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 Fourteen |

Netra stood there without verbally responding to Apurva’s blunt taunt. 

Apurva chose to observe her for a long minute. Oh, the urge to slam the door shut on her face was getting more intense with each passing minute! The mere sight of her had awakened the fury inside her that she had tried to bury. 

There was no way she was going to forget what her fiance had gone and was going through because of her. The sheer torment that Netra had put him through made her want to cross every line to show Netra what exactly it felt like to be miserably helpless. 

“I don’t have all day, Netra Tai,” Apurva reminded, her tone screaming indifference.

“Neither do I, Apurva!” Netra said. “Let me meet him.”

Apurva clenched a fist at her insistence. It had taken her so much effort to distract Shashank from the whole Netra matter and just when he had relaxed a bit, Netra had appeared to drag him back to square one. 

“The least that I can do for you is… convey your message.” Apurva stayed firm in her stance. 

Not a word came from Netra’s mouth but her crossed arms gave away that she wasn’t moving until she got what she wanted. 

Apurva closed the door and went to Shashank.

“What took you so long?” Shashank asked the moment he caught her near the door of his room. He noticed her lost self only after she entered inside. It didn’t seem like she heard him as she walked in a daze to his bed. It was only when his fingers curled around her wrist that she was able to shrug off her encounter with Netra. “Hey,” he whispered, pulling her on the bed, “what is it?”

“Netra Tai is here,” she breathed a sigh of resignation, letting her mask fall off in front of him. Clearly, even she knew that Netra wasn’t going to leave so easily even after the door was shut in her face. 

His hold around her wrist loosened and eventually completely set it free. His darkened eyes burned with rage as he looked at her visibly unsettled self. “Bajula ho!” he said, grabbing his spectacles that he had kept aside to relax for a while. 

“Khadoos, please,” she whispered, her hand instantly going to his shoulder to calm him down.

“Apurva, BAJULA HO!” His emphasis on every word that came out of his mouth was louder than he had intended it to be. Even if he realized that he was scaring her, he couldn’t tone himself down. 

Everything that had happened yesterday flashed before his eyes in that one minute. Apurva was inches away from being severely hurt. He didn’t even want to imagine what would have happened had he not been there. 

How dare she come here? He clenched his fist, shifting to the other side when Apurva didn’t give him space to get down. 

Apurva rushed to the other side of the bed, holding his arm as she stopped him from pressing his feet down. “Khadoos, aik, tu aata… nako bhetu tila.”

“Apurva, mi lahaan nahi aahe. Mala kay karaycha aahe aani kay nahi te maza mala tharavu de!” His gaze went to her hands that were still on his shoulders. “Haat kadh!” 

She fell silent for a moment, her downcast eyes hiding the hurt in them. “Mi tila ithe bolavun aante.” Roughly pulling her hands to herself, she left the room without meeting his gaze. 

When Apurva opened the door after reaching down, she found Netra still standing there just as she had expected. She silently signaled her to get inside and closed the door behind before leading the way. Netra was smart enough to not need verbal instructions. She followed Apurva to Shashank’s room. 

“Sir, tumhi thik aahat?” Netra’s first question came when she entered the room after Apurva. 

He refused to believe that she was concerned. It was beyond him how she had the guts to face him after everything that she had done. “That is none of your concern, Miss Desai.” 

When his enraged tone failed to make Netra back off, he raised a brow. “What? Mazyakade tuzyasathi purna divas nahi aahe so… speak up?” 

Netra looked at Apurva for a brief moment. “Mala fakta saranshi bolaycha aahe!” 

Apurva made no attempt to argue and turned to leave only to be stopped by Shashank whose fingers seemed to have developed a strange obsession with her wrist. 

“Apurva… honari bayko aahe mazi. Ti kuthehi janaar nahi!” Shashank’s tone left no scope for argument. 

“It’s okay,” Apurva said while trying to get her hand out of his grip, “I’ll wait outside-”

“No!” Shashank didn’t let her continue. Instead, he slid his hand to her palm. The little squeeze that he gave to her hand made her look at him. His eyes worked better than his words. She agreed to stay but decided to stand away. Shashank let her be, not wanting to give Netra the satisfaction of seeing them arguing. 

“Mi ithe sagla sampvayla aali aahe!” Netra began after settling down in a chair that Apurva had dragged near Shashank’s bed out of generosity. 

Even if Shashank was surprised, he didn’t let his face make it visible. 

“I shouldn’t have done what I did,” Netra continued. 

Her watery eyes caught Shashank off guard. He hadn’t expected an apology from her. In fact, he was waiting for her to speak one word against Apurva or in favor of her own obsession with him so that he could put her in her place. He was anyway not going to forget and forgive her attempt to harm Apurva. 

“I am sorry,” Netra said, looking at Apurva who was standing near the window for a second before looking back at Shashank, “I really felt that you also lov…” Netra halted herself. “I thought you didn’t want to marry Apurva. It was just because of the family pressure but…” 

The anger in Shashank’s eyes had started to dissipate with every word of Netra. 

“Believe it or not… I really do love you,” Netra admitted, pressing her elbows on the lap in her bag as she hid her face in her palms, “maza kharach tumchyavar khup prem aahe, Shashank Sir. Kal je mi kela… chemical, accident… sagla tumchyasathi kela.” 

Shashank’s ears burned as she declared him to be the reason for her madness but his eyes screamed sympathy for the girl sitting in front of him. 

He knew that she was talented, hardworking and held a bright future ahead but she was wasting it all. He had been carrying that guilt ever since her obsession with him changed her priorities. 

“Pan tumhala Apurva aawadte he kal samajla. Tumhi tichysathi swatacha jeev dhokyat ghaatla tevha samajla,” Netra continued. 

Shashank’s eyes went to Apurva who was staring at nothing in particular on the floor.  

“Mhanun mi ithe fakta… sorry mhanayla aale hote.” Tears flowed from Netra’s eyes. “Kadachit tumhi nahi samju shaknaar, Sir pan jyanna tyanchya hakkacha prem kadhich milalela nasta tyanna te hiskavun ghyayla shikayla laagta. Lahaan astana hya… tumchya hya honarya bayko ne nahi mazya aai la hiskavun ghetla mazyapasun? Jar mi chukichi aahe tar ti barobar kashi hoti, Sir?” 

Taken aback by Netra’s stinging words, Shashank suddenly regretted not sending Apurva out. Apurva already kal itki upset hoti aani aata he… mi nako thambvayla hota ka tila? Mi bhetaylach nako hota ka Netra la aata? Questions swirled around him. He felt trapped as his helpless gaze found Apurva’s blank face for yet another time. 

Netra’s weeping attracted Shashank’s attention back to her. “Kay nahi aahe asa mazyaat, Sir? Ka konachyach premavar hakka nahiye maza? Ka tumchya premavar hakka nahiye maza?” 

And that was when Shashank knew how truly messed up the whole matter was. Just yesterday, the same question was on Apurva’s lips and today, it was on Netra’s. 

He didn’t remember anyone putting him in such tough spots that these two cousins did. He couldn’t help but wonder if things would have been better had he not been in their lives. 

“Ji sadha B.A. suddha pass karu shakli nahi ti-”

“Not a word more, Netra. Not a word more,” he warned. His patience had ended. 

“Tumhi maza bolna purna aikla nahi,” Netra said, keeping her tone low, “mi bas itkach mhanat hote ki ji sadha B.A. suddha pass karu shakli nahi ti abhyasaat hushar nasel but I’m sure she is good at other things. Isn’t that why she is everyone’s favourite? I am not going to lie… it still hurts me but I want to make things better. I want to move on and I cannot do that without your forgiveness. I am really sorry for everything.”

Netra’s apologetic confession took him by surprise. It came when he had least expected it. Was she being honest? Her eyes didn’t let him feel like she was lying. 

Netra stood up from the chair, clutching her head. “I am tired, Shashank Sir. I want to forget this nightmare. I want to get out of this. Please… help me.” 

A part of Shashank’s heart was tempted to forgive Netra for what she did to him but the remaining part of that very heart refused to even consider her apology for trying to harm his fiancee. 

He looked at Apurva for help but she stayed absolutely out of the whole matter as firmly as she could. 

His mind went back to the day when Netra was telling him about her broken family. He hadn’t forgotten how miserable Netra was that evening. Wasn’t that one of the reasons why he had tolerated her for so long hoping that she would understand and eventually back off? 

“Okay,” he said as sympathy defeated rage and he decided to contribute to her closure. 

“Thank you,” Netra mumbled, grabbing her bag from her chair, “I know it won’t be easy for you but please try to forget everything and treat me how you used to treat me before I confessed my love to you!” 

While leaving, Netra stopped near Apurva once but all that they exchanged was silence.

After Netra left, Apurva walked back to Shashank’s bed. He was hoping to hear something from her but she grabbed her watch that she had kept near his leg.

It wasn’t until he caught her refilling the glass of water and keeping his medicines within his reach on the side table that his desperation found his voice. “Kay karteyes?”

“I’m leaving,” she said, picking up her phone from his bed where she had left it – just right beside him. 

Almost as a reflex action, he pressed his hand on hers, restricting her movement. “Kuthe? College la vel aahe ajun, nahi?” he asked, his voice screaming a weird curiosity. His eyes scanned her face and something just did not feel right. 

“Haat kadh!” Her stern command filled his ears. 

And that was when he knew what had gone wrong. “Mi sorry mhan-narach hoto,” his explanation followed. 

“Kashasathi?” she asked, forcefully pulling her hand to herself. “Maza chukla. Tu lahaan nahiye. Tula koni kahi sangaychi, tuzyasathi kahi karaychi garaj nahiye aani mazi tar nahich nahi. Mi ugach ithe thambun traas dila tula. Tuzya medicines tithe thevlya aahet. Driver Dada sobat mi tiffin pathavun deil. Mi nighte!” 

“Apurva, please,” he urged when she almost reached the door. “I didn’t mean it that way.” 

She stopped, clutching the doorknob. “You don’t have to give me any explanations.” 

“I want to,” he replied, making yet another attempt to make her listen to him, “and I need you.” 

Her hold loosened on the doorknob. 

“You are partially right though. Mala mazya kuthlyahi kamasathi tuzi garaj nahiye,” he confessed, wrapping her shrug around his hand, “mala… mazyasathi tuzi garaj aahe!”

Hurt was still clinging to her when she turned to look at him. She raised her brows in obvious surprise at the sight of her shrug with him. Hadn’t she undone the rope of odhnis and neatly folded all of them? Her gaze went to the settee where she had kept them. When did he pick her shrug from there? She had absolutely no idea. 

She hated how she walked back to him despite not wanting to. 

He smiled to himself with his eyes still on her shrug. “I took you for granted when I assumed that you would understand that I needed to deal with Netra after she attempted to harm you, didn’t I?” 

“So I am the one to be blamed? Even here?” She retorted. 

“I’m not saying that, Apurva,” he said, keeping her shrug aside as he gestured for her to sit, “come here.” 

“I’m fine here, Khadoos!” 

“Mala navta mahit, tu maza bolna itka manala lavun ghetes!” He made no attempt to hide his surprise. “Aapan bhetlo tevhapasun jar kuthli ek goshta constant rahili aahe tar ti aapli… bhaandna aahet. Aaj hoto tyapeksha kititari patine jasta rude mi aadhi rahlo aahe pan tyacha tula asa farak padtana… mi kadhich nahi pahila!” 

“Tula disat nahi mhanun farak padat nahi asa hot nahi na, Khadoos!” She went to sit on the right side of him, which allowed her to keep enough distance between them. “Pan tya farak padnyaat hi farak aahech. Tevha tuzya bolyanacha raag jasta yaycha aani aaj tuzya bolnyacha traas jasta zala!” 

He hummed, not demanding a further explanation. “Will I be forgiven if I say sorry?” 

“You can always try!” she replied. 

“I’m sorry!” His apology came as instantly as her reply as he stretched himself to her side to tap on her shoulder. 

“Do I need to apologize too?” she asked, turning toward him. 

“For what?” 

“For deciding on your behalf.” Taking her feet out of her slippers, she pulled them on the bed as she made herself comfortable. “To be honest – I am hurt but should you really apologize? I don’t know. I don’t even know if I get to be upset in the first place. I don’t know if I get to interfere-”

“You do,” he assured, placing his hand on her fingers fidgeting the bedsheet. “You do get to interfere and… you do get to be upset as well.”

“With what right?” 

He wanted to smack his head first and then hers upon hearing her question but then he reminded himself – weak student… weak student named Apurva Vartak. 

“Honari bayko aahe tu mazi. Mazyavar… itka hakka aahe aani asnaar aahe tuza!” he said. 

“Eka varshasathi!” she added, making him sigh. 

“Joparyant tula hava aahe toparyant!” he corrected. “He zala tuza pan maza kay?”

“Tuza kay?” she asked. 

“Honarya bayko chya natyaane tuza hakka tar mi saangitla pan honarya navryachya natyaane maza kahi hakka aahe?” 

What exactly did Khadoos Kanitkar want? She wondered. “Kuthla hakka havaay honarya navryala?” she asked, mimicking him. 

“It’s not about what I want. It’s about what I have. It’s about what you want to let me have!” he said, making her stare at him for a good thirty seconds before adding, “Apurva, do I get to know those parts of your life which probably many don’t?” 

That was when she realized that he was asking her to resume the conversation that Netra’s arrival had interrupted  

Tu kal mhanat hotis… 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?”

She suddenly wished that she hadn’t let that escape her lips. It was one of those things that very few people knew. She didn’t desire to add more people to that list. 

“Tula nasel saangaycha tar-” 

She sucked in a sharp breath when he began to take his question back. “Parents-Teacher meeting la Baba yaaycha…” she paused for a moment after earning his gaze upon her. “Aani fakta Babach yaaycha kaaran Dr. Anjali Vartak ithe navtyach. Kadhi kadhi tyaala hi jamaycha nahi. Mi shaalet navin aslyamule ase khup javalche mitra-maitrini navtech maze.” 

“What did they say to you?” 

She sighed, closing her eyes as her mind returned to the not-so-pleasant phase in her life. 

Tuzi aai kadhich ka yet nahi? 

Aaj tuze baba pan nahi aale?

Saglyanche parents competition madhe participate karnaar aahe pan tuza kay?

Tu… adopted aahes ka? Tuzya aai-babala tu aawadat nahi ka? 

“Apurva?” he called, gently shaking her by her shoulders when she zoned out. 

“Are you sure that you want the details, Khadoos?” she asked, seeing the visible distress on his face. “You might not like them.” 

“Probably because I am not supposed to like them?” he said as a matter of fact. 

“As you wish!” And she narrated all those incidents where she was the target and could find no escape. 

“Tula mahiti aahe, Khadoos, shaalet aaplya usually gappa hotaat na tyaat maze friends satat tyanchya Aai baddal bolayche. Lunch break zala ki tyanchya Aai ne kashi tyanchi favorite bhaaji diliye, tyanchi tyanchya Aai chya hatachi favorite dish kuthli and all…” Had she looked at him when she was talking, she would have ended the conversation for his face screamed utter shock and helplessness. She wouldn’t have opened up if her eyes had been on him. “Tyanni ekda mala vicharla… mala mazya Aai ni banavlela kay saglyaat jasta aawadta… navta uttar mazyakade, Khadoos. Tya divshi hi navta aani aaj hi nahiye!”

Never before that day, he had thought that a seemingly innocuous question such as what’s your favorite dish prepared by your mother could be so triggering for someone.

That was when he realized that he had gotten it all wrong from the very beginning. Apurva did not grow up in a sheltered environment. He did. 

The environment that seldom exposed him to the absence of love and affection that he had always known. He just couldn’t put himself in her place and imagine what it must have felt like. He didn’t want to and that effortlessly threw him into the garden of thorns that Apurva Vartak had always strolled in to be the shower of soft petals on her. 

He was yet to meet Apurva’s mother. Dr. Kaushik had informed him that she would be here when the pre-wedding ceremonies would begin. Not that he was too keen on meeting her anyway, especially after the conversation between Apurva and her mother that he and his family had overheard on her birthday night. 

“Mala asa ka watatay mi tula sangayla nako hota…” she said at the uncomfortable silence growing between them after she stopped talking. 

Dammit. He shouldn’t have zoned out and given her that impression. “No, please. I’m sorry. I was just-” 

“Trying to figure out which sympathizing words to use?” She chuckled. “I don’t need them, Khadoos. Don’t worry. Bara aik, college la jaat nasli tari ek assignment lihaychi aahe mala. Aata aathavla. Mi books gheun yete!”

“Apurva, ek minute,” he said when she got down from the bed.

“Haan, bol.” She stopped. “Kahi pahije?”

“Assignment kadhi submit karaycha aahe?” he asked. 

“Next week.”

“Mag aaj rahu de na.”

He put his head down when that earned him a familiar expression of her exaggerated shock. It wasn’t perhaps that exaggerated this time, he admitted to himself. 

“Tu lagnanantar hi ha asach rahnar asashil tar mazi tar maja aahe.” She laughed. “Can you imagine, I saw this nightmare the other day in which you were handing me over this study timetable after our marriage.” She dramatically wiped the non-existent sweat from her forehead. “Thank god, it was just a nightmare.” 

“Tu abhyas nahi kela tar mi banvel time-table, Apurva,” he cleared, suddenly regretting what he asked, “mi fakta aaj sathi rahu de mhanalo.”

She leaned in to adjust his glasses that were slipping down. “May I know why, Mr. Kanitkar?”

“Tu khup thaklysarkhi watateyes. Jaaun aaram kar thoda vel. Mala watatay mazyamule khup exertion zaalay tula. Tula savay pan nahi aahe na…”

“Tu parat suru zala…” She forced her clenched fists on his head. 

“Aik na ek minute…” He held her hands that were on his head and pulled them down. “Mala saang tula Netra baddal kay watatay? Mhanje mi tila asa sahaj maaf karun dila. Tine tuzya sobat itka sagla… tula raag aalay ka maza?” 

She hummed, letting out a sigh as she sat back on the bed. “It’s between you two. I don’t want to interfere.”

“She was being honest, wasn’t she?” he asked, questioning his decision to forgive Netra. 

“Probably…” Apurva muttered, looking at him. She knew she had to hold herself back when she saw the uneasiness returning to his face. “Her apology doesn’t matter to you as much as her realization does, right?”

Having held himself accountable for Netra’s wrongdoings, he couldn’t deny what Apurva was saying. “The only thing that matters to me is that now she won’t ruin anyone’s life. Neither  hers nor ours.”

Evening 7 p.m. Kanitkar Wada

“Shashank!” 

He slapped his ears as his family screamed his name in unison as they entered his room, leaving him utterly taken aback. They weren’t supposed to return for two more days. His accusing glare found Apurva who was hugging Prachi while his four mothers surrounded him to see if he was alright. 

“Arey pan he sagla zala kasa?” asked Amey and Kukki, making Shashank even angrier at Apurva.

Apurva knew she needed to intervene or else her fiance was going to swallow her alive. “Mi phone var sangitla na… rasta cross kartana ek chotasa accident zala. Khadoos thik aahe. Ek aankhi don divas rest keli ki vyavasthit chaale suddha to.”

“Mag kay!” Suvarna backed Apurva. “Mai, tumhi naka kalji karu. Shashank bara aahe, ho ki nahi, Shashank?” 

Shashank nodded, assuring Mai and everyone else that he was okay. 

“Mi nighte aata,” said Apurva, causing everyone’s chitchat to stop. 

Shashank’s eyes stayed on her but she refused to look at him. His family hadn’t left his room ever since they returned, not allowing him to have a word with Apurva. 

“Apurva, thaamb na,” Manasi insisted. “Aaj chi ratra thamb, aapan khup maja karu. Hava tar udya sakali ja.”

“Nahi nako, Manasi Vahini.” Apurva tried. 

“Ka nako?” Suvarna left the bed and walked to the door where Apurva was standing. “Mi mhante mhanun thaamb, hmm?” She placed her hand on Apurva’s arm, assuring her with a blink. 

“Suva-Aai-”

“Thaamb!” said Suvarna, not letting Apurva argue. “Aani chala sagle aata… Haat-paay dhuvun fresh vha aani Shashank la pan aaram karu dya. Nantar ratri chya jevnachi tayari pan karaychi aahe.”

“Mi pan madat karte,” Apurva offered, making everyone laugh.

“Kashala? Swayampakat nako… aapan bhandi ghasaycha kaam gheu,” said Kukki. “Kay Amey?”

Amey readily nodded, taking the hint. “Bilkul!”

“Bara bara… jyala je kaam ghyaycha aahe te ghya pan chala aata,” Mai interuppted the never-ending chit chat and caressed Shashank’s cheek, “Shashank la aaram karu dya. Tuzyasathi haldi cha doodh karun aante mi patkan, ha bala.” 

Apurva was the first one to step out of the room, adding fuel to the already ignited raging fire of Shashank.

Instead of explaining, she is choosing to ignore me. Wow. Choking back his anger seemed beyond him. Ek tar mala na vicharta na saangta saglyanna bolavun ghetla aani aata mazyakade baghayla hi tayaar nahi? Wah. His eyes stayed glued to the open door of his room as if they were hoping that she would show up. Pan Apurva ne kela ka he? Netra la maaf karun Apurva la upset kelay ka mi? But didn’t she say that she didn’t want to interfere? Ani tyanantar hi sagla normal hota. Aamhi sobat lunch kela. Tyanantar vruttapatratil koda sodavla. Apurva naraaz… watlich nahi mag he… 

Ten minutes later, Apurva knocked on the door of his room, making him roll his eyes. 

Aata knock pan karnaar madam. He averted his gaze from the door, copying what she had been doing. The infamous silent treatment. 

“Mai ni tuzyasathi he haldicha doodh pathavla aahe,” she said, walking toward the bed. She kept the glass on the side table and turned to leave, making him lose his temper. 

“Parat gheun ja aani Prachi chya hatane pathav!” 

“Prachi zopli,” she said, stopping near the settee. 

“Mag khaali neun thev. Mi swata yeun gheun jaato.” 

The silence reigned between them till Apurva looked back upon hearing some sound. She didn’t even have the time to sigh. She needed to be at his side of the bed before he could step down. Stubborn man! Her internal commentary began only to realize that she didn’t get to put the entire blame on him. Don’t you dare forget that you’ve contributed to this. She reminded herself 

“I know you’re mad,” she said, pulling a chair in front of the bed, pressing her hands on his knees in the nick of time.. 

“Oh, you do?” he snapped.

“Mi saangnarach hote…” she began only to be cut off by him. 

“Kadhi?” 

Despite being on the receiving end of his rough anger, she was relieved that he had respected her hands that had pushed him to sit back when he was trying to rise to his feet and hadn’t attempted to move away again.

“You had promised me, Apurva.”

His accusation hit her ears, intensifying her guilt. “And I broke it… I know. Gharchyanna tuzyabaddal sangun traas dyaycha intention navta maza, Khadoos-”

“Te sangaychi garaj nahiye.”

She weakly smiled to see that there were some things that she didn’t need to prove to him about her even when he was upset. One of which was her affection for his family.

Practicing self-control, he waited for her to speak on her own but when she didn’t, he took her hands off his knees and kept them in her lap.

“Bara je kela te kela varun chakka avoid karteyes tu mala? Mazyakade baghayla tayaar nahi. Mazyasobat ithe thambayla tayaar nahi. Kay artha kay lavaycha aahe mi yacha?” 

She sat, her hands restlessly moving in her lap. Her gaze fixated on her hands, her eyes deeming them safer than his face to look at. “Mala mahiti hota tu chidla asnaar aahe mhanun…” she uttered.

Her confession left him in utter disbelief. “Jashi tu khup ghabartes mala, nahi?” he taunted.

“Not usually but today-”

Lifting his palm in the air to halt her, he questioned, “You’re not serious, are you, Apurva?” There was no way he was going to buy that Apurva Vartak was scared of him.

“Well…” She struggled to articulate her feelings.

Shock would be an understatement to describe his state upon the realization that she was telling the truth. He grabbed a pillow from the bed and forcefully pressed it against his face. A part of him still believed that she was tricking him into believing that to escape his anger. 

“Khadoos,” she softly cried, pulling the pillow down from his face and putting it in on his knees before resting her head on it, “I can’t explain.”

He gave up making sense of things, presuming that most likely even his fiancee didn’t know what she was saying or rather feeling. His hand went to her head on its own accord. “Are you upset with me for forgiving Netra? Is that why you called everyone back?” He returned to the key topic, gently caressing her hair as if to tone down the impact of it. 

“Tu far vichar kartoys. Asa kahihi nahiye,” she said, raising her head as she straightened herself on her chair. “Rahili goshta saglyanna parat bolavnyachi tar Khadoos, mala barobar watat navta… tula he asa laaglela tyanchya pasun lapavna. For that, I’m sorry.” 

“Tula fakta mazyashi khota bol-lela chaalta, nahi?” he laughed, finding it hard to be mad at her after listening to her reasoning. 

Her lips stretched into a weak smile before she got up from the chair. I don’t have a choice, Khadoos. I’m sorry. She picked up the glass of milk from the table, spending a minute staring at him while she was lost in her thoughts. 

“He ghe.” She held the glass in front of him and kept quiet till he finished it.

“Kahi bolaycha aahe?” he asked, keeping the glass aside, looking at her visible hesitation that he had been observing. 

She nodded. “This is going to sound odd but-”

“Let me be the one to decide that,” he said. 

“You do know that I thought that you and Netra Tai were…” she paused, taking a moment to put it better, “I believe everything that you’ve told me and I am okay with you forgiving her but…”

“But what?” What was she trying to get at?

“After everything that has happened… I’m going to need transparency from your side to keep my overthinking in check,” she said, turning around to avoid his gaze. 

“I am still not sure what you mean, Apurva!”

Why did this have to be so hard? She closed her eyes. “I don’t want to know the details of your everyday life if you don’t want to share but I want to miss not even the tiniest bit that involves Netra Tai.” 

It took him a few moments to register her words but when he did, his eyes softened. He nudged her back with a pillow to make her look at him. 

Fighting the uncomfortable silence, she found herself back in her chair after his gesture. “Please don’t think that I don’t trust you-”

“Shh,” he whispered, his fingers swiftly moving to complement his verbal attempt to silence her, “right from this very moment, there’ll be nothing you won’t know that you want to know.” 

Precap – Dada-Kaka pulls Shashank by his arm. “Tula kaltay tu kay boltoys te? Apurva shi lagna karnaar nahi mhanje? Tula kay khel watla ka ha sagla? Sakhar puda, halad, kelvan… sagla zalyavar he aata..” He furiously pushes Shashank and looks at Mai. “Aikteyes na ha kay boltoy te? Udya lagna aahe aani ha mhantoy karnaar nahi!” 

Thank you for patiently waiting. 🙂 I thrive on feedback so please don’t hesitate to share your views in the comment section. <3

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

Part Thirteen