Unravelling You l ✓

Chapter 22 - Vedika

🎶 Bairaagi feat. Samira Koppikar

Published on 09.05.2021

● A U T H O R ●

"I didn't want to talk to you because I was jealous of you and I was ashamed for feeling that way." Vihaan said, his voice low and his eyes fixed on the contents in his cup.

Aarohi looked at him amused. "Jealous? For what?"

"That my Mom cared about you more than me." He grimaced at how pathetic he sounded.

Aarohi hummed softly. She didn't mock or condemned him so he continued.

"Vedika. My sister. She left us four years back and has been in some country which we've no idea about since then." Vihaan stared at the city in front of him while Aarohi looked at him.

"The name VedHaan is made by combining Vedika and Vihaan. It was her idea." He smiled. "She was elder to me by a year. She was my best friend, my guide, my confidant. She used to pamper me, scold me and even save me from our parents so many times." A sad chuckle left his mouth. "She loved me, even more than my Mom and Dad. When Dad used to shout at me for spending more time in the kitchen trying out different dishes instead of studying, Di used to come to my rescue. She would lie and say that it was she who told me. She was very protective of me. When I was eight year old, I broke my hand due to a guy who was elder to me. I got pushed by him, it was unintentional but Di gave him a black eye. When his parents complained to ours, we were scolded a lot by Mom and Dad and were put into house arrest for a week." Vihaan laughed at the memory. Aarohi too smiled. "If she was here now, I wouldn't have been here. I would have not been a CEO because she would've been. We both studied business management but I was never interested in it while she was made for it. She always observed Dad and his clients keenly whenever they would come home. She would imitate as if she was speaking to a bunch of people by having her head held high and hands shoved into her invisible pockets. She was crazy like that. We had decided that I'll be an employee and she'll be the boss. She had even said that I will be her most favorite employee but.." He stopped speaking when he felt his voice getting broken as sadness kept making him feel heavy.

Aarohi clasped her hand with his and let them rest on his knee as a silent gesture of comforting him.

Vihaan inhaled sharply, holding back his tears and continued. "She left. She broke all her promises. It was her birthday. She left on her birthday. She left me alone. She left us all alone." He rambled as a sob escaped through him and a lone tear glided over his cheek and fell on Aarohi's thumb. Aarohi shifted in her place and faced him. By her free hand, she cupped his face and turned it so he was facing hee. He looked so vulnerable, his eyes glazed with tears which glistened under the moonlight. She wiped his tears but Vihaan removed her hand.

"I don't need pity." He said sternly.

"And I'm not pitying you." She replied looking into his eyes.

Vihaan sighed and shrunk back into his seat.

"She had a boyfriend. The relationship was just six months old and they knew each other for some two months before entering into a relationship but she was happy. There was a glow, a shine on her face. Nobody knew about it except me and few close friends of hers. She was very serious about the relationship and I always wondered how six months are enough for knowing someone, trusting them so much but then people fall apart even after being together for years. Sometimes, years aren't enough to know someone." Vihaan let out a scornful laugh as if he was insinuating something else which made Aarohi confused. "His name was Fardeen, he was Muslim and Di and I knew our parents will never approve of it. On top of that, he was an orphan and worked as a bank manager. I told Di to tell our parents about it but she said she needed time. I trusted her and respected her decision. Few days before she left, she was disturbed. I noticed and my doubt instantly went on Fardeen. I thought it must be him who did something but when I asked Di, she said it isn't about him. She said everything will be fine. Nobody will be harmed. I never understood what she meant until she left us. She used to tell me that when she'll be gone, I'll have to manage everything, I'll have to take care of our parents and myself and all such things. I felt scared but when I voiced my doubts, she brushed them away saying that she'll have to get married someday and will move out. I didn't delve deeper and I regret it till today." He gulped and sniffed. "And then on her birthday, she left leaving a letter in the drawer of my desk. She was pregnant, two weeks pregnant. Di was already afraid that Mom Dad wouldn't approve of their relationship and she was sure if they came to know about her pregnancy, they would berate her and moreover ask her to abort. She was ashamed of what she did and didn't have the courage to own it up. She didn't want to bring our family shame but also, didn't want the unborn to suffer due to her. So, she felt it was better if she left everyone."