Manjha A String of Complicated Relations

Beginning of the End

Before leaving, Advith had told Anisha to pack both her and Shamhavi's bags and also to inform Shreya to do the same.

Aniket and Advith left while Advith went to talk to his father for an early departure the morning. Aniket went away to book return flights because he knew that Shambhavi was not in the state of mind for a long journey via train. He booked the flights that left at 12 in the afternoon paid with his own account.

MG Rathore agreed when he got to know of Shambhavi's health and allowed all of them to travel by air. Sanyukta had gone to check up on her and MG Rathore had to stay behind to take care of all the formalities, so both Major General and Sanyukta would leave a day later.

Shreya and Anant had been very concerned when they saw Shamhavi even though they had not seen the full extent of her breakdown, nor did they know the reason behind her ill health, but they were concerned nonetheless.

Early morning at around 6 a.m. Arti Yash Narayan went to Aniket's room after checking up on Shambhavi. She knocked and a very disheveled Aniket opened the door. He was shocked to see Arti as she had never really talked to him much. He invited her inside.

"I had a request," Arti started after a few seconds of awkward silence. "And I know that I should not even be talking to you right now but I promised Sakshi Di that when she would not be here, I will look after the girls like my own."

"I can't always be with her. And right now she needs some be with her, to look after. Even if she acts all tough, she is so much like her father. They never say what they are feeling. If they are hurting, they will pretend everything is fine. This pain will rot them on the inside, I can not be there for her but you can," Arti said while looking at Aniket.

"You don't need to ask this of me, Ma'am, I would have done it anyway," Aniket replied softly.

Arti smiled at the man in front of her and thought the humble, soft-spoken man was supposed to be a royal.  "I know you would have, I just needed to say this for my own self and because I know that she will not take care of herself," Arti said, a bit in thought considering her next words carefully, unsure if she should if she should tell Aniket anything.

Aniket sensed there was something else that Arti wanted to talk about, so he waited patiently.

Arti took a deep breath and said, "There are two sides to every story but when the story is complicated and has too many people, it can have more than two sides, sides that are hidden. There are things that no one knows, Not Yash and certainly not Shambhavi, Sakshi knew. I told her when I found out by accident but we both decided that it was better for the sake of the girl's lives that no one knew the truth. I know it is time the truth comes out but I have no proof nor credibility. I just hope you could be the one to unveil the truth." Arti's voice was slow and painful as she remembered the darkest secret she had ever come upon.

Aniket knew that the woman in front of her would never lie to him so he said, "I am listening, Ma'am."

Arti started the story and Aniket listened to it with rapt attention. Half an hour later, Arti had gotten everything out. Before leaving, she turned back to Aniket, "Remember Aniket, it will hurt them both to a great extent."

Aniket replied, "But it needs to be out, after all, it's their lives we are talking about."

Arti agreed and left. Aniket now had a very big responsibility on his shoulders.
 
Near 8 in the morning, Shambhavi woke up with a killer headache. A few seconds of disorientation gave way to a sudden clarity of yesternight's events.

She looked around and saw that her bag was already packed along with Anisha's and Shreya's.

"You're up, finally. Go freshen up. We will leave in two hours. I already packed everything except for that dress and another suit so that you could change," Anisha said from her left, Shambhavi turned to see her normal clothes.

"I thought we would leave 2 days later," Shambhavi said, confused.

"Aniket Sir's orders and no questions asked. He came to check up on you in the morning but had to leave to sort out some paperwork. He will be back in a short while," Anisha said, gauging Shambhavi's reaction.

Shambhavi remembered how Aniket had handled her in the night, how he had held on to her, and how he had been crying too. The last part was a bit confusing. Was he really crying? Shambhavi thought.

She looked at Anisha who had a small smile on her face, "Yes, he really cried watching you cry and almost decided to stay back in the room till you woke up but Captain Rathore made him see reason."

Shambhavi gave what could be classified as a very tiny smile.

She got up, took the clothes that Anisha had left out and went to shower. In the shower, Shambhavi finally had a few moments to process everything. She had seen him, and had a breakdown because of its unexpected encounter. But now that she had a cool mind and a night's sleep and time to think clearly, she could face him now. She knew that when she joined the Army, she had to face him some time or the other. She might as well get it over with.

She went back to her room. Anisha had already left for the mess and she had left a note saying that Shambhavi's breakfast would be arriving shortly. Shambhavi was confused because no one delivers any meals in IMA. She was reading the note when there was a knock at the door.

Shambhavi turned around to see Aniket standing there. Aniket, who was always prim and proper with not one crease on his clothes, was wearing a crumpled t-shirt with jeans, his face had a 5 o'clock shadow and he had dark circles under his eyes. Even his hair was unkempt. Shambhavi thought he looked much more appetizing than breakfast.

He had a tray with two plates of breakfast in it. He came in, closed the door and sat down. He looked at Shambhavi with eyebrows raised as if asking what she was waiting for.

Shmabhavi also sat down facing him. Aniket opened the plates above the tray to reveal two plates one with bread and butter and the other with Aloo ke fresh Parathen.

Shambhavi looked in amusement as he took the butter and spread it on the parathans and then held a morsel of it to her face. Shambhavi thought for a second,and ate the food out of his hands. Her lips touched his hands slightly.

Aniket really had to be in check of his emotions at this point. Here she was eating food after the whole fiasco yesterday, and all he could think about was the light touch of her soft lips against his fingers.

They both had breakfast, with Aniket feeding Shambhavi and himself. After they were done, Shambhavi got up and went to her packed bags. From a pocket outside, she pulled out something. She went back to Aniket who was watching her with great attention.

She held some sort of tube out to Aniket who looked at her first then at the tube and then back at her. She motioned for him to take the tube and so he did. Aniket read the contents of the tube out loud.

"Eye cream for dark circles under the eyes," Aniket said in a flat voice and Shambhavi gave out a small laugh.

"You need it more than me, Sir," Shambhavi said, with a small smile on her face.

Aniket tried to look offended but he had to smile as she was in usual sassy teasing self.

"We have to leave at 10 and umm... Arti Ma'am and Raghav will meet you outside the dorms before leaving," Aniket informed her, a bit hesitant.

Shambhavi smiled at him and said, " Choti Ma. I call her Choti Ma. You can also call her that. I know she won't mind."

Aniket looked at her and went towards her. He stopped right in front of her, maybe two inches apart. She had to look up to gaze into his eyes.

He took her in his arms and gave her a tight hug. She reciprocated immediately, keeping her head on his chest, listening to the steady beats of his heart. Aniket kissed her forehead, brushing her lips a little longer than necessary. He inhaled her scent, a mix of something fruity and a splash of sandalwood, uniquely Shambhavi.

"Choti Ma and Raghav are already waiting now," he said as his phone vibrated.

Shambhavi and Aniket both took a step back from each other and went to meet Arti and Raghav.

Arti fussed over Shambhavi and Raghav made faces behind her back. Shambhavi laughed and smiled. Both of them were assured that she would be fine.

Soon, they were all ready to leave and were waiting at the gates for the jeeps to arrive from the parking area. Shambhavi was also waiting while both the Captains left to bring the jeeps out. She turned to look at the building of IMA one more time when she saw Brigadier Yash Narayan Vashisht standing and watching her. She turned her back to him. Soon they left IMA.

Shambhavi hoped that this would be the last time she had to face Brigadier Vashisht but something in her bones told her that it was not just a one-off thing. If only she knew how right she was, how this was just the beginning. This was the beginning of the end.