Subdued - A Shiva Pandya Story

First Strike

Two and a half ago..

Background information :
Raavi and Shiva are not arguing but Shiva has doubts about Arnav. He has tried to voice them to Raavi and the story continues from there.
There will be two timelines running.

" Raavi, mai pura vishwas tujh par kartha hu. Lekin, Arnav par nahin.  Sach kahoon hum uske baare kuch nahin jaante. Har ladka ka niyaat acha nahin hota. Woh bina matlab ka tere help kar raha hai. Kyun?  "

" Shiva, main Arnav sabse zyaada trust karthi  hu, yeh teri bas ki baat nahin Shiva. Ladka ladki friendship, yeh saab tu nahin saamjhe ga. Pandya store ki alawa tujhe koi chance nahin mile logon ke saath rehne ka. Teri understanding limited hai. Yeh saab main handle kar lungi"

Shiva frowned. Arnav just did not sit right with him . He had a habit of just  being there. He tried to voice his thoughts to his brothers Gaumbi and Dev. They pinned it down to jealousy. Was he jealous? Nope , not jealous. He was .....what was he? Sad? Angry? Bitter? Nope. He was hurt. Hurt that Raavi made him feel like a toy. A toy that she had discarded now that a new toy was on the market. It was that feeling you get when you have nobody to pair up with in school and your best friend is absent for the day. In this case the best friend was Raavi. Maybe he was being a drama queen, Shiva was confused. There was a time where Raavi could read him with one look and now it felt like she saw through him.  There was a time they were partners in crime and now it seemed like she was a roommate and less of a partner. The whole social media hacking scandal had finished but yet Arnav lingered around which wasnt the problem.  It was that he felt the need to comment on every aspect their lives and Raavi accepted it. She was innocent and her heart was clear,   he knew this but did she not know him. She knew everything, about his sacrifice,  their hardship and his insecurities and yet she felt the need to mention how limited he was and for whom? For Arnav?

He looked at the surface he was cleaning with his back turned to Krish, remembering  her words. He was thinking where is the leak coming from. Why are there droplets of water despite him cleaning it.

"You fool, havent you figured it out, it's your tears" His soul cackled away with her words merging with his own thoughts .

He gently touched his face and realised he was shedding tears. He finally thought he had found someone after so many years. Someone who knew him. Just Shiva. But what did that lead to. Some more pain. He didnt know what to do. How to get rid of this pain. After years of hearing that he was a jaahil, junglee, gawar..he thought he had formed a tough shell but it seemed like it was crumbling again.

Shiva was going back and forth in his head when he heard Krish say

"What the hell? Shit"

Shiva tapped his face gently and turned around.

"Ab kya hua Krish. Please yeh mat batana ki tu ne spices mix kiya hai. Mere pass koi shakti nahin ki yeh saab fix karu."

Krish had a look of confusion and worry. His forehead was creased and he seemed fearful of Shiva. He had his phone in his hand and looked back and forth from it to Shiva.

"Shiva, mere bhai. Gussa mat karna lekin"
"Lekin kya??"

Shiva was shown the screen . It was a social media page where there were pictures.
Pictures of Raavi and Arnav. One with them holding hands. One with them in convo and one with them.....with Raavi hugging him. It was captioned...."after declaring her love to Shiva Pandya in Somnath, looks like social influencer Raavi is on the prowl for another man"

Shiva clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. The beast was slowly taking place. The beast in him sat on its throne and threw his insecurities at the back of his mind. A storm was brewing and someone had just placed their first strike.

Current day;

Shiva remembered that day how that first strike was actually fire ignited into his heart for the first time in a long time. Why was that memory visiting him today. Why did it lead to his dazed form in the cafe today. He knew why it had happened. It was bought up today in convo , that is why. He picked up the phone and dialled. He needed this person now. Someone picked up

" Hold on Shiva. Gimme 30 seconds....
So Shiva what's up"

"Divya, I need you"

Can anyone guess who Divya is.???