Exile

12. FORGIVENESS!!

Agastya stayed back while Raghav walked into the house after Agastya nodded. He couldn't believe what just happened. He agreed to Raghav but that kind of tied him to the family forever.. and the thought itself had him scared.

The word.. Forever.. it doesn't exist. Agastya few months back would have reveled in the idea of forever, but he now knows better than that. Even after knowing all this, he felt the immense urge to protect this family and cherish the bond he shared with them. And that scared him more than anything. Some wounds are not meant to be healed and he wasn't even thinking in that direction or considering that as a remotest possibility.

After his conversation with Raghav, he was determined to make sure that no one gets hurt with this arrangement because of the selfish decisions he made. No one knew anything and he wanted it to be that way. Come what may!

Pratyaksha is disappointed with the way their parents let Harika get away with it easily. She couldn't come up with one single reason, in her right frame of mind, that can let her sister get away with it. Pratyaksha unlike everyone in the house valued ethics and morals above anything. From where she could see, Harika did something which is non-bailable under any circumstances. Her mind didn't let her think anything other than that. She completely forgot that Harika is just 20 and need some right guidance.

Just like everyone in the family, Pratyaksha gave up before even trying to understand Harika and this fact bothered Raghav more than anything. What he asked of Agastya, was something he would have loved if it came from his elder daughter. He gave up on Satya and made peace with the fact long ago, instead of pushing his son to be something that he is incapable of. He had expectations on Pratyaksha because she is the only responsible one out of all his children. When he and his wife played bad cop, he kind of expected Pratyaksha to react better. That is when he saw Pratyaksha walking towards him, anger visible on her face. He sighed.

"Kyu kiya aapne aisa Papa? Aap dono ne use itni aasani se maaf kardiya. Use tho iss maafi ki value bhi nahi pata hai. Agar use phirse aisa kiya tho? Uski career ki sawaal hai Papa. Galat raaste mein chal rahi hai vo. Mujhe laga aap use samjhadenge. Lekin aapne bhi maaf kardiya use." She expressed her disappointment very clearly.

Raghav looked on as she vented out. Underlying concern among Pratyaksha' s words was too hard to miss. It is still not too late, he thought "Tumne samjhane ki koshish ki?" He asked directly and Pratyaksha looked at him startled.

"Vo sunne ke liye tayyar hi nahi thi, Papa. Use tho ye bhi nahi lagta ki usne koi galati ki hai!"

"Usne mujhse aur Anjali se maafi maangi." He cut her and Pratyaksha stood rooted in her spot. Her sister apologized? Harika Sharma, apologized, with in hours?

"Use daantne ke liye uski Mumma Papa hai, Pratyaksha. Samjhane ki koshish karo. Uski friend banne ki koshish karo." He told her and walked away.

Pratyaksha sat on the couch in living room and leaned back, thinking about what her father meant.

To say Harika is on cloud nine would be an understatement. She waited for her father to leave Agastya alone so that she could talk to him and as soon as she saw him leaving, she made her way to Agastya, who was going towards kitchen.

"Bhaiyya!!" She hopped in front of him, making him pause and look at her. The smile on her face was so contagious that he almost smiled. He raised his eyebrows in response.

"Thank you so much, bhaiyya!! Mumma Papa ne maaf kardiya. Sab sort hogaya. Bas aap college mein baat karlo. Sab set!" She kind of ordered him, with the smile intact on her face.

"Maafi maangli? Kis liye?" He asked walking past her, towards the kitchen as he realised he was hungry.

Harika followed him, talking to him "Maine unhe hurt kiya na us cheez karke jo unhe pasand nahi hai. Iske liye maafi maangi maine."