'The Tea Trap' ✓

PROLOGUE

"What? I thought you knew that you were supposed to meet me today Niketan!" said Adviti in an exhausted tone, she was already fed up of putting up with his drama at the 'Sharma mansion' the other day yet even after soo many failed attempts the only reason she thought of not giving up on the engagement was her beloved 'nani...'
'Meri nani' Adviti closed her eyes and sighed only to feel her nani caressing her forehead with utmost tenderness. She missed that feeling of 'peace', she missed that feeling of 'love', she missed that feeling of 'feelin' home', those flashbacks which were supposed to comfort her, now began to haunt her. Bustling, finally she opened her eyes, started the ignition of her car and drove past the lanes, past the trees, past the buildings, past all her past, calming her nerves as the fast blowing wind covered her beautiful face with the strands of her hair. "It's going to be another long day..." she muttered gritting her teeth and turned off the music. She realised she haven't had her favourite 'black coffee' since morning. "It's already past 5:00" she glanced at her watch and hence she realised why she was feeling a bit dizzy from past few hours. She suddenly felt a turbulence of thoughts rushing her usually calm mind and her mind screamed she needed a 'break', a freakin' break from all the chaos surrounding her, her tired eyes wandered around searching for a decent cafe and finally landed looking at the huge board that read, 'The Tea Trap'

Adviti Sharma

"There's a whole lot of difference between being flawed and choosing to remain flawed, so is the difference between being in love and choosing to remain in love. But love,unlike other emotions, loses it's charm once it becomes a choice..."

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"Lately I've been, I've been loosin' sleep..." he sang in sync with the loud music that filled his brand new jaguar! He drove at a high speed opposing the wind that made his curls brush his forehead every now and then. He even seemed least bothered about the few long curls that fell in front of his jet black shades which covered his alluring hazel green orbs. He felt he was in his happy place, he had set himself free after a long fight he had with his own conscience and now finally this freedom let him be, what he wanted to be since long probably?
His mind had no qualms, peace was filled within every corner of his mind which clearly reflected in the subtle smile that had settled on his face. That smile spoke volumes about his victory over all his insecurities, his victory over all his drawbacks, his victory over all the fights he was busy fighting within himself. But somewhere amidst all that 'Varun Rajendran aka VR,the great' had achieved with his talent and despite of following his heart's advice inorder to take up this decision, he knew he was missing something in his life but worse was that, he wasn't even ready to accept that fact...
As soon as the song stopped playing, he stopped humming for a moment and noticed that his mobile screen was continuously flashing indicating that he was flooded with messages, hurriedly he parked his car in front of a shop which seemed like a huge cafe and clicked to open the message, the screen first read '8 missed calls from choti bandar', " Sh*t abb chillayegi mujhpe yeh" he muttered under his breath! "Call uthao re bada bandar" he could sense her yelling the same from the other end of the virtual window. Praying to all the Gods' he had ever known, he called her back only to hear all the well known gaalis exclusively copyrighted by 'Varun's choti bandar'. "Chup ho ja re baba, mere kaan phat jaayenge, bhagwaan ke liye mooh band rakh, and let me speak..." he almost screamed. "Sunn, actually what happened was main baahar hoon, otherwise do you think I am an idiot to miss your 'Nischitartham' ceremony even after knowing that later I would have to hear you 'praising' me with such great words?" he said sarcastically letting out a small helpless chuckle." Sarcasm mat sikha mujhe, I've seen that trait of yours' since childhood, waise tell me where are you exactly?" She will seriously sue me if I say I am simply out on a drive to escape the shor-sharaba, kuch soch VR dimaag daal!
"Woh actually I am out on a date, uhmm...near a cafe... I mean, in a cafe haha" lying to my own sister is soo difficult as well as disheartening, Varun sighed! " Ohho achha? Naam kya hain cafe ka which caught janaab's attention?"."Ahh woh woh..." Varun saw the huge board besides where he parked his car that read, 'The Tea Trap' and exclaimed, "The... Tea...trap haan, the tea trap abhi don't disturb me much warna you can never have Deepti attend your wedding" he ended his sentence in a warning tone. "Kya? You are on a date with Deepti bhabhi? I thought uhmm... I mean, you guys were on a break right? Moreover you two are mending your ways for my sake, I can't believe this, thank you soo much mera bada bandar, I am soo happy for you two. Enjoy your date, aapka choti bandar won't disturb you, may God bless The Tea Trap hahahaa". " Yo, will be back soon, bye take care" she seemed genuinely very happy unaware of the fact that I lied. Am I doing something wrong? Varun's mind was disturbed, how will she feel if she realise Deepti and I won't be able to get back to each other, atleast to that point where we were once,perhaps ever?
He shrugged off those thoughts and decided he will find a way to make her understand the same. That's when he realised how desperate were his taste buds for a cup of 'chai'. Chai will make it all better, he said to himself. "The tea trap let's see how your tea will trap me, here I come..."

Varun Rajendran

"Who knows what life brings later on?
Why to worry, worrying about what we haven't yet seen?
Living life to the fullest, today, tomorrow and forever!"

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(Nischitartham - Basically means roka/wagdaan/engagement ceremony, since in the story I have considered Varun Rajendran and his family originally belong to the South and have settled in Mumbai from two generations, some traditional south words are used as well)

Thanks for choosing this story and giving it a read, hope the prologue was worth your time, if the story has picqued interest in you then, make sure to share and spread a word... ✨