The grey canvas

📌Chapter 24- Caught you

Dev:

TARA HATES YOU BEING THE APPLE OF EVERYONE'S EYE.

The clue rested in my hands and I was still clueless!

I wish somebody had told Raima that her 'clue' wasn't a clue at all. It was torture. It was bully. It was ragging...it was.....why man? Why did she do this?

I know I was at fault. Or maybe 'fault' was an understatement for me. But whatever she did, was it good? She should have either helped me or not helped me. Why did she leave me hanging in the middle?

However, complaining was useless. Neither I had the time, nor the luxury to sit back and sulk. Time was running out and I still had so much left to do. I had to work hard- on myself, on Tara.. on our relation....most importantly, work on this clue right now. This clue was my last hope. It was last dot that could connect me and Tara.
How was supposed to let this last opportunity go off my hands!

Think Dev, think something fast.
I boosted myself with a new zeal and read the letter again. To my dismay, nothing came handy except memorizing the whole thing word by word. It left me so frustrated that I shut my eyes closed and punched the dashboard ahead. Failing for the 25th wasn't easy afterall!

The next moment I opened my eyes, picked up my phone and dialled Ayan's number. Two rings later he received the call and asked with subtle excitement about how was my party going. I heaved a little sigh, ignoring all his loose talks and came to the point straight. I asked if Tara had said him anything before leaving. He simply shrugged to his, saying that he had no idea about anything of that kind.

Ofcourse, like sister like brother he was! Both of them always had to be ignorant of whatever havoc was happening in somebody else's life!!

Duh!!!

But what am I supposed to do now??

"Bhai, shall I call Janhavi and ask her about the clue? Maybe she can be of little help?" Ayan asked aloud, as soon as this brilliant piece of idea stuck him like a blaze.

Ask Janhavi? Can she help? Maybe she can.... who knows!
-"Yeah... maybe she isn't as useless as you!" I said and imagined him frowning on the other side. Whatever. "Call her once." I cleared my throat.

All three of our phones were kept at con calls when Janhavi joined us. At first she intently listened to everything and then took her own good time to interpret the entire scenario.

"Bhai, I think I know the answer!!" She mumbled few minutes later.
Her statement was nervous, unsure but it still made me spring back to my phones as if I had found an old, burried treasure.

If not treasure, it was surely a ray of hope and I couldn't be more happy about it.

-"You know the answer? What is it??" I spoke in a flow.

"It is written over here that TARA HATES YOU BEING THE APPLE OF EVERYONE'S EYE, so that all of us are thinking that this clue has been subjected on you, bhai... but it is not the case. The actual focus is upon some something else.. a word to be precised." She paused, making my heart beat double its pace.

"A word? What are you saying Janhavi??" Ayan asked on my behalf.

"Yeah, a word it is... And the word is APPLE."

-"Apple?" I was zapped.

"Yes, Apple... its like if Raima really wanted to say that Nitaradi hates you for your popularity, she could have framed the sentence as -Tara hates you being the candy/diamond/star of everyone's eye.... but she didn't use any such terms. She used the word 'apple' instead!!"