yun hi tu mere saath rehna

Chapter Two

"Mishti! Jaldi karo, yaar. Hum late ho jaayenge!” Abir called out as he waited for Mishti to step out of the washroom. The two of them had been staying at a modest hotel for the past two weeks while they wrapped everything up for setting up the new school in Udaipur. 

In the years since Mishti had taken the reins of Asha Kiran, they had grown from a small time NGO working only in Rajkot to a large institute that was spread across the country. Mishti had sought out Kunal, and the two of them had worked out a great plan for the expansion. Abir was so proud of both of them. 

When they'd been looking to set up a new school, Mishti had been the one to suggest Udaipur. While she did not keep in touch with the Singhania family any longer, she still had good memories of the city she'd spent part of her childhood in, and had wanted to give back. Most of the Singhanias who knew Mishti had passed away now, only Naksh remembering her fondly as his baby cousin. While Mishti had spoken to him on occasion, contact had slowly dwindled between them, especially after Akshu had left. 

While Mishti was miffed at Naira and Karthik for whatever had transpired when she'd been forced to move in with the Maheshwaris, she had not been able to stay mad for long, especially after she found out about Akshu. Mishti had doted on her niece, as much as she was allowed. She didn't have very many dealings with the Goenkas after moving in with Badi Maa and Bade Papa, and she liked it that way. She'd never been overly fond of how they treated Naira. That, coupled with the fact that things had been tense between her and the Singhania family had made it easy for her to refuse to attend any events where she might come face to face with anybody from those families.

But truly, it had been when Akshu had moved to Shimla that Mishti had stepped up. While Manish Goenka and his family had kept a firm distance between Akshu and them, Mishti had taken up as much responsibility as she could. Abir and Mishti had gone to Shimla whenever they could, spending time with Akshu and her family. They had been the first grandparents Abhir knew, apart from Neelamma… A privilege that Abir and Mishti both took very seriously. 

But then, Kuhu had passed away after a fierce battle with cancer and while they spent their energies keeping the family together in the wake of this tragedy, supporting Nanko and Amayra, their beloved niece, Akshu had suddenly been ousted from the Goenka House following Aarohi's accident. Since then, they'd both been tirelessly trying to find Akshu, but so far had had no luck. 

Coming to Udaipur had not been just for the school, but also a last ditch attempt at finding any clue about Akshu. They'd already prowled all of Udaipur and Shimla when they'd found out, and since then, Abir had made trips to both cities, but had not found even a single trace of Akshu, who had become as precious to him as his own Amish and Misha. But, he never gave up hope. If there was even 1% of a chance that he could find Akshu, he would not give up. That poor girl had spent all her life only craving a family, but she'd been sent to boarding school as a child, the Goenkas trying to keep her and Aarohi apart, and then after she'd married that good-for-nothing Abhimanyu Birla, hadn't even helped her when her husband threw her out of the house and blamed her for the death of his brother. As far as Abir was concerned, he and Mishti had been more of parents to Akshu than anyone else in the Goenka and Singhania family after her own parents had tragically passed when she was still a baby. And he would be a good father, even if he'd failed her once. He would find her and bring her home. 

“Ready?” Mishti asked, pulling Abir out of his thoughts. “Ab late nahi ho rahi tumhe?”

“Haan, haan… Main toh kabse ready hoon! Tum hi time laga rahi ho!” Abir complained, shuffling forward and all but pushing Mishti out the door. “Let's go!”

— — —

“Pch, Armaan! Jaldi karo!!” Abhira ordered. “Sir aur Ma'am aate hi honge. Ab tak humaara kaam khatam nahi hua. Phir kya parosenge unhe? Hawa aur pani?”