Chronicles of Life

#chap39 #chroniclesoflife #Sagas_by_Irvika #sweetlovestory

They had been waiting to meet since a week now and both had become equally anxious, although Atharva voiced it out more. She didn’t know how to respond and said, “Good night Atharva,” and couldn’t resist adding, “Dream of me.” He dreamily said, “You bet.” The lovebirds spent a sleepless night and couldn’t wait for the next day.

To be continued ….

Shruti reached Mumbai by mid day and headed towards Breach Candy, her mama’s home. She was very fond of them and had practically spent her childhood years there. They were really sweet, especially her mami who had tolerated her tantrums and fulfilled all her wishes. They had a lavish flat right opposite the Breach Candy garden that boasted of a splendid view of the seashore. Shruti felt completely at home here.

She was given a warm welcome and rushed in to meet her nani. But was moved to tears… it was not easy for her to see her beloved nani completely bed ridden. She touched her feet to take her blessings when ba (Nani)  inquired about Atharva. Before Shruti could reply, Saroj mami came in and said, “Ba… we are calling him tomorrow for lunch. Give them your blessings then.”

They left her to rest as she was getting feeble. She had already texted Atharva when she reached Mumbai and he had very lovingly messaged, “Welcome home.” Her aunt asked her to call him up and invited him for lunch on Saturday which he accepted.

Shruti had a tête-à-tête with her aunt for a long time, filling in all the details. They spent the evening exploring the elite shops at Nepean sea road, that housed the best outlets for fabrics and Shruti’s eyes shone with excitement. She was as happy as a clam as she had got what she wanted and couldn’t wait to get started.

Atharva, on the other hand, had been slogging himself, as he wanted to anyhow return by Friday night and spend the weekend with Shruti. They didn’t talk much on Friday night as Atharva had been driving back and reached home very late. Shruti was a little disappointed but then perked up thinking about the weekend.

Atharva had a leisurely morning, catching up on his sleep and just relaxing. Shruti had to restrain herself from messaging him as she knew that he needed his rest. Just thinking about him caused a stir, for more reasons than she would admit to herself. She finally had a big broad smile on her face when she did receive a ‘Good morning’ message from him at 10 a.m. She called him up and said, “Hope you had a good sleep. Okay… Listen, please remember to shave.” He replied, “Nope… not today… aaj Saturday hai na.. will do so tomorrow.” Shruti was yet to accept all these norms… it was beyond her to understand the logic but she knew it was pointless arguing with him. She simply shrugged and talked in general, insisting him to be on time.

Shruti was behaving like an excited teenager eager to meet her boyfriend, but come to think of it, this was better than that. They had liberty to be with each other and need not worry about anything. The doorbell rang and she literally sprinted across the living room to open it. It took all her senses to remind her that there were people surrounding them. She simply wished a moment of solitude so that she can hug him tight but no such luck here. He looked as if he had lost a bit of weight, owing to the long working hours. She was dressed to kill that day, in a flowing red Kurti with a yellow bottom. He had an equally tough time restricting himself.

Shruti realised that he was holding an ornately packed box of sweets and offered to take it from him. Atharva didn’t miss a beat and deliberately touched her hands from beneath while passing it. She smirked at his move and stepped aside to let him in. He took blessings of ba, mama and mami and got involved in business talks with mama. In a while, her cousins, Shweta and Rashmi also joined in. Both her cousins had fun pulling her leg and telling Atharva all they could about her childhood and they had a good light hearted conversation.