He is not Here!

Rihaan's Mother.

The summer break was going quite as usual. After knowing what Rihaan was being through, it was hard for me to stay away from him. We texted all day, I never let him feel that he has no one of his own. I had made a good connection with his aunt too. She always asked about mom and send greetings to her when we talk, and mom does the same. It was getting boring, staying all day at home and doing nothing. I was just waiting for school to start soon. Sara and Bhav were quite lucky this summer, they had plenty of time to hangout on their own and had dates. And then there was me, I was completely bored, but yet choose to stay at home just as I did every summer. Except for this time, I had Rihaan to talk to and kill my time. All I did a whole day was wake up, text him, eat, text him, eat, text him and go to sleep. But that wasn't the only thing that I did this summer.

It was just another day, I was talking to Rihaan. He told me that his mom and stepfather was coming the next week to check him on studies, and they will be having a party too at some hotel on his mothers birthday. His mother wanted to meet his friends too and so he invited me, Bhav and Sara. He was a little worried to introduce me to his stepfather and his stepbrother. He warned me to stay away from them, as he did not wanted that we get into any problem. He invited my mom too so that his aunt and his mom can meet her. The party was going to be ball themed, and I did not had anything to wear to a ball. And so the next day, my mom took me and Sara for shopping. We spent the day almost for shopping, deciding what to buy was the most difficult thing to do. Finally, after hours of tackling through the dresses we all brought one. I pick a white gown with black lace all over it. And we all headed back home after the tiring day.

Weeks later the day of us meeting Rihaan's family has arrived. We were all getting ready to fit in the crowd, as the party was at one of the most expensive hotel in the city. I did a braided bun in my hair, mom helped me a little to work with the finishing touches. Then I helped mom and Sara with their dress and hair. After we were done, we clicked each others photos and went to the car to hit the road towards the hotel. After a long ride we reached the venue. There were guards collecting the invitation cards from the visitors at the gate. As we entered the gate, there were lights on the pathway leading to the main entrance of the hotel. We walked in the grand entrance door opened wide, it had minute carvings on it which was giving it the perfect royal look. The people in there were very decently dressed and looked completely sophisticated. The interiors had lavish decorations and the music was just perfectly matching with the atmosphere, calm and beautiful. We were stunned by everything in front of our eyes and were making our way inside to find someone familiar in the crowd. Just then I saw Aunt Anika making her way towards us along with a woman walking beside her. She gave me a hug and greeted me with a warm welcome. Then I introduced her to mom and Sara and she welcomed them with a wide smile on her face. The lady beside her was watching all of us, she had a beautiful smile on her face and she was looking mesmerizing. Aunt Anika saw me watching her, and she introduced us to her, her name was Smruti and she was Rihaan's mother. I shake hands with her and wished her a happy birthday and so did mom and Sara. Her beauty was beyond explanation, the purple dress she was wearing, was perfectly radiating on her skin tone. She started talking to us, asking about Rihaan. How he behaved around everybody, how was his study and so and so. I was answering her questions, just then I saw Bhav and Rihaan heading towards us. They both greeted us and asked to join them for dance. Rihaan's mom told us to have fun and do not worry about my mom as she will give her a good company. I and Sara joined them to the dance floor and our moms and aunt cheered us as we left. Rihaan held my hand as we were approaching the dance floor. He bent a little towards my ears and whispered you are so beautiful. I felt his breath on my neck which gave me goosebumps. I thanked him and he held my waist as we started dancing.

We were in the middle of dancing when a young boy, tall and handsome with perfect fitting suit, came to Rihaan and asked to get me to dance with him. Rihaan got angry and pushed him away, soon everybody started looking at us. I tried to cool him down and told him that I can dance for a little while and it wont be a big deal. I promised him that it will not take much time and I asked Bhav to take him to the drinks counter and Ill be there in no time. They went away and Sara joined them, Rihaan was not looking very happy, and neither did I wanted to dance with that boy but I had too, to avoid an unwanted gossip. As we were dancing, he introduced himself to me. His name was Ved. I ignored him for once and then he told me that he was Rihaan's stepbrother. I looked at him with wide eyes. Maybe that was the reason Rihaan was too angry to let me dance with him. I told him my name and asked him how his relations with his parents and his brother were. He told me that he was close to his mom than to his father and that he always wanted to have a good relation with his brother but he failed every time because Rihaan never liked him. I could understand Rihaan's hatred towards Ved, so I did not ask him much about it. Then I asked him why he was not so connected to his father. He answered that he never liked his fathers actions and his job and the person he was. His father was very cruel to him and his mother, he said. I was thinking about what an evil person that man was. I told him to show me who his father was, he pointed towards a man with a devilish grin on his face talking to someone and having his eyes on the other ladies. And after a few moments I thanked him for the dance and parted my ways with him.