Reconciliation

Chapter 7 : Soft hearts

"Bhabhi are you okay?" DD asked worriedly when he saw her enter the cabin and breathing unevenly. "C...could you please drop me home?" She asked, stammering and on the verge of tears.

"Sure...sure..." He replied hastily and assisted her to his car, driving off immediately. DD was absolutely anguished to see Avni struggling to not break down in front of him. "Bhabhi we're here..." He announced, unbuckling his seat belt and helping Avni out of the car.

"Mata ji!" DD called for Shweta who appeared from her room at once. "Avni? Oh God!" She exclaimed and held her daughter in law. "Avni? Beta I'm here...we are all here. What happened?" Shweta tried to calm Avni down.

"Where's Neela Ma?" She asked and ran upstairs as soon as Shweta said "in her room".

Neela was on a call when she heard the door open and her mouth was left ajar when she saw her daughter standing and sobbing. "Prateek I'll call your later. Shift all my meetings to tomorrow." She ordered hurriedly and kept her phone aside.

Avni then ran to her mother's arms and cried. No words were exchanged and Neela let her cry too. After a few minutes, Neela asked, "Avni what happened?"

"I...I was questioning Vidyut." Avni began, hiccuping. Neela patted her back and made her sit on the couch. "He...mentioned...how...b...both Ashish Mehta and N...Neil sent me to jail." She continued with great difficulty.

"Take a deep breath. Do it Avni!" Neela said firmly when her hiccups weren't stopping and she was unable to breathe properly. Avni did as instructed and felt physically better.

"Yeah, what next?" Neela asked when she thought Avni was fit to reply. "I never gave him a chance to explain why he did that." She whispered, messily wiping her face with her hands.

Neela drew in a sharp breath and looked at Avni with pity in her eyes. It was true; there were no explanations. Just pure anger and hatred in Avni which would have been the case too had Neela not asked Neil to tell her the truth that day.

"What if he was just trying to protect me from his mother?" Avni asked, her eyes unfocused. "Avni there's no point in thinking about it now bacha." Neela whispered, on the verge of tears too.

"He hurt you with traumatising words before sending you to prison Avni. I...I don't think he was trying to protect you." Neela added, kneeling in front of her. "Who exactly do you mean by 'he', mom? Because I remember both Neil and Ashish Mehta doing that." Avni countered, almost looking at Neela in a condemning way for selective bias.

"The only difference is Neil's intentions were disclosed because he let them out. Ashish Mehta died and couldn't." Avni finished and lied down on her stomach. Neela tried to think of reasons why what Avni was saying couldn't  be true but she found none.

"I was so mad in anger for him that he left this world and I couldn't...tell him that he had to try just a bit more and I would have forgiven him." Avni's muffled voice came.
"If you're thinking of forgiving Neil to avoid that being repeated, don't." Neela said firmly.

"I can't lose him too-"
"I know Avni. I know. But forgiving him due to your baseless fear? That's unfair to both of you!" She reasoned, stroking her hair.

"You're giving in step by step, that is enough progress Avni. But if you're thinking of rebuilding your relationship on the basis of a fear, I would never advise that." She explained, simultaneously texting Neil a reply to his 'Is Avni okay?' message.

"Avni, I've got hot oil for massaging your head. Come on!" Bebe said cheerfully, Shweta alongside her. They dropped their conversation at once and Avni went with them to Bebe's room.