Out Of Sight, Always In Mind!

Chapter 17

Vivan's POV:

"Oh god, what happened next?", Keya couldn't stop laughing as we got down from the car.

"Well then we had to be his slaves for the next month!!"

"You got to be kidding!! A whole month!!", she was shocked.

"Worst month of my life", I shudder even remembering about it.

Keya continued to laugh. It was soothing to my ears. I had just told her about the incident when Vansh and I had mixed two tablets of Viagra in Varun's soft-drink to give him a "hard" time! He had spit it all out in front of Mom and she was really mad at us. It was one of the best pranks I've ever played on my brother.

"Welcome home Master Vivan..", Marc said on spotting us, "What a pleasant surprise, Miss Keya, Happy Birthday.."

"Thanks Marc, its good to see you too and just Keya.. no prefix please..", she smiled, "..and yeah.. Thank you for the toys.. The kids loved it..".

She blinked her eyes indicating she knew it was his idea. I shrugged my shoulders when Marc looked at me. He replied, "Well Vivan was keen on doing something for those kids and I thought toys were a great idea.."

I spoke, "It was a wonderful idea.. Marc why don't you get Keya something to eat and escort her to the Family room. I have to go get ready for the meeting with Dad.. "

"Sure", Marc replied politely and summoned the other house-keepers.

"Hey Vivan, that isn't necessary.. I am already full due to lunch..",Keya smiled, "I shall go upstairs and see you in some time yeah?"

"You sure you don't need anything??", I insisted. Keya simply shaked her head.

"Okay then. But if you do then just call Marc. I shall go now. See you soon", I gave her a sideway hug and started up the stairs.

"Umm Keya?", I stopped on my way.

"Yeah?"

"Feel at 'home'", I said to earn her rolling of eyes and proceeded for my room smiling.

In less than twenty four hours, our relationship had changed and progressed alot. This was my first weekend in India and already so awesome! Every little thing that Keya did had got me awe-stricken. Our journey back home was full of laughter and information. We realised that our families had a similar origin, that is, we both came from the state of Punjab. My grandfather had moved from Punjab to Mumbai for business and then the United Kingdom. My Dad was born and brought up there while my mother moved from India to UK after marrying Dad.

Keya told me the story of her parents and it wasn't anything less than a bollywood flick. Her Dad was a middle class Punjabi "munda" ( boy ) and her Mom was the eldest daughter of one of the richest landlords there. Like many love stories, theirs started when they were in college. They fell in love eventually. But her Grandfather was a strict man and would never approve of it. Her Dad had no sufficient money to give her Mom the same luxuries or even a part of it like she was living in at her father's place. Mumbai had hit an industrial revolution at that time. There were tremendous number of job opportunities here. Her Dad vowed to come here and become that legit bachelor which Keya's grandfather expected for his daughter.

Her Dad came to Mumbai in search of a job. A month later, he had received a news that Keya's Mom was being married off to someone against her will. Keya's Dad went back to Punjab and just like some film hero, he abducted his love on her wedding day. Her parents were so much in love that nothing could stop them. They came back to Mumbai. Keya's Mom was made to break all the ties with the family. Keya said her Mom told her that it did hurt to let go off the family but she wouldn't ever have survived if she had married a person she didn't love. Her Mom tried contacting her family when she got married, when her Dad started his own business, when she was pregnant with Sameer, when her Dad won the best businessman award and even when she was pregnant with Keya. When her parents had visited the hometown, though her Mom was welcomed and loved by all family members, she never got to see her father. He was a stern man, and nothing could change him, not even her parents' death.