His sukoon : His junoon

14

Enjoy :-)

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Three days had passed, and Isha hadn't received any more messages from her mother. She hadn't replied to her last message, but as she scrolled through her inbox, she noticed that her mother had been messaging her consistently for a week before suddenly stopping.

Isha carried on with her days as usual, though she seemed a bit quieter if one paid close attention. Thoughts of her mother lingered, along with many "what ifs." Even if she didn't want to care about that woman, she couldn't help it—her father had loved her mother deeply.

In Indian society, emotions like these were rarely displayed openly in front of children. But her father had always been different, often telling Isha about her mother, how he wished she could change, and how they might have been a happy family.

That's why Isha had always handled her mother with patience, hoping for a change and wanting to be a good daughter for her father.

After work, Isha exited the elevator and found Ishaan sitting there, reading a magazine with his mouth slightly open. His expression was one of astonishment as he silently mouthed "wow" with each page he turned.

Isha shook her head, amused, and sat down next to him, curious about what had caught his attention. She leaned in to see the magazine and spotted a photo of Rudransh Singh Rajput stepping out of his car, surrounded by reporters, with his guards keeping them at bay.

He looked dashing in a grey suit, a scowl on his face, likely annoyed by the reporters or the day's work. His name was the headline on the cover of Time magazine, highlighting his achievements in just three days of his business trip.

The article detailed his meetings with TitanCorp, Valor Industries, OmniTech Solutions, and Fortress Global—the most powerful, intelligent, and expansive companies in the world.

Isha quickly lost interest in the business and politics content, so she tapped Ishaan on the shoulder. He flinched, tossing the magazine into the air and turning around with wide eyes and heavy breathing.

Isha leaned back, startled by his sudden reaction. They stared at each other with wide eyes.

"You were planning on killing me, weren't you? So you could take my properties?" Ishaan accused her, still wide-eyed. Isha just stared at him, bewildered by where he got such ideas.

Ignoring him, she stood up and walked out of the building, with Ishaan quickly chasing after her as if his life depended on it, calling her name. She stopped and turned toward him with a glare, making him halt in his tracks.

"Why are you even here? Don't you have your own workplace to go to?" she asked, exasperated. Ishaan pouted, but Isha looked away, not wanting to soften.

"You've been so quiet these days, so I took a leave from work to hang out with you," he admitted, looking down with a pout.

"I thought I'd take you out on the weekend, but I couldn't wait anymore, so I asked my boss to give me my salary today so I could take you out on a friend's date," he explained, his toes tracing patterns on the cemented floor.

Isha felt her eyes grow moist as she looked at him, who now resembled a lost child. She thought she had hidden her feelings well, but he had noticed—he always did.

She turned back and hailed an auto-rickshaw, then looked back at Ishaan, whose pout had deepened. "You don't want to come?" she asked, giving him a small smile.

He immediately ran to join her and hopped inside the auto, playfully bumping her shoulder with a relieved smile. Isha smiled back, feeling her heart lighten a bit. Ishaan looked at her who now had a smile on her face—mission half accomplished.

They headed to Carnival Plaza, a recently opened market that had quickly gained fame. It wasn't grand, but it was filled with all kinds of stalls, offering a variety of goods at reasonable prices. The place was designed to help small businesses come together, learn, and earn.

Ishaan and Isha sampled nearly everything they saw—golgappas, rolls, pizza, chow mein, and all the junk food they could find.

There was no need to worry about overeating; they were experts at it. Ishaan also bought Isha a lot of painting and sketching supplies. As they prepared to head back, now that it was late, Ishaan noticed a shooting game stall where players could win a prize if they hit the target three times.

He excitedly dragged Isha toward it, rolling up his sleeves as he bought five arrows. He missed twice while aiming for a bracelet, so he switched to a big teddy bear that was easier to target and won it. He handed it to Isha with a wide grin, and she accepted it, smiling at the bear's face, which reminded her of Ishaan's.

The teddy bear, just 20 cm long, was clutched tightly in her hands as they made their way back. But before long, Ishaan received a call from his office about their next set of design ideas. Isha urged him to go back and finish his work, assuring him she'd be fine on her own.

She was in good spirits now, her stress about her mother having dissipated. After 15 minutes, she reached her building and took the elevator up to her floor. As she pulled out her keys to unlock the door, she realized it was already open. Did I forget to lock it?

She tried to remember but couldn't. Slowly, she pushed the door open. The room was dark, with no lights on. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her, taking a cautious step forward, but froze when something bumped against her toe.

Reaching for the light switch near the entrance, she flicked it on. The sight before her made her stomach churn—the floor was littered with wine bottles and cans, the room reeked of cigarettes, and the air was thick with a foul stench. Fear gripped Isha as she cautiously moved further inside and spotted a figure sprawled on the single couch.

She dropped her bag by the wall and approached the figure, her heart racing. The intruder seemed to be either asleep or passed out from the alcohol. Isha fumbled for her phone and quickly called Ishaan.

"Isha, did you rea—"

"There's someone here, unconscious. Call the police," she whispered, her voice trembling as she tried to get a closer look but couldn't bring herself to move.

"What? Are you inside? God, why—"

"We don't have time for that. Just call the police! I'm slowly going out, okay?" she said, carefully walking backward, trying not to step on the cans. But she stopped in her tracks as the person stirred, the bottle in their hand crashing to the floor, rousing them from their slumber.

Isha froze, her breath catching in her throat, as the figure slowly sat up. A woman with a disheveled bun and a saree stared at her with bloodshot, drunken eyes—her mother.

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I hope the story is to your liking. I know there hasn't been any mention of Rudransh in previous episodes, but I promise he is going to make his entry soon.

I guess you can already guess what's going to happen next.

By the way, how many of you like Ishaan's character?

Please do comment and vote on the story, guys. If you don't share your thoughts in the comments, how will I know if you're enjoying the story? I know some of you are silent readers, but please try to leave your thoughts on the chapters.

Well, that's all for today.

Bye! Love you all from the bottom of my heart.