You and I to Hum

3 - It Was a Prank

Anokhi stood rooted on the spot not believing what Shaurya had said to her. Shaurya too couldn't believe what he said. But now that the words were said, they couldn't be taken back. Looking at anokhi's face he couldn't stand it anymore his office seemed to shrink around him. All he wanted to do was get out.

"think about it Anokhi. Take all the time you need."

With these parting words he headed towards the door forcing himself to not look at Anokhi. Long after Shaurya left Anokhi finally woke up from her deep thoughts and looked around to find Shaurya gone. She vaguely remembered Shaurya saying something about time.

She grabbed one of the visitor chairs at his desk and sat down. Thinking about what she needed to do in order to fix everything between them. As she was thinking about her next steps her eyes fell on a picture frame on Shaurya's desk. She walked towards it and looked at it. It was a picture of both of them on the day of the economics seminar on Delhi.

It was looking at this picture she realized all that Shaurya did for her and for their relationship. He literally has been chasing her since the day they got married. His sole purpose was to spend time with her and make her happy. Just like that she realized what she needed to do. She had to stop pushing him away and finally accept him as her husband and  most importantly the man she loves. Smiling at the picture she placed it back on the desk as a plan began to form in her head.

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Late at night Shaurya was in his room working on the patiala campus project. When he hear his phone ting. He ignored it. Thinking it might be Anokhi. He was in no mood to talk to her or anybody. He still couldn't believe that Anokhi believed his bade papa and denied their marriage and relationship. Here he was trying so hard to change to be the man she deserved and she just denied their relationship. He knew that her education is really important to her but it hurt him when she didn't even think about him. He was replaying the events of the day forgetting about patiala campus.

Flashback ———-
He had gone to the patiala campus and to meet his mom when reema finally called him to explain what happened at college. There was going to be a emergency meeting at SIAC to decide about Anokhi's future at the college. Shaurya dropped everything and left back for the college immediately.

He already knew what he had to do to stop her rustication. He text Reema to find out the details about the meeting and let him know. He also told her to not tell Anokhi that he knew. He was so mad that Reema was the one to message him and not Anokhi. After all he was her husband she should have told him right away. He decided to deal with Anokhi after meeting.

As soon as he reached campus he went to his office so that no one sees him and he can plan what to do. He text Reema to meet him at his cabin with all the details. As he waited for her started typing a letter. Once Reema came he asked her all the details of the meeting and asked her to give all the updates on what happened when he was away. By the time Reema finished telling him he was so angry he would have easily punched all the student that bothered Anokhi. He told Reema thanks and asked her once again to not tell Anokhi and led her out of the cabin.

Everything had started to make sense. Why bade papa and badi ma wanted him to go to patiala. Apart from him and Anokhi, only his family and shagun knew about the wedding so that means they were the ones that did all this. He was going to deal with his family after the meeting.

The meeting started at 1 sharply. He waited until five minutes after to stand near the door and listen to what's going on. He wanted to hear all that was being presented against them before he intervened. As he heard his bade papa, his badi ma and Chacha hurl accusations at Anokhi only. They blamed everything on her. He heard footsteps behind and saw that Anokhi sister and ACP Ahir were here. Her sister looked furious. He couldn't blame. He is sure Anokhi had told her everything and she blamed him for ruining anokhi's life. Before she could yell at him he put his finger up to lip. Silently asking her to not talk. He pointed at the door trying to tell her to listen. As all three of them stood at the door listening to everyone decided to rusticate Anokhi.

He was about to enter the room when the next words Anokhi said shocked him to the core.

"There is no relationship between Prof. Shaurya and myself. We are not married. Forget married we are not a relationship at all. Everyone in college knows that he doesn't like me and I don't like him. This was a prank played by someone."

"are you officially stating that ms. Bhalla that there is no relationship" his bade papa spoke

"yes sir."

Shaurya had heard enough and decided to finally enter the room. As he walked in and stood next to Anokhi as everyone in the room looked at him in shock. He heard Babli and Ahir enter behind him. He didn't look at Anokhi and focused his eyes on his family.

"there is not need for a rustication"

"We know Shaurya beta" Alok chachu spoke "that is what this girl said. That it was a prank and you guys are not married or in a relationship."

"she is lying. We are in a relationship and in fact we are married."

Bade papa stood up in a huff "then she will need to be rusticated. Per the prospectus of SIAC there cannot be a relationship between you and her. "

"you are right bade papa. One of us has to go."

He took out the letter from his coat pocket and handed it to him. Bade papa took the letter and read it.

Bade Papa looked up in shock "what nonsense is this. You are resigning."

Everyone in the room looked at Shaurya in shock for the second time. No one expected him to do this. His father was the first person to recover and he looked at Shaurya and gave a small smile. Shaurya knew that he had his blessings and approval for this step.

"you said yourself that Anokhi and I cannot be in this college together. So I am resigning. Now my wife can continue her studies here."

Finally his badi ma spoke up "Shaurya you cannot throw away everything for this girl."

Shaurya fisted his hands. "Anokhi. Her name is Anokhi Shaurya Saberwal. She is my wife. I will do anything and everything to make sure her dreams are fulfilled. That includes leaving this college and Saberwal house. Now the decision is yours. Whatever is decided one thing is for sure, Anokhi is definitely not getting rusticated from this institution"

Shaurya didn't wait for a response and grabbed Anokhi's hand and led her out of the room. Outside he dropped anokhi's hand and stood there not looking at Anokhi at all.

"PS.. I.."

"I have to go. I have lots of pending work that I need to finish"

He turned around walked away from Anokhi and headed to his cabin. He was furious at what Anokhi had said.

———— end of flashback———————

Just remembering this morning he was getting mad again. He dropped all the files on the bed and started pacing the room. He was angry, hurt and sad. He kept on pacing trying to reduce his anger when he heard a knock on his door. He looked at the clock it was 10:30. Almost all family members had gone to sleep. He thought it must be badi ma wanting to discuss today. Since he ignored her all day and blocked her attempts to talk to him by staying in his room. The knock came again. He went to the door and saw Kanchan standing there.
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