Strings of Love ✓

Arjun x Ragini

             He came to Shimla in search
                 of his own identity, but
                 found her..his home.      
                  

Arjun's POV:

I was intrigued by her in the very first meet of ours. That day I was in hurry to reach the orphanage to get to know more about myself and in my way I bumped into her.

Clad in a simple red kurti, her ears adorning those jhumkas, she looked beyond beautiful.

Her head against my chest, us almost hugging each other, was the first time my heart fluttered.

And then when I saw her, in the activity room of 'Sukoon Ghar' singing with that nightingale like voice of hers, I was smitten.

That day I reached the hotel, and slept peacefully.

~

I started visiting that place more often. Seeing her bloom everyday in the presence of those kids, made me smile.
But, I could never have imagined she was just living in my hotel.

I loved the smell the roses. So, the garden of the hotel had many of them. That day, I thought of visiting the garden, and came to the view of her talking cutely with the flowers. It was refreshing to be honest, her presence, her voice, her antics, her smile which unknowingly my heart was falling for, her eyes, so beautiful.

"I hope you like them.", I said, foolishly, to her.
She looked startled but after quickly gaining her composure, she blessed my eyes with that beautiful smile of hers and replied,
"I love them. They're so beautiful."

"Hello, my name is Arjun Punj.", I said, extending my hand towards her.
She hesitated for a moment, before telling me her name, "Ragini Gadodia" and shaking my hand.
I loved the feel of her hand in mine.

~

From that day, we started interacting. She didn't know who I was, as she hated watching news, which I was glad for.

Awkward conversations turned into funny banters, forced smiles into booming laughs, and I felt at peace when she sang for me.

My, P.I., Rishabh called me and told me about the reasons behind Arohi leaving me. I should've danced in joy after hearing that but honestly it had no affect me, instead it reminded me of who I was. A man, who is uncertain, about his own identity, someone who was betrayed by the ones, he considered as family.

A few tears escaped my eyes, as I thought about what to do now. 'Why did my parents leave me?' was the only question rising in my mind and it gave me pain.

I didn't notice her presence, until she sat beside me and took me in her embrace. Ragini held me, ran her hands through my hairs and caressed my back, comforting me. Soon, my tears subsided and I decided to tell her everything about myself.

I told her about my life, about me being a businessman, about Arohi being my ex-wife, about my father betraying me, about Arohi leaving me because she thought she was protecting me.

And finally i told her the purpose of me coming to Shimla, to find out about my parents, told her how I was adopted from 'Sukoon Ghar', the orphanage which gave me her.

She didn't judge me, and when I pulled away, I noticed the tears in her eyes too. It broke my heart to see her tears. I wiped them, becoming aware of our closeness.

"Do you still love her?", She asked or more like whispered.
"I  thought I had loved her but no I didn't. It wasn't love atleast.", I whispered back.
"Why are we talking in such hushed voices like this?", She muttered, almost inaudibly.
"I don't know.", I mumbled and we both burst out laughing.

~

Ragini's POV:

"Boarding now. Mujhe bhulna mat, Ragini.
- the guy who loves you, Arjun."
My phone buzzed with a message and I took a sigh of relief as airport came into view.

You know I was so close to give up and decide to live in shimla  permanently but he came like a sunshine in my life.

Yes, he is the same guy I had bumped into. If there is a reason I have been smiling these past few days, then it was him. I feel like I have known him since forever.

There is this comfort I never experienced with anyone. With everything going on with maa and papa's wedding and my ex-fiance Lakshya  and my sister Swara's wedding, I had stopped believing I would ever find this kind of love ever .

But there is this unknown feeling in the pit of my stomach that arises whenever he looks at me that I've finally realised is love.

My chest was heavy when he told me about his past, I don't know why I felt a sense of relief when he said he doesn't love arohi anymore. When he opened his heart out, I wanted to tell him about my reason to come here too, but I didn't.

He was suffering already enough and I didn't want to burden him with my  sorrows. He found out about his real parents today so he went back to mumbai; I, on the other hand, was not ready to face everything yet.

He confessed he loved me before going back, but I couldn't say anything back. Everything was still so messed up in my mind. But an hour later here I am outside the airport ready to throw away all the ifs and buts and tell him how much I love him, to tell him I am there for him.

To heck with what my family will think, he needed me right now with him and I wasn't going to let him down like his ex did.

****

He said nothing and I said nothing. I am not kidding but I did see his eyes welled up when he saw me on the flight .

He just held me close to him , and this was the second time when my head rested near his heart and I could again hear his heartbeats...my new favourite music for sure.

His hold tightened on my hand when our car neared the address. I just woke up 5 minutes ago from my nap and looked outside. My heart stopped. I looked around as the driver parked the car and i felt my hands shivering.

This couldn't be possible right? This was the maheshwari house. Why would arjun's real parents be here?

" Are....are you sure this is the correct house arjun?" My voice was a mere whisper even though I tried to keep calm. A tear escaped my eyes when he seemed too confident that this was the right place. This meant Lakshya and arjun were brothers? Why did life had to play such a cruel game?

I do not know how but right now I was sobbing in his arms. His worried face stared back at me. I broke down little by little, truth spluttered out of my mouth and he listened patiently.

"Shhh...shh...it's okayy...ragini...come on..hum andar nahi jayenge okay? Shant bachha.", He patted my head and kissed my forehead.

" But don't you want to meet your parents?", I asked and he just smiled warmly at me.

"Chahta toh hu ...lekin mere liye tumse zyada aur koi zaruri nahi hai samjhi? Pyaar karta hu tumse aur agar abhi tum reality face karne ke liye ready nahi ho, toh main har kadam me tumhare saath hu. Ragini, I have finally found the one for me and believe me there is nothing else I want right now except you, hmm ? " he tilted my chin and some fresh set of tears escaped from my eyes.

I flung my arms around him and kissed his chin. "I love you too arjun...thank you for everything... I promise to be with you in every path from here on.", I mumbled.  "hum dono ko pata hai aage aane wala waqt aur mushkil hoga , par -", I paused for a bit and then continued.

"We'll go through all of them together , Promise ", I smiled at him and buried my head in his neck .
I found my forever love too.

••••••

Thank you for reading. Hope, you liked it.