Abhigya SS: The couple that reads together - EPILOGUE - Page15 - Page 9

Originally posted by: Naina-

WHO SLAPPED WHO?

Originally posted by: anjoottan

Absolutely..loved it..😳..do..continue...

Chapter 6 - What is love?

"Stop this drama", he shouted.

"Bhai", said Aliya shocked.

"Aliya, you stay out of this", he said aloud. She had seen her brother being angry before but the slap was shocking to her. She went to wait outside.

He grabbed Pragya's arms and shook her before asking, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

She could see the fierceness in his voice and his burning anger from how tightly he was holding her arms.

"I am not answerable to you", she said with her eyes downcast no longer able to meet his eyes.

"You are", he replied firmly.

"You don't have that right", she said looking into his eyes.

"We are talking about you. Don't divert the topic to me."

"Why do you want to know about me? What difference does it make to you anyway? Just lea..."

"It matters to me. It matters to me a lot."

"Why?"

"Because I am your FRIEND"

"Where were you all these days? You arrive in my life after 10 years and you expect me to behave like before"

"I told you I was searching for you."

She smirked and that irritated him even more. He took her jaw in his hand making her face him.

"You know that I don't lie. I went to your old house too but you were no longer staying there. I was really searching for you and it was you who left me, I didn't leave you. If you have thought about me at least for a day, you could have contacted me. It's not difficult for you to contact me given that I am a celebrity. You didn't need to search for me like I did for you."

"Yes, I didn't think about you even for a day. That's why I buy all your album CDs, read your interviews and that's why I came all the way to Pune for your first concert.", she said angrily. It took her few seconds to register what she had actually said. She wanted him to leave her but with every passing day, she was giving him reasons to stay. His grip on her arms loosened and after few seconds, he left her.

He looked at her blankly with an utterly confused face.

"You never stopped loving me. Don't you?", he said caressing her cheek with his thumb.

"Why are you torturing me?"

"Torture?", he said in a low voice and cupped her face with his hands.

"You being this close to me asking me to share my feelings with you and the fact that I feel that you care for me especially when I don't want you to is killing me. Why do you always act opposite to what I want? When I wanted you to love me, you didn't and now when I want you to go away from me, you keep coming to me"

"Why do you want me to go away from you? I know you were not angry with me even before I cleared our misunderstanding. If you had been angry with me, you wouldn't have called me to your home when we met again after 10 years."

"That was the mistake. That is one of the biggest mistakes I have ever done in my life. I shouldn't have brought you to my home. I should have controlled my excitement in seeing you again. I shouldn't have gave my number to you. I shouldn't have...", she stopped when his hand left her face and she missed the comfort his warm hands gave her but then she remembered what they were talking about.

He was hurt and it was clearly evident when he asked her whether she thought that meeting him again was a mistake.

"Why are you making it difficult for me? Even if I couldn't get your love, I thought I could relish being your friend. Is that too much to ask for?"

"I don't understand what you want. You love me but you don't want me to love you. What's this?"

"Something that you wouldn't understand"

"But I want you tell me why"

"Because I am afraid. I am afraid of loving people. I am afraid of people loving me. I am scared of love. It will give me pain. I have had enough. I can't handle any more", she stopped and wiped the tears under her glasses.

"Ok Fine. You want to hear answers. How would you feel if your best friend gets hit by a car when she was just telling how she is lucky to have you as her best friend? How would you feel if your dad dies the very next day after you tell him that you will be always with him? Love is not a blessing always. It can be a curse for some people. Every time you come to see me, I fear that I would fall in love with you more than before. What if you fell in love with me? I can't live with this fear every day."

"Pragya... I", he began but was cut by her shout.

"I don't want to hear anything. Please GET. OUT. OF. MY. HOUSE"

When he stood still not respecting her words, she had to drag and close the door on his face. She started crying silently as she slid down the door.

She turned off her phone alarm and sat up lazily. To her surprise, there was her morning coffee on the side table.

"What is happening to Papa?", she thought.

It had been two weeks since she came back to Mumbai from Delhi after finishing her exams. Her father had been behaving too nice and sweet to her. It's not that her father was rude otherwise but the way he was behaving now was too much of sweetness. It was like he was trying to be a uber cool dad. He no longer scolded her for waking up late or keeping things unorganized. She wondered what happened to him but then she convinced herself that she was staying in the hostel for the last few years. Maybe he would have expected her to study in Mumbai after finishing school in Delhi but she chose to study in a college at Delhi. Maybe he was missing his daughter all these days. Maybe that was the reason for him being extra sweet and nice. To be honest, she wouldn't have come back to Mumbai if Bulbul hadn't met that accident. Bulbul was pleading her to stay back in Delhi and told Pragya to ask her dad to shift to Delhi.

Taking the coffee mug in her hand, she went in search of her father. After searching his room, kitchen and hall, she found him sitting on the overhead water tank on the terrace. She climbed the tank and sat besides him. It seems he was lost in thoughts that he didn't realize that she came and sat near him.

"What's the matter, Papa?", she asked him looking at the sky in front.

"Nothing. What's your plan today? Any interviews?"

"No interviews today. First tell me what's the matter with you"

"Me? I don't have any problem dear"

"Then why are you behaving differently"

"Different? Nothing is different with me."

"You are being too sweet Papa"

"Father being sweet to daughter is considered different?"

"Don't divert the topic. You are being too sweet that I am afraid I would get diabetes"

He chuckled.

"You want me to be strict then?"

"No it's not like that but I would like to know the reason for you being too sweet. Are you planning something?", she raised her eyebrows but he changed the topic by asking about Bulbul.

She replied that Bulbul was still in coma and there doesn't seem to be any improvement.

"You want to go and meet her once? It's been two weeks."

"No Papa. It will do no good. Her parents won't like it."

"I'll talk to them. How can they blame you..."

"It's okay Papa. You don't have to. I can understand their pain. After all, it's because of their love for Bulbul. If Bulbul wakes up, even she wouldn't agree with them.", she replied and he was happy that his daughter could think maturely.

"Do you want to meet your mom?"

She found his question out of the blue and looked at him with shock. Both of them never talked about her mother since her parents got divorced.

"I wish I could have let you stay with your mom. A daughter could share everything with her mother than father. It took me this many years to realize this"

"Why are you talking like this?", she was concerned why he was thinking like that.

"Nothing beta. Just thought you deserved to be with your mom", he said keeping his hand on her head. Her hands went around him and told him not to talk like that because he was the best father one could have as she kept her head on his chest. She felt a tear drop falling on her cheek.

"Papa, you are crying?", she said looking up at him.

"Purab told me something that you didn't tell me all these years." and she pulled off from him.

It took her few seconds to understand what Purab would have told her father. She mentally cursed him for interfering in her personal matters.

"It's not that I shouldn't tell you. I was scared. I am really sorry", she said but he looked in disbelief.

"I swear I didn't tell because I didn't want to worry you and even if I mom hadn't been here, I wouldn't have told her too", she said slightly pinching her throat.

When she saw him relaxing a bit, she told him that maybe she should start wishing him on Mother's day just like Father's day to keep away his doubts. It was not a joke but she was glad that it made him laugh.

Abhi waited for 10 minutes and then thought that he should give her some time to calm down. So he decided to leave the place and went to his car. When he went to his car, he witnessed a frowning Aliya looking at him with arms crossed.

"Will you tell me what's happening here? You call me early morning to say that my childhood friend is drunk and she needs help. You ask me to look after her until you come and then when you come, you guys start having argument and suddenly, she starts crying and says something I couldn't even understand. I DEMAND an explanation"

When he finished telling her what happened since he met Pragya in the train till the previous night where she got drunk, he didn't realize that he was going to see an angry Aliya.

"She loved you? I can't believe you never told me this. You hid it from me all these years"

He couldn't help but sigh. There he was worrying about what was Pragya's problem and his little sister was getting angry that he didn't tell her about something that happened 10 years ago. He tried to get a hold of her arm but she was crossing her arms tightly to herself.

"I am sorry", he told her holding his ears and because he was tired to explain, he told her that Pragya left the school because of that.

"She left because of that? I had a doubt whether she left because of Tarun", she said without paying much attention.

"Tarun?", he asked surprised. The possibility of another reason for Pragya leaving the school shocked him.

"I saw her running out a classroom one day. After few seconds, Tarun came out of the same class angrily. It looked like he was about to follow her but then stopped as he saw me. You know about Tarun na. He was not a good guy. So I thought may be she got scared of him..."

It was his turn to question her. He was appalled that her sister knew something related to Pragya that he didn't know and she didn't even bother to tell him all these days.

"You never told me this?", he looked at her in shock.

"I didn't know you would be so interested in knowing about her", she said bluntly as they went home in car.

Forget Tarun. All these days, he wanted to know about Pragya's past and then when he came to know about it, he didn't know what to do. How could he stop her from being scared of love? How could he convince her that love is not a curse as she said? How could he even talk to her about love when he is not even sure of his feelings for her? And above everything, how could she be scared of love? It wasn't possible.

"You read it?", Abhi asked her as they sat on the bench near the school football ground.

"Yes. It was good", she said smiling and gave him the novel.

"I didn't like it"

"You didn't like it? Then why did you give it to me?"

"I knew you will like it"

"Why did you think so?"

"Leave it. I don't want to talk about something I don't like"

"But why you don't like it? It's okay if you don't want to share..."

"I didn't like the fact that he had so much effect on her"

"I don't understand", she said keeping her bag aside.

"Listen, she was ready to do whatever he said in spite of him being an unreasonable jerk"

"It's love", she said.

"What's this stupidity? Love shouldn't control anyone"

"Who said?"

"Me. Anything that controls you doesn't do good to you", he said sharply.

"Is it? So if your Daadi says you shouldn't come home late or tries to control your habits, it's bad?"

"Come-on Pragya! How can you compare Daadi and love?", he sighed.

"Daadi doesn't love you?"

"Don't be stupid. We are not talking about that kind of love."

"Whatever form love is in, there's always some sort of control in it and if you're in love, you wouldn't mind being controlled by the person because you know they wouldn't misuse it"

"If that's the case, I would never fall in love"

"You can't decide that"

"I can. I am in charge of my life and I decide what happens in my life", he challenged her.

"Let's see", she said.

Pragya's phone rang and she seriously wished it shouldn't be Abhi and to her relief, it was from Purab.

"Hello", she said and Purab on the other side was so excited as he happily shared how Bulbul turned her head when he moved around the room.

"Ohh.. It's good", she said not being able to handle the sudden happiness when she was extremely unhappy just a second before.

"Ohh'? What's this reaction?", Purab sounded annoyed.

"Wait! Are you crying?", he asked feeling her voice to be dull.

"No! I am not crying. Why would I cry at such a happy news?", she said finally being happy for her friend.

Purab was so happy that he didn't want to probe into the matter at that moment. But later that day when he went to sleep, he got worried about her. He remembered the last time he saw Pragya in pain.

She opened the door.

"Sorry, I couldn't come to the airport", she said. Her face wasn't sad or tear filled as Purab expected but it was blank. Her face was unreadable.

"Papa is not waking up", was that all that came out from her mouth. Purab rushed inside to her dad's room.

Her dad was dead.

"I tried waking him up at 12 o'clock to wish him but he didn't wake up. I thought he is in deep sleep. But still he is still asleep", she said in a low voice.

Neighbours and relatives in the city started arriving and funeral took place the next day but Pragya didn't shed a tear.

Two days passed and everyone left the place. Purab asked her to cry her heart out saying it was not good to keep things buried inside heart.

"Why should I cry? I won't cry", she said and kept repeating the same sentence. At that moment, he felt bad that he didn't pay heed to Bulbul's suggestion of being friends with Pragya. They were always at loggerheads fighting for silly and simple reasons. Maybe if he had been friends with Pragya from the beginning, he could have consoled her and she would have listened to him.

It had been four days since he came to Pragya's house and he should be leaving to Delhi but he knew leaving Pragya alone in Mumbai wasn't a good idea. He thought of asking her to shift to Delhi and promising to get her a job in Delhi. That's when Pragya came to him and asked him whether he would help her. He was more than relieved to hear those words from her. She asked him whether he could look help her find a new small as she didn't like living alone in a large house. He wanted to ask her to come and stay in Delhi but he didn't. He found a small house for her within her budget. A week after he left, she called him to inform that she joined a theatre group after a week and when he came to meet her after few months, she was completely changed. She wasn't sad or dull, but full of smiles even though they looked fake sometimes, he felt relaxed.

"Pragya, open the door. I know you're in there", Abhi shouted.

It was when he started banging the door, she woke up from sleep. She lazily got up from the bed and went to open the door. But there was no one. She wondered who would to bang the door so much but disappear when the door was opened. She stepped out to see whether anyone was around and no one was there.

"What are you doing outside? Come-in", she heard his voice from inside.

How did you get inside?", she asked as she saw him comfortably sitting on the chair in her bedroom and playing with his phone.

"You just opened the door"

"But I didn't see you"

"Because I was wearing an invisibility cloak", he laughed.

"That's not funny. What do you want? I told you everything"

"I didn't ask you anything now"

"Then what else do you want?"

"You!"

"What?"

"Nothing baby. Just chill. Is it a crime to come to a friend's home?"

"Friend's home?"

"We are friends. Now, what? Do you suffer from amnesia?"

"No. I mean why are you here?", she asked him puzzled.

"Are you trying to make me angry or telling me to go out?", he looked at her and she gulped.

"If that's what you want, I am sorry. That's not happening.", he said.

"You are coming back even after what I said yesterday", she said.

"Hmm", he said still playing a game in his phone.

"You are not angry with me?"

"No"

"You are not disappointed?"

"No"

"Are you really Abhi, the Rockstar?"

"No. Huh? What? What do you mean by that question?", he looked up at her for a second but then looked into his phone as he didn't want to get distracted from the game.

"You have thousands of fans"

"Yes"

"Girls would die to talk to you"

"Yeah", he said and a smirk automatically came into his face.

"But you choose to chase a girl who doesn't want you"

"Are you insulting me?", he said sharply and stood up.

As he marched towards her, she instinctively stepped backwards until she hit the bedpost and sat on the bed.

Chapter 7 (Last Chapter)

Nive, thank you so much. 🤗Such a lovely update, we got some hints from Pragya's past, Abhi got clue, that's great!!👍🏼 Hope he won't give up so easily this time, the way he came back give me assurance that he's up to smth😉. Please, update soon, eagerly waiting for the next chapter.