cross road

Chapter-19

Raghav sat at his desk in his office, his mind drifting away from the tasks at hand. His thoughts were consumed by Pallavi. She had called him multiple times and sent him messages,but he had chosen not to respond. 

Raghav sat at his desk, staring at his phone. It had been three days since he last heard from Pallavi. The constant barrage of calls and messages had suddenly stopped, leaving him with an unsettling silence. At first, he'd felt a sense of relief, thinking he needed the space, but now, he was irritated.

Why wasn't she reaching out anymore?

She had been persistent for days, and now, when he was ready to confront everything, she had gone quiet. It frustrated him. He had ignored her messages, avoided her calls, convinced that it was the right thing to do. But now, the silence felt like a challenge, a question he wasn't ready to answer.

He couldn't understand why it bothered him so much. He had wanted this break, wanted time to think. Yet, as the days dragged on without a word from her, a knot of annoyance twisted inside him.

With a deep sigh, Raghav dialed Ravi's number. As the call connected, he could hear the faint murmur of voices in the background. His heart gave a small flutter when he recognized Pallavi's voice, soft and calm, speaking to a patient. Even though it was just a brief sound, hearing her voice again brought a sense of warmth to his chest.

He'd been calling Ravi every day for updates on pallavi , he wanted to know how she was doing—what she was up to, if she was okay. It wasn't that he was worried, exactly. He just... missed her presence.

Hello?" Ravi's voice pulled him back to the moment.

"Hey, Ravi," Raghav greeted, trying to keep his tone casual.

"Raghav brother! How's everything?" Ravi's voice sounded as chipper as always, though Raghav could hear a sense of pride in it. He was genuinely happy these days, and that made Raghav smile, despite himself.

In the background, Pallavi finished speaking to the patient, her voice fading out of earshot. Raghav found himself subconsciously leaning in, wishing he could hear more of it, but he quickly caught himself.

"I'm good," Raghav said. "How about you?"

"Better than ever," Ravi replied enthusiastically. "Pallavi did something amazing, brother. She's really been a godsend for our family."

Raghav's brow furrowed slightly, curiosity piqued. "What do you mean?"

"Well, she gave us some money few months back—said it was a loan—to help us start growing something on our land. You know, so my uncle doesn't have to keep going to other people's fields for work. It'll be our own, and we'll have enough for ourselves. She's got so much faith in us." Ravi's voice cracked with gratitude. "It's going to change everything, Raghav. I don't know what we would've done without her."

Raghav listened carefully, a rush of emotions flowing through him. He knew Pallavi. She'd never really see a loan as just a loan; just to console ravis out of a deep sense of duty, she might have lent has loan. He didn't doubt she would never ask for the money back—she was just that kind of person. 

"Pallavi is something else," Raghav murmured, his voice thick with admiration.

"I know, brother," Ravi said, his voice full of pride. "She's been like an older sister to me. But the way she's been looking out for us lately... it's like she's given us a chance to have our own future."

Raghav chuckled softly, his thoughts drifting to what he had noticed in Ravi over the past few months. Ravi, the responsible young man, the one who always carried himself with a sense of maturity, had started to show a different side. Recently, he was laughing more, acting more like a child—like the 13-year-old boy he still was. It made Raghav smile, proud of how Pallavi had impacted him. It made him proud of her, too.