To love or die trying

Chapter 21. hello unforgotten soul

It was the first day of the first year and Radhika woke up later than usual due to the after effects of the dosage of substance she took last night. It was already noon so she decided to get ready and cook some lunch. She walked out of the guest room to see Rajah already up and having lunch. he turned and saw a groggy Radhika walking towards him.

"afternoon sleeping beauty" he said with a mouthful of his food "what time you slept?"

"around midnight i guess" Radhika said rubbing her eyes "what time is it?"

"around noon" rajah stated.

Radhika sat next to Rajah. Rajah offered her food. Radhika kindly refused saying she was going to get a bite on the way to studio. Rajah was confused because it was a holiday and she just finished her first cd. RAdhika said she got new songs on her mind. she then got up and went to the guest room to get ready to go out. Before she lefts asked whether Rajah wanted anything for her to get. he said no and also wished her safe travels. she smiled and left.

Radhika decided to walk to the studio going through the route less travelled by most people. This route passed through a house that has never had a tenant for the pass 2 decades. Rumor had it that the owner died in the house and kept on haunting the place. There was never a person trying to rent or sell the place for their benefit. It was like the rumors may have been true but maybe it was no ghost.

Radhika decided to explore the place. she jumped the gate and walked towards the house. the place looked like a mansion compared to the houses radhika grew up in. She knocked on the front door and a lady in her 50s opened it. Her name was Mary the maid. She called herself that because she did not want to be compared to Mary mother of Jesus. She led Radhika towards the living room and said they were expecting her arrival. Radhika was confused. She started asking questions; how did they know she was coming and who does Mary mean by they.

"soon you will find out" Mary said "sit anywhere you like i will call the home owner"

Radhika sat on the couch close to the stairs that lead to the bedrooms. She waited anxiously to find out who lived in this house and why they were awaiting Radhika's arrival. It took 15 minutes until radhika heard foot steps coming down the steps. She turned to see who it was. A familiar figure descended down the steps. Once Radhika saw the face her hand rushed to cover her mouth while tears slowly formed in her eyes. She couldn't believe what she saw.

"ma?" Radhika softly said

"hello angel" Manimegle said

Radhika slowly walked up to her un aware if this was real. She extended her arms to feel manimegle's arms to prove whether what she was seeing was real and not a figment of her past memories. She felt the warmness of Manimegle's hands proving she was real and alive. All radhika could do was crash into a hug with manimegle. Tears tarted streaming down both of their eyes. The hug lasted for 5 minutes before they pulled away from one another. Radhika had so many questions to ask. Manimegle told her they would sit and talk about the whole situation. They sat down on the couch as Manimegle asked Mary to make tea and serve some sweets. They started talking about things they have missed through each others life for the past 7 years or so.

"but one thing i can't comprehend" Radhika said "how did you fake your death"

"that was easy" Manimegle started "you remember my friends in the army and my friends who became politicians" radhika nodded "well I asked help from them. Firstly the cops had a guilty suspect they wanted to put in jail but had no proof for his crime so they took his dan and plant it on the so called scene of crime."

"but you had cancer" radhika stated

"it was not terminal" manimegle explained "i was cured after the 5th chemotherapy. That was when I found out your dad cheated on me while we were married and married a week after our divorce was finalized."

"a week after?" Radhika thought out loud "You mean to say that you knew you had cancer before the divorce?"

"yes" manimegle said "youre dad filed for divorce behind my back. i was heart broken, but i made sure that you were there with me because he was not the kind of man i wanted you to live with"

"what do you mean" Radhika asked

"have you seen your grandfather yet?" Manimegle asked trying to change the subject

"you mean the driver or the rich man" Radhika asked sarcastically

"i will take that as a yes" Manimegle said "so you must be feeling a little to overwhelmed. had any drugs yet?"

Radhika was shocked how would her mom know that she used to do drugs. she only started after her mom faked her death. Radhika couldn't face her mother knowing that what she did was wrong. But whenever radhika found street drugs were her way to escape reality. Manimegle knew how Radhika was feeling she put her arms around radhika and placed Radhika's head on Manimegle's shoulders.

"i know" manimegle said "our family has a hard time with handling addiction"

"you mean?" Radhika asked looking at manimegle

"how else do you think i got cancer" Manimegle asked "thanks to your good for nothing father, i got addicted to alcohol and smoking."

"when did you find out about..." radhika asked

"suresh not being my father?" Manimegle stated "the day I ran away with your dad. the night before i went out and rajesh was driving me back to the hotel. i then asked him a lot of questions and accidentally asked him about suresh. He then accidentally told me something about suresh i should not have known. i asked suresh when i arrived and he sent me to my room. later that night i sneaked towards the kitchen due to the fact i was hungry. i could hear rajesh and suresh fighting from suresh bedroom. through their fight i learned about..."

"rajesh gambling problem, suresh is rajesh brother, hotel rightful owner and your father is rajesh?" Radhika wanted to clarify

"exactly like you said it" manimegle said

Soon enough Mary came back with a tray full of sweets and a pot of tea with two saucers and two cups. Manimegle poured the tea and radhika took one of the sweets to. Eat. Radhika then asked about the love story of her and radhikas father.