*** CHAPTER 9 ***

Damn! Where did it go?

His right eyes is still black but his left eye… brown… chocolate brown… the original color of his eyes. How could he be so careless to miss his contact lens? Well, he hasn’t been in the right state of his mind for last few hours, agreed, but that’s not an excuse to miss his lens!

Freaking out like hell, Vidhaan starts searching everywhere in the room. On the chair he has been sitting on for sometime, under the chair, under the table and even under the bed, but he still hasn’t find his black eye lens yet. Laksh and Ragini keep following all his movements with their eyes and their foreheads crinkled in confusion and worry.

Ragini: Vidhaan? Have you lost something?

He replies something but all comes out is a muffled whisper as he sticks his head under the bed.

Laksh: (confused) What?

Vidhaan: (coming out from under the bed) My eye lens is missing.

Ragini: Shit!

Laksh: Don’t you have any other pair of lenses?

Vidhaan: (shakes his head vehemently) No! I don’t.

Ragini: Double Shit!

Vidhaan: (rolls his eyes) Instead of cursing, please help me in finding it out before Swara does.

Ragini: Yeah! Right.

Vidhaan: But it’s not here. Maybe, in the corridor where I accidentally bumped into you.

Ragini: Let’s go then. What are you waiting for?

Vidhaan nods his head and runs out towards the corridor. What will he do if it’s not there? It has to be there! He can’t let such a small thing ruin everything, that too when he has so many questions still unanswered.

Ragini turns towards Laksh who is leisurely sitting on the edge of the bed. She narrows her eyes at her husband. Isn’t he supposed to be helping them?

Ragini: Come on Laksh! What are you waiting for? An invitation?

Laksh: (complaining) But why me?

Ragini: (tugs at his arm) Mr. Laksh Maheshwari, stop whining like a child and follow me. He needs our help and more than him Swara.

She yanks him out of the room holding his hand firmly and Laksh quietly complies and follows her but not before making several weird faces at his wife’s back.

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As Laksh and Ragini reach the corridor they find Vidhaan leaning down trying to look under a wooden cabinet holding a beautifully ornamented flower vase. Ragini quickens her pace reaching next to him.

Ragini: Did you find it?

Vidhaan: No! But it should be somewhere here. How can I miss it?

Ragini: Relax Vidhaan. It’s not your fault.

Vidhaan: It is my fault, Ragini. I can’t… I…

Laksh: Relax, we can find it together. You look over here. Ragini, you to the right and I’ll look in the left side.

All three of them nod their heads and turn in their respective directions when a voice stops them dead in their tracks.

“What are you three doing?”

No. No. No. This can’t be happening. Vidhaan instantly closes his eyes recognizing the voice without a fault. For sure, Swara is the last person he wants to see right now but now she is standing in front of him staring at him intently. Even with his eyes closed he feels her heated glare on the side of his head. There’s no way he’s opening his eyes now!

Ragini and Laksh immediately step in front of him trying to shield him from Swara as she looks at their suspicious behaviors with confusion etched all over her face.

Swara: Any problem?

Ragini: Um… Swara! How are you?

Swara raises her eyebrow and folds her arms across her chest. There’s definitely something going on!

Swara: Seriously! Is that what you wanted to say?

Laksh: Swara, I think Badi Maa was calling you. Why don’t you go and see her once?

Swara: No, she’s not. I’m coming from the kitchen itself and ‘she’ has asked me to call you three. So, come on. The snacks is about to get served.

She turns around to leave and Ragini and Laksh sigh out of relief. Maybe a little louder than they should have and they instantly regret it as that makes Swara’s suspicion confirmed. She stops and furrows her brow at both her friends.

Swara: What’s going on? And… wait… why is Sanky standing with his eyes closed?

Vidhaan’s heart leaps out of his chest as fear comes crashing down his spine with an all new intensity. Could things get any worse? Laksh and Ragini exchange worried glances and Vidhaan shuts his eyes even tightly as if that could make Swara stop from coming his way. The next moment he feels Swara’s warm hands caressing his arm gently. The shiver he has felt hardly one or two hours ago runs down his body all over again. He squeezes his eyes tightly as she turns him around to face her.

‘Think something Vidhaan! Quick!’

‘That’s it! Sorry Swara, for lying to you again.’

She turns him around and he winces lightly. Swara looks at him worriedly as he tries his best not to let her touch affect him more than it already is.

Swara: Sanky, open your eyes.

Vidhaan: (shakes his head in denial) I can’t!

Swara: (confused) Why? What’s wrong?

Vidhaan: I-I think something went into my eyes. It’s paining. I can’t open my eyes.

Good excuse! That’s the only thing that his mind could pull off right now and Swara’s hand on his arm is not helping the proper functioning of his brain either. Before he could think of anything else the excuse slips off his tongue.

Swara: (worried) What? How? Let me see.

She lifts her hand to touch his eyes and raises the eyelids of his right eye slightly. Vidhaan immediately flinches back closing his eyes again wincing in pain purposefully. He silently thanks the God above that she hasn’t touched his left eye. He can’t afford that now.

Swara: I’m… I’m so sorry! Is it paining so much?

Vidhaan just nods his head, his voice failing him terribly because of the guilt of lying to her again. Why can’t he be honest with her just once? The whole thing that he is having with her is nothing but a lie! Then is the feeling he gets whenever she’s around… Is that feeling also a lie?

Swara caresses his cheek lightly and he sucks in a breath. That’s a good thing that his eyes are closed right now. He doesn’t want to see the love in her eyes that’s not for him. Oh, how he wishes that love for himself!

Swara: Please, try to open your eyes!

Vidhaan: S-Sorry! I can’t.

Laksh and Ragini keep observing their whole interaction and they are pretty sure that there is no way Vidhaan is going to open his eyes.

Ragini: Swara, why don’t you go and get some water for his eyes? That might help him in opening his eyes.

Swara: (nods her head) Yeah! I’ll go and get it.

She turns around to head towards her room when Laksh calls back.

Laksh: And Swara get some fresh drinking water from the kitchen. It’s about his eyes, so, we shouldn’t take any risk. We need pure water.

Swara: You’re right. I’ll get it soon. Sanky, don’t open your eyes. I’ll go and get some water.

Saying this she runs downstairs towards the kitchen. Ragini turns and looks at her husband.

Ragini: Why kitchen?

Laksh: (shrugs his shoulder) I thought that might buy us some time. Now, come on. Let’s get back to work before she returns.

Both of them turn around to look at Vidhaan who takes a deep breath before leaning against the wall with his head in his hands.

Laksh: What's wrong?

Vidhaan takes a deep breath yet again as if fighting something very painful inside of him. He hates it! He absolutely hates it!

Vidhaan: I hate it when I have to lie to her.

Ragini: (sighs) That’s okay. We are doing this for her. Let’s find the lens before she returns.

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After searching painstakingly for three more minutes, Laksh notices something shine under the shoe rack kept aside against a wall of the corridor. He smiles sighing in relief as he reaches out his hand to pick it up.

Laksh: (smiles) Guys! Found it.

Ragini: Thank God!

Vidhaan immediately looks downstairs and finds Swara running down the hall towards the staircase. He immediately sprints off standing in front of Laksh and takes the lens on his own finger but not before thanking him for finding the lens on time.

Ragini: (whisper yells) She’s almost here.

Vidhaan immediately places the lens back at its place carefully and closes his eyes lightly to let it adjust. By that time Swara comes running to them with a glass of water in her hands. She dampens the edge of her saree with water and daubs it on his eyes softly. After a few pats, she asks him to open his eyes slowly and Vidhaan obliges opening his eyes.

Swara: (smiles) Feeling better?

Vidhaan: (nods his head) Yes! Thank you so much.

How can anyone be so sweet?!

Swara: (smiles with relief) Will you come down for snacks or shall I bring it to our room?

Vidhaan: No! I’ll come downstairs.

Swara: Are you sure? I can bring it upstairs.

Vidhaan: No. No. I’m fine. Let’s go downstairs.

He smiles looking at all three of them. Ragini and Laksh move ahead of them and Vidhaan straightens himself up properly before following them.

But the next moment, he finds his palm on fire as Swara slowly slides her hand in his entwining their fingers together. He looks down to his side only to find the girl he has come to care for, smiling at him and if he could admit then without any doubt that’s the most beautiful smile he has ever seen.

Is there any way possible to have the same smile even after she comes to know that he’s not what she thinks he is?

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~ SEN GUPTA MANSION ~

Sahil knocks at the door of his sister’s room. He wants to apologize for being a freak to all his family members a few days back. He didn’t want to do anything like that but seeing someone ruining his chances with Swara enraged him beyond limits. He has been waiting for so long to get his hands on her but this random guy seems to be annihilating him and his plans.

He impatiently waits for his sister to open the door but when she doesn’t, he turns the door knob slightly only to find the door unlocked. He looks around the room and finds his sister at her study table with her laptop in front of her.

What is she doing so keenly that she hasn’t even paid any heed to the knock on the door?

He moves towards her with careful steps. Pissing off his sister is the last thing he wants to do. She isn’t very pleasant when she’s angry. He glances at the laptop screen and scrunches his brow in confusion and disgust at what he sees on the screen.

Sahil: What the hell are you doing with his pic?

Kavita: Making use of my graphics designing knowledge!

Sahil: What do you mean?

Kavita: Swara has forgotten everything. So, don’t you think that as her future sister-in-law I must help her in remembering everything!

Sahil: What are you planning to do?

Kavita: Just wait and watch.

She smirks and carries on with her editing and designing thing. Sahil keeps looking silently as she gets on with her work. Soon, a sinister smirk appears on his face as he analyzes the end product.

Kavita: So, what do you think?

Sahil: (raises his eyebrow as his smirk grows wider) Well I must say, my sister is pretty talented yet deadly at the same time. How did you get this idea?

Kavita: (shrugs her shoulders) I just got it. As you say that he isn’t Shlok, then all we need to do is find who he really is. For sure, he isn’t from the heavens above. We must find someone or something related to him pretty soon.

Sahil: I’ll get on it. This guy is already pissing me off.

Kavita: (snickers) You look after him and I’ll get this brand new pic to my future Bhabhi. The sooner she remembers, the better.

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Next day…

Vidhaan looks into a file he has brought on his way back from the office deciding to work on it during evening. He glances the clock and sighs. It’s 3:30 pm. An hour or two and this file will be done. He turns his attention back to the file from the clock when three people come straight barging into the room and all three of them start blabbering all at once.

Swara: Sanky! Close the file and…

Ragini: We are going for…

Laksh: And no going back. Bade Papa’s order and…

Not being able to understand even a single thing he glares at three of them and shouts keeping his hands on both his ears.

Vidhaan: Guys! Stop!

And this instantly shuts them up.

Vidhaan: One by one, please. I’m not a superhuman. I can’t understand all of you at once.

Swara: Get ready!

Vidhaan: Why?

Ragini: We are going for shopping.

Vidhaan: But I have work to do.

Laksh: It’s Bade Papa’s order. Apparently, these two (points at Swara and Ragini) need clothes for the upcoming party and hell… I can’t tolerate both of them together. So, please help me out.

Vidhaan: (chuckles) Okay! Give me five minutes. I’ll get ready.

He bends down towards the table to close the file. He feels the gaze of three pairs of eyes on him and raises his eyebrow looking at them.

Vidhaan: Why are you guys staring at me? If I’m not wrong then you are also not ready.

Swara: Then what are we waiting for? Let’s get ready.

Saying this she literally pushes Ragini and Laksh out of the room and walks into the en-suite washroom to freshen up and get ready for the outing. Only thing that she isn’t aware about is that she’s about to become the victim of a fraudulent scheme. And there’s no way it’s going to be a pleasant one!

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