The Memory Keepers

5✍️

"Hello!" Anushka waved awkwardly.
"Can I meet Shreyas?"

"Umm, Anushka mam?" The lady hesitated a bit.

"You must be Trisha. No need to call me mam though." Anushka said keeping her composure while she was actually on verge of breakdown herself.

"Shrey is not here right now, and..." Trisha took a long pause.
"I am sorry I am saying this but he would be seldom interested in meeting you."

Anushka's heart sunk.

"Please come in, you can give it a try." Trisha said with a hopeful smile.
"What brought you here?"

"A lot's incomplete right now, Shreyas is one of the missing pieces." Anushka said cryptically.

After what felt like an eternity, Shreyas came back home.

"Shrey, she is here." Trisha said in a low tone as she opened door for him.
"Anushka."

Shreyas just raised an eyebrow.
"Nush bhabhi?"

"Shreyas. How are you? Been a while." Nush said with her eyes a bit wet and her lips curving in a smile.

"I am fine bhabhi, you? Vami? Ummm..." Shreyas hesitated.

"Virat? He is not fine. And he needs you, we need you, not just you but... Ro." Anushka said.

Shreyas just looked on with a straight face without responding to anything.

"I need your help Shreyas." Anushka pleaded again.

"He won't help you. I am sorry." Shreyas said.

"He will, when he will know, he will."

Shreyas took a deep breath. Looked out of the window, then at Trisha. "Fine. I will take you there."

Just a matter of few minutes, climbing two floors.
Shreyas rang the bell and Sammy opened.
"Rohit Bhau?" He said loudly.
"Can I disturb?" That was his trademark ofcourse.

"He is not here chachu." Sammy said examining women behind him.
"T chachi, who is with you?"

"Umm, vo... Shreyas bolo na." Trisha passed the question again to Shreyas.

"Mom's here lil devil?" Shreyas said gently squeezing tip of her nose.

"She is in there." Sammy whined.
"Mama!" She called out Ritika.

"Stop shouting." Ritika came.
Her eyes somehow directly went to Anushka.
"Nush?"

Ritika was unable to form words, her voice cracked.
"I am hallucinating, aren't I Shreyas?"

"You aren't."

Ritika stepped forward and went to Anushka and hugged her.

"It took you this long to come back to your family?" Ritika asked.

"The family didn't try either." Anushka did not want to be bitter but her intrusive thoughts won.

"I did." Ritika almost whispered.
"You were gone. Anyways what brought you Mumbai again."

"I need to meet Rohit." Anushka said.
Ritika went all silent.

"I don't think he would, I am sorry Nush."

"It's very impossible, Ritika, Virat, he is fighting for his life. A life whose little part resides in Rohit."

"I am not getting it. What is it?"

"Rits, Virat lost his memories."
Anushka elaborately explained them what all happened in Delhi.
"He is back to that fateful night, his trauma might just adds on if he doesn't gets his chance. His second chance. Every one else's second chance."

What they didn't realise in their conversation was Rohit was standing there, listening to what Anushka said.

"Rohit needs to come with me to Delhi, you can convince him Rits, Shreyas."
By now a guilt had overpowered Shreyas already.
He realised how stupid they have all been.
Anushka too was in tears by now.

"And what made you think I will be convinced by all this?" Rohit finally spoke up.
"What your husband did to me nine years ago, why should I care about it? The friendship, the bond, he ruined it all."
His eyes didn't agree to what he was saying, they wanted to cry, run to help them, to bring his Vi back.

"Don't say this Ro." Anushka lost all hope with his words.

"It's been nine years Ro, let it go." Ritika requested Rohit while an almost hopeless Anushka was sitting right besides her. Her eyes swollen as if she had cried all the tears she could.

"No Rits, sorry Nush." Rohit said coldly. "I cannot. I just really cannot."

"Rohit, Vamika, that little girl is counting on you to bring her father back. How can you be so heartless to not understand a daughter's plea."

"Rits, you know there is no point in explaining me." Rohit clenched his fist, controlling his rage. Not in his worst night mare he wanted to shout at his wife. But the news he just got had caused an emotional tsunami in his heart.

"Life is giving you both a second chance, Ro." Ritika looked into Rohit's eyes with much hope that he will have a change of heart.

"He needs you, your bestfriend needs you, your Vi needs you." Anushka joined in.
"And I know you need him too." That's it. It was enough.

Rohit Sharma, one of the greatest ever Cricket sportspersons, the man who was celebrated by all. The man they knew as the ruthless opener. The man who was keeping the mask of a snob, was now a vulnerable man.

A lone tear escaped his eyes as he moved his gaze to the window.
"Alright." He said in a low tone with a sigh.

"Thankyou so much Ro, Rits, I..." Anushka sobbed up. Ritika hugged her tight.

"You won't be dealing with this alone, Nush." Rohit assured looking back at them.
"I will bring him back, I promise."

"Are you sure about this?" Shreyas finally spoke up who had kept Rohit bubble wrapped all these years.
"Do you really want to return back to it?"

Rohit looked on.

~

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