Chapter 7
"Purvi..."
Purvi was there not out of love. It's not because she wanted to see her sister again. In fact, when Abhi apologized to her and asked her to come back, she didn't want to come back. But after hearing what had happened particularly Bulbul's death, she couldn't continue not wanting to meet her family. She didn't want to face anyone in the family but her heart didn't feel right to not do anything even after knowing what had happened. It took a lot of effort from Abhi's side to make Purvi agree to meet atleast Pragya if she didn't want to meet everyone. But wasn't Pragya the one who put the final nail in the coffin and shattered her hopes of someone in her family believing her?
She came to see Pragya half-heartedly for what she felt was her duty to the family which nurtured her from her childhood. She had to accept that they didn't treat her like a maid's daughter all these years even though she hated the fact that they didn't trust her like a sister when she needed it the most.
Tears of joy were streaming down Pragya's cheeks. Pragya hugged her tightly. Purvi's hands raised up a little to hug her back but it wasn't easy to forget what she had to go through because they didn't trust her.
She opened the door hurriedly and asked Purvi to get inside. Purvi was still hesitant as she was confused between heart wanting to be happy for seeing someone from her family after a year and her mind which didn't want her to forget or forgive anyone from her family. But she walked in slowly and sat on the sofa uncomfortably. Pragya sat by her side on the sofa and started talking happily. She told about how happy she was feeling and how happy Janki Amma, her maa and Daadi would be if they see her.
"Stop it", said Purvi irritatedly.Pragya was startled. When she placed her hand on her arm, Purvi took it off.
"Don't act like you care for me", said Purvi coldly."What are you saying? You are my sister"
"No, I am not. Bulbul is..", she paused for a second and avoided looking at Pragya's face, and then continued, "was your sister. I was just your maid's daughter and now I am... I am nobody to you."Her face turned hot and it seemed like she was about to sneeze. Within few seconds, she started sneezing continuously.
"Purvi... you have cold?", saying this Pragya touched Purvi's forehead to check whether she was running a temperature but Purvi pushed her hand away.Taking a deep breath, she shouted at Pragya to stop her drama.
"Why are you wasting your energy? Both of us know that you didn't consider me as your sister."Pragya caressed Purvi's face and said, "Why are you talking like this? You are my sister. Just because I didn't trust you once doesn't mean our relationship was a lie"
"Oh! So answer my question.What would you have done if Bulbul had been there instead of me?"This question shocked Pragya. She never differentiated between Bulbul and Purvi as an elder sister. But this question was challenging her thoughts about herself. Would she really have not trusted Bulbul if she had been in that place or was she not considering Purvi and Bulbul equally as Purvi pointed her out?
"It's not like that. There were proofs and the police... I accept I am the one at fault. I am really sorry for that. Please forgive me. What should I do for you to forgive me?""I don't want to see anyone. I don't want to even look at anyone's face. I came here just to tell this."
"I agree with whatever you say. I am the one to be blamed. Give me whatever punishment you want", she said pointing to herself and continued, "If you don't want to accept that I considered you as my sister, let it be. But you considered me as your sister, right? Can't you forgive your sister? Please I already lost one sister and I don't want to lose this chance of getting back another sister...", she said folding her hands.Though Purvi couldn't forget how her own family disowned her for a mistake she didn't do, she couldn't stand the sight of Pragya folding her hands.
"I came here because Jiju forced me to. I thought if I came here once, I wouldn't be disturbed after that. But I have to go now. It's getting late for work. Bye"As she stood up and started walking, Pragya followed her to the door in disbelief. She leaned over the railing in front of the door and looked at Purvi walking towards the apartments main gate. Purvi closed her eyes for a minute and she could see their childhood moments in front of her. Though Pragya had not been a playful sister like Bulbul, she was always a caring and responsible sister. She remembered about Sarla Maa and Daadi treating her and her mother as a part of their family. After all they had done for her, didn't they deserve a second chance?
She turned around and looked above in the direction of Pragya's apartment. She saw Pragya leaning over the railing and Pragya also saw Purvi looking at her. They both looked at each other for few seconds until Purvi started walking again."Hello Mrs.Beautiful", she heard Abhi telling her after wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He was also leaning over the railing.
"How did the meeting go?""Where did you see her?"
"Let's go inside and talk", he said calmly.***
"Can I get a cup of Coffee?", said Abhi collapsing on the sofa in the living room.
"Please tell me. Where did you see her? Where is she now? She said she is working. What is she doing?", Pragya bombarded him with questions sitting besides him. He looked at her as he sat up and told her to listen to him quietly without any questions.
"I saw her in a Petrol Bunk yesterday while returning to Mumbai. At first, I thought it was someone else. But when she gave her the bill, I realised it was her.""Bill?", she looked at him confused.
"She was working there."Pragya's face went pale as Abhi told her how Purvi behaved like she didn't know him at all when she saw her, how he had to wait for her till her day at work ended, how he persuaded her to meet Pragya atleast if she didn't want to meet everyone thinking that Pragya could change her heart.
"What actually happened here? I thought she would be here for more time but she seemed to have left quickly."Pragya narrated him what had happened. Abhi felt all the more guilty and sad after hearing that Purvi didn't change her mind.
"I am sorry", he said looking down."It's because of me. It's because of my sister you had to go through so much and now Purvi is like this because of..."
She covered his mouth with her palm not letting him finish his sentence."Please don't do this. You are not responsible for this. Purvi is angry with me and my family not because she was accused but because we didn't believe her. It's the reason and if at all, I should say something to you, it's THANK YOU!"
Before he could reply, she asked him a question.
"What about the meeting Purab told? How come you waited for Purvi?", asked Pragya with a worried face.
"Purab managed it."
"You do so much for me. I don't know what I did to deserve your love."He hugged her and told her that she deserved much more.
"Don't you think I deserve that coffee now?", he said without breaking the hug.She looked at his face and asked him, "Tell me the truth. Which one do you love more? Me or your Coffee?"
"Your Coffee", he said smirking at her.After 10 minutes, Pragya came with two coffee cups.
As soon as Pragya came out of the kitchen, Abhi grabbed a coffee cup from her hand and started sipping it. He sat on the sofa and Pragya sat on the chair opposite to him. Something was special about the coffee. Pragya had at times thought about the reason for his liking for Cinnamon Coffee. To be frank, she didn't like the taste when she tried to taste it for the first time. As she was admiring him and his coffee, he caught her looking at him lovingly. He quickly pulled her, making her sit across his lap.
"What are you doing? My coffee would have spilled..."He pressed his forehead over hers. "You also started loving cinnamon coffee?"
"How do you know that I was also drinking cinnamon coffee?""Rockstar powers", he said with a proud smile.
She gave a quick peck on his cheek.
"We have been friends for only 2 days and you already kissed me. What would your husband think if he comes to know?", he asked her in a playful tone."He wouldn't worry because he is open minded."
"Really?", he said as he leaned closer to her."Purvi"
He was shocked as he heard Pragya tell Purvi and stared at the closed door making Pragya laugh loudly. She was laughing so heartily that he wished that she played some prank on him again if that could make her laugh so hard. After few seconds, she stopped laughing and noticed that he was staring at her quietly. She waved her hand in front of him and brought him back to senses. She asked him what he was thinking about."So Purvi won't come back?", he asked her anxiously.
"She will""But you told that she said she didn't want to be disturbed again"
"Yes but she didn't mean it. The way which she saw me before leaving this apartment told me that she wanted to be with her family again and I am taking her home with me when I go to Mumbai for the conference. Everyone will be surprised.", she said confidently.Chapter 8
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