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 Nine |

In the midst of the uncomfortable questions and awkward glances, he couldn’t help but close his eyes, thinking over her words. 

“He achanak asa… tu mala saangnaar aahes ki nakki kay zaalay?” he asked. As much as her fears were worth pondering, he needed to learn what had triggered them in the first place. 

“Te mi-” She halted when her gaze caught him clenching a fist. She looked at him to find a visible discomfort on his face. Dammit. What am I doing? This is not what I am here for. She hurriedly slid out of the bed, furiously wiping her cheeks. “Tula aaramachi garaj aahe. Aapan nantar bolu.” 

She turned around to go and look for the thermometer but couldn’t move an inch. She looked back to find him holding the hem of her dress. 

“Tu… aahe na ithech?” If they were to postpone the conversation, he needed the assurance that she wasn’t leaving. He couldn’t trust anything after her sudden outburst. Had his head not decided to mean and put him through the excruciating pain, he would have never agreed to pause. 

She fought back the tears that welled up in her eyes. He couldn’t be so unfiltered about how much she had actually started mattering to him and then expect her to not irrevocably fall for him. 

But then again, did he have that expectation? It was all about her. She did not want to fall in love with him but was it really in her hands? 

“Tu zop,” she said, putting her every fear at an arm’s length for the time being as she sat beside him after helping him lay down, “mi ithech aahe!” Pressing her palm on his forehead, she leaned back. “Mi thoda vel doka daabun deu? Tula bara watel.” 

He hummed at her generous offer. “Pan far vel nahi. Tu pan jaaun aaram kar. Aaj mazyamule zara jastach-“

“Far boltos tu, Khadoos,” she shushed him while cradling his head. Her fingers experimented with different spots on his forehead while her eyes stayed glued to his face. Once she figured out what brought him relief, she carefully continued her massage, hoping that her efforts would pay off. 

His exhausted mind and aching body fell asleep soon after relaxing enough in her gentle touch but her suffering just became more intense. 

Khadoos already Netra Tai mule itka stressed aahe aani mi… She hated how she broke down in front of him. Pan mi karu tari kay? Pan mi… karu tari kay? 

*

When he woke up, her hand was still at work. After a long struggle with his heavy eyelids, he managed to look at her. “Tu ajun geli nahis? Kiti vel zala?”

She smiled, continuing to massage his scalp. “Far nahi zala. I think it has been… yeah, not more than ten minutes.” 

He stopped her hand that was on his forehead after glancing at the wall clock. “Lagnanantar hi tuzi hi khota bolaychi savay ashich raahnar aahe?” 

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” she said, trying to get her hand off his hold so that she could resume her important work. 

“Oh, you don’t?” His voice was firm and steady, laced with a bit of sarcasm. “It has been an hour, Miss Vartak. Tula kay watate mi scientist asach banlo? Pratyek goshti kade barik laksha aste maza!” 

She sighed, fighting the temptation to argue and make him believe that it had been just ten minutes even if it meant blatantly dismissing the truth. 

“Tula bara watat hota…” She feebly began with her reasoning. 

“Ha mag? Mala bara watat hota mhanun kay tu raatrabhar ashich basun raahnaar hotis?” What was she saying? Did it make any sense? What did she even mean by ‘I was feeling better’? Not that I am denying it but she can’t be serious about forgetting everything for my sake! His mind was a mess. Her actions were responsible for that mess. 

“I wouldn’t mind,” she muttered to herself as if it was the most obvious thing on her part. 

“Did you just say that you wouldn’t mind?”

Oh no. Her eyes widened upon hearing his question. Did she say it aloud? She banged her fist on her head at the sheer stupidity. 

“Stop it, Mr. Kanitkar. I said I wouldn’t find… any reason to stay up for the whole night.” She had to come up with something or the other to help the situation. All that she could hope was her made-up lie was believable enough.

“It is good if that’s the case because I wouldn’t like you ruining your sleep because of me,” he said with a nod, giving away that he would be glad if he heard her wrong. 

“Ah, you can risk your life to save mine and I can’t even lose a night’s sleep for you? 

“So you are admitting that you said and meant it? Apurva Liar Vartak!” He huffed.

“No, I am reminding you who you are. Shashank Hypocrite Kanitkar!” 

“Hypocrite? Mi? Tu aata mala hypocrite mhanalis ka?” 

“Zala tuza suru? Ek divas na bhandta raahna impossible aahe, nahi?” She gritted her teeth, angrily crossing her arms across her chest. 

“Mi bhaandtoy?” Lord, help me. He turned her toward himself by her arm. “Mi bhaandtoy?”

“Nahitar kay mi bhaandtey? Let me remind you in case you have forgotten, Mr. Kanitkar – aaplyaat honari sagli bhandna tu suru kartos!” She declared. 

“Delusional asnyachi hi ek limit aste!” He commented, shaking his head. 

“Mala delusional mhanaycha nahi!” She warned. 

“Mag kay mhanaycha? Saang, tuch saang, mag kay mhanaycha?” 

They looked at each other for a long moment before realizing what they were doing and eventually burst out laughing. 

“You know mi ashi konashich bhaandat nahi…” she revealed, pausing for a second, holding her cheeks that hurt from excessive laughing. 

“Me neither.” He confessed, staring at her laughing self. “Mi uthlo nasto tar kharach raatrabhar basnaar hotis?”

“Kadachit!” For a change, she didn’t avert his gaze from him despite the slight awkwardness in the air.

His hand found its way to hers. “Aata saangshil… what was that about?” 

She went quiet when he reopened the topic she had decided to close. “I think you should go back to sleep, Khadoos. Mi pan jaate!” 

She had just put her legs down when she felt his hand on her shoulder. She looked back to find him straightened up. She quickly adjusted the pillows behind his back before ranting. “Tu decide karun basla aahes na ki tula maza kahich aikaycha nahi aahe?”

“Modify that a bit. Mi fakt tuza aikaylach baslo aahe!” He pulled her back on the bed. “Tula zop laagnaar aahe sagla manaat thevun?”

She chuckled when he kept holding her arm as if he saw her capable of running away. She tapped her foot on the floor, pressing her palms on her sides. 

—————————————————-

[ I am not sure if you got how this visually looks. Shashank is between the center and the left side of the bed ( recall his bed and the room from the show for easy understanding) and Apurva’s back facing him as she sits facing the wall at the front. Pretty much this scenario 👇 except that Shashank is on the bed.)

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Having him so persistent about wanting to know what had bothered her felt endearing to her. After all, when was the last time that someone actually cared apart from her Baba, Atti and Kanitkars? 

She had thought that money was enough rather she had wished for money to be enough. That was all that she had to fill the void in her life. She embarked on the mission to get what she longed for with money but eventually realized that money wasn’t enough.

Money wasn’t enough. 

Her friends were her friends because she had money. Her boyfriend used to be her boyfriend because she had money. With money, she could buy their time but not their affection. 

At times, she found herself wondering – why wasn’t she enough? Did she not have it in her to form genuine bonds? She had firmly clutched the company of those friends despite the realization of what they were with her for because loneliness sucked. Moreover, if they were selfish, she was no saint either. 

It was essentially a two-way street where they needed something from her and vice versa. She had walked with the people that didn’t resonate with her all along. Just to avoid the uncomfortable loneliness. 

But when she looked at Shashank, it was certainly very different. He was of the kind to care about neither her money nor her outer beauty. He had come to check up on her when she had gotten a fever and actually stayed back just so that she felt better. 

That meant so much to her. 

His question about if any of her friends bothered to check if she was doing okay had annoyed her back then but if she looked back today, she would actually agree with him. 

She wouldn’t entirely blame her friends either. She had equally participated in those meaningless relationships and honestly, she didn’t care until she met Shashank. 

Even though they would keep fighting like long-lost enemies, he was the one with whom she started exploring the beauty of meaningful relationships. 

To call someone yours is to be there for them. 

“Saangteyes na?” He nudged her after waiting for quite a while. 

She gave him a small nod, finally giving in. Dismissing his constant attempts would have been an insult to his concern and that was something that she would never do.

She narrated her conversation with Risha as precisely as she could remember it. She still wasn’t sure if he was going to understand. Would her fears seem irrational to him? Would he call her childish and immature like how he always had? Would he understand why she was… terrified? 

“Ikde bagh.”

Thoughts were clouding her mind when she heard him asking her to turn around. She spent a moment checking that her eyes were dry and there were no uninvited relatives named tears rolling down her cheeks 

Still quite apprehensive about how he was going to look at the whole matter, she shifted in her place to look at him.  

“Are you sure you learned the right lesson that your Risha Tai was probably trying to teach you?” 

She put her head down, knowing what he was getting at.  

“I don’t think I am strong enough to deal with losses,” she said, breaking the silence. “Jyancha mazyavar prem aahe aani maza jyanchyavar… tyapaiki konihi mala kayamacha sodun gelela… mala pachavtach yenar nahi.”

Despite trying her hardest, she couldn’t stop the thin layer of tears that blurred her vision. “Khadoos… Baba aani Atti pan mala ek divas sodun jaatil? Ever since Risha Tai mentioned what happened to Ishaan… I haven’t been…” Her hand went to her throat when the lump formed inside made it hard for her to speak. “I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. Accidents can happen anytime, anywhere with anyone. What if…”

He swallowed the heavy emotions she was evoking. He looked away for a brief moment before his gaze fell back on her and caught her trembling hand that she was trying hard to stabilize with the bedsheet. 

“Like Risha Tai said… Haatat aslela kshan fakt aapla asto… karan pudhcha kshan aaplyasathi kay aanel he konich sangu shakat nahi. What if the next moment takes away any of my loved ones from me?” She grabbed his hand when the desperation to be assured that none of what she was thinking would ever happen became intense. She looked at him, her eyes hoping that he would take her out of the miserable island of fears that she was stuck on. “Is life really this unpredictable, Khadoos? Can I really lose anyone anytime?”

He gazed down when her grip on his hand tightened, mirroring the demons of terror that had clutched her soul. He wished he could snatch that fear from her and throw it far away somewhere from where it could never reach her again. 

He wished he could tell her that she was just being childish as he usually did but the reality stood far too strong to be shaken by him. He could only unwillingly nod, hating having to validate her concern. 

And the moment he did that, her hand slipped down from his as her broken heart struggled to accept the ultimate truth of life – death. She ran to the balcony, in an attempt to somehow hold the broken pieces of her heart together. 

He pushed the comforter off his legs as he put them down and followed her. 

Her eyes widened when they found him beside her after he wrapped his hand around her shoulder. He shushed her when she tried to send him back to the bed, assuring her that his ankle was tolerable. 

It took him multiple repeated attempts for her to give in. Unable to fight the cruel waves of pain mercilessly hitting her, she slowly shifted closer to him, adjusting herself in his arms. She placed her head on his chest, letting him shield her from the obnoxious game of life and death. 

Oh, what wouldn’t she give to quit the game! But who had a choice? Nobody did. 

His silence was more comforting that night than any words in the world could have ever been. Her heart didn’t know if she knew that the search was over. Its search for solace was over. 

It had ended on him   

Do leave your comments behind. They keep me going. <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