Fates

Part 47- What The Future Holds

"Why do you always do this, Baaba?" Drishti asked her still-unconscious father. She had spent the whole day lost in worries about how she was going to get a job and pay rent. While another worry was plaguing her mind as well, which was whether or not she would see Riya again after all that Riya had witnessed today.

"You always do this. Your habit of drinking made all of my friends run away when I was little. Because no parent wanted their children to be near a drunken man. So other parents would tell their kids to stay away from me. And the friends that I did have went away when their parents found out about your alcoholism." Drishti said as tears streamed down her face.

"Even now, you did the same exact thing. I don't think that Riya is coming back after everything she has seen today. She literally ran from here, she didn't even wait for her shirt." Drishti said with a bitter laugh.

"But I can't even blame her. After all who would want to be with me after that? I have too many burdens that I can't expect other people to deal with.
I have to deal with my issues all by myself but don't worry I'll deal with them just like have been since my childhood. You don't have to do anything like always." Drishti said determinedly, wiping her tears, and defeatedly getting up from the chair, going to her own room, to get ready for bed.

As Drishti went to bed that night she slept a restless sleep, thinking about how to get a job, and thinking that she had lost the only friend she had made in years after what happened today.

******
The first thing that Riya did when she got home was call her secretary while sitting on her bed.

"Hello, Riya ma'am, why are you calling me from home, weren't you just at the office?" The secretary asked curious to know.

"Wow, Myra, you know a lot about where I am." Riya said sarcastically. "It's none of your business." Riya said pretending to be mad to mess with her secretary.

"I- I'm sorry Riya ma'am I didn't mean it like that." The secretary said fumbling to explain herself.

"Calm down, Myra, I'm just messing with you." Riya said letting out a small laugh, making Myra breathe a sigh of relief. "I called to ask if you know anyone who might need a new secretary in the office?"

"Wh- why are you asking?" Myra said afraid thinking that her job was at stake.

"Chill, Myra, this in no way impacts you." Riya said knowing what Myra was thinking.

"I'm just asking for a friend. Can you please check?" Riya said elaborating.

"Oh, okay. And I will check and then let you know." Myra said now more at ease knowing that her job was secure.

"Thanks, get back to me as soon as you find out, have a good night."

"I will, have a good night Riya ma'am." Myra said hanging up the phone.

'Don't worry Drishti di, you won't have to struggle to find a job anymore, I will make sure that you get the best job possible.' Riya thought to herself, smiling brightly.

******
"Are you kidding me?" Prachi said annoyed at Ranbir while sitting in his car.

"Who doesn't check to see if they have low petrol before they start driving?" Prachi asked Ranbir unbelievably.

"Oh, hello it's not my fault. The driver is supposed to keep the tank full.... but he hasn't been to work for 3 days because he's sick, so I think everyone forgot about it." Ranbir said trying to defend himself.

"Oh wow, you drive the car for fun, but it's the driver's responsibility to take care of it. I swear that you rich people won't be able to survive a day without your servants." Prachi said exasperated at Ranbir.

"Look over there, a dhaba. Maybe someone can tell us where the nearest gas station is." Ranbir said pointing at the place, not having a reply to what Prachi had said because there was some truth to it.

Ranbir got out an umbrella from the back seat because by now it had started to rain, but since he only had one they had to share, they quickly ran inside the dhaba before they could get wet in the rain.

"Excuse me, do you know where the nearest gas station is?" Ranbir asked the first person that he saw.

"Yes, it's only 2 minutes away from here. I could even go get you a gallon of petrol if you would only eat at my dhaba with your wife." The person who was the owner of the dhaba said, mistaking Ranbir and Prachi for a married couple.

"Uh, she's not my wife." Ranbir said awkwardly, trying to clear up the man's misunderstanding.

"Oh so are you boyfriend and girlfriend? Don't worry I'm pretty familiar with what goes on nowadays." The man said with a knowing smile.

"No, we're not together- we're just-." Prachi said struggling to find the right words for their relationship. They weren't enemies but they also weren't friends.

"We're just co-workers." Prachi finally concluded.

"Oh, okay." The man said smiling as if he didn't believe them.

"Anyway please have food at my dhaba and until then I will get you the petrol." The person said, leaving when Ranbir gave him money to pay for the petrol.

So Prachi and Ranbir both sat down and ordered a cup of tea because they had eaten a while ago. By the time they were done drinking the tea. The man came back with the gallon of petrol, and Ranbir went to fill the car tank while Prachi waited for him inside the dhaba.

After he was done doing that, he came back inside the dhaba so that Prachi could share his umbrella as she walked back to the car. As they were walking towards the car, Prachi lost her footing on the slippery road and was about to fall when two arms wrapped around her waist and kept her from falling.

Ranbir who had seen that Prachi was about to fall, let go of the umbrella, to hold Prachi, knowing that he could only hold one of them at a time.

So as Prachi and Ranbir were in each other getting wet in the rain, they got lost in each other's eyes, trying to understand what the other was thinking. They only broke out of their trance when they heard a car honk at them to move out of the way.

Realizing that they were standing in the middle of the road. Prachi straightened herself and got out of Ranbir's hold, both of them silently making their way to the car.

"Thank you." Prachi said gratefully once they were both inside the car.

Ranbir only gave an appreciating smile at that, beginning to drive towards Prachi's house.

******
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