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Moving on... 💃💃💃

"Words in double quotes" - Talking

'Words in single quotes' - Thoughts

(Words in braces) - Telephone conversations

Chapter 11

As Parvati came back from her morning walk, she headed towards the kitchen to make tea. However, a voice reached her ears, distracting her.

"🎶 All of the thoughts we waste
Under the weight of the world...
All of the time we spend...
With the weight of the world... 🎶 "

"Eh? Who is this? Subah subah tragedy koun faar raha?" she listened carefully to determine where the sound was coming from.

"🎶 Don't miss you ways
Don't miss your leaving...
Love live my pain
Long live my feelings... 🎶 "

"Oh my! It's coming from Laddo's room. But...but she has been so happy these days. What could have happened all of a sudden?" she at once decided to investigate and headed towards Ragini's room, peeping at her from the door.

Ragini sat there with sitar in hand, singing to herself. Her eyes were closed as she kept loosing herself to the music. Her face expressed a sense of peace. But at the same time, there was a mysterious sadness in it. Her voice too, although melodious, seemed to carry deep hidden sorrow.

"🎶 Blind and childish
I won't fight it
Here I hide
Underneath my innocence
Grow, Grow... 🎶 "

"Laddo?" Parvati uttered, coming inside the room. "Beta, are you okay?"

Ragini opened her eyes and smiled at her Dadi. She put down her sitar and stood up. "Good morning Dadi. I'm fine! What would happen to me?"

Parvati made her sit on the bed, and she herself sat beside her. "Laddo please. Don't lie to me. If something is wrong, please tell me."

"Nothing is wrong Dadi. You're worrying too much. That's all."

"Are you sure you're fine?"

'Laksh loves me when I now no longer feel the same. Swara hates me for reasons I have no idea what-so-ever! And Sanskar? He's totally another case of messed up defined! So, no! I'm not alright!' Ragini grit her teeth to keep her face from expressing her thoughts. "Yes I'm okay Dadi. I'm absolutely okay!"

Parvati kept looking at her without blinking.

"Um...Da-Dadi?" Ragini kept smiling, but her lips kept twitching with nervousness, with sweat breaking out on her forehead.

Finally Parvati looked away and sighed. "Okay Laddo. I won't force you to tell me anything. If you say you're okay, then I guess it's best I listen to you. After all, you're all grown up now." Parvati gave her a shaky smile and stood up to leave.

"Dadi wait!" Ragini came to stand in front of her. "Why are you talking like this Dadi? You know how much I respect and care for you."

"Respect? Yes. But I guess now that you have a mother to share your sorrows and joys with, I'm no longer needed."

"What are you saying Dadi?! No one can replace the place you have in my heart. You raised me like you were my own mother after Maa died. I love you the most in my family!"

"Then why won't you tell me the truth?" Parvati questioned her, looking at her with moist eyes. "I know when you are hiding something. That day when Laksh and you broke the engagement and gave us your explanation, I never fully believed you. Because I know you Laddo. The way you adverted your eyes from me that day proved you were hiding something. But I didn't ask because...because I wanted you to come tell me."

"I...I didn't want anything wrong to befall both our families Dadi." Ragini admitted. By now, Ragini too was crying. "D-Dadi I know how much you care for me. And if I revealed the truth, I feared what step you would take that may make the Gadodias and the Maheshwaris enemies."

"So you would lie to me for Laksh?"

"It's not only about Laksh. It's about many lives!"

"Fine then." Parvati rubbed away her tears and looked at Ragini in the eye. "I won't do anything that might cause enmity between the two families. But you have to tell me everything. Every. Single. Thing!"

Ragini swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. She knew one day or the other she would have to face this situation. It would have come eventually, be it then, or later. 'And maybe...maybe Dadi can give me suggestions on what I should do now.' with that thought in mind, Ragini began telling her Dadi about everything.

After sometime...

Ragini sneaked a glance at her Dadi's face to determine her mindset. However, Parvati's face held no expression. It seemed she was simply absorbing all the facts and letting them dance in her mind.

Ragini gulped and fidgeted where she sat. 'I hope she doesn't get mad and go barging into the Maheshwari mansion to give Bade Papa a piece of her mind. She'll ruin everything if she does that. And what if she goes and tells everyone about Sanskar? Oh no! That would worsen things more! Maybe telling her was a bad idea. May-'

"Laddo?"

"Hai!" Ragini jumped up and stood straight, shocked at the sudden utterance by her Dadi.

"Oho Laddo! Quit acting like I'm going to eat you up. Now liste-"

"Ragini, Ragini! Let's go!" Swara exclaimed, coming into Ragini's room. "It's time we go visit the Maheshwaris. Otherwise, Sanskar will throw a tantrum, remember?"

"Ragini's not going today. Right Laddo?"

"Yes Swara. I...I think it would be alright if I leave Sankar alone for a day." Ragini responded. 'He will be okay even if I leave him alone forever! That twisted, cunning, narrow-minded jerk! As for Laksh... I don't think I'm ready to face him yet.' Ragini looked down in thought.

Swara smirked discreetly. 'She's already so hurt seeing Laksh getting closer to me, that she doesn't want to leave? Ahahaha...! Nice.' Swara went there and held her hand. "Oh come on! Let's go! It's not like you have something important to do back home."

"Bu-"

"Please?! Come on! Do it for me. Don't be so selfish now."

"Okay. Okay I'll go."

#Maheshwari mansion#

*knock knock*

Laksh heard the sound of someone knocking on the door, but ignored it.

*knock knock*

"Leave me alone please."

*knock knock*

"Ugh!" Laksh threw away the covers and went near the door. He unhooked the lock and pulled the door open. "What?!"

"Wow." Parineeta uttered looking at him with a raised eyebrow. She looked on with wide eyes at his messy hair, dirty face, red, puffy eyes and dark eye bags under them. "Did you by any chance go to fight World War III in your dreams?"

Laksh glared at her. However, it looked more like someone who is about to burst Into tears again. "Bhabi please. I'm in no mood for jokes. I want to be alone." he tried to close the door, but Parineeta put her foot on the door and stopped it. She forcefully pushed her way in with the glass of juice she was holding. Laksh sighed in helplessness and went towards his bed, flopping down on it with a sigh.

"My, my Lucky. Only unrequited lovers and husbands sigh so much. What's the matter with you? Your and Ragini's marriage is already fixed. It's you two who had postponed it."

'I wish I could tell you everything bhabi. I wish I could go back and take the chance to accept Ragini when I had the chance.' Laksh sighed again. "Bhabi, ever felt like an idiot for...well,  being an idiot?"

"Are you indirectly calling me an idiot, dewar ji?" 😑

"No bhabhi I..." Laksh stopped speaking and looked down in misery. "Just...just let me be. Go away."

"And let you drown in my ocean of tears. No way!"

"I'm not crying, okay? I'm just not in the mood to be jumping around singing honky-dory, alright? I need to think. Normal people do that!"

"Why are you so cranky? Did you have a fight with Ragini or something?"

Ragini's name made his anger faded into misery. "Well, the thing is..." Laksh bit his lip in indecision, contemplating whether to tell her or not. "You see I...I refused something of Ragini's very rudely for another thing. I hurt her but she decided to help me get that other thing. But...but now I realize that I want the thing that she gave me first. But she doesn't want to give it to me thinking I'll devalue it...again. What should I do bhabhi to make her give it back to me?" Laksh questioned, explaining everything in a way she doesn't learn of the truth.

"You really want it back, don't you?" Parineeta concluded, being able to hear the sadness in his voice.

"Desperately!"

Parineeta nodded. "Well, hate to say it, but it's only fair on her part. I mean, it's your fault basically for rejecting and hurting her by refusing. So suffer the consequences. In fact, I think she should gift the thing to another perhaps."

Laksh flinched at her reply. "Gee, thanks. You metaphorically just punched me. Go ahead and do it really, why don't you?"

"Oi! I was just giving my opinion, that's all." Parineeta defended. "Here, take this. I made everyone fresh juice. This is yours."

"Pour it on my head." Laksh grit out. He ran a hand over his face and gulped to swallow the sob that threatened to break through his mouth.

Parineeta sweat dropped not knowing if it was a joke or he was serious. She watched in bewilderment as he proceeded to pull the ends of his hair and take in deep breaths. 'What could have happened to him? If I remember correctly, which I'm sure I do, he went to meet Ragini yesterday. More importantly, what could have been the thing Ragini doesn't want to give Lucky now?' feeling a hand on her shoulder, she turned to look at Adarsh who came to stand beside her.

Laksh didn't seem to realize his entry into the room yet.

Adarsh signaled Parineeta, asking her what's wrong with Lucky. Parineeta shrugged her shoulders, making Adarsh look at her with a look that told her he thought she was being useless.

Parineeta huffed and handed over the glass of juice to him harshly. "First, your brother calls me an idiot. And now, you treat me like one? Ugh! I've had enough of it!" she pushed past him and stormed away muttering to herself about 'idiotic, egoistic brothers'.

"Eh? What did I do now? Women, I tell ya!" Adarsh rolled his eyes and placed the juice on the bedside table. "Lucky? Oi Lucky! How did you manage to piss off your bhabhi?" he asked in good humor. However, when Laksh turned to him, his smile disappeared.

To Adarsh, Laksh looked like the child he used to be.

The childish Lucky who would hide behind him when he did something he shouldn't have.

The child who would try to contain his tears even though when he would be in pain from a paper cut in his finger.

The child who would be scared but refused to ask for help as he feared what others would think.

The child who would be in the brink of breaking down from sadness, but would try hard to keep himself together.

Adarsh sat down beside Laksh on the bed and placed a hand on his arm. "Lucky. Hey, Lucky. Big brother's here bro. Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing bhai. Just going through a phase. I'm fine."

"Then why do you look like you'll cry?"

Laksh shook his head and placed a hand over his face. "Nothing bhai. So-something just went into my eyes."

"Laksh. I'm here. Brothers through everything, remember?" Adarsh made him look into his eyes. "It's okay to cry. Just because you're a boy, doesn't mean you can't cry. Tell me lucky, what's wrong."

"I...I messed up." Laksh admitted. He let out a bitter laugh. "But that's not something new, right? I always have messed up! They are right. I...I can't seem to see the right path."

"Hey, don't think like that. Just because others are right, doesn't mean you're wrong. It's just that you've got a different sense of judgment of what you think is the best and right way." Adarsh consoled. "Now tell me. Tell me what's wrong."

Laksh nodded and took a deep breath, deciding to open up to his brother.

#Gadodia Residence#

"Maa, you called?" Shekhar questioned as he came into the living room. To his surprise, he found Shramishtha waiting there too, with tears in her eyes. "Maa, what happened?"

"Shramishtha will explain everything to you. As for me, I'm going to Shikha, our neighbour. Heard she suggests good boys for marriages."

"Eh? But who are you trying to find a groom for?" Shekhar asked in confusion. 'Ragini is all set to marry Laksh in future. Swara won't marry without having known the boy already for some months. Maa knows this. Than who might she be thinking of?'

"No need to think so hard Shekhar. It's for Ragini. Our Laddo."

************************************
To be continued...

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~ 🌹 Mona 🌹