Destined To Be

Chapter 12

Ayaan's P.O.V.

I was standing behind Ankita and listening to her conversation. She kept saying Mom on the phone and I assumed that obviously she would be talking to her mother. She got up and walked into her room. Preeti came out and I went to her. "Good morning beautiful," I said with a flirty smile. "Good morning," she said. "Are you ready for our date?" I asked. She blushed and nodded. "Great! After breakfast, we will leave," I said. She nodded. Ankita came back out of the room with her bag. Seems like she was going somewhere. She glared at me. "Are you going somewhere?" Preeti asked. "I..." she started but stopped, looking at me. "I am going to do some shopping," she said and left. I looked at her walking out of the camp and turned back to Preeti. "I'll see you in a while," I said and left. I went to my room and quickly grabbed my phone. I took a jacket and left the camp after Ankita. I followed her at a small distance behind and soon saw her stopping in front of a house. It was a beautiful house but old and abandoned. She stood and looked at it for a while with a frown and then opened the gate and went inside. I hid behind the trees and looked at her walking up to the verandah. She rested her hand on the door and looked at it for a while. There must be something connected to her with this house. She took out a key from her bag and opened the door. Then, she went out of sight as she stepped inside the house. 

Ankita's P.O.V.

I entered the house and looked around. I haven't been here for fifteen years. The entire place was covered with dust and cobwebs. The furniture were covered with huge covers and the walls were dirty. My eyes filled with tears as all the memories of my mother came rushing to me. I looked at the portrait hanging on the wall with a small me and my mother. Walking up to it, I took a napkin and wiped off the dust. I looked around and saw the old piano which my mother played. I sat down on the seat and opened it. I pressed one key and it sounded off. Every evening after school, I would sit on Maa's lap and learn to play. She always told me that I would play beautifully one day but after leaving here, everything changed. My fingers don't work on the keys again. I got up and went to the next room which was the kitchen. I saw a small me sitting on the kitchen counter and Maa cooking for me. I smiled and left the kitchen. I went to her bedroom and saw her cupboard. Opening it, I took out an old photo album. Sitting on the floor, I opened it and looked through the pictures, reminiscing on the old times. Reaching to the last page, it remained empty for a special picture. Maa always told me that the day I get married, she would put the picture there. I closed the album and got up. I went to my room, which was right next door and looked around. The fade pink walls, the white, now brown cupboards, the study table with books rotting on it, everything brought back a sweet memory. I smiled and looked on the wall, just over my bed. The last day Maa spent with me in this house, I was painting and took a small amount of paint and made a handprint on the wall. Seeing that, she got so angry but I made her print her hand also. After that, I took one of my finger and wrote above it, "Maa and Ani." Later that night, she got a heart attack and died the next morning. My phone broke my train of thoughts down memory lane and I answered. "Ankita, where are you?" Vicky asked. "What happened?" I asked. "We are all gathering for breakfast," he said. "You guys go ahead. I'm not hungry. I already had tea," I said wiping away my tears. "What? With whom?" he asked. "The tea vendor," I said.

"What?" he asked confused. "Long story. I'll tell you guys later," I said. "Ok. But wherever you are, come back quickly because we are going shopping in a while," he said. "Yeah, sure," I said. I hang up and took a deep breath looking around. I left the room and the house. I stood on the verandah and looked at the garden. I turned and locked the door. I walked through the garden and sat on a small bench which Maa had put there for the evenings. Sitting there for a while, I looked up at the sky. "Nothing has changed. You are still here," I said, "I can still feel your presence." 

Ayaan's P.O.V.

I was waiting for her to come out the house and finally she did. She locked the door and sat on the bench in the garden. "What is her story with this house?" I asked myself. I looked at her from behind the tree until she got up and left. She walked on the road and finally caught a cab. I went back to the camp and Preeti came running to me. "Where were you?" she asked. "I just went for a quick stroll," I said. Holding my hand, she asked, "Do you call a half an hour a quick stroll?" She walked me to the table where everyone had already gathered for breakfast. I sat down and looked around. Soon enough, Ankita came and sat next to Preeti who was beside me and began serving herself. 'Vicky told me that you weren't hungry. What happened now?" Preeti asked. "I wasn't hungry then. Now I am," she said. I also began and everyone were chatting and planning their free day ahead. After breakfast, Ankita left the table. I looked at Pihu and smirked. I went to her room and looked at her from the door. "Hi Pihu!" I said. She turned with a smile and said, "Hi!" "I need a small favour from you," I said. "Sure, tell me," she said. I went closer to her and whispered in her ears. She smirked. "You got it!" she said. "Pihu! Let's go!" someone called from outside. "I'll get it done for you," she said playing with the button on my shirt and left the room. I rubbed my hands together and smiled. "Get ready, Miss Ankita," I said. I went with Preeti to the town to shop a bit and to find out about Ankita. After walking about a bit, we sat in a coffee house and ordered what we wanted. "So.." I started, "Your friend...Ankita..." "What about her?" she asked. "Was she always like this?" I asked. "How?" she asked. "This bitter," I said. She dropped her shoulders and said, "Ankita is not a bitter person. She just doesn't allow anyone to take advantage of her. Well, to some extent." "What do you mean?" I asked curious. "If you are a stranger, she will get revenge. But if you're close to her, she actually allows you to take advantage of her," she said. I nodded. "This means that I have to go close to her to take revenge?" I asked myself softly. "What?" she asked. "Nothing," I said. 

The next day, everyone gathered outside to find out who will be whose spot and where each team's rehearsal spaces would be along with the timings. "Team Red, please, all members come to my left," Pihu announced. Four people broke out from the group and stood where she asked. "Team Blue, on my right," she said and along with three members, I went and stood on her right. "Team Yellow, please remain where you are and team Green, you can come and stand behind me," she said. On her four sides, she had each team and then said, "Your spots will join the team now which they were assigned to." I smirked. Ankita came and stood in my team along with Preeti and two other girls. Pihu went to the first team to assign the spots to each person. Coming to my team, I looked at her with a smile and gave her a wink. She smiled and said, "Preeti, you are going to be with Kiran. Sandy, you will be with Neha. Aarti, you are with Ranjit." I looked at Ankita's face as both of us were the only ones remaining. She looked at me and then turned around to complain, "I am not going to work with him! You two are planning this deliberately, aren't you?" "Listen Ankita, I don't have time to hear your complaints right now. Just get to work," she said and slammed a file on her chest and left. She was about to follow her but I held back her hand and she stopped and froze. I walked closer to her and stood in front of her. She looked at me annoyed. Smirking, I said, "Enjoy your time with me. You are getting it despite it being too precious for you, spot!" She pulled her hand out of mine looked at me with disgust. "No, Mr. Ayaan. My time is too precious to waste on you," she said sternly and walked away. I turned and looked at her walking away. 

Ankita's P.O.V.

I walked to Princy to see if I could get an exchange to another person or even another group. He was busy talking to Mr. Prakash. "Excuse me," I said. He turned to me asking, "Yes Ankita?" "Sir, can I please be moved to another group or be shifted to another person in my group," I requested. "No, Ankita. That's not possible. You have already been assigned to a person and it's just a matter of two days," he said. "But sir," I started but he raised his finger at me and then went away with Mr. Prakash. I frowned and turned around. Ayaan stood and smirked at me with his arms folded. I know that this was his plan with Pihu to assign me to him. But it's really just a matter of two days. I walked back to him slowly and said, "Let's go." I was about to walk away when he held back my hand. I froze. His touch made my body freeze. "There are some rules that you have to abide to when working with me. First is that you don't walk in front of me, but behind me. Second is that you follow me. I don't follow you," he said. "I got it the first time. No need to repeat yourself. Save it," I said and stepped aside. He wore his sunglasses and walked pass me. I followed him while muttering some insults behind him and checking out the file which Pihu gave me. Suddenly, I bounced into him since he stopped in the middle of the pathway without a warning. He turned and looked at me. "Watch where you are going," he said. "Sorry. But if you give a hint that you are going to abruptly stop in the middle of the pathway like this, then I wouldn't bounce into you," I said. He pointed a finger at me and said, "Don't teach me." We reached our practice spot and I looked around. Snapping his fingers at me, he called, "Spot! Bring me some water!" I looked at him already annoyed and said, "My name is Ankita. Not spot! Don't call me that!" "But that's your job," he said. I rolled my eyes and went away. I came back with his bottle of water. "That's more like it," he said. Opening the file, I read to him, "You have to rehearse from nine to approximately three. You can shorten your timings or lengthen them. Also, you can change to suit..." He cut me off by placing his finger on my lips saying, "Shush! You talk so much! Learn to keep quiet a bit." I stared into the eyes which I was crazy about.

Moving away awkwardly from him, I asked, diverting my eyes, "What's the matter?" He looked at me and pushed his hands into his pockets. "Go to my room and bring my guitar," he said. "I don't know which is your room," I said uninterested. He grabbed my file and looked at me gritting his teeth. "I demoted you to a spot so that you can dance to my tune. Now, do your job and get my guitar from room 12," he said. Not wanting to cause any confusion, I silently went to his room to get his guitar. "Just two days Ankita, and you will be free from him," I said to myself. Looking at the blue sky, I said, "Help me Maa." 

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