A Scandalous Affair |COMPLETE| AnuPre Fiction

5. Pursuit of Serendipity

A/N: Oh boy! You are in for a MAD MAD RIDE this time! Wont say more, I am more excited than you are actually!

Happy Reading!!

***

Prerna:

"Between the ones' we have ever wanted, and the ones' we eventually choose, lies either our strength or our weakness." ~ Voice of the Ocean, Prerna.

I wish more women saw this. We don't need others to tell us if we are strong or not? Our choice scream out who we are, whom we let ourselves be, for the sake of loved ones. Sitting next to a hollow-eyed Nivi staring lifelessly at Aadi's sleepy demand of stories, I realized, amongst all the grieve, agony, unfairness life has thrown at me, it had given me a weapon, my writing – my writing liberated me, but Nivi?

After dinner, when we were about to leave, Nivi suddenly turned to me and said, "Prerna, will you stay the night with me?" she didn't say more, and I didn't need to hear more. I had noticed Nivi all evening, I was in fact waiting for an opportunity to talk to her. She had never looked more listless before, and I knew her. She was never a damsel in distress, she was a fighter. She was the same Nivi who had lost her dad too early in life, and yet she fought to ensure Anurag never felt the void. She was always more matured than her years. If she was defeated, the cause had to be great. I nodded in affirmation, and deep within me pride nudged at me. I was happy I didn't feel the need to take into consideration, Anurag's presence here before standing by Nivi tonight – if that happened; my guilt would know no bound.

"Nivi, Aadi has dozed off. Let's get some coffee and talk?" I suggested quietly.

"Let's go for a drive and get coffee? I need some fresh air Prerna." She replied softly.

"Aadi will be fine here right?" I enquired.

"Don't worry, I will ask the butler to keep an eye on him"

~An hour later~

It was windy here, and at this time of the night, empty almost. We were sitting on the deserted benches in the inky night. The moisture laden wind from the Ganges blasting through my ears and nostrils and taking me to memories lost far back in time. As a child I would come here with my 'ma' and 'papa' in the evening. Princep Ghat was the residential area for the elitists in town – where there were vintage bungalows on one side, there was the vast open river on the other. My parents would bring me on weekends in the evening, I would sit here with them, have ice-cream, laugh and have a good time. Maybe it was these memories here, or the soothing river itself, but the years of life that followed, I had found that, sitting here, staring at the river always calmed me down.

I turned to Nivi, "What have you done to yourself Nivi?"

She smiled a little in mockery, in response to my question. "Prerna, this feels so good. Just like old times. Only this time, the tables have turned. This time I am here with a heavy heart and seeking advice from you!"

I smiled. During the time Nivi and I bonded in college, my father was few years into marriage with 'Mumma' and they had Mish, I had lost my 'Ma' and I was going through an identity crisis, I felt I didn't fit in my own family – This was the time Nivi stood by me like a rock solid pillar. She didn't have a dad either. Just her 'ma' and a younger brother.

"Nivi, you know you can talk to me right? Why didn't you call me yourself? What is bothering you? Since when did we grow all this distant? I thought------" but she didn't let me complete.

"Prerna, I want a divorce from Anupam."

***

Mishka: