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 Seventeen |

Not bothering to waste any more time on him, she held Dada-Kaka’s hand and stepped inside. While they made their way to where everyone was standing, she stopped for a second to turn around.

Shashank was still at the doorstep. 

“People can turn on their TVs and watch Big Boss for their daily dose of drama. You don’t have to take its place,” she asserted, her taunting tone almost made him flinch as she ordered, “lock the door.”

He obliged almost immediately, not realizing what it made him look like in the several pairs of eyes that were watching him – bipolar. 

Apurva called her Kukki Gang and urged them to make everyone sit first. Without a question, the gang got to work but all in vain. The older generation was too disturbed to listen. 

Suva-Aai lent her support without being asked and forced Mai and Vitthu-Baba to sit on the sofa while Kukki took care of his wife and Babi Aatya. 

Apurva watched Manasi struggling to convince Dada-Kaka who refused to give in and decided to take the matter into her own hands. 

“Dada-Kaka, tu-”

“Tula mahiti nahi aahe ithe kay chaal-lay,” he cut her off in the middle, giving her the benefit of the doubt for trying to side with Shashank. 

She let out a sigh at the extent to which the scientist-assistant duo had gotten him mad. “Mala mahiti aahe,” she confessed, earning herself widened eyes and gasps. 

Shashank momentarily froze in his place. His eyes met hers and his demeanor cracked. 

Netra crossed the distance between Shashank and her, her fingers clasping around his arm as if staking her claim in front of Apurva who could only let out a sarcastic chuckle.

“Childish,” Apurva muttered, deliberately making it audible enough to everyone. 

Stunned, Netra shot her a glare. “Did you call me childish?” she asked, jabbing her finger in her own direction. 

Apurva’s gaze drifted casually around the room, seemingly indifferent to the proximity of Netra and Shashank. “Who else do you think I could call that here?” 

“Yourself, maybe,” Netra smirked. “Childish and immature… aren’t these two words synonymous to Apurva Vartak? Ask him. He was the one to say that.” 

Apurva crossed her arms across her chest as Netra’s eyes shifted to Shashank who stood baffled. 

“I said that?” escaped his lips as his gaze flickered uncertainly to Netra. “Uh… I said that.” He found himself reluctantly accepting, his eyes avoiding Apurva’s piercing stare. 

Shaking her head, Apurva couldn’t help the surge of anger. Still wouldn’t speak up, huh? She turned her attention to Dada-Kaka, urging him to take a seat. She tiptoed to reach his ears. “He bahutek lavkar sapnaar nahiye. Tu bas na. Tumhi sagle shaant baslaat ki mi better deal karu shakte.”

Dada-Kaka couldn’t help but be intrigued by Apurva’s composed demeanor in the face of the brewing storm unleashed by his own son. He couldn’t fathom what was going on in her mind. 

Her response displayed a level of control that left him impressed and concerned at the same time. 

For a second, he almost wondered if Apurva was traumatized to the point where her mind’s ability to process the situation and react correctly was affected. Should he call Dr. Kaushik? 

“Tuzya laadkya Shashank shi jara bolaycha aahe mala. Tu bas,” she added, her tone firm. 

Dada-Kaka’s face darkened. “Laadka… hota!” he declared, emphasizing on hota. 

The conversation between Apurva and Dada-Kaka had been largely inaudible to Shashank until Dada-Kaka deliberately raised his voice as if wanting everyone to hear how truly Shashank had let him down. 

Apurva’s gaze that instinctively went to Shashank softened almost immediately after she caught the sight of a profound sadness etched on his face. A pang of sorrow gripped her own heart, knowing that Shashank was incapable of handling Dada-Kaka’s pain especially when he was the reason behind that pain. 

She could hear his heart breaking into pieces with the hammer of guilt of having let Dada-Kaka down. 

A tragedy that she couldn’t quite bear to witness.

She tugged at Dada-Kaka’s hand, silently requesting him with her eyes to sit. Despite being unwilling, Dada-Kaka found himself obliging Apurva, not wanting to deny her for anything, particularly at the moment.

His son was hurting her enough. He needed to compensate for that. 

Once everyone settled into their places, Apurva strode a bit to stand in front of Shashank after handing over the bag over her shoulder to Manasi. Defiantly crossing her arms, she locked eyes with him. I am still giving you a chance. End this charade.

I wouldn’t have started this in the first place if I had a choice. He stayed resolute in his stance, not allowing himself to yield under the weight of her scrutiny. 

Brace yourself then.  Remember, you asked for this. Apurva nodded to herself, acknowledging that he wasn’t going to back down. She forwarded her hand to him. “De lihun.”

Shashank forcefully took Netra’s hand off his arm, asking her to wait aside while he talked to Apurva. “Hmm?”

“Tu Dada-Kaka la mhanat hotas na ki mazyasarkhya kapde badalto tase boyfriends badalnarya mulila hi he lagna modlyacha kahi ek farak padnaar nahiye? Tu lihun deu shakto…” She moved her hand closer to him. “De mag lihun!”

Short but (comparatively) quick(er) updates or long but delayed updates?
I barely have any time and energy to write these days. I wake up tired. I go to bed tired.

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