Abhirohi ff: Love & Friendship

20

  ❖Chapter 20❖

The guests went home, while the Sharmas' went to the hotel to get their luggage and move to Goenka villa. Akshara got out of the car and unbuckled Ranav from his car seat, picking him up. Everyone got out and Abhinav unloaded the luggage from the trunk.

They were about to step in, but Mimi stopped them. "Tum dono pehli baar ghar aaye ho, toh aarti, iss liye. (You both have come here for the first time, so the aarti, is for that.)" Suhasani did their aarti. She first put the tilak on Abhinav's forehead, and then Akshara, then Abhir and lastly, she put a cute little dot on Ranav's forehead while he was in his world, looking at the ceiling and everyone.

They step inside the huge living room.

"Kairav, jao, sabko apna-apna kamra dekake aao, (Kairav, go, show everyone their rooms,)" Suhansani said, giving the aarti plate to a house helper.

"Main nahi jaa raha. Tell your poti, I'm no longer her brother. (I'm not going. Tell your great-granddaughter, I'm no longer her brother.)" He stormed out. Anisha blinked her eyes at Swarna gesturing to her, she'll go with Kairav. She walked out, closing the front door.

"Come on guys, I'll show you your rooms," Vatsal said. They agreed and went upstairs where Vatsal showed each couple their guest bedroom. The three rooms were cleaned at the last minute and everything was in place. Manish, Swarna, and Suhasani were worried about Kairav's behaviour. He's usually the one to remain calm during tough situations, guiding his siblings' but he has gone out and is angry at his sister.

⁂

"Kairav, you shouldn't have walked away like that." Anisha grabbed Kairav's arm, turning him to face her direction.

"Then what did you want me to do? Hug my sister and congratulate her for hiding and running away from her family for six years," Kairav snapped. "Six years! Six damn years Anisha. I went to every fucking police station and filed a missing complaint. I've almost travelled all over India, to each state to look for her." His eyes became watery. "I... I have almost ruined our relationship. Trying to find her."

Anisha hugged him and let him cry. Kairav needed to vent his frustration and anger. "Let's go for a drive," she said after he calmed down. He nodded. Anisha removed his spectacles, cleaned them for him with a handkerchief from her pocket, and made him wear them. "Chalein? (Shall we you?)"

"Chaleye. (Lets go.)" Kairav smiled. Anisha pecked him on the lip and walked to the car. She sat in the driver's seat since Kairav wasn't in the right state of mind to drive. They buckled up their seat belts and Anisha pulled out of the courtyard when the security guard had opened the gate.

"Where do you wanna go?" Anisha asked.

"Nowhere in general. Let's just drive around," Kairav replied.

⁂

Back in Goenka Villa,

Everyone sat in the living room; except for Anisha, Kairav and the kids. They had fallen asleep, exhausted from the tiring day.

"Now, beta (dear), tell us, why did you run away? We didn't prohibit you from entering the house." Manish spoke, breaking the silence.

Akshara didn't know what to say. They were right. She knew how Naira ran away when Kartik had questioned her. How she ran away when her Naira thought Nani believed she was the culprit. And now she was in the same shoes as her mother.

"When Abhimanyu asked me to sign the divorce papers and leave his house. I was shocked. I know he was angry at me but he didn't even once ask me what happened. His anger was right but he had no right to spew hateful words and tell me I was the reason Sirat Maa died. It was an accident. No one was at fault. Though Aaru always blamed me." Akshara let out a chuckle. "I didn't want to live in Udaipur, it was getting hard for me to breathe in this city, so I took a bus and went to Mumbai. I had no destination in mind. But I met Abhinav there. We were good friends in college. He was shocked to see me there and let me live in his house when I told him I was homeless. Mumma and Papa took me in. It had taken a long time for me to open up to them."