"Haan Aai, aati hoon use lekar yahape." Pallavi responded.
"Kya hua?" Raghav asked.
"Aai ka phone tha unhone tumhe ghar laane ke liye kaha hai." Pallavi said.
"Bichari Aai ko kya pata ki mein tumhare hi ghar se hi aaya hai yahape." He said chuckling.
"Haan. Aur batana bhi mat." Pallavi warned.
Both of them went down to tell Amma that they are going to Deshmukh House.
"Abhi toh aaya hai tu, thoda aaram karke jaa na." Amma said to Raghav.
"Chalega na Pallavi?" Amma asked Pallavi.
"Haan, Aunty. Koi problem nahi hai."
"Nahi. Abhi jaate hai matlab aane ke baad mereko aaram karne ko milega varna fir so jao waapas utho, usse accha abhi chalta hai." He said.
Both of them left for Deshmukh House where Aai was waiting for them.
"Aa gaye tum beta?" Aai asked.
"Haan, Aai." Pallavi answered.
"Tu toh roj hi aati hai. Raghav aaj pehli baar aaya hai na tere Baba ne use pareshaan karne ke baad toh use puch rahi hoon." Sharda said and the color on Pallavi's face faded out.
"Haan, Aunty. Mein aa gaya." Raghav said with a smile.
"Aunty nahi abhi Aai bolne ki aadat dal lo beta." Aai said patting his cheek.
"Haan, Aai."
"Kyu? Aap sirf meri aur Nikhil ki Aai hai na, toh yeh kyu aapko Aai bulayega?" Pallavi asked in jealousy.
"Are you jealous?" Raghav whispered in her ears.
"Shut up!!" She said but Aai heard it.
"Pallu beta, aise thodi na bolte hai." Aai said.
Raghav laughed at this statement while Pallavi glared at him.
"Chalo ab dono andar aao. Dada kabse intejaar kar rahe hai." Milind said.
All of them went inside. Vijay greeted all of them.
"Kaisi rahi tumhari conference, Raghav?" Vijay asked him.
"Accha tha, uncle. Bohot kuch sikhne ko mila, naya naya logo ko mila." Raghav answered.
"Accha hai. Aur tum mujhe Baba bulana chalu kar do." Vijay told him.
"Ji Baba." Raghav spoke shocked at how nicely Vijay was talking to him while, Pallavi was happy that her Baba had wholeheartedly accepted Raghav.
They all continued talking for a while. Raghav was the centre of attraction during this time with Pallavi getting the least importance. Raghav left after a while and Pallavi went to drop him.
"How does it feel to snatch away my family's attention?" She asked glaring at him.
"Feels the same way as you feel." He replied.
"When did I snatch away your family's attention Mr.Rao?" She asked keeping her hands on her hips.
"When have you not?" He countered.
"I have never done that." She retaliated even though, she knew in her mind that his mother and sister gave her more importance than him.
"Ohh please!! Amma and Keerti always give more importance to you. They pamper you more than me. So, when I am getting more attention than you then, why are you having a problem?"
"I don't have any issue." She said looking anywhere but at him.
"I can see that." He said smirking.
"Fine, I was jealous but, I am also happy that Baba had accepted you now." She said with a bright smile.
"Even I am happy."
"For now, you must leave otherwise Aunty will keep worrying about you." Pallavi said and pushed him into the car.
"Byeeee."
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Raghav reached home and met Amma and Keerti. They had their lunch together.
"Tereko kyu bulaya tha Sharda ji?" Amma asked.
"Woh aise hi milne ke liye. Bohot pampering kiya mera." Raghav told the both of them.
"Vijay ji kya bola?" Amma asked hesitantly.
"Woh bhi acche se baat kiya." Raghav said continuing his lunch.
"Kuch bola nahi na woh matlab aisa kuch ki. Tu samajh raha hai na mai kya bol raha hai woh?" Amma asked.
"Haan Amma main samajh raha hai. Bohot acche se baat kiya woh. Kuch bhi problem nahi hua. Aap chinta mat karo." Raghav assured Amma.
"Tum unko kuch Sanki Buddha ya aisa kuch bola nahi na. Woh bichara shant hoyega to bhi tu use pareshaan nahi kiya na? Tera koi bharosa nahi hai mereko." Amma said.
"Amma, agar merese acchese koi baat karta hai toh mein kuch nahi bolta. Wohi mereko kuch pakata tha toh mein bhi usko bolta tha." Raghav defended.
"Chup kar."
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It was night time and Raghav video called Pallavi but, she did not pick it up.
"Is she still angry?" Raghav thought.
After a while, she herself called him.
"Hello." She said excited.
"Hello. Why didn't you pick up my call earlier?" He asked.
"I was on a call with a dealer. He has some really good collection which we can keep in the showroom in the mall. I have a meeting with him tomorrow."
"That's great. What's his name?" Raghav asked.
"Akhil Akula." She replied.
"Haven't heard this name."
"He is new in the business, but is quite talented. I mean he is young and unexperienced, but knows everything about the business very well. I was shocked to see his knowledge. He talks like somebody who knows the nooks and corner about sarees. It's going to be so much fun to work with him. He also gave me a lot of tips in improving the saree designs and also in how to select the material for particular saree." She spoke.
"That's amazing. I would suggest you to be careful. Some people try to fool you and then you may suffer." Raghav warned.
"I understand your concern but this guy seems genuine." Pallavi said.
"Fine. I'm just saying that don't get carried away in your happiness and research a bit about the person you are dealing with. If you want I'll do that for you."
"Okay, Mr.Gyani Rao." She said.
"Don't take this as a joke. I am being serious."
"Yes, baba."
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The next day, Pallavi had a meeting with Akhil at 9.30 in the morning. She had to leave home early in order to reach his work place. She couldn't meet Raghav due to the early meeting and decided to meet him in his office at lunch time.
The meeting with Akhil went well. It extended longer than expected. She was late to meet her Ghamandi Rao. It was almost 1.15 that she got free. Raghav's office was a little far from Akhil's office. She took her scooter and sped up to meet Raghav. While on the way, she missed the right turn that led to Raghav's office. She had to go straight and then take the next right which connected both the roads. While taking the turn, her scooter slipped due to the oil spilled on the road causing her to fall down on the road. It was a sudden action that happened in a fraction of second due to which, she became unconscious.
On the other hand, Raghav was waiting for Pallavi to have lunch. He had tried calling her but, she did not pick up his call. Thinking that she must be on the scooter, he stopped calling her. It was almost 2 and she had still not came. He was worried for her and tried calling her again. This time, the call was answered but not by Pallavi but, by someone else.
"Hello, Pallavi. Where are you? It's almost 2 now. For how long am I supposed to wait for you? If you were getting late, then you should have told me instead of making me wait." He spoke in one go.
"Hello, Sir. Actually the person that you have called, slipped while driving her scooter and has injured herself. She is unconscious at this moment. We have admitted her in Apollo Hospital." The person on the other end spoke.
The moment Raghav heard this, the land under his feet slipped. He didn't know how to react. He hanged up without answering the person and sped up towards the hospital. On the way, he informed Krishna and Nikhil. Raghav reached the hospital and started searching for Pallavi.
"Pallavi ekkadundi?" Raghav asked as he started panicking.
"She is in room number 19, Sir." The receptionist answered.
Raghav frantically ran towards the rooms. He finally reached the room where she was admitted. Few strings were attached to her body and two men were sitting on the couch. They immediately stood up seeing Raghav.
"Are you the one who called her." One of them asked.
"Yes. What happened to her? How did she get here?"
"Actually she was turning to the right side to enter the lane but, she slipped due to the oil spill. As soon as she hit the ground she was unconscious. There were some people there but, no one was ready to bring her to the hospital. The both of us took her here by our car. We spoke to the doctor, he told us that she has some injuries but nothing major. She would regain consciousness after some time." One of the men, Mahesh spoke.
"Where's that idiot doctor? There's so much blood on her forehead, strings are attached to her body and still that doctor has the audacity to say that this is nothing major? How dare he?" Raghav spat angrily.
"Sir, calm down please! She is okay, now. Her condition is quite stable. The doctor said that she will regain consciousness after some time." One of the men, Advay consoled Raghav.
"Listen, I am really thankful to you for bringing her here but, don't try to test my patience. Call that doctor, right now." Raghav spoke trying to control his anger. Advay immediately called the doctor.
"What has happened to her?" Raghav asked.
"She has some injuries on her head which we have bandaged. Her body is weak. Looks like, she has not eaten properly in a while. Was she fasting or something like that?" The doctor asked.
"As far as I know, she wasn't fasting. She might have not had her breakfast today as she had an early morning meeting." Raghav told the doctor.
Till then, the Deshmukh family along with Krishna entered. All of them were worried for Pallavi. The doctor explained them the situation, told them about the treatment and explained what precautions to take.
All of them were worried for Pallavi as she had still not regained consciousness. Raghav was standing near the window, thinking about all the good moments he had with Pallavi. He was just waiting for her to gain consciousness.
Author's Note - Finally, I am back with a new chapter after being MIA for quite some time. I can't promise regular updates as of now but, will update 2 or 3 times a week. Also, I missed writing a lot. It had become a part of my routine to write and publish chapters and to wait for all your lovely comments. But, now I feel so happy to write and publish the chapter. Hope that you all will support me even now.
Here is the accident track that one of you requested. A little spoiler - In the next chapter, Raghav will come to know that Pallavi donated blood to his Amma when she was hospitalized. Don't worry about Pallavi needing blood and her injury being fatal, she would be completely fine.
Hope you all like this update. Do give me your honest feedbacks in the comments.
Date - 23rd June 2022.
