Star-crossed

Chapter 31

The daily annoying reminder to Vote and share and comment and follow 😅

One week had passed since Vedika had come to stay at Malhotra mansion. She had settled into an easy routine there and had surprised herself once when she had accidentally called Malhotra mansion as home while talking to Meher.
Her interactions with Anirudh had somehow grown stiff and painful. He was the forbidden fruit she could never have.
Still, she asked him to hug her every night before they slept. It had become their habit now. Vedika waited for him to come to the room and Anirudh waited for Vedika to ask him for a hug.
Every day, they found peace in each other’s arms, thinking how strange it was that something as simple as a hug with someone you love could feel so relaxing, exhilarating, rejuvenating and satisfying at the same time.
“Good morning aunty.” Vedika greeted Deepa on the morning of the last day of February.
“Good morning dear, what would you like to have today?” Deepa asked. Vedika made a slight face at all the healthy things spread out in front of her. She craved something unhealthy, something cheesy… her mood changed in an instant when she felt a slight pain in her stomach. She groaned.
“I don’t know if I can eat anything aunty. Acidity again..” She whined.
“It happens in this state dear. How about some light cereal? Or khichdi?” Deepa pressed and Vedika nodded reluctantly. She knew Deepa aunty wouldn’t let her skip any meal.
Deepa offered Vedika some salted pretzels after the breakfast and noted that Vedika enjoyed them.
“Vedika… I wanted to ask you something. I know this is your personal matter. But it’s related to the baby. I would be really happy if you could.. visit a gynecologist I know. She is a close friend and since we have to keep your pregnancy secret from the media.. It would be...wise to switch from City hospital to a private clinic.” She said.
“I would even let you pay her fees yourself… if you want.” She added, sensing Vedika’s reluctance.
Vedika hesitated. It wasn’t a matter of money… she had a lot to spare. But should she really accept Deepa aunty’s offer?
She didn’t want to take anymore help from them. But then, this was purely professional. She would be paying the fees and it would be like any other visit to the doctor.
Finally, she nodded, not wanting to disappoint the woman who had lovingly given her shelter in her own home and cared for her like her own daughter.
“Okay I will take an appointment. When do you have an off day? This weekend?” Deepa asked and Vedika nodded.
Meher looked visibly upset and tensed when Vedika arrived at the college.
“Hey.. what’s up?” Vedika sat beside her and nudged her. Meher shook her head.
“Nothing…. I think we have a seminar right now. We should go.” She said, starting to get up, but Vedika held her hand.
“When have we ever attended a seminar, Meher?” She asked, pulling Meher down, “sit back. And tell me what has happened.”
“No I can’t. You are already dealing with pregnancy and so many other complications. I can’t dump my problems on you.” Meher pretisted, but Vedika gave her a stern look.
“None of that bullshit is going to work here. You better tell me your problem or else…” She threatened, making Meher give up in defeat.
“I… Vedika… Rihan is blackmailing me.” She said, her voice breaking at the end and tears gathering in her eyes.
“Whatt?” Vedika asked, getting an unexpected shock. She had heard that Meher and Rihan were fighting on some issues a few days ago. How did this escalate so quickly?
“How? I mean.. Why is he doing that? And what exactly does he want?” She asked.
“He wants… he wants either money or a marriage with me. He has my pictures and he is threatening to post them on social media and spoil my reputation if I don’t give him money or marry him.”
“Noo. no…. Not that kind of pictures,” Meher clarified when Vedika gave her a look, “I am not stupid enough to give anyone nudes. Casual pictures… like our couple selfies… me hanging out at his house and cooking in his kitchen… me hugging him, talking to him...pictures like that. There are messages too, like… private… intimate chats. He has screenshotted everything before I could delete them. And everyone knows how strict my family is. They will freak out if they come to know about me dating a guy, they won’t let me come to college anymore, they won’t let me finish my degree. All these years, my sister had covered up for me… but I don’t know how I will handle this.” Meher almost burst into tears. She explained their fight and how she had tried to break-up. This had angered Rihan and he had walked away, claiming to get revenge.
Vedika was stunned and extremely angry. She couldn’t believe Rihan would do something like this. All this time they had believed him to be a good guy…
No, she wouldn’t let a guy like him spoil an innocent girl’s life.
“Let’s complain to authorities, Meher. I won’t let him torture you like that. Come on.” Vedika stated firmly and got up. This time, Meher held her hand and stopped her.
“Noo… Vedika, I can’t. We can’t go to anyone. They will involve my family and I can’t even imagine what they would do to me. No, please.” Meher begged and Vedika sighed.
“But we have to do something, Meher. We can’t give him money… he won’t stop after one time. He will keep asking for more and won’t stop until he has ruined you. Don’t you see it? Money isn’t his motive. Neither does he want to marry you. He just wants to punish you for something that isn’t even your mistake. This is his sick way of revenge.” Vedika said.
“But what can we do?” Meher asked, “he has clearly warned me to not tell anyone about this. If he gets suspicious that we are trying something, he will immediately leak the pictures. Even Sameer is not here. He has gone to Delhi for his family related issue.”
“Don’t worry about it. So what if Sameer isn’t here? What am I here for? And I have a plan.” Vedika said, with a determined look in her eyes.
*
“Amaira? What has happened? Why are you in such a bad mood these days?” Jia asked. She had come over that afternoon and had found Amaira in a foul mood, sulking in her room.
“When everything is bad in life, why would my mood be an exception?” Amaira drawled.
“Hey.. what bad could happen in your life? You are Amaira Malhotra.” Jia asked jokingly and Maiara’s eyes flashed.
“Exactly, I am Amaira Malhotra, but now I can’t even control my own life or what goes on in my own house. That slut… that girl Vedika is going to ruin our lives and everyone has become so blind that they can't even see it.” She spat. Jia sighed, she had been hearing about Vedika for the past few days and it looked like Amaira had taken the matter on her ego.
“Look, I don’t know much about her, but Anirudh isn’t a child that any girl will manipulate him. Your mom is smart too. If both of them can trust her, maybe she isn’t as bad as you think. And even if she tries anything, Anirudh and aunty aren’t stupid to let her do anything wrong. Surely, they would stop her.” Jia said and Amaira huffed.
“Keep your advice to yourself. Do you think of me as a fool who can’t even recognize people? I know exactly what that girl is, a bloody middle-class gold digger bitch who wants nothing but money from us. She is a rude, conniving slut and she dares to call me, Amaira Malhotra worthless. I will show her my worth, you just wait.” She muttered.
Amaira paced her room after Jia had left, extremely agitated. She was thinking about what she could do to throw the slut out of the house. She had to do something.
The slut had been staying in her house for the past 10 days and she had been able to do nothing about it. She had thrown tantrums, insulted the slut, fought with Anirudh and her mother, tried to get her father to do something, even burnt a room of her own house… but that slut was still here.
She hated this.
She hated not having control. All her life, things had gone exactly how she had wanted and now, she wanted to throw out that gold-digger from her house, from their lives. She wanted her family’s safety and the best girl for Anirudh, not some slut he had a temporary crush on. But nothing was going her way. She was reminded of her Dadi’s words…
“Time changes everything...”
“....But life is unpredictable. Not everything is in our control.”
This angered her and made her even more determined to throw Vedika out. She had to prove it that everything was in her control. Nobody, nothing could change her life. She had to protect her family.
*
5th March
Anirudh woke up on the afternoon of the first Sunday of March to notice Vedika sneakily padding out of the room. Groggy with sleep, he got up and sat on the couch, confused as to what was happening.
He scrambled up when his brain finally started functioning and followed Vedika partly out of curiosity, partly with worry. He was about to call her out when he noticed her silently get out of the house, behaving as if she was sneaking out without telling anyone.
Frowning at her odd behavior, he followed her out and saw her getting into his car. It was then he realized she had taken his car keys… without asking him.
He didn’t have any problem with her taking his car, he would gladly give her anything she wanted, but driving in this condition… he wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. But why did she even need to sneak out without telling him or anyone?
Was she hiding something?
That thought affected him more than he wanted. He clenched his fist and debated for a moment. Finally he caved in to his heart’s insistence and rushed back to his room.
Grabbing the keys to his SUV and a hoodie, he clicked on his phone and opened the location tracer. His Audi being a very modern and technologically adapted model, he could trace it through his phone. He traced it to a local park and immediately got into his car.
It took him 20 minutes to get there and he noticed his car parked outside the park. There was no sign of Vedika. Adjusting his cap and pulling his hoodie over his head to hide his face, he ventured into the park in search of the love of his life.
He walked around for 10 minutes and had started to get worried about her health and safety when he saw her and froze with shock. The sight in front of him was something he hadn’t expected at all. She was meeting a guy.