From colleagues to soulmates❤️

Shoulder to lie upon

She stopped her car in the front yard of her home, wiped off her tears and took a deep breath. Somehow she managed to get out of the car and realised that she had brought Vikas's car in a hurry, besides her car was not even there as he was the one, with whom she travelled everywhere and the thought pricked her even harder. Her elegant white saree had turned into a canvas, because of the draining of the colours on her face along with her tears. She tip toed inside, making sure to gather no attention towards her, but all in vain. As soon as she set her foot in, Ashu who was sitting on the living room couch, busy on his phone spoke up, "Aaiye madam! Aaj fir tune phone nhi uthaya.. Mana ki tu Vikasji k saath thi.. Par fir bhi, unke saath hone ka matlab ye thodi hai ki hum sab ko tu bhul hi jaaye.." He said in his usual humourous tone, trying to tease her, but as soon as he turned up his gaze towards her... His heart skipped a beat. She immediately turned away, ran to her room and slammed the door mercilessly. But Ashu was still stuck on what he saw. He managed to capture a glimpse of her face, she looked into his eyes, for even less than a millisecond, but he saw a face, well drained in tears, eyes all swollen and reddened, while she tried to run away to hide herself from being seen in such a vulnerable situation. Ashu was still stuck on what he saw, he didn't know how to handle the situation and what to do for her, since Aai was not at home. He decided to call Vikas, but he didn't receive them, even after his multiple tries. So all he could do was to wait for Aai to return home.

On the other hand, Sid found Shilpa's phone and there were 9 missed calls from Ashu. He started looking for them all over, as he entered their room, he found Vikas's phone and there were 13 missed calls from Ashu too. As he walked around the entire house, he finally found him sitting on the doorsteps. This confused Sid and spoke up, "Kya hua bhai!? Aap yaha kyu baithe ho? Bhabhi kaha hai?? Unke phone pe Ashu...." He stopped as Vikas stood up and turned towards him. The look on his face haunted Sid and then he hugged him tightly and cried his heart out! He got worried nd asked, "Bhai aap theek to ho?! Aur bhabhi.." Vikas cut him in the middle and tried to speak in the middle of his sobs, "Jis baat...ka darr tha,...wahi hua! Ekta aayi thi... Aur Usne use sab bata diya..." Sid embraced him in his hug and said, "Isme galat kya hai?? Theek hi to kiya.." Vikas withdrew himself with a jerk and got shocked, "Ye kya bol rha hai tu...? Use to yahi lagta hoga na, ki maine use dhokha diya hai.." Sid said, "Matlab ab aap "Shilpu" se "Uss" par aa gye ho..." He raised his eyebrows and Vikas looked down in guilt. He continued, "Mere kehne ka matlab tha, ki agar ye baat unhe shaadi k baad pata chalti to unhe aur bhi bura lagta... Ab kam se kam aap k paas ek mauka to hai.!" He tried lighten up his mood nd it also worked to some extent. He looked up at him, just like a little kid on Christmas Eve. But the hope didn't last long. He again got dejected and said, "Magar ab kuchh bhi karlu, mera past to nhi badal sakta na.. Mujhe pata hai ki iss sab ko bahut time ho gya hai... Magar phir bhi.." Sid patted on his shoulder and said, "Bhai.! Main aapko apna past badalne k liye nhi keh rha hu.. Apna future badalne k liye keh rha hu! Plz don't tell me ki aap itni jaldi haar maan jaaoge! Aap "The Vikas Gupta" ho!" He looked at him, as he cud also see that this dark cloud also had a silver lining. He again argued with his voice gripped with guilt, "Tujhe lagta hai ki vo aaj jo kuchh bi hua, uske baad mera bharosa karegi? Jis din maine unki aai se unka haath maanga tha, to unhone bas yahi kaha tha ki main inka kabhi bhi dil na todu, aur  mujhse wahi ho gya.." Sid shook him by his shoulders and said, "Ab ye sab baatein chhodo! Bhabhi ka phone bhi yahi pada hai aur Ashu bhaiya ka phone aa rha hai dono k phones pe.!! A feeling of terror drove through him, he shivered and said, "Main inse kaise baat karunga? Tu hi baat karle, unhe bata dena jo bhi hua aur kehna ki hum Shilpaji ka phone wapas karne aa rhe!" He tossed the phone towards him. He told him everything, including all the things Vikas wished to explain to Shilpa.

Ashu got to know everything, he felt that whatever happened was just a mere misunderstanding and nothing else, but at the same time, he couldn't see her sister in a situation where she is completely broken! Aai came back home and he told her everything. She had not seen her daughter and she decided to help her get over it and forgive him. For she has always liked Vikas, way more than the other men Shilpa had ever dated, and that's what made her want to give him a second chance. She knocked on the door, but there was no response. She again knocked and said, "Shilpa! Darwaaza kholo, mujhe andar aana hai.." On hearing her calling, Shilpa stood up. She didn't know, how long she had been in integrity of her sorrow, neither did she know that how long it was going to continue. She opened the door and let her in. As she came in and examined the room, all she could see was that almost everything in the room had fallen prey to her anguish. All the vases were on the floor, and it was very clear that they had been smashed really hard. There were tits and bits of broken articles, which once used to be very beautiful and ideal for the decor of her room. After a while, she turned towards her and was satisfied to see that she had not punished or tried to hurt herself. She continued to look down, trying to hide her tears and despair, but her mother embraced her into a warm hug and she couldn't hold it in. She cried her heart out just like a teenage girl after her first break up.

After a while she made her sit on the bed and started arranging her messed up hair into a beautiful braid. While in the process she said, "Mujhe Ashu ne sab bataya.. Pata hai itni jaldi koi bhi faisla lene se pehle ek and baar Vikasji se baat to karle.. Ho sakta hai ki jo bhi tune suna, vo sab bas ek galat fehmi ho.." Shilpa weakly spoke, "Par aai, unki aankhon mein saaf dikh rha tha. vo to mujhse aankhein bhi nhi mila pa rhe the.. " And she started sobbing again. Her mother consoled her by saying.. "Dekh Shilpa, mere liye ye baat maanna naamumkin hai ki unhone sirf tera istemaal kiya... Tum dono to saath zindagi bitane vale the, ek hi misibat se thodi toot jaaoge.." Shilpa gleamed towards her through teary eyes, but her sinking heart has got a new hope! She thought that maybe she's been overreacting, at least she should have let him explain himself. She was still in the middle of her thoughts, when Ashu came with a hurry and said, "Aai.! Sid aur Vikasji aaye hai..!!"