Happily Ever After- 2

-Today-

Life is tough. It gives you challenges that you have to face because well, there are no shortcuts to life.

Thirteen years is long time. Right after losing my parents, to losing everything I had and then moving into the boarding school was a tough task. When you are alone, even the smallest of problems seem like a crisis. Shifting to a new country was indeed a very difficult decision to make. Never in my life did I have any clue that I'd have to steer through my life alone. My parents were everything to me and with them gone, a part of me felt empty. Surviving alone is not a cakewalk. With very less money and declining savings, I had to cut up a lot on my expenditures. I got too busy with my life. The faces which I once saw each day, have now become just pictures and memories. Gwalior still remains very bright and vivid in my conscience. Beginning from the scratch definitely take up a lot of time. I hope Mumma-Papa would be proud of me. It has been mellow and I am happy. Reena aunty says that I should get married now. I'm not sure about that. I never really felt "love" after college. It was a very different experience altogether. But that's a story for another time.

Right now I have to rush to class. From today I have an extra hour, apart from my usual schedule, with the Second Year Undergrad students. Mr Lobo, their Archaeology professor, is on leave for a week, so I've been given charge of those kids since they really go along well with me.

They greet me as I enter the class. There is a very positive vibe each time I enter the classroom. These kids are not behind all the bookish knowledge and that's why we always keep a week each month to talk about anything but the syllabus. Sarah stands up and says, "Do we not have an Archeology class today sir?"

"No, Professor Lobo is on leave for a week. I'll be your incharge until then."

"Since we have approximately 2 hours each day now, why not fulfill the promise you made last semester?" says Diana.

"Well, well, do you guys really want to know? I mean, it's just a very normal story kids."

"Sir, we don't mind. You can't just leave us hanging in the middle. We want to know what happened between the time when you went to your boarding school and you came here."

"Oh okay, fine. But you have to do an extra assignment next week."

Much to my surprise, everyone agrees to the condition. I really have to narrate it to them now!

"So, I left Gwalior and set out for Kasauli with a few boxes and couple of bags. It was going to be a long journey. Our first stop was at Agra where we had to drop off Reena aunty. We decided to stay over at her house for the night. The next day we departed from Delhi where we had to pick up a guy. I didn't know who he was but since the school had sent the taxi, I had no other option but to co-operate and just go with the flow. The driver, whose name was Manoj, called him up since we got confused with directions. After searching and navigating for about an hour, we finally reached his place around 12. Since I only had my breakfast, I was very hungry. He had a fairly nice and big house. Manoj honked on the main door and a woman in her forties came out.

'Hello beta, I'm Vivaan's mother. Please come in for lunch.'

'Aunty, I'm fine.'

'No, you are not. Your aunt contacted me and I got to know that you only had your breakfast. Come inside.'

'Okay aunty. Thank you so much.'

I went in, a little embarrassed. I saw Vivaan's father and greeted him. And then a guy came down the stairs. He was almost my age. 'Hey, I'm Vivaan. Nice to meet you.' 'Hi, Arjun Sehgal.'

'Okay boys, time for lunch. We don't have to keep the taxi waiting!'

I sat down on the dining table, Vivaan sat beside me. We hogged up on the delicious food made by his mom. I didn't want to but I ended up crying after the lunch. I missed the times when mom made new dishes for me. Aunty came and gave me a pat on the head. 'It's okay Arjun. It's alright. I know it's tough for you but don't worry son, we're here. Viv will be with you. Don't cry.' Vivaan gave me a hug. 'It's okay buddy. We are in this together.'

I wash my face and board the taxi to finally go to Ravenwood.

Vivaan came as a blessing into my life. I thank heavens that I went to pick him up that day or my hostel life and school life would have become a tragedy."

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So, Arjun is back on his journey to search for his 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 which 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒎𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆. But there is a lot on the way. Boarding school, college, career, relationships and what not? What happened? And what will happen? There's only one way to know. Let's begin this joyride, once again. This time, with some new characters and some old. Let us see where they take us!
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© Anshul Maheshwari
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