SERENDIPITOUS|✓

Chapter 25

It had been a whole week of Radha living with Krishn's family and honestly, she couldn't be any happier.

Every day felt like a festival to her; it brought her new happiness.

The day spent at the restaurant with Krishn was just a start. After Radha had cleared Krishn's misunderstanding and it was finally established that Radha was as unmarried as ever, they talked like they used to; continuous and spontaneous.

Krishn told her about his company while she told him about her job, Krishn told her about his trip while she told him about her biological father. It came as a surprise to Krishn, how easily Radha told him the most vulnerable truth of her life, and rather than answering her with his own life story he just said that he had 'missed her'. Neither did Radha asked him, his reasons to leave that day before the engagement, nor did Krishn asked Radha if she missed him too?

Strangely, something had changed between them that day. Nothing too big or too different, everything was still as subtle as ever but something had changed.

Since that day Krishn's smile seemed extra sweet to her and eyes searched for her more than before, while her fingers continuously touched the bracelet dangling on her wrist just to reminisce that moment  and brain seemed to stop working whenever he came in front of her.

Days like those and she didn't care if the sun shone too bright or the night sky was devoid of the moon because when he smiled at her, everything felt right.

She also got to know that the newfound feeling that grew inside her tummy every time he talked to her, wasn't as uncommon as she thought it to be. She remembered having the same floaty feeling to her even when she was living in the Rathore mansion under Mrs Rathore's sharp gaze and Abhi's constant taunting, her stepmother and brother respectively.

She realised that just like that, something had changed.

And she couldn't find it in herself to complain. Not when she had the sweetest fortune of living in this lovely house with even lovelier people.

Here, no one told her to wake up at six in the morning and the serving of the breakfast didn't close till ten at night. There were no rules to follow, no expectations to fulfil, just a small rent at the end of the month which too was enforced on them by Radha herself.

Her mornings passed smiling with the family, her afternoon's- appreciating the finger-licking food, evening's-discussing the current affairs with an air of seriousness around and nights- yet again with a bunch of smiles.

She was so happy.

Another thing, she had noticed in her week-long stay was a pattern going on in the house.

Every time the family sat at the dining table to eat food, everybody had their subjects of attention.

Mrs Yadav's attention was always equally divided on her husband, her son and Radha. Mr Yadav's attention was always subjected to his wife and his son. Whilst his son's attention was always, always on Radha.

He would nod alertly at anything she would say and hum all along her talking. And if by chance, he'd have a business-related call in the middle of the breakfast, he'd still keep his eyes on her and smile whenever she'd say something remotely amusing, which was as rare as a blue moon, regardless of how serious the phone call was on the other end.

However, today wasn't the same as every day.

Today, there was no attention and no Krishn.

Now, Radha knew Krishn's routine. The days she had been living here, she couldn't help but observe his life a little bit. She knew that Krishn went to work every weekday, just after breakfast, and came back a bit later at lunch and did the rest of his work from home.