Part 29

 

Five Years Later

 

             The airport was full of people. After all, it was July and everyone wanted to be home for Independence Day. From Door A, a pretty, young lady comes out with her carry-on luggage and takes out her shades. We see the brown hair and brown eyes and then the whole face. It is Kripa. She looks around and starts moving towards the exit.

 

             At the same time, From Door E on the other side a handsome young man comes out with his luggage. We see his well-built body, brown eyes and brown hair. It is Angad. He smiles as he looks around the airport. Chicago. He takes his luggage and exits from the same door as Kripa. We see her talking on her cell phone right outside the doors. Angad comes out and bumps into her. He apologizes and before he could turn around spots his car with the driver.

 

             Kripa does not hear his muffled apology as he goes and sits in his car. A couple of minutes later, a driver came for her, he takes her luggage as she gets in and they drive off. When they arrive at the Sharma mansion, she gets out of the car and looks at her house, Sharma mansion. Then, as if on instinct, slowly turns her head to look at Khanna Mansion right next door.

 

             Some old memories aroused in her mind. All the time she had spent on that garden swing. Her first time inside the house. The happy family members. Running around chasing Angad, or him chasing her. The good times, she thought to herself and smiled. She wondered if he lived there. She wondered if he had found Miss. Perfect. She wondered if he was married. If he was dating. If he missed her. If he would remember her.

 

             She mentally kicked herself. Of course, he would remember her, it was only five years. Five years. Five long years that she dreaded. She had remembered him, of course, she would never forget him. She wasn't sure how she was going to react if he had gotten married and settled. Oh how she wished she could go right now and feel his arms around her! Tell her that he loves her as much as she loves him!

 

             But she knew that wouldn't happen. Or maybe she did. Somewhere deep inside, her heart had always told her that he was the one for her and she the one for him. That he loved her as much as she loved him. That true love would bring them together one day, forever. She sighed and forced her eyes away from Khanna mansion to her own house. It looked the same. Warm, peaceful, and homely. "Home sweet home" she murmured. She went in and rang the doorbell, standing awkwardly on the front steps.

 

             To her surprise, a tall gentleman opened the door. After a few seconds hesitation, he asked, "Kripa?" She nodded her head. Now, she slowly recognized him. Nikhil Bose, Prithvi and Mishty's younger brother. They stood awkwardly for a few seconds. "Come on in" he gestured as she stepped inside her house like a total stranger. Everything looked exactly the same, she realized. But it wasn't as if  she did expect anything to be different. The only difference she noted was that there were a tad more pictures on the wall and furniture.

 

             She went to get a closer view and saw one with Ananya and Nikhil standing arm-in-arm. She wasn't surprised; they were always close friends just like her and Prithvi. Her eyes shifted to the next one of an engagement ceremony. Nikhil was placing a ring in Ananya's engagement finger. They looked happy but even from the picture she could see the down look on Ananya's face. In the back, she recognized the Khanna family present. Where were her parents? She wondered.

 

             Her question was answered as her gaze moved to the next picture. She felt as if the ground under her feet had suddenly disappeared. She dropped her purse from her hand. "No" she whispered. The tears were already forming in her eyes. With shaking hands, she picked up the picture of her smiling parents with flowers on it. She scanned the other pictures of the engagement and realized that the Khanna family was in all of them and her parents were missing. She dropped to her knees and hugged the picture tight, letting the tears flow.

 

             She would not stop crying today.  She had been holding these tears back for a long time now; she could not hold them back any longer. Someone put their hand on her shoulder. She looked up at Nikhil with her tearful eyes. "When?" she asked.

 

"It's been an year already. They" he paused. "They were getting back from visiting Aryan at the hospital" A picture shot in front of her eyes, of her little brother in coma. She shook her head in remorse. Nikhil continued; "When their car got hit by a huge truck" he paused. "Their car was hit with such huge force that, both were pronounced death when the ambulance arrived at the hospital. I am sorry Kripa"

 

             She shook her head. "Don't be, it wasn't your fault. Its, its, all my fault. All my fault" she cried.Nikhil shook his head as he held her shoulder, "No Kripa, nothing is your fault. Do not blame yourself. You understand?" She shook her head. He lightly shook her by her shoulder, "Aryan's coma was an accident, your parents death was an accident! Do you get it?? An accident! You weren't responsible for anything!" She cried her eyes out on his shoulders and he awkwardly let her.

 

             After a few minutes, he helped her onto a sofa and went to get her a glass of water. When he came back, she thanked him and drank the water. She eyed her luggage. "I brought presents for them, I dreamed about coming back home, spending time with them, I even brought something for Aryan, hoping that maybe, maybe he would be out of coma, maybe we could be the same happy family we use to be." Nikhil just nodded his head and murmured soothing words.

 

             Then, they heard a key in the lock and the front door opened. "Ananya is home" he murmured. "She will be so happy to see you." He got up just as Ananya entered the house with several shopping bags. She closed the door behind her with her leg and entered the living room. When her eyes spotted Kripa, she dropped her bags. "Di?" she whispered. Kripa came closer to her. They were both about a foot away. Ananya slowly moved her hand forward and felt Kripa's face, as if to see if she was real. Kripa took her hand in hers and Ananya burst out crying. They both hugged for a long time.

 

             When they finally let go, both sat down and Ananya began, "Where were you di? You never contacted us! Took everything!! You know how much we missed you? Angad, he looked for you all over the place! Where were you?" Kripa stopped her from speaking further. "I'll tell you everything later, please, I,-- I don't want to talk about that right now, mom and dad—"

"Nikhil told you?" Ananya asked. Kripa nodded her head. "Oh Anu, I missed you so much!" she cried giving her sister another hug.

"I miss you too di!" Ananya said, comforting her. "Why don't you go up to your room and freshen up, ill make us some coffee and we can talk? " Kripa nodded her head and went up to her room.

 

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             Half an hour later, Kripa and Ananya were sitting in their living room eating coffee cake and sipping freshly brewed coffee. Nikhil had left so the girls could have some privacy. Kripa asked, "So, how is everyone?" Kripa asked.

"Everyone?" Ananya raised an eyebrow. "As in?"

"Next door, Aaliya, Khanna family, Prithvi …" Kripa replied, avoiding Ananya's eyes.

Ananya said, "They are all fine…dadi had some heart problems so she has been in the hospital, I believe she is getting discharged today."

Kripa nodded, "I want to meet her… talk to Prithvi lately? I read all the e-mails… but after a well, I couldn't take it anymore, and so I closed out all my e-mail accounts and opened new ones."

 

"Well," Ananya began, "You ready for this?" she wiggled her eyebrows.

"What?" Kripa asked, not sure what to expect.

"Prithvi, Mishty, Nikhil are living next door!" Ananya said.

 "Next door? There isn't a house next door?" Kripa said, confused.

 

Ananya nodded. "Correct, there isn't a house next door, they moved into the Khanna Mansion" It took Kripa a few minutes to take this is and when she finally did she turned to Aaliya and practically screamed, "What?"

Aaliya chuckled, "Yep, it turned out they were cousins. Angad found out through Dadi that his dad's family had disowned Prithvi's mom after she ran away and got married to some guy they disapproved of because they, or rather Angad's grandfather,  thought Prithvi's dad didn't have enough money to take care of a family.

 

When Angad heard this, he asked Dadi where they were staying, and she told him because she use to secretly visit them." Kripa's eyes widened in surprise; she had never seen Dadi around Prithvi's house. "Anyways, Angad tracked them and brought them home, their financial state had worsened, Angad fought with his dad a lot, and finally, he accepted the Boses'. This was around the time you left, ever since then, the Bose family has been living with the Khannas'."

"Wow" was all Kripa could come up with when she finished.

"They are going to be so happy to see you!!" Aaliya squealed.

"I am excited as well! But a bit nervous!" Kripa said as she put her coffee down and fidgeted with a ring on her hand. As she fidgeted with the ring, her eyes moved to the beautiful diamond on her sister's left hand.

 

She took Ananya's hand and examined the ring, "I almost forgot, Congratulations!" she said with all the excitement she could get into her voice. It's only the engagement, you didn't miss the wedding, she kept on telling herself. "Oh, this" Ananya blushed and examined the ring with her sister. "Nikhil and I have been dating for a while now, and we work for the same company, when he proposed to me a month ago, I was happy but sad. I wished mom and dad were there , I wished you and Aryan were there. I wasn't sure what to say. But I saw the love in his eyes, the hope, and I just couldn't say no, you know!"

 

             Kripa nodded her head in understanding, "Its okay! You were in a tight spot! I am really happy for you though!" She squeezed her sister's hand. Ananya said, "Okay, now your turn, where were you?" Kripa sighed. "I went to London, I had applied for a university there and I got in. I knew mom and dad wouldn't want me to leave the country, and there were just some things that I wanted to get away from." Some people, she told herself. "So, when you guys all left for the graduation party, I took my packed suitcases, boarded the plane and was in London. I didn't feel a thing. I felt so foolish, I had given no thought to anything. There, I found an old friend. I had transferred my money to an account I had here. I stayed in her apartment for a few weeks and then bought my own place."

 

             She paused. "Then, I worked in a caf part-time, and saved the money. I worked at several places during that time, until I had enough money to support myself for a couple of years. I had saved it all. This past year, I got an offer to work for a clothing company. I accepted and they were impressed with my work. Slowly, I began to get higher positions and then I decided to open my own clothing store. And so I did, I opened my own shop and I am running it. Right now, it is quite successful." She ended her story and poured herself a new cup of coffee.  

 

             "Di, there is a party at Khanna house today, we all have to go, you are coming right?" Ananya asked after praising her sister on her job.

"I don't know" Kripa said reluctantly.

"Come on di you have to!! Surprise everyone! I told Nikhil to keep mum about it! Please?? " Ananya asked. Kripa agreed. Ananya left to her room to make a phone call while Kripa sat there, thinking about the party. Was she ready to face him? She did not know? Would he be there? She didn't know that either. She hadn't asked Ananya about his whereabouts! But maybe it would be better if she finds out for herself, maybe she wasn't ready for this…