Ishqana Dil

Part 58

It felt good to be back. It was also very strange to be back. No, it was not that the city had changed drastically since they had left it. Rather, it was that she was realising more and more how she had changed as a person over the past year. Whether she liked the changes or no, she could not really tell. She had picked some strengths and dropped some weaknesses but there were also parts of her that were missing and she doubted she would find them again. She missed them...

"What are you thinking about?"

She turned to him and stopped stirring her coffee. "Nothing," she replied flatly. "Everything."

A pained expression crossed his face even as he tried to smile. "You have changed a lot, Rachita," he whispered quietly.

"Did you think I wouldn't?"

"No, I expected it," Rohan sighed and leaned back in his chair. They avoided looking at each other and sat there wordlessly while people bustled in and out of Leopold Café. He turned to her, his face blank. "So? Found anyone in Banaras?"

She snorted and lifted the coffee to her lips for a sip. Her thoughts drifted to Banaras, Ramashrey, her 'wedding'... It brought a bitter taste in her mouth, that had nothing to do with the coffee, and at the same time, relief washed over her. She had avoided the worst... She still had had no regrets about doing what she had done that night. She had saved herself and her sisters from unnecessary trouble. Rama had not seemed to really understand that he had been rejected though. A few weeks after that night, he had started stalking her again, to his own mother's disappointment. Sumitra, who had been trying to find a bride for her son, one better than Rachita Mathur, met even more difficulties while doing so. Everyone in Banaras had heard about how things had gone down and nobody was very willing to give their daughter off to the Gupta family. Even less so when they heard about Ramashrey Gupta stalking the girl who had rejected him. Was there any doubt left that the boy had lost his mind? Also, rumour had it, he had been arrested several times for causing a scene and was drowning his heartbreak in alcohol. Really, who would want such a son-in-law?

Finally, some three weeks before she and her mother had left for Mumbai, Sumitra Gupta had been seen circulating the news around the city; she had found a girl for her son, a Bangalan from Baharampur. Her family was in the textile business and she was the only heir. Rachita had, however, not cared the least bit. She had never been interested in Ramashrey and was very, very far from the mere possibility of it.

"Rachita?" She looked at Rohan. He swallowed nervously. "Rachita... would you... would you give us another chance?"

She felt her brow raise. "Sorry, what?"

He took a deep breath in and looked at her square in the eye. "I am asking you if you would give u-"

"I heard that," she interrupted him, her voice containing no emotions. "I am just... surprised." He shifted uncomfortably but refused to look away. "Oh, I see... Now that Dad's name is cleared and our property might be reinstated, your father is interested in me again. Why? Didn't he find another-"

Rohan inhaled sharply, interrupting her, and he leaned forward, his jaw set and his eyes fierce. "Actually, Rachita, he did. He brought up girl after girl, each with a bigger inheritance than the other. I was not interested in any of them! It might sound like a dumb excuse now. I know that I listened to Dad like a moron and ditched you when you needed me the most, it's not something I am proud of. But despite everything, I did love you, I still do. I could not imagine myself spending the rest of my life with someone who is not you. I don't care about the allegations that were on your father's head or that your family had gone bankrupt. It's you I loved and the moment I had realised that listening to Dad had been a wrong thing to do, I did look for you! He had deleted your number from my phone, you know I can never remember them, so I went at your house but it was locked down and I was told your family had left already. Rachita I looked for you for months. Months. And your lawyer, Mr Sinha? He knew where you had all gone but he refused to tell me. Ask him. I looked everywhere I could, Rachita, but you had just... I had to return home at some point, because you had disappeared and I couldn't do anything else... I didn't have money, my only job was at Dad's company. Who else would employ me with my qualifications? So yeah, I went back home. But it doesn't mean that I stopped loving you or looking for you. I refused to marry anyone else. I set a few people out to find you, but they ended up with nothing, just like me. I know that it might be too much for me to ask, Rachita, but I am asking you for another chance because I need to know I tried. Refuse me if you want to, I deserve it. But don't just assume that I'm doing this for your money. Dad doesn't even know I was looking for you and he doesn't know that I got in contact with you again or that I am meeting you now."