The Rebound (A Sandhir FF)

Chapter 24

"Mom, leave me now!" Sanyukta said as her mom engulfed her in a tight hug.

"You used to always want me to hug you when you were little," her mom said with a fake frown while her brother, Ankit laughed in the background.

"I missed you ma," Sanyukta whispered as she pecked her mom's cheek affectionately.

"Then why don't you visit us more often?" Anju Agarwal said as she led her daughter inside.

The Agarwal house had been tastefully done up to reflect the occasion. Fancy drapes and expensive flowers jostled for attention as the house help rushed around doing last minute tasks before the guests arrived for the evening.

"Wow mom you've really outdone yourself this time. I can barely recognize the house," Sanyukta said in admiration as she took in the decorations and examined the expensive cutlery that was being laid out in preparation for the dinner.

"I am sure you've seen better. After all you are Rehan Bajaj's girlfriend," Ankit said as he straightened his dinner jacket self consciously.

"Speaking of Rehan, why is he not here with you?" Anju asked.

"Mom, actually," Sanyukta began nervously, only to be interrupted by a voice she knew fairly well.

"I am here Mrs. Agarwal," Rehan Bajaj grinned as he stepped into the beautifully decorated hallway.

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"What the hell are you doing here?" Sanyukta exclaimed as she dragged Rehan out of the main hall where the rest of the Agarwal clan was busy raising a toast to her aunt and uncle's successful marriage.

"Sanyukta, where are you taking me?" Rehan whispered as they passed room after room until Sanyukta opened one of the doors and let him in before shutting the door quietly.

"You don't want people to get the wrong idea, sweetheart. What if someone notices that we are gone?" Rehan smirked.

"What are you doing here?" Sanyukta asked as she tried hard to control her anger. She was beyond furious that Rehan had dared to show up at her house uninvited. But she couldn't lash out at him in front of all the guests and so she had faked an uneasy smile as her family greeted Rehan with enthusiasm.

But her patience had worn thin as the evening proceeded. Rehan was unusually boisterous throughout the dinner and had regaled her family with numerous boardroom anecdotes and party circuit gossips. Sanyukta had noticed Rehan empty wine glass after wine glass until her father had discreetly gestured the attendants to bring no more. She wondered if it was the drink that was making him behave unreasonably but he looked sober enough as he eyed her with appreciation.

"I didn't know that you look this ravishing in a sari," Rehan said as he drew closer.

"Stay away from me Rehan and stay away from my family. How dare you come here today?"

"Dare? But your Dad personally invited me darling," Rehan smiled.

"And you didn't bother telling him that we are no longer together?"

"That's for you to do darling. And since you haven't done that yet, I am assuming that you do want me back."

"You were a mistake I wish I had never made Rehan," Sanyukta said angrily.

"If I am a mistake, then what is Randhir? What are your parents going to say when they find out that their daughter is living with an orphaned nobody?" Rehan asked mockingly.

"Randhir is not a nobody," Sanyukta said, her voice unsteady with anger.

"What do you even see in him Sanyukta?" Rehan asked, his voice laced with a challenge that Sanyukta didn't fail to comprehend.

"You'll never understand even if I told you," Sanyukta snapped as she turned to leave.

"Wait," Rehan said holding her hand. "Let's finish this conversation. What the hell does my brother have that I don't?"

"Leave me Rehan," Sanyukta said as she struggled to free her hand from his grip.

Rehan took a shaky breath and relented while Sanyukta glared at him.

"You are making a mistake Sanyukta. Randhir will never be able to give you the life that I can. He will never fit in with your family. Even you know that, don't you? That's why you are scared to tell your family about him," Rehan said confidently.

"Telling my parents is my business. You better stay away from my life."

"And yeah there is no need to stay for dessert. You can leave now," she said as she walked out of the room to join her family.

******

"Sanyu, where is Rehan?" Anju asked as the family adjourned to the garden. Most of the guests had left leaving just the family to enjoy a beautiful full moon night alone.

"He left," Sanyukta said quietly as she rested her weary head on her mom's lap. The conversation with Rehan had left her emotionally drained. She wondered what she had seen in Rehan to spend a year of her life with him. He was a conceited egoist who thrived on belittling others. She recalled the numerous times he had made her feel inadequate over the course of their year long relationship. He'd laugh at her failures and had told her more than once that she ought not behave like a tomboy, ridiculing the numerous hours of hard work she put in at the lab. She had tried too hard to gain his approval, nearly losing herself in the process.

"You seem different Sanyu," Anju said as she patted her daughter's head lovingly.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't say exactly how. But it's the way you carry yourself more confidently than before. There is no awkwardness and uncertainty anymore."

"She is growing up Anju," Sanyukta's aunt said wisely.

Sanyukta smiled as she understood what her mother meant. Randhir's love had made all her insecurities disappear. She felt more confident and if her mother was right she apparently even looked more confident.

"I never congratulated you properly chachi," Sanyukta said as she hugged her aunt.

"I suppose it's our turn to congratulate you Sanyu," her aunt said knowingly.

"What do you mean," Sanyukta asked confused.

"Rehan told me that he has asked you to marry him," her aunt said as she cupped her face lovingly.

"What? Sanyukta how come you never told us?" Anju asked in surprise while the other members of the family listened in rapt attention.

"Because I am not going to marry him," Sanyukta said with finality. She had never been surer of anything in her life.

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