A Hardik Pandya/Shubman Gill Fan Fiction

Suicidal

NATASHA'S POV:

My head is heavy after the horribly hectic long flight. With my travel pillow across my neck, my friends and I make our way out of the airport. We share a group hug in arrivals and wish each other luck for the next year. They are all going by taxi but I can't afford to after such expenditure in Australia, and I don't want to even accidentally tell them about meeting my dad; Hardik Pandya.

"Awh my legs." I exclaim to myself with a yawn, as I sit in the bus with a smile. Although I had been separated from dad and Advait, things between us were all fine now. The grudges between my dad and I were all closed and shelved away.

I don't realise how quickly I fall asleep but the next time I wake up is near my house. I smile at seeing the same streets and some of the same people; Geeta Aunty - the biggest gossipmonger of the town, not to mention her daughter - a die hard fan of Shah Rukh Khan, always singing his songs from the balcony while drying clothes.

Suddenly, I look down at my phone and realise it's still on airplane mode. I switch on my data, and realise my mum has called me 23 times!

"23 missed calls?! What on earth -" I suddenly panic as I realise there must be some emergency.

"Or could it be - no ... it couldn't be dad. She wouldn't get that mad..." I trail off in nervousness as I think about what awaits me when I get home. Shit. Dad said he phoned Mum, when she didn't even want me to know who my dad was. I'm fucked. Truly and utterly fucked.

I take a huge gulp and breathe in all the oxygen my little lungs could possibly contain, before stepping into the house.

I don't even put a foot in, yet I see Mum running towards me. Before I know it, I'm looking downwards at the floor as she slaps me.

"Kya kar kar aayi hai tu vaha?!" She screams.

I don't respond, yet feel my eyes pricking due just because I am such a sensitive ass.

"I'M ASKING YOU SOMETHING NATASHA."

"Mum, I've just come back from a trip. I'm really tired, can we not talk -"

"WERE YOU NOT TIRED OF TRYING TO TRACK YOUR FATHER DOWN?! WERE YOU NOT TIRED OF COMPLAINING ABOUT ME TO HIM?!" Mum has tears streaming down her cheeks and at this point I'm utterly confused.

"Mum, what are you saying? Complaining about you?? What - when - I mean..."

"SHUT UP. SHUT. UP." She slaps me across the other cheek as I cry.

"You. You, NATASHA PANDYA found out your father, met him, and told him I'm not letting you get married??!!!" Mum is making all these crazy hand gestures which freak me out.

"Mum, no - I ..." How am I supposed to tell her I just used that as an excuse to get him to talk to her?! I had hurt my mum.

"HE CALLED ME AND TOLD ME HOW TO PARENT MY CHILD?!? DID YOU NOT EVEN THINK ONCE HOW I WOULD FEEL? DID YOU NOT EVEN THINK ONCE HOW MUCH I WOULD BE INSULTED?!" Mum leans on a chair for support.

My grandma now comes, as well as Dj but remain quiet after seeing all this commotion.

"Amara, calm down Beta..."

"No mum! Mum look what she's done. You're so grown up now aren't you? Wait. Just wait." Mum wipes her tears desperately and goes into my room. I stand with my head trying to see what on earth she's doing.

She barges out with my pile of books for medical studies.

"You want to get married don't you? You're dying aren't you? Fine. Get married. Burn these books. Burn your future. Sit at home and make babies, cook for your family and become a housewife. That's what you really want to achieve in life right?! Go ahead and -" Mum slips onto a dining table chair and buries her head in her hands.

"Mum please listen. I didn't complain about you to dad - I just wanted -"

"Get off me!" She thrusts my comforting hand off her shoulder. "Haan, kya keh rahi thi? You just wanted? Kya? You just wanted kya?!"

"I... I wanted you two to talk." I say firmly.

"Aur kya mila yeh kar ke? He said two things, I listened like a helpless rabbit. I couldn't say anything. I couldn't even believe you'd hurt me this much. Arey that man whose face I didn't even want to see all these years - that man was the one you told our personal family matters to?! The man who didn't even look back at you in the last 20 years to check on you, you believe will help you with your marriage problems?!" Mum sobs further, as Grandma rubs her back.

"Mum! I don't know what dad was like 20 years ago, but he's changed Mum! He's really nice! He isn't the person you tell me he is! I've seen him with my own eyes. Just on my insistence he called you to help me -"

"And so you think he loves you? Just because of that one phone call? You idiot - do you even know why he made that phone call to me? Just so you don't ever call him again. Don't you understand he's trying to get rid of you from his life?! Maa knock some sense into her, maa!" Mum looks at grandma and thrusts her palm against her forehead.

The whole room is in silence except mum's occasional sniffles.

I sigh before I break the silence.

"Mum. I don't know what relation you had with dad, but I love him. And he loves me." I march off into my room, banging the door.

"N..." grandma begins, however mum grabs her hand.

"Let her be. She'll realise just how cunning and deceiving that man is soon. Come let's have dinner." Mum wipes her tears and bashes spoonfuls of curries and sabzis onto her plate, eating hurriedly in anger.

"Natasha at least have dinner!" Grandma calls me, standing in front of my locked door. I cry into my pillow as I hear her muffled voice through my room.

"Maa, Please have your dinner. Don't bother about her. She doesn't care about us anyway." Mum says from the dining table.

"Amara tum bhi zyada karti ho. The poor girl's just had such a long travel."

"Maa."

Grandma eats in silence at the empty table.