Mine

Chapter 13

Abhimanyu became more independent though he was visually impaired, only he knew how dependent he was on her- his Pari. He had always been expecting her presence and once she graced he would never leave her side. They would talk and laugh for hours. They spoke about anything and everything. It looked like a get-to-know-you session, but he had never felt bored. In fact, a few times his sister teased about their getting to know each other bonding, but he never paid heed to her teasings.   

There were times where he questions her about certain things which would catch them off-guard. There was once when he hugged her, he asked her while smiling, 'why did you suddenly become short?' her eyes almost bulged and her heart rummaged in her ribcage fast. It took her some time to realise that he was making fun of her by indirectly calling her short. Though she understood his joke, still, she was terrified about his question.

Once they were talking about the nature of humans, the topic eventually diverted to psychology to which he said, 'you sound more like a psychologist.' It wasn't a question but a statement. On the same day, when they were watching (literally she was watching and he was listening), they again ended up talking about criminal nature and he caught her while talking, 'why do you sound like a criminal psychologist?' to which she felt like she was going to faint anytime. She could hardly even swallow her saliva. However, realising her silence, to lighten her mood he covered it saying, 'come on Pari! It's good to be versatile. And I obviously love talking to the new you. You are different.' Again she was startled but she managed to hide it with a guilty smile.   

From time to time he reminds and pinpoints of her vastly changed nature after his fatal accident. He found her more interesting, genuine and gullible. In addition, he says it aloud, too. She sometimes felt he was a bit cringy and sometimes she felt him rather mysterious. Whatever it was, he was a great human being with a golden heart. He loves doing charities; not for namesake but he does it for his immense pleasure. There were many adolescents who were pursuing studies under the NGO which he and his friend run. While spending time with him, she realised that her sister and he don't share the same interests. 

He liked reading, whereby Ridhi prefers watching. He liked cooking and she liked partying. He liked listening to old songs and jazz music and Ridhi prefered pop and rock music. He liked meeting all kinds of people from poor to rich, but Ridhi prefered her circle only with rich and elites. She didn't like his charitable nature and they used to fight over it as she finds absurd. For him, family comes first and for Ridhi her dream comes first. Nidhi realised that Ridhi and Abhimanyu are poles apart. 

More months passed when one day he asked her to go on a date with him. She was reluctant and even tried to turn it down but she agreed when he started behaving passively due to the rejection. She didn't want to push his buttons, so she agreed. Their first date went well and he really seemed to be happy about it. However, to her surprise, he called one of his friends to hand over some documents and he basically asked her to sign them. When she questioned him about it, he said they were some scholarship forms for her to complete her dream. He just asked her to sign it and said that his friends will manage about filling it in. 

Karan just gave a curt nod indicating that she should just sign those applications. They were a big stack, so she read the first few pages indicating some scholarship. Therefore, she just signed the papers before reading them knowing what the content could be. Though she was rather reluctant, she did it though because she knew his friend knows her reality and he will manage it. Later when she signed, he said something to Abhimanyu and both men nodded with a smile. Karan hugged Abhimanyu and gave a brotherly hug to Nidhi before saying, 'stay happy. We are there for you,' and walked away with a smile. (His best friend Karan knew about her acting as Ridhi. Though he didn't completely agree to it, he still helped them by not revealing it to Abhimanyu.)  

When they were home he again asked her to sign some documents which were related to the charity that she had been helping ever since she took care of him. He didn't really let her read it and he was intermittently distracting her from reading it. Though she felt odd, she trusted him most. Without much hesitance she signed it. It denoted that their NGO has appointed her as a new official partner as he moved some of his shares to her. She was taken aback as it should be his sister's share. She even tried to deny it, but it didn't work with the great Abhimanyu.