Set in the pre-wedding phase. The wedding gets postponed for six months here and thus, everything that we saw Netra doing after Shashank and Apurva’s marriage in the show – she does it here before that. You’ll know the rest as you read.  

| Part Thirteen |

Apurva rested her elbow on the desk of her fiancé’s study table, holding her cheek in her palm as she lovingly stared at his peacefully asleep self. She couldn’t help but smile to herself upon catching her shrug still tightly held by his fingers. The view in front of her eyes was a bit too addictive for her to look away from it but the sudden discomfort on his face forced her to. 

Her gaze went to the window curtain that had shifted from its place, giving a free pass for the sun rays to come and meet her fiance who seem to be willing to greet back. 

She stood up and went to close the entry of her enemy. Anything disturbing her fiance even in the slightest way directly made it to the list of her enemies. 

Come later. She subtly warned the sun rays, after adjusting the curtains. 

“Ki-ti wajlet?” 

She turned around after hearing his faint voice. Should have gotten up earlier. Disappointed with herself, she didn’t like that his peaceful sleep was ruined. 

“9?” he yelled, startling her with the sudden rise in his pitch, “9 wajlet? Mi uthlo kasa nahi?” His frustrated self grabbed the alarm clock to confirm that it was indeed nine in the morning. “Mala institute la ushir honar. Ek tar kal kaam suddha nahi kela tu nahi mhanalis mhanun. Mi hi rahu dila… mhatla karel sakali pan aata- ugh, tu uthli hotis tar uthvaycha hota na, Apurva?” 

She walked to his bed, shaking her head at his non-stop blabbering. He had already shifted the wedge pillow aside by then but before he could put his legs down, she pressed her hands on his shoulder. “Tu aadhipasunach itka hyper hotas ki mala aata kaltay?”

“Apurva…” He tried to get her hands off his shoulders. “Aata nako. Mala ushir hotoy-“

“Ushir vhayla tula jaycha kuthe aahe?”

Casting her a you-can’t-be-serious look, he tried to push her hands again. “Aatach sangitla mi… institute!“

Her grip on his shoulders loosened just for a moment before she tightened it again when he attempted to stand up.

“Kay chaal-lay tuza?” he asked, with an evident frustration in his voice. “Tula kalat nahiye mala ushir hotoy?”

Her eyes closed as she took a moment to deal with his loud reaction. What she was about to tell him was just going to make it worse, she knew. “You aren’t going anywhere, Khadoos so just… relax.”

He was about to dismiss her but something about her whole stance didn’t let him do that. “What…. do you mean?“

“Exactly what I said,” she uttered, pulling her hands down as she crossed them behind her back, “I mean exactly what I said, Khadoos.”

“Ashi raza gheta yet nahi, Apurva. Tyasathi aadhi-“

“I talked to the dean sir. He has allowed you-“

“WHAT?” 

She slapped her palms on her ears when he yelled, cutting her off in the middle. Not that she hadn’t seen it coming. 

She can’t be serious. She just cannot be. He repeatedly told himself but her silence gave away that she wasn’t kidding him. “Tu kharach… dean saranna phone kela?” he asked as if still hoping that she would chuckle, saying that she didn’t. “Kasa? Kadhi? Number kuthun-“

“Tanmayee,” she revealed, looking down for a brief moment, “pan aik, tila kahi bolu nakos. Mi khup request keli mhanun dila tine!”

He held his head in his hands, refusing to believe that any of it was real. Why would Tanmayee give Apurva anything… like anything at all? They barely know each other. Making sense of it seemed harder than deciphering television serials. 

“E-ek minute!” He looked at her, his sharp mind dying to prove its intelligence, “tula kal lab accident baddal… was it Tanmayee?”

“Mala saang tula breakfast madhe kay hava aahe?”

“Vishay badlaycha nahi, Apurva!” He darted her a suspicious glare. “Tu aani Tanmayee kay aadhipasun olakhta ekmekinna?”

“Kahi aadhipasun vagere olkhat nahi. Tuzyamulech olakhte mi tila!” She clarified, putting an end to his wild assumptions.

“He sagla aiklyavar… watat ajibaat nahiye!” He admitted.

“That’s not my problem, Khadoos,” she said, shrugging her shoulders, “that’s not important either. The point is… you’re staying home and resting for three days. Your dean sir has permitted the same.” 

“TEEN DIVAS?” he almost screamed… again. 

She rubbed her forehead, muttering, teen divas tar asa mhantoy jasa teen janma aahe. 

He wanted to argue but kept quiet, knowing that convincing her was beyond him. Udya sakali lavkar uthun Apurva uthaychya aat nighun jaail mi. He secretly devised a plan. 

“Nako far doka lavu, Khadoos. Tuzya room cha door baherun lock karun zopnar aahe mi aaj ratri!” She chuckled after looking at his stunned face after she pushed a pin onto the balloon of his daydream, bursting it right away. 

“Come, let me help you to freshen up,” she offered, holding her hand in front of him. 

“I appreciate it, Miss Vartak but I can manage,” he politely declined her offer, carefully rising to his feet. 

She circled her hand around his arm nonetheless, ignoring his repeated attempts to tell her that he could walk just fine on his own. She stepped back after they reached the washroom door and he thanked his stars for being allowed the much-needed privacy. 

“Erm… Khadoos…” She stepped closer to the door after he went inside, closing the door behind. “Dean Sir wanted to apologize to you. He was hoping to see you today but after hearing about your accident, he asked me to convey his apology to you and-” 

The door was pulled open, making her halt as she came across his widened eyes. She already wanted to take her hands to her ears, having already seen another round of his questions coming to grill her. 

“Dean Sir wanted to do what?” 

She deliberately pulled herself a little backward. “Erm… apologize?” She barely stressed on the second word, almost as if she wanted him to hear it without actually hearing it. 

“Tu-” Frustrated, he charged at her but his sprained ankle came to her rescue just in the nick of time, making him grab the door frame for support. 

“You okay?” she asked. 

“Tu kay… nakki kay mhanalis saranna?” He made his priority clear, ignoring her worried eyes. What did she even say to Dean Sir for him to be wanting to say sorry to him? Did she fight with him? Did she yell at him? Did she… call him out for- He felt his head spinning as the possibilities that he could think of. Knowing that his fiancee was capable of every single one of them just worsened the matter. 

“Mi kahich nahi mhatla, Khadoos,” she tried to clear her side. 

“Ho? Mag asach Dean siranna mala sorry mhanaycha aahe?” There was no way he was going to buy that she had no hand in the whole apology matter. 

“AREY?” She huffed. “Mi nahi mhatla tyanna kahi… kharach!” Urging him, she stood there for a long moment before asking, “Khadoos, do you not trust me?”

“I don’t,” his response was quick, “not when your people are in question. You can certainly do anything… literally anything for them so no, I don’t!”

“What makes you feel that you come in the list of my people?” she asked, after recovering from the moment of surprise. 

Your eyes. I know eyes can’t talk but I keep hearing your eyes. They look at me and scream ‘mine’ – was what he confessed in his mind but his lips could only manage – “Ask yourself!” He shut the door back. “Ask yourself what makes me feel that, Miss Vartak! And… the conversation is not over yet.” 

“Whatever!”

*

By the time he freshened up and stepped out of the washroom, she had arranged their breakfast on his bed.

He had never thought that she was capable of handling and managing things so well. Her usual childish self had always felt a bit too immature for it to carry the weight of responsibilities. 

She caught his arm and helped him to walk up to the bed. Once he was comfortably settled, she placed his breakfast plate on the pillow in his lap before she sat on the chair of his study table. 

“Tu he-” 

“Mi aadhich Risha Tai la saangun thevla hota. Driver Dada tiffin gheun aale!” She silenced him with her answer when he had just begun with his question. “Aata tu 50 prashna vicharat basu nako. Aadhi khaaun ghe!”

He stared at her for a second before traveling his gaze to his plate. Was it a sin to think that she wouldn’t let him use his hands to eat even today? Hiding his disappointment seemed harder than going on for a day without his spectacles. 

She was about to put the spoonful of upma in her mouth when she caught him staring at his plate in a trance. She spent a moment just observing him to figure out what he was thinking before she left her chair and came to sit beside him on the bed.

The sudden weight on the bed brought him back to reality. As he looked at her, the first thing that crossed his mind was… did I make it too obvious? Because he knew he shouldn’t have if he did. 

Wasn’t it too much to ask for on top of everything that she was already doing for him? 

She didn’t seem to be thinking as much as he did, he realized when she grabbed his spoon without asking a single question and got to work.

The work that wasn’t hers but the work he didn’t mind her taking over.

“Tu kiti wajta nighteyes?” he asked, glancing at the clock striking 9.30 a.m., “pahila lecture kiti wajta aahe?”

She kept feeding him and herself, not responding right away until he nudged her. 

“Tula kay parat Netra Tai cha message aalay ki kay?” She looked up from the plate to meet his stunned gaze. “Nahi parat tuza why are you still here gana suru zalay mhanun vicharla!”

His apologetic smile changed to a mischievous one at her visible annoyance. He held her hand which was about to feed him another spoon. “Tashi tar tula mazi gaani aawadtaat. He aawadat nahiye?” 

“Mazi company jar itki boring asel tar saral saang na. Goshti itkya firvaychi kahi garaj nahiye!” 

Her taunt made him want to smack her head to knock some sense into it. Didn’t they talk about it just yesterday? Didn’t he confess that he liked having her around? 

“You’re a slow student, Miss Vartak,” he said, hitting her forehead with his knuckle, “you need multiple revisions, don’t you? Not that I mind.”

She cocked an eyebrow at his remark but ignored him anyway till they finished their breakfast. He had also chosen not to poke her more after sensing her seemingly off mood. 

“Tuza pay bara aahe?” she asked while getting up from the bed with the plates. 

He hummed.

“Aani taap?”  

“Nahi aahe.” 

She nodded. “Mi plates thevun yete!” she informed, making her way out.

“Apura, ek minute,” he called, stopping her in her place, “mala kahitari… vicharaycha hota.”

She looked at him, turning around. The sudden hesitation in his voice was noticeable. “Kashabaddal?” 

“Tu kal mhanat hotis…” he began but couldn’t continue in a breath. “Tumhi ikade shift zalyavar barach kahi aikayla milaycha tula. Prashna vicharlya jaayche jyanchi uttara nasaychi tuzyakade… If you don’t mind me asking… kay aikayla milaycha? Kuthle prashna vicharlya jayche?”

He had kept his gaze at her feet till he spoke aloud the last question. When he dared to look at her and their eyes met, the plethora of emotions in her orbs told him more than her lips ever could. 

“Khadoos, I-”

The doorbell rang, cutting her off. She excused herself and went to see the visitor. As she opened the door, she suddenly wished that she hadn’t. That she hadn’t opened the door. 

“Tu ithe?” she asked, deliberately blocking the way, giving a clear indication of her unwillingness to be welcoming. 

“Shashank Sir aahet? Mala tyanna bhetaycha hota.” Netra asked, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. 

Apurva folded her hands across her chest, making no attempt to mask her rage. “This is not your institute and I think it is a little unprofessional to appear uninformed at the doorstep of your colleague especially your senior, isn’t it, Netra Tai?”

Thank you for patiently waiting. 🙂

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I N D E X

Part One

Part Two  

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

Part Nine

Part Ten

Part Eleven

Part Twelve