me to attend her PTM".

"And why is it so?"

"You should ask her. Wait! You already know. I always beat her up and physically abuse her.

The day, she returned home drunk, you had seen it with your own eyes".

"I am not buying that story", he then carefully shot the question," Is Ishaan Bagchi involved in anyway?"

"Whether I like Ishaan or not, I did approve anyway. It's her choice, her decision. I was even prepared to fake it for her.

One day, in the evening, Bhawani came to me while I was studying.
She was sad that he wasn't receiving her calls or texting her back.
While she was immersed knee deep with thoughts all about him, he hardly had time to look at her or smile back.

In school he had been totally avoiding her. He had rude comebacks for every question that she asked him. He pretended to be engrossed in his studies when she approached him, however, would gladly make time for his friends and would gossip and...and chat with them. 

I suggested her to leave him alone and move on, focus on her studies instead. If he doesn't respect her, is not sensitive to her feelings, most probably he doesn't deserve her. 

Character is not made in a crisis. It can only get revealed.

She told me that she won't be attending my marriage or even my funeral, that I...I can't bear to see her happy. She furiously asked me what did I even know about Ishaan to say such things about him.

I deliberately tried to keep my fury in check,knowing that not only was she clueless but also she wasn't ready to listen at all and will have to learn for herself.

Look I'm not saying that he is a psychopath or a supreme con artist but at least you need to set your boundaries... was what I said and was slapped hard for voicing my opinion.

"Enough Di! I have had enough" was all she said before storming out, fuming with rage".

"Does this incident date back to the time, even before she returned home drunk? Is this why she was yelling that you hate her?" Prabir asked calmly.

"No! Back then, Ishaan was very friendly and well behaved with her. 

We both argue a lot, we fight, sometimes hate each other. She's quiet annoying at times. She thinks she's right while I think I am right but Maa thinks we both are dumb and fight for no reason.

Bhawani blabbered all that, at that time as she thought... I hate her because I never let her touch my belongings, at least not without my permission".

"Prabir I just don't know what to do with that girl. She has no aim in her life, she hasn't yet decided what she wants to do.

She picked up science stream because all of her friends did the same and is wondering what the f*** is happening right now. She's realizing that she has made a horrible mistake", she added.

"Don't worry! I'll get Mayank and her admitted to the same coaching centre"

"How will you do that in the middle of the session?"

"One of my friend's elder brother has been teaching at that institute since the last two years. It won't be difficult.

I'll ask Shekhar to help her with physics and she's going to develop good bonding with chemistry once Sachin starts helping. For maths, I guess I'll help.

Mayank has the same subjects as her, only addition being that he has even failed in biology and will need help with it. I am thinking, I can ask Vishwesh to help him with biology. Only if he can get rid of his flirtatious nature, maybe I'll ask him to help Bhawani. The way he explains biology, no one else can.

Will you be able to help Mayank with English? He has failed in all the subjects".

"Sure!"

"I'm gonna talk with Ishaan Bagchi, and figure out what is going on with him. He has been working as an intern, for Rakesh's company", Prabir said clenching his fist.

Subduing his emotions, he had continued the conversation with Bhargavi, while his insides were boiling with rage. How could Bhawani slap her elder sister? How dare she?

Bhargavi could see through his emotional turmoil and softly caressed his face. "You are not sending me to a PG accommodation then?" She enquired elated.

Taken aback, Prabir kept pondering on what he could do next to somehow divert the topic and was relieved to hear the doorbell.

************************************

A/N: Hi there!

Hope you are all doing well!

Here's the new update,hope you liked it. Thank you for reading!
There are plenty of surprises ahead so keep reading! Please

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