Unreachable Destiny- The Curse Of Your Love

Chapter-30: A Card Against The Queen.

Akshay goes through the photos that he has taken that day when the sound of footsteps, startles him and he immediately puts away the camera, afraid of anyone finding out about the pictures he had taken of Maya. He turns around to find Amish walking towards him.

"What are you doing out here? The sun is about to set, everyone's back at the hotel."

"Just chilling. I don't feel like going back. It's beautiful out here." Amish walks up to sit beside Akshay.

"Beautiful and peaceful. It was a good decision, coming here. A break from all the drama." Amish stared at the sky as the sun descended on the other side.

"You know what Maya did," Akshay states.

"I do."

"Are you angry with her?"

"No. I don't even know if I can ever be angry with her." Amish couldn't help how weak he becomes when it's Maya. Whatever she does, he can't seem to get angry with her.

"It is hard to be angry at her." Akshay agrees. In all these years of carrying and hiding his feelings, he got frustrated and fed up with this nerve-racking situation more than a handful of times, but all it takes is one smile from her and he gives in.

"I just don't understand why she has to go to such lengths. I am honestly afraid of what she's capable of doing at this point."

"Maya has always been unpredictable, like the ocean, so calm and appealing but her anger is a tsunami. Once you feel like you know her depth, she will prove you wrong by showing her deeper self and make you wonder if you will ever know her completely. Like the sea, whatever she gets, she returns it all eventually. When she loves you, it feels like you are in the middle of that ocean where it's calm and serene but when you are a stranger it's like the shore, always with those threatening waves. You are so lucky that you are already in the middle of her ocean."

"Are you guys together?"

"What?" The unexpected question startles Akshay.

"I saw you guys together. I honestly know nothing about her and she's my sister. I don't even know if she's in a relationship. In fact, I don't think I have a right to ask her or the courage"

"Then you should gather courage and ask her because she will tell you the truth. Maya will never lie to the ones she loves, instead, she will lie to herself." Akshay looks at Amish. "Don't let her lie to herself."

Once again, Akshay avoided the question that haunted him. Who is he to Maya? Akshay and Amish sat silently on that bench as the sun had a final peek at his day and the orange sky turned dark.

***

The next day...

"Pick up, pick up, pick up." Aditya walks back and forth in the corridor. After trying for so long to contact Mr. Aurora, he finally managed to get his P.A's mobile number. He called them yesterday but it was after office hours so she couldn't take the call. She called him back a while ago when he was playing volleyball with the others, so he had to return to the hotel to find a decent place to take the call.

"Hello. This is Rachna from VR Arts speaking. How can I help you?"

"Hi, this is Aditya Rajvansh. I have recently applied for mentorship from Mr. Aurora. I have submitted my portfolio with multiple emails and haven't received any reply."

"Is that so? I am sorry, but Mr. Aurora handles his mail by himself. At most, I can remind him regarding the application but I can't guarantee anything as his assistant."

"Actually, I have contacted you through your office email too but didn't receive a reply."

"Every application sent to our office goes through the same verification and is treated equally. I have no say in who gets to be Mr. Aurora's mentee, sir. Kindly understand and wait for the decision." The tone of the woman on the other side suggests that she's losing her patience but Aditya can't lose hope. He has to be persistent if he plans to get this.

"Please let me get in contact with Mr. Aurora once. I really need this mentorship. I have been working on this portfolio for a long time and finally managed to put everything together."

"I have no authority over such decisions. It will be appreciated if you don't insist on such requests." The woman on the other side emphasizes each word as if she is talking to a child.

"All I need is one chance. I can convince him that I will become a valuable asset to his work. Please let me talk to him once. One chance is all I need." 

" I am sorry but I can't help you with this. Have a nice day." The line goes dead as Aditya's heart sinks with disappointment. Why can't he seem to get anywhere with his dream when everyone else is working towards theirs?

"Aditya." Aditya's eyes bulge as his heartbeat picks up at Meenakshi Rajvansh's voice.  He turns around slowly, unwilling to accept this situation. The moment his eyes fall upon his grandmother, he can tell that she heard everything. Holy-

"Dadi?"

"What is this all about, Aditya? Didn't you tell everyone you got the mentorship and are having classes right now?"

"Dadi, I can explain. Please don't tell anyone about this. Especially, Maya." Meenakshi frowns as if to feign confusion but she is more than satisfied with how Aditya responded. Meenakshi had her doubts regarding Aditya's suspicious behaviour for a while but didn't anticipate that the cause would be something like this. She finally got a card in her favour, and she plans on using it with caution. Maya managed to get the upper hand till now and Meenakshi can't help but feel proud of her clever granddaughter, but Maya's clever moves will not help their family and that is something that Meenakshi can't allow.

"Aditya, even if you couldn't get the mentorship, you should've said so. No one will judge you for it, especially not me. I am always here to support you, you know that, right?"

"I am sorry, Dadi, that I lied to everyone. I just didn't how to answer whenever they asked about the progress of my application and I just didn't want to disappoint anyone. Maya is working in the field of her choice, Amish Bhayya is one the best businessmen out there, but I turned out to be useless among them."

"Aditya, you are not useless. You just need some time. Don't worry, I will not tell anyone. In fact, I will help you to get in contact with Mr. Aurora."

"No, Dadi. You don't have to do that. I have to achieve this on my own and I will find a way to get around this."

"Taking help once in a while is not such a bad thing. See, even Maya got an offer from Birla Hospital because Amish recommended her. You can get some help too."

"I really don't know what to do." Aditya signs.

"That's what families are for, to tell each other what's best when you don't know it yourself," Meenakshi says with a convincing smile. She knew that to win over someone like Maya, she had to gamble with her dear ones and Maya's. Meenakshi loves Maya for how clever and calculating she is but she needs Maya on her side. She needs Maya to understand that all her strength should be used for the family, not against them.

***

"Ranav, I found the place you described. But I don't know about the house, though." Arun, Ranav's college classmate and his manager, tells Ranav.

"Really? You found it? Send me the details." Ranav can feel the relief flood his body. Finally, some answers.

"Yep, I sent you the location. But I have something I need to ask you."

"Yeah?"

"Why did you need this info? I mean it's an abandoned town that everyone forgot about and there is nothing left of that place. What do you plan to do with this info?"

"A song. I am working on something that led me to a story that I want to tell. It's a story that I need to know first."

"Didn't understand a thing. Anyway, I hope you are careful. The signal is bad there and more than that, it's not a safe place. An abandoned town like that is the most likely to have smugglers and settlements, so don't go alone, okay?"

"Yeah, sure."