Fates

Part 32- The Diwali Series- Conclusion

Aryan gave a happy fist pump into the air because he could now spend more time with Shahana. As he began to follow behind Riya and Drishti though he felt a hand grab his arm, stopping him from leaving.

"Where are you going?" Purab asked his son, causing Aryan to look at him.

"You know that your Mom told you to stay with Priyanka."

"Uh- dad I'm going to drop off some of the guests at their homes with Riya." Aryan told Purab afraid that his dad wouldn't let him go.

"But why would you-." Purab said about to tell Aryan that two people didn't need to go drop off a handful of guests when Mrs. Gupta interrupted him.

"Purab ji what type of napkins do you guys use? Do you get napkins from the guy on the east or the guy on the west? You shouldn't ever get napkins from the guy on the west because they always have bad quality." Mrs. Gupta said, talking at 100 miles per minute, never letting Purab respond.

"Okay, dad I'll be back in 20 minutes, see you later." Aryan said using his father's distraction to get away.

"Aryan wait-." Purab began to say, but Mrs. Gupta interrupted him once again.

"Oh, let him have fun, he's just a kid. Now you tell me who did these decorations? Was it the guy in the north or the south? The guy in the south is better. I'm pretty sure the guy on the south did these decorations." Mrs. Gupta said talking about everything and anything, never stopping.

Purab gave a silent sigh and at that moment he decided that yes, Alia was 100 percent sleeping on the couch tonight.

******
Aryan was driving home with Shahana, Prachi, and Prachi's Mom, while Riya had gone with Drishti in her own car.

Even though Shahana tried to hide it Aryan had seen her smile in the side mirror when she saw him come in the car and he too had smiled.

Both Prachi and Pragya had missed this subtle interaction because Pragya was lost in the thoughts of Abhi while Prachi was too busy worrying about her mom because she hadn't said a word since they had entered the car.

When they reached home Pragya went inside without saying a word with Prachi following worriedly behind her.

Aryan realized that he and Shahana were alone and decided that this was a good time to tell her, what he had wanted to tell her all along.

"Shahana wait, I have to tell you something." Aryan said grabbing Shahana's hand before she could go inside, Shahana looked at him questioningly. With Shahana so close to him, Aryan almost forgot what he was about to say.

"Uh- uh, I- I wanted to say that I like you." Aryan said nervously, he had asked out girls before, but Shahana was different, she meant more to him than any other girl ever had.

"I like you too." Shahana said thinking that Aryan meant that he liked her as a person and a friend.

"No, I mean that I like like you." Aryan said nervously again understanding Shahana's confusion.

"Oh! Oh... oh" Shahana said understanding more clearly with each word she spoke. She remained silent for a while processing what Aryan had just said making Aryan more and more worried that she was going to reject him.

As Aryan left Shahana's hand and moved to get back into his car, defeatedly, mistaking Shahana's silence for rejection, this time it was Shahana who grabbed his hand to keep him from leaving.

"Maybe I like you too, but you're going to work a little harder than this to hear me say it." Shahana told Aryan whispering in his ear while blushing. Aryan gave a goofy smile hearing Shahana say that. Shahana used his distraction to take her hand out of Aryan's and run inside the house before Aryan could stop her again.

Aryan stood outside smiling at nothing for a while, before getting into his car and driving away, still smiling, and nothing would dim that smile today.

******
As Riya was driving Drishti home they made small talk.

"Drishti di, I'm sorry about Aryan, sometimes he can be too blunt." Riya said apologetically.

"No, really it's okay. He was just asking a simple question. He seems like a nice person." Drishti said honestly.

Once they reached Drishti's home, Drishti invited Riya inside.

"No, it's okay Drishti di. I can just go from here." Riya said not wanting to intrude, she thought that Drishti's family was probably inside.

"So, you can drop me home by force but I can't force you to come inside for a glass of water? How is that fair?" Drishti asked.

"Don't even try to refuse because you called me di, which means older sister. So you have to listen to whatever I say." Drishti said when she saw that Riya was going to refuse.

"Wow, it hasn't even been one day and you're already abusing your power as my older sister." Riya said jokingly.

"But okay if you insist I'll come inside, but only for a little bit." And with that, they went outside the car together.

When Drishti opened the door of her house Riya was surprised to find it dark and quiet, she had expected Drishti's family to be inside, celebrating Diwali. When they went inside Drishti tried turning on the light, but it wouldn't get on.

"Oh, I think that the electricity went away but don't worry it'll be back in a bit." Drishti told Riya but also grabbed Riya's hand as if she was scared that Riya would go away. Riya realized that Drishti was scared of the dark, and turned on the flashlight of her phone to provide some light. As soon as Riya did that though, the electricity came back.

"See I told you that the light would come back." Drishti said breathing out a relieved sigh.

Drishti then told Riya to sit on the couch while she went to get a glass of water for her. When Drishti went away Riya once again had a chance to examine her surroundings. The first thing that she noticed was the apparent lack of Diwali decorations in the house. Then she thought about how there was no one in the house, no family, no friends, but maybe they had gone out to celebrate and maybe Riya was overthinking this. Finally, Riya noticed a newspaper on the table in front of her, that had highlighted job openings on it. Riya didn't get much time to observe it though because Drishti came back with water.

"Here you go." Drishti said handing Riya a glass of water.

"Thank you." Riya said drinking the water, as Riya finished the water she couldn't resist asking what was on her mind.

"Drishti di, do you live alone?" Riya asked.

"Uh, no, it's not like that, I live here with my Baaba, it's just that he's working late at night." Drishti told Riya, not telling her the whole truth, because even though she did live with her father, Riya did not need to know that her father was probably getting wasted at a bar right now.

"Oh, okay." Riya said believing what Drishti was saying, even though she felt that something was off.

"I should go home now, it's pretty late." Riya informed Drishti, standing up to leave.

"Okay, have a good night." Drishti said hugging Riya.

"Thank you for inviting me to Diwali." Drishti said gratefully.

"No, thank you, for coming." Riya told Drishti hugging her tighter, making her chuckle.

"Have a good night." Riya said releasing Drishti and leaving.

As Riya drove back home, she was lost in thought about what Drishti's story was.

But as Drishti went to bed that night, thinking about the day's events, she fell asleep with a smile on her face for the first time in years.

******
Thus, is the end of Diwali. I almost feel sad. But don't worry there is more to come.🙃

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Keep reading and stay healthy!❤

A.M.🙃