Chronicles of Life

#chap16 #chroniclesoflife #Sagas_by_Irvika #sweetlovestory

Atharva asked the waiter for the bill, paid it, leaving a generous tip, and they both got up to leave. Shruti was replying Rohan, asking him to come as they were done, when Atharva interrupted, “Hey!
Would you mind…

To be continued….

“Would you mind coming up to the car with me? Have got something for you.” Shruti was very curious to know what did he get. They walked up to the car together. He opened the door and there it was. A huge chocolate bouquet… loads of chocolates in all sorts of shapes in colourful wrappers. She was definitely surprised as well as pleased by his gesture. Atharva was ogling at her adoringly, so as to capture that surprise, happy face of her’s forever in his mind. She was so caught up with his gesture that she barely controlled herself from jumping with joy.
She responded, “For me?!! Thank you so much… I just love chocolates.” He in turn, had to bite his tongue from responding, ‘I love you.’ He picked it up from the car seat and handed it over to her. Unintentionally, their fingers brushed with each other, although Atharva immediately removed his, but that tingling sensation remained.

At that moment, Rohan zoomed in and parked the car. He came out and met Atharva first. Both shook hands and greeted each other. Atharva said with all his sincerity, “Thanks Rohan for being so cooperative… it wouldn’t have been possible without you.”
Shruti’s eyes darted from one to the other, feeling joyous to see them talking to each other. Rohan conceded, “Please don’t mention… anything to get rid off Shruti.” And he winked at Atharva.

Shruti went in a fit of rage, “How dare you?! At least behave yourself sometimes.” Atharva had a broad smile on his face to hear the sibling banter and defended, “No.. I would be the happiest person in this world if she says yes,” while glancing at the very person. Shruti felt so shy as well as shocked to hear him say so blatantly, that she almost hid her face behind the bouquet.
Rohan didn’t know how to respond, and said cheekily, “I would pray for your well being Atharva.”
Shruti frowned at him and said in a warning tone, “Rohan… one more word and you will repent it.”
He gave up, not wanting to pull her leg further in front of Atharva, and said, “Okay okay… chill.”
He turned towards Atharva and said with a smile, “Nice meeting you. Any help in future, bandaa haazir hai.”
Atharva responded cheerfully, “Thanks.”

They all wished each other bye. The new lovebirds lingered a wee bit longer and everyone finally went on their way. Both Rohan and Shruti decided not to mention anything at home. Although, both knew very well, that Shruti will definitely tell about it to her mother once everything is finalised. She was just fooling around, unpacking her bags, listening to music, but couldn’t really divert her mind. She was as impatient as a kid to get her share of chocolates and was just waiting for tomorrow; which reminded her of the huge chocolate bouquet that Atharva had got for her.

It was lying in the car, as she couldn’t think of an excuse as to who gave it and why. Rohan had promised her, “Don’t worry. Shall get it from the car at night, once mom and dad go to sleep. But on one condition; you will have to share it with me.”
Shruti quipped, “In your dreams… am not gonna give you any.”
He made a face and mimicked, “Then you also have it in your dreams dear sis. I am not gonna take the efforts of getting it from the car for you to relish it all alone.” Shruti knew he had cornered her and relented, “Achha.... Don’t behave like a kid. You can have one or two.”
Rohan said incredulously, “Oye madam! What are you going to do with the rest? Saandh ban jaayegi, phir koi nahi dekhega teri taraf.”

Meanwhile, Atharva got a call from Minish. Since he was driving on the highway and there was no one along, he put the phone on speaker when Minish said, “Hello brother… thought of not interrupting you before. But tum toh hume bhool hi gaye… what’s up? Asia kya hua that you forgot to call me?!”
Atharva just tried to brush him aside, “No no.. nothing of the sort. Was just gonna call you. Am on my way back. Should be there by 9.30. Please ask mummy not to prepare anything for me. Will only have coffee or something.”

Minish teased him, “Kyu bhai… baaton se hi pet bhar gaya kya?”
Atharva smiled, “Minish… please don’t start getting your hopes up. We cannot be overconfident.”
Minish retorted, “Whom are you trying to fool, bro? I know you better than anyone else. If things wouldn’t have worked out your way, you would have been like a volcano right now, unapproachable. So better come out with the truth. What happened?”

Atharva, never the one to get into details, laughed at what Minish said and replied vaguely, “Yeah… it went off well. All the misunderstandings have been cleared hopefully. Let’s wait and watch.” He crossed his fingers while saying so.
Minish was happy with the short and to the point response; couldn’t expect his brother to be more explicit. Minish replied, “That’s great! See you soon then. Concentrate on the road while driving… ghar aake dream about bhabhi.”

Atharva’s smile reached his eyes on hearing the word ‘bhabhi’; sounded really nice to him, and he just couldn’t snap at Minish for jumping onto conclusions. He simply said, “Bye,” to which Minish returned, “Bye… waiting for the details.” Atharva smiled.

Minish was really looking forward to this working out and called up on his favourite number to convey the same. There were two reasons… one that his brother would get the girl he was besotted to, and the other, it would pave path for himself. He shared his feelings and emotions over the call, talked at length, giving all the juicy details, and was still not ready to put down the phone, when his mom called him. He disconnected the call and went to his mom.
Mrs. Shah said, “Minish, better call up Atharva and ask him by what time is he going to come.”
Minish replied, “Maa… I just did. He should be back around 9.30 p.m, though he specifically mentioned that he won’t have dinner…. Just some cold coffee.”
Mrs Shah mumbled under her breath, “God knows why does this boy skip meals nowadays.”

In sometime, Atharva received another call. He picked up. “Hi Krunal…”
Krunal said impatiently, “What’s going on man? Kidhar hai tu?”
Atharva replied, “Lots going on in my life yaar… kya bolu?”
Krunal responded, “I am free to hear you out and more than curious. Where did you have to go that you had to bluff in my name?”
He knew that his buddy is not gonna leave him without knowing everything. He answered in a monosyllable, “Nashik…” Krunal was puzzled, “For? And why couldn’t you let your parents know about it?”
He took a deep breath and said, “Look… it’s a long story. I will be there in about half an hour. Am on my way back. Will meet up in your building. What say?”
Krunal agreed, “Okay buddy… waiting.” And they both disconnected.

Shruti, Rohan and his parents sat in the hall, having light talk. Both her parents observed that Shruti looked more at ease now, in fact chirpy after so many days. But they assumed, that meeting friends had that effect. Shruti was generally happy and waiting desperately for Monday morning… a new dawn awaiting to unfold, the day she would cherish forever.

Just 2 days back,  she had believed that everything was over. She never knew that there will be such a turn of events. She felt exhilarated thinking about what lay in store for her and was willing to embrace it with open arms. She cherished the way in which Atharva had been downright honest about himself. She mused that in a lot of ways they were opposites, and blushed thinking that may be that is why it is said, ‘Opposites attract.’

Atharva met up with his bestie and finally poured his heart. Krunal was, for a change, listening to a monologue, as he tried to visualise the series of events; awed, shocked, dumbstruck, hopeful and finally elated. But he listened without uttering a word, letting Atharva speak to his heart’s content. Krunal gave him a bear hug, happy to know that finally his friend had fallen for someone and wished him luck. They both parted ways.

Shruti and Atharva both recalled the special moments of the day that they had spent together, looking forward to the next day when they would step into a new world, together, with abundance of love. Both drifted to sleep… with lots of dreams …

To be continued….

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