Fanaa - Destroyed in Love - A Swasan FF

11# Reconciliation

To wish was to hope and to hope was to expect;* but sometimes things happen when you least expect them to...

That day when Sanskaar walked into Little Flowers neither he had hope nor expectation of running into Swara.

All these days somehow she had managed to avoid him successfully even at Little Flowers but today, call it quirk of fate or stroke of luck. As he walked in, he stopped in tracks.

There she is...

Sitting on the church steps with the kids sprawled around her ...A little smile played on her lips as she tossed a ball at one of the kids..

His throat closed up and there was an all-too-familiar burning in his chest...

This was his world ,where his true self belonged...with these kids ..with Swara.

" Sanskaar bhiayya..."

He was jerked out of his thoughts as one of the kids took his name looked at him with a broad smile playing on the lips. And just like that, the kids swarmed around him like they always did,hugging him, greeting him as he patted their heads and returned hugs and distributed the chocolates he would get for them every time he dropped in.They had welcomed him with open arms, like he had never been away.

She felt a sharp twinge in her heart looking at them.This used to be her favourite sight few days back ...kids ,sanskaar and their little world, before it was all ruined .The joy on his face...He back to his usual cheerful self with those kids around.

Who was real? this Sanskaar or the other one .. the smug, coolly aloof business man...

He looked at her from between kids and saw varied emotions playing on her face. She stood there, rooted to their favourite hang out spot -those church steps . His eyes met hers and again it was just both of them , Like the outside world didn't exist...

Why did he have to look at her like that...like she meant everything to him and the way his eyes lit up looking at her ..she hated it ..hated what she was feeling with his gaze upon her. She should be mad at him, hate him ..but his eyes ..Afraid of reading them and fearing her resolve would break, she broke the contact and started picking up her things to leave.

"Didi aap kaha jaa rahe ho??" one of the kids ran towards Swara.

"Woh beta thoda kaam hain," Swara answered in low tone checking contents in her bag unnecessarily.

So she was running away ...again, he thought.

Kids now ran towards Swara asking her not to go ..After what felt like ages they had their bhaiyaa and didi with them, as these days they were dropping by alone, and much less than they used to come in before. They didn't want to miss this chance.

"Mat jaavona didi ..abhi tho Sanskaar bhaiyaa aaye hain," little Rana tugged at her bag.

Manu pulled Sanskaar towards the steps , "bhaiya aap bolo na didi ko ki rukjaaye..woh aap ki baat jaroor manegi."

He wished he could stop her.

"Bolo nabhaiyaa," Manu tugged at his blazer demanding attention.

He slowly gathered his voice "Rukh jaavona ...please," he patted the child on the head gently. It sounded like a heartfelt plea and she looked around.. the kids

She didn't want to let them down and give them any hint of what was going on between their bhaiyya and didi. Life was a golden dream for them. They didn't need the harsh reality of broken hearts and lies.