Rishton Ka Manjha - MaAn

𝙓𝙑𝙄𝙄 | 𝘼 𝙁𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙍𝙚𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣 |

Leela's Cafe, Bodakdev

"Dad", spoke Samaira with a quivering voice. The word felt like a balm to Vikram's ears. He smiled. A full-blown smile. The teardrops made Vikram's vision hazy and blurred. The time stood still. He stood rooted to his spot as soon as he saw the familiar figure. His pride. His best confindante. A piece of his heart. His daughter. His Samaira was here. This was the longest he had been away from her. Samaira looked at Anupama who blinked her eyes in assurance. The approval made her take slow steps towards Vikram.

Abhi mujh mein Kahin
Baaqi thodi si hai zindagi
Jagi dhadkan nayi
Jaana zinda hoon main toh abhi
Kuch aisi lagan iss lamhe mein hai
Ye lamha kahaan tha mera
Ab hai saamne
Issey chhoo loon zaraa
Mar jaaoon ya jee loon zaraa
Khushiyaan choom loon
Yaa ro loo'n zaraa
Mar jaaun ya jee loon zaraa

She was a step near Vikram when she was engulfed in a bone-crushing hug. Vikram caressed her lovingly and showered her with a forehead kiss. Anuj and Anupama simultaneously warded off the evil by muttering a "Thu Thu Thu" under their breath. Devika hugged her tightly and exclaimed, "What a lovely surprise!!!" Samaira choked on her misty eyes while clinging onto Vikram and spoke in a raspy voice, "I wanted to make sure that my eyes capture Dad's reaction after all it was a surprise for him. I missed you all so much." The shawl being draped over her shoulders alarmed Vikram yet he kept his emotions in check. The stern behaviour yet the faint smile was noticed by Anupama, Anuj, Samar, and Devika. The Shah Couple, Paritosh, and Rakhi Dave looked on at the reunion of a father and daughter. Anuj exhaled sharply and spoke up, "Oh before, I forget, here's the payment, Mrs. Shah.", while forwarding his credit card, when Anupama stopped him and said, "Anuj, just a sec in case there might be an addition of an item on the bill." She turned towards Samaira and asked her, "Have you eaten something?" Samaira gave a sheepish smile and answered, "I had coffee and sandwiches at the airport before coming here."

The statement made Anuj push his glasses to the bridge of his nose and Devika folded her hands over her chest looking at Samaira pointedly. Vikram clenched his fist as he knew his daughter too well. She had surely eaten less. Anuj intervened and selected a dish from the menu. He spoke, "Samaira.", making her sit down on the bench. Anupama realized that it was something to do with eating habits. The closeness astounded Vanraj, Paritosh, Kavya, and Rakhi Dave. The obedience was astonishing. "He misses you. He was appreciated for giving an insight into an error that saved the company from heavy losses." spoke Samaira looking at Anuj's injured hand as she tied her handkerchief over it. Anuj looked at her gratefully and slowly brushed off her hands as the mere thought of losing her caused a pang in his heart. The incident had triggered his old wounds which were masked well. The telepathy left Anupama and Samar baffled. It was so similar to them. Anuj later handed over the card to Kavya who took it and went away to complete the transaction.

All of them got up as soon as Samaira finished her dinner. They were about to leave when Samar received Nandini's call who had passed on the message that a student wanted to meet him. "Mummy, You go home. I'll just visit the academy to meet a student. I'll see you home." said Samar as he walked towards the door when Anuj turned towards Anupama and asked, "The academy is adjacent to the rusty garage, or is it a part of the garage?" Anupama nodded her head in disapproval and answered, "Initially a part of the garage used to be my dance academy. However, with increasing admissions, I needed a big space and so I bought a studio at Thaltej, Anuj." Anuj looked into a dilemma that was cleared by Paritosh. It was quite unexpected for everyone out there. "Anuj, Shall I call you that if you don't mind?", to which Anuj looked on whereas Anupama was annoyed at the lack of mannerisms and looked at Paritosh who further continued averting his gaze, "You can surely have a look at that part of the garage as in a few days the remaining needful stuff would be shifted to the studio at Thaltej. I suppose that is going to be the main head office of the dance academy as far as I know." Anupama looked on with a sense of admiration and a faint smile yet she felt the strings being attached. The statement left Samar, Anuj, Devika, and Vikram baffled whereas Vanraj was shocked. A sudden bomb was dropped on his head.