Unreachable Destiny- The Curse Of Your Love

Chapter-47: A Trouble No One Asked For.

Coincidences coincidences coincidences, Maya was never fond of them. More so when they all seem way too connected. It was only after Maya finished her speech did she learned that the main piece of this art gallery belongs to the well-renowned artist, Dhanraj Aurora. Maya was all but curious and happy to get to meet him in person, so she did talk to him. About Aditya. She had never imagined last week that she would be standing in front of Aditya with a pamphlet from the art gallery bearing the most unrealistic smile ever.

"So... would you go with me?" Maya had asked Aditya to come along with her to meet Dhanraj Aurora, his so-called mentor. She could see Aditya grow tense at the mention of his mentor, but Maya couldn't care less. She was so not in a state to worry about it.

"I have some work assigned to me, so I can't really leave the studio." Aditya conjures up an excuse as expected.

"Oh, by the way, I never got to see your studio. Anyways take me there when free. Didn't you say that you were free at the weekend yesterday? Tomorrow is Sunday. We already made plans to go out, so why not..." Maya says as she walks to stand beside Amish as she links their hands together. "Go to the gallery together. Siblings time?" She asks, posing the most convincing pout she could muster up.

"But Di-"

"No excuses, Adi. We're going. If we can take time out for you." She says glancing at Amish and back at Aditya. "So can you."

"Yeah, why not?" Amish says. "We can all enjoy a day of peace, just the three of us. It'll probably help us understand paintings better. You know get some essence of what our brother does." Aditya stays silent, unable to say anything to convince them to drop the idea.

Meanwhile, Meenakshi observes the whole scene with interest shining in her eyes. As she should, all Meenakshi sees is an opportunity. She later takes her phone out to make the final piece move.

***

"He said he's not feeling well. He said he seems to have a fever." Amish says after going to ask Adi if he was ready to leave. 

"What? How is he? Let me go check on him. Get the thermometer for me, Bhayya." Amish nods and leaves as Maya makes her way upstairs. She passes through Meenakshi's room but stops in her tracks when she hears a familiar voice.

"Thank you very much, Akshay, for helping me," Meenakshi said.

"It was not a big deal. Aditya asked me and I helped him."

"Yes, you did, even though you didn't have to. I am grateful for it nonetheless. If it wasn't for you who helped Adi get a part-time job at your office, he would've been in a fix about how to tell Maya. He was so afraid of her."

"No, that's not-"

"I have to thank you not just for helping Adi but also hiding it from Maya. It assures me that they have a friend like you."

"Ms. Meenakshi, I hope you know why I did it. It's purely for the sake of Aditya and..." Maya storms away, her anger from yesterday surfacing and her concern just moments ago all but forgotten. She went to the gallery, found out things that she usually wouldn't have, then found Akshay and the truth he hid from her. Coincidences, she was not fond of them. She was about to barge into Adi's room when she heard.

"Why did you lie?" Amish said. "You don't have a fever." Maya's legs trembled and she placed her hand on the wall next to her for support. He lied to me. About everything...

Maya opened the door harshly as it banged against the wall with impact. Amish stood up wide-eyed, unable to comprehend the situation. The last time he saw such a reaction in Maya was on the night of the fire when Adi fainted. It was not a good sign is all Amish knew.

"Adi, you know yesterday I went to this art gallery called Extinthia on behalf of Abhimanyu Birla. The funny thing is the artist of the main piece of the gallery, Dhanraj Aurora, was actually present on the scene." Aditya's eyes widened in realization. It was all the indication Maya needed to continue. "So I thought, 'this would prove to be a great opportunity to know how my little brother is doing with his so-called mentorship, why not meet the man and have a talk'. The funny part is that the man had quite a surprised reaction when I mentioned the mentorship. He claimed that he rarely ever takes pupils and he currently does not have one."

"Di-"

"You know what's even funnier? It seems that my brother, who I proudly claimed would never give up on his attempts and surge forward in any condition with the highlighted fact that he gave up on being the head of our dad's company had actually succumbed to his circumstance without consulting his big sister and fell into the bottom of the corporate world. Doing the job of a basic office worker. I didn't know we couldn't even afford to feed our family so they had to work for every rice grain, or did we start taking rent from all the family members?" Amish now understands what's happening, but he stays quiet not wanting to interfere when he is not welcome.

"Di, It's not like that. I can explain. I have a good reason-"

"Oh, I am sure you do. You must have a good reason for taking up a job, but how long were you doing to hide it from me if I hadn't come up with the truth myself." Aditya's silence had given Maya the answer. "You know I met him yesterday. I learned the truth yesterday, but I didn't point any fingers. If I wanted, this interrogation session would've happened yesterday. But I didn't say a word, because I believed I could be wrong. Maybe there is a misunderstanding. So I gave you time and reason to tell the truth. You didn't."

"Di, I didn't-"

"And you lied again to cover up the lie. You lied about your health knowing how much it would worry me. YOU LIED ABOUT YOUR HEALTH, ADI." Aditya flinched at Maya's tone. "You are a diabetes patient... Do you realize what it means to be sick when you already have a condition? I AM A FREAKING DOCTOR, YOU IDIOT. Even a normal person would be worried sick with possibilities for their loved ones, imagine all the kinds of diseases and conditions my mind would concoct upon knowing you're sick."

"I am sorry, Di. I didn't know. I am sorry, I really..." Aditya trails off not knowing what else he could say to calm Maya. If she was angry for not being able to get the mentorship or for taking a job outside, he would've given her thousands of reasons for his actions, but she is angry not just for the lies but for the escape he chose instead. 

"Is sorry the only thing you can say? You can say sorry but you can't tell me you're problems? You used to share every moment of your day with me, Adi, but since you came here, you barely shared anything. I don't expect you to be always as close as we used to be because I know we can't stay like this forever. There will be responsibilities and problems that we need to handle by ourselves, but we should be able to at least talk about it."

"I just wanted to be a little independent." Not only did what Aditya said angered Maya further but it also hurt her quite a bit.

"SO YOU THINK YOU LACKED FREEDOM? You?! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO LITERALLY BLACKMAILED ME INTO COMING TO INDIA AND YOU ARE SAYING YOU LACK FREEDOM?"

"NO, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT." Aditya gets up from the bed in a frenzy trying to reach for Maya, but she pulls away immediately.

"SHUT UP."

"Okay, stop! STOP!" Amish gets between Maya and Aditya. He can't let them lose it. "Relax, you two." Maya immediately listens to Amish and backs up but Aditya still tries to approach Maya. "Adi, stop. Maya, go back to your room." Maya leaves with no complaints.

"Bhayya, I am really sorry. Please..." Amish's expression softens at Aditya's plea. He nods in assurance as he places a hand on Adi's shoulder.

"I'll talk to her, okay? She just needs some time." Aditya nods. "She can't really be angry with you for long." As Maya made her way back to her room, she found Akshay coming out of Meenakshi's room. There was not enough displeasure in this world that she could feel at the moment as she walked past him not saying a word. Akshay called out to her but she didn't respond. Akshay was left standing as he watched Maya leave not knowing how big of a trouble he stepped into.

***