*** CHAPTER 28 ***

“Every time I look at your face, I’m reminded how I was betrayed!”

Though it’s been a month already that he has left but still her parting words have made Sanskaar realize how he has been living an illusion till now, that what a blunder he has committed. He has fallen in love with that one person he wasn’t supposed to fall for and he knows it quite well that she will never love him back, yet he just can’t help but fall in love with her even more bit by bit. His heart doesn’t seem like listening to him anymore!

Standing in front of his class he just mechanically completes yet another sum. He has stopped singing! Why? He doesn’t know himself but without her… his words seem to have lost their meaning!

Taking a deep breath, he intends to just start the next question straight away when he feels the need to ask his students for any queries. No matter how hurt he personally is, he can never cheat on his profession, that too a profession he loves so much.

Sanskaar: Is this clear to all of you? Any questions?!

And as expected his students are still not responding. He knows that they are hurt because of his inexplicable change of behavior but he still just can’t help it. He is about to begin the next question when he hears a question…

“When are you coming back?”

That voice… The one he has been dying to hear, the one he hears in his dreams every night!

Sanskaar’s movements pause on the board for a moment. Is that her? But that’s not possible, right?! She can’t be here. Maybe he is hearing things now! Has he started hallucinating?

Shaking his head to shrug off the feelings, he writes the next question on the board. That’s when he hears the voice again…

“Mr. Maheshwari, I’m talking to you!”

Turning his head towards the door, Sanskaar gets the shock of his life on finding an absolutely livid Swara standing at the doorstep of the classroom with both her hands on the either side of her waist. She just can’t believe that he has ignored her straight away right now!

Sanskaar: S-Swara…

Swara: So, you’re so much angry that you are ignoring me now.

Sanskaar: I… You… Are you real?

He just can’t help but ask. Maybe his ears and eyes both are deceiving him. Swara raises an eyebrow at his fazed expressions. So, he thinks she is a dream! An unknown feeling surges up warming up her heart with the realization that she still holds a very special place in his heart.

And in an instant the old Swara is back! The one who absolutely loves to tease the hell out of the man standing in front of her right now.

Sanskaar is still standing in front of the board contemplating his feelings when Swara takes the initiative and moves forward towards him. All his students’ curious gazes have now turned towards this mysterious lady they have never seen before and soon enough their eyes go wide as they notice her picking up the sheets of papers lying on the teacher’s desk and rolling it in the form of a stick.

O OH!

Hearing his student’s whisper, Sanskaar’s trance breaks but before he gets time to realize anything, he receives a heavy blow on his head, as Swara says…

Swara: Do I still need to prove that I’m real?

Sanskaar: Swara… What are you doing?

And with that comes a series of whacks… really hard whacks as Swara showers Sanskaar with blows blabbering her heart out.

Swara: Who told you… (whack)… to run away. (whack)… I know I did wrong… (whack)… but why didn’t you scold me. (whack)

“Ah! Ah! Ah! Swara… that hurts.”

Sanskaar who by now has come to believe that he is not imagining her, starts running in an attempt to save himself and his students gather in one corner of the class, clapping their hands together and cheering for… their mam this time and not their sir… for a change.

It’s not everyday that you get to see your teacher getting beaten up, right?!

Swara: I’m hurt too… (whack) I said I love you… (whack) and you decided to run away… (whack) Sanskaar Maheshwari… You… Why don’t you scold me?

Sanskaar: Swara… Swara… Swara…

And all the children’s faces fall as their sir holds their mam’s both hands. Swara is still breathing heavily from all that running and chasing around and Sanskaar gives her a bewildered look as he keeps holding both her hands.

Swara: What? Why are you looking at me like that?

Sanskaar: What are you doing here?

Swara: I… I came to take you back.

Sanskaar: Why?

And Swara gets taken aback by the question. Why does she want him to come back? She hasn't given it a thought yet but now that she has come to think of it... She...

Swara: I…

Sanskaar: Trust me, Swara, you don’t have the answer. I came back because I didn’t want to hurt you, so, if you are here just because my family wants me back then I won’t be coming back now.

Swara: But…

Sanskaar: I think you should leave. Classroom is not a place to talk about all this.

Saying that Sanskaar just turns around and walks out of the class leaving an absolutely flabbergasted Swara behind.

Why doesn’t this man listen to her?

He wants her to go back! But what matters the most here is… Is she ready to go back? That too without him?!

And the answer is crystal clear in her heart and her mind!

NO!!! They are not going to break apart once again at some misunderstanding! She’s here because she wants to… and not because of someone else and he must know this!

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“Who are you?”

Swara is about to leave to follow Sanskaar when she hears a little girl’s call from behind. She turns around and gets taken aback on noticing several pairs of curious gazes at her own self.

Swara: Um… I’m Swara!

And the little one beams at once chiming that her name is Vidhi. Swara smiles and scurries down to her knees to come to the same level as Vidhi and caresses her hair.

Swara: Well, Vidhi… That’s a pretty nice name!

Vidhi: Really?! Vidhaan sir gave that name to me. Vidhi and Vidhaan… that sounds so much alike!

Swara: (smiles) So, you all might be knowing your Vidhaan sir for a pretty long time, right?!

“Yes!!” An unanimous excited chortle rings around the surrounding and Swara chuckles. An another pretty young boy steps forward introducing himself as Firoz and stands near Swara to whisper…

Firoz: But he has changed now!

Swara: And why is that, Firoz?

Firoz: Because he doesn’t sing for us anymore.

That comes as a shock to Swara for in those few months they have been together, she has never heard him sing. Even Shlok too, though he has had inclination towards music, he still never used to sing. He just loved playing guitar.

Swara: He likes to sing?

Vidhi: Yes! But ever since he has returned he has stopped singing. He doesn’t even smile too. Have we done anything wrong? Is he not happy being with us anymore?

Swara immediately embraces the little girl caressing the back of her head, yet she fails to bring herself to speak anything. She doesn’t know why, but she feels that somewhere or the other she’s the reason that Sanskaar has changed so much.

“Are you from Kolkata?”, a voice from behind her makes Swara pull away and she turns around to face a 14 or 15 years old boy whose scrutinizing gaze gives her an unknown feeling… but strangely it doesn’t feel weird. It’s as if he’s analyzing her to see whether she’s good enough?

Swara: I’m Swara. Do you know me?

Boy: I’m Chotu. Can I talk to you for a bit?

Swara: Sure! But can I go to look for Sanskaar... I mean Vidhaan first?

Chotu: Don’t worry I won’t take much time.

Swara: But…

Chotu: I’ll take you to Vidhaan bhai. We can talk on our way up to there.

Swara: That would be better. Thanks!

With that being said, Chotu nods his head and moves ahead with Swara following right after him.

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Swara: So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?

Chotu: Vidhaan bhai went to save you, right?

Swara: Yes, it was me!

Chotu: What happened to him now? He says everything was fine, then why is he like that? He’s not even telling me anything. Did something happen there?

Swara: (sighs) He found his family.

Chotu: (shocked) You mean his real parents? Who are they?

Swara: Mr. Durga Prasad Maheshwari… he is his father. Vidhaan’s real name is Sanskaar Maheshwari.

Chotu: Really?! Then why didn’t he tell us anything?

Swara: (takes a deep breath) Maybe because of me. I have hurt him too much.

Chotu: I don’t know what happened between you two, nor I’m that old to understand everything, but I’m pretty sure you guys can talk it out.

Swara: (smiles) You seem pretty mature for your age, Chotu. I know we can talk this out but at first I didn’t listen to him and now he’s not listening to me.

Chotu: Then you can go to talk to him now. He’s in the staff quarters right now. You must hurry, it seems it’s going to rain soon.

Swara: Rain? Now?

Chotu: (laughs) You never know. It can rain anytime here! Come, let me take you to Vidhaan bhai.

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Just to keep Swara’s thoughts out of his mind, Sanskaar starts cleaning his entire house. Though it’s small, but it still can keep him busy for at least an hour, right?! While changing the bedsheet, he hears a knock at the door and he decides to ignore it. But with the incessant knockings, he finally decides to reply back.

Sanskaar: (scrunches his eyebrows) Who is it?

Chotu: Bhai, it’s me.

Sanskaar: Go away, Chotu. I’ll talk to you later.

Chotu: But Vidhaan bhai, it’s urgent. Please open for a moment. I’ll take just a few minutes.

Sanskaar: (takes a deep breath) Okay. Fine!

Flustered, he walks towards the door and opens it only to find Swara standing there, giving him a nervous smile.

Sanskaar: W-What are you doing here? And where is Chotu?

Swara: He left. Can we talk for a moment?

Sanskaar huffed! Damn, this little guy has tricked him!

Is he that easy?

Sanskaar: (shakes his head) You don’t understand, Swara. Right now you’re insisting on calling me back, but once I come you’ll be hurt the most.

Swara: But, I really want you to come back, Sanskaar!

Thunderstruck! The way his name rolls down her tongue so effortlessly makes Sanskaar’s heart skip a beat and he sucks in a deep breath. His heart has started wavering once again with her being in front of him and for all he knows… This can’t be good!

Sanskaar: You’re saying this because you love our family too much. But I feel we need a little bit more time.

Swara: For what?!

‘For controlling his wavering heart!’ But can he say that out loud?!

Apparently… not!

Sanskaar: Just leave, Swara. I’ll come back on my own. Please!

Swara gives him a disbelieving look folding her hands across her chest. Can this guy be anymore stubborn? Or is he too ignorant?!

Swara: I’m not leaving, Sanskaar.

Sanskaar: Um… then… What if I close the door?!

Swara: Your wish! Tumhara hi darwaza hai! Apna hi samjho!

Sanskaar: I’m telling this seriously, Swara. Leave or I’m closing the door.

But even he knows that such threatening won’t work on his ‘Jhansi ki Rani’. Swara raises an eyebrow as she steps closer to him.

Sanskaar: Why… Why… are you coming near?

Swara: You were closing the door, right? Go on! What…

And the door is shut right at her face even before Swara could complete her sentence, leaving her mouth wide opened.

This guy is seriously unbelievable!

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It’s been two hours since he has closed the door. Sanskaar keeps on fiddling and pacing up and down his room. Should he just peep to see if she has left or not?

No! No! What if she returns to her dangerous mode yet again?!

But just a peek won’t hurt, right?

With that in mind, Sanskaar walks towards the door swiftly with a solid aim of just taking a small glimpse, but no sooner he touches the handle of the door, loud gurgling noise rings around the surroundings and with that follows the expected heavy downpour.

He instantly retreats his hand away from the door. Now that it’s raining, Swara will definitely go back!

Another hour passes but the small nagging at Sanskaar’s heart is now shaking his entire being vigorously. She would have left, right? It’s raining so heavily, there’s no way she might be standing outside the door now also.

But, what if she is still there!

Tsk! He just can’t help but get worried even more and more as the time passes. He knows how stubborn she is! What if she’s actually still standing outside?!

Finally, after another fifteen minutes of tussle with his inner self, Sanskaar decides to open the door… ‘just to have a glimpse’!

And that’s when he finds an absolutely shivering Swara still standing at his doorstep. With her eyes drooping close, Swara smiles through her half closed eyes!

Swara: (stutters) I knew… that you’ll… open the door!

Is this girl nuts?! What is she thinking?! Is she even thinking?! Sanskaar immediately holds her wrist and yanks her inside.

Sanskaar: What the hell are you doing?! I asked you to go…

And he is immediately cut short as the trembling figure in front of him launches herself up in his direction and wraps her arms around his torso, engulfing him in a bone-chilling embrace. Her still trembling fingers travels all the way up from his waist to his back and finally holding his shoulder blades, leaving an unintentional spark in its trail. Sanskaar shudders as Swara’s grip tightens around him. He tries pulling away but she presses her forehead against his chest and whispers.

“Thank you!”

And the next moment he finds her fainted in his arms. Her exhausted face, getting fully revealed, looks even paler and her quivering lips seem to have lost their usual tenderness. Sanskaar traces her lower lip with his thumb lightly and the next moment she trembles subconsciously. And with that comes another realization hitting Sanskaar like a whirlwind… She’s drenched from head to toe and before anything else she needs to get changed from her wet clothes.

Lifting her up in his arms, Sanskaar places her on the bed carefully. And now the hardest part… getting her changed!!! How is he supposed to do that?

He can’t do it all by himself or who knows… she might go all ninja upon him once she wakes up!

All right… he can do it! He can do it!

All he needs to do is change her dress closing his eyes! Simple, right?!

With his now trembling fingers, he brushes away some of the strands of her hair sticking to her nape and collar bone. But he regrets his move the next moment as a shiver runs down his spine as the tips of his fingers come in contact with her skin.

Ugh, forget it! He can’t do it!

With the thought of getting someone else to change her dress, Sanskaar gets up from the bed but the next instant he is pulled back and within a moment he is engulfed back in that embrace making him lose his balance and falling down completely over the fragile figure under him. With her arms around his torso, Sanskaar feels her breath against the crook of his neck and their bodies touching each other entirely, not helping him either!

Is she awake now? Pulling back he doesn’t even know what to expect, yet he gets shocked on finding Swara still in a daze, with her eyes closed but a small smile gracing her pale lips. And with that comes the realization…

He is doomed!! Once again!!

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A/N

Hello everyone!

So, what do you think Sanskaar should do in the next chapter?! 😉😉

Leave your views here and I promise to be quicker with the next update! I’m really sorry for getting delayed so much and making you all wait for so long but I’ll try to bring the upcoming chapters sooner to you.

So, see you all soon. Till then, stay blessed and happy reading!

With love,
Stella ❤️