|| Carefree For The Moment. ||

|| Part 24. ||

"Abeer, beta" Mehul smiled as Abeer made his way over towards his father standing by the taxi.
"Baba" Abeer gave him a knowing smile. "What are you doing here?"
"I told you beta" he reminded him, innocently. "I came to visit a friend of mine"
"But you didn't say anything about coming to Rajgarh, I thought you would still be resting"
"Yeah" he sighed. "I needed to get out of the house & my friend called after so long so I thought why not?" He smiled. "Anyway, you kept your plans to come here secret too" He teased & Abeer smiled back.
"Yeah, I wanted to keep it a surprise" Abeer countered.
"Ohhh okay" he nodded. "Anyway, where's Mishti? Is she waiting at the house?"
"No, I told her to meet us away from the house. Didn't want her to wait around. You never know what kind people are around"
"Yes, yes. True" He said, clearly distracted as he kept glancing at his phone. "Beta," He looked up. "Let me just call my friend-"
"Baba, why don't you surprise him?" Abeer offered
"Surprise?"
"Yes, I mean you said you're going to meet him after so long. Why don't you go to his house & then surprise him there. Don't tell him you're coming"
"Beta, how can I just-" He smiled but Abeer interrupted him.
"Trust me, baba. He'll be so happy to see you" He took his father's arm. "Come"
"Okay, let me just go & tell the driver."
"Okay. I'll wait here" he said & Mehul slowly made his way towards the hood of the car, where the taxi driver was working on the car.

Abeer took his phone out, glancing up briefly as his father had his back to him.

I'm about to take Baba out for a spin.
Don't move from the Mandir.
He looks like he's about to call someone.

Mishti had her back to the front door, peeping her head through the window to check if the men had reached anywhere near the door. They were just a few feet away when Mishti's phone beeped, causing her eyes to widen as she scrambled to find it in her purse. She finally felt it then took it out to see a message from Abeer.

mm"Did you hear that?" Mishti heard a voice say so she looked up before she saw the message.
"Yeah, it sounded like it was coming from inside" a second voice note.
"Let's go & check" the first voice announced.Mishti quickly read the message then put the phone back in her purse, just as another phone beeped. This time it came from the other side of the door."Wait!" The second voice said & Mishti glanced around the room to see a chest of drawers by the window. "It's Boss""What's he said?"Mishti sighed quietly. What was she going to do? She needed to get out of there. & quick! She gave it a millisecond before rushing over to the kitchen to see any type of weapon that she would help. The kitchen was completely empty, which made sense seeing as it had been inhabited for so long."He said that there shouldn't be anyone here, but double check. Just in case"

She franctically made her way back into the living area then spotted a metal pole that was just lying on the floor, grabbing it to arm herself just as the door opened.

"Eh!" One of them men exclaimed upon seeing her. "She's here! Hurry up!" He called to the other two & Mishti stood her ground, aiming the metal pole at the man as the other two rushed in.
"Come! Bring whoever you want! Come!" She said swinging the pole from side to side, as the man tried to escape her aim.

"Abeer, before we go anywhere, I just remembered" He said & Abeer turned to see him taking a piece of paper out from his trousers pocket. "I thought seeing as you're ready to change your name, we should get the ball rolling"
"What is it, Baba?""It's the paperwork to confirm that you can change your surname"
"What?" He asked, with a smile. "Baba-"
"I know your mum's still upset about it" He sighed. "She wants you to keep her name. Which makes sense seeing as she brought you up. But-" he sighed dramatically. "I just thought you'd want to sort this out before the wedding"
"But Baba, there's plenty of time until the wedding."
"But beta these things takes time, don't they? We don't want this to complicate things during your wedding" He said, edging the piece of paper closer to Abeer.
"Yeah, perhaps you're right, Baba" He said & then gave it a second before taking it from him, resting his elbow on his windowsill as he took the pen from his father's hand, putting it close to the paper before pausing.

"What is it beta? Why did you stop?" He asked, his voice straining."I just thought. Why don't we wait until we get to Mishti, I want her to witness this big moment"
"Beta!" Mehul began, clearing his voice. "We can show it to her once it's done, right?"
"Baba!" He smiled. "She's going to be Mrs. Kapadia. The least we can do is celebrate it together. All 3 of us. Right?" He asked then shoved the paper in his father's hand. "You hold on to this." He said. "Mishti will be waiting"
"But Beta."
"Baba! You'll be late to meet your friend! I'll drive us into the village"
"Abeer-" He said then Abeer started the car, driving off a little faster than usual.
"Baba" Abeer began"Yes?" He asked, his eyes glued to the road as Abeer began to pick up his speed. "Beta, why don't we slow down?""Oh, sorry Baba. Am I going too fast?" He asked, glancing briefly at his father, who feigned a smile.
"Just a little"
"I'll try & keep my pace slow" He said, making no effort to slow down. "Oh, Baba. I forgot to ask"
"What?" He sighed, holding onto the door handle."When Mishti & I came to speak to a pandit ji, I felt like he might know you"
"Really?" He asked, slowly."Yeah!" He smiled. "But he didn't really have a good memory. I mean certain things he'd remember, then the next minute he'd forget. Isn't that strange?"
"Yes, very strange beta" He sighed. "But w-why do you think he knows me?"
"Because when I mentioned your name, he seemed to know more about you than any of us!"
"Oh, I just spent a lot of time here, that's all" Mehul explained
"That's why Mishti & I are here! We want to know all about it. Where should we go first?""Er, go?" He asked, skeptical"Yes! To find out who you spent time with. How long you & maa live here?"
"Maa?" he asked, confused
"Well, yeah. A lady we spoke to said you lived here with your wife... & she was pregnant"
"What!?" He exclaimed, his eyes widening as Abeer saw the Mandir coming up in the distance. "Who said that??"
"Oh, just some lady we met at the Mandir" He said dismissevely, watching his father's forehead start to sweat as he wiped his face from the corner of his eye. "But tell me, how long did you & maa live here? She said that maa was pregnant? Was I born here, baba?" He asked, turning to his father as he shifted in his seat.
"Beta-" Mehul started as Abeer parked up the car outside the Mandir & Abeer turned to him.
"I think that lady got me confused with someone else." Mehul said getting out of the car & Abeer followed him.
"What?? Really?" He asked, feigning sadness.
"Who could've the Pandit Ji confuse you with, baba?" He asked Mehul, following him to the other side of the car.
"I don't know beta. All I know is that your maa & I didn't live here together-"

"What about Parul Maasi?" A voice said from behind Abeer as he turned to see Mishti making her way over towards them.