Every step Together

17. The One with the stupid HOPE

Tripthi's PoV :

I rushed to the Shri Siddhi Vinayak temple, offered my prayers and collected the Prasad showing the receipt, the weather changed suddenly and it started drizzling. I thought of reaching the venue before the rain grew but mobile lost signals and I can't book a cab. I came out to take an auto-rickshaw but the rain grew and I started drenching. With a heavy dress, it became too difficult.

I am sure that my makeup would be shelved by now, I tried stopping Auto's but some Autowalas rejected. I stood in the rain hoping to board a cab or auto. The rain grew more and I saw a sudden traffic jam on the opposite side of the road. Not wanting to get stuck in the traffic I stopped the next Autowala and requested him to take me to the venue and agreed to the fare without bargain.

When I was about to get into Auto I felt like someone is calling me. I glanced at the sides but can't see anyone calling me, I sat in auto but I felt someone is shouting I peeked a little to see if someone is really calling me but I can't see anyone clearly due to rain. I asked Auto Bhaiyya to start driving and reached the venue. By the time the engagement is completed and I ran to Mom, handed over her the Prasad, she thanked me.

Some relatives laughed at me and some of the cousins started commenting "Try applying paint on you face Tripthi, makeup is not going stay forever, once it's disheveled your dark skin will be visible", they laughed saying that.

As always I ignored them and ran inside the room given for Akka to get read, I saw a girl with disheveled makeup, smudged kajal, and sweat beads on her forehead in the mirror. I looked worse. I quickly cleaned my face, scrubbed away all the makeup, changed myself into a simple dress, and went out to enjoy the function.

All the elders spoke, my cousins are teasing Krithi Akka, and I went towards Jiju and said "Congratulations Jiju, finally got engaged haa"

'Thanks, yaar for bringing the Prasad on time, my family still believes in that kind of thing and won't even listen to my words. You got drenched in the rain because of that', Jiju said to me.

"No worries Jiju, dad says that we should always be ready to listen to the groom's side demands and should try our level best to provide them, but I feel that groom and bride are equal and no one is inferior. I hope you are a man who stands up for truth and the one who never falls into the trap of societal judgments, have a happy life with Akka ", saying that I came away and got immersed in the work.

We had our lunch at last when most of the relatives and Jiju's family left the place. I stayed with Dad and uncle up to the last and came home at night. Mom and dad are so happy for the day. We discussed our return to our hometown after 3 days and I slept after having dinner.

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Armaan's PoV :

"You are late by 2 hours, where were you stuck and why haven't you lifted the phone?" Kunal said as soon as I entered my office premises.

I just smiled at him and started walking towards the elevator. "You are drenched how that did happen? You supposedly went in your car right?" he shot another question at me.

"First let me enter my cabin and allow me to change these clothes I will explain everything later", I said to him coming out of the elevator and went inside the adjoining room beside my cabin, the place where I spend most nights than my own house. I always keep some pair of clothes and toiletries there; I quickly changed into some formal pair of clothes and entered the cabin locking the door of the room. Kunal stood there with two coffee cups and offered me one as soon as I sat on a couch opposite to his.

"Why are you looking at me so intently", I said sipping my strong coffee.

"That's because I am seeing something in my friends' eyes which I don't see quite often and the last time I saw that in your eyes is when you met the Backpack girl", Kunal said looking at me, I kept smiling at him and he gaped at me in surprise.

"Really you met her again? What did you say to her? How is she now? Did she recognize you?" Kunal kept shooting his questions at me after he understood the reason behind my happy state.

"Hold your Horses Mr.Ghosh, nothing happened like that. I just saw her while driving to the office. She stood there getting drenched in rain dressed in a beautiful traditional kind of attire, carrying something heavy. I stopped the car in the middle of the road..." I told him everything happened there.

"What? You saw her, you ran for her and you missed her again? Then why the hell are you looking happy?" Kunal shouted running fingers through his hair.

"I am really sad about missing her but... but Kunal can you believe this I saw her again after 1.5 years. I lost my hope of seeing her again but today gave me hope, a little hope that there is something which wants me to meet her. I may sound seriously stupid but I want to believe in this, Now I believe that I will meet her again and will probably get a chance to speak to her", I said confidently. Even I wondered about the newly brimming confidence in me.

'So you are going to believe in this stupidity that you can meet her again?Now that you have met her after 1.5 years maybe next time you will meet her after 3 years...., just a mathematical calculation', Kunal said looking at me like he is watching an endangered species.

"Yes, this sounds stupid and no sane person on the earth will believe in this kind of thing. If you ask me what's so special in her that is making you think like an idiot. I don't have an actual answer to that. This is something about this heart; Heart never sees anything it just wants what it wants. If you remember correctly I never felt this way for any girl earlier and even stopped thinking about any girl after the fateful incident. But this innocent girl in the rain changed everything. If speaking like this makes Armaan Kohli look stupid I am ok with that. For once I want to be The One with the Stupid HOPE", I spoke with enthusiasm.

"Fine fine fine Mr., if a no-nonsense person like you is going to believe in this kind of stuff, then my idiot ass would be obliged to assist you, Let's believe in this", Kunal said yanking me into a hug. "When you meet her the next time make sure you at least click a picture of her, I am eager to see the person who turned A Poker faced Armaan into a Cherry reddish Apple"

"Hey, I am not blushing Ok, it's all due to drenching in the rain, I may have caught cold"

"No one is going to buy that,try something  better Mr. Kohli. I can help you with that",Kunal bragged about himself.

'I totally know about your capabilities Mr.Ghosh, I am never going to seek your help in those. This discussion is done for now and look into the specifications mentioned by the "BRC Constructions", we should deliver them the end product before the due date. This was our first collaboration with the construction business and stuff. We should work smart and make a solid impact'. I said to him in my formal tone.

"Ohh the business tone is back, then I should get back to my seat and indulge in the project", Kunal said leaving my cabin.

Hello, lovelies..... How did you found this chapter? What are your thoughts about the story so far? Let me know your opinion in the comments.

What do you think of Armaan's newfound hope? Does it look stupid to you people? Or is it okay for us to trust our hearts at times? Do you think it is possible to have such strong feelings on a person we have met only once? 

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