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 One |
Of course, you’re right. I shouldn’t be here.
I am supposed to be indifferent to anything regarding you that I get to hear.
But I am still here… can you please figure out why because I cannot,
All that I know is that I can’t chill with my friends when I know you’re alone over here, hopeless and distraught!
“Apurva, aik na, mala aata tu ithe nakoy,” he uttered, visibly annoyed, pushing her away before finding himself a place on the bed, “tu nakoy, tuza concern nakoy aani tuzi sympathy tar ajibaat nakoy.”
“Tula sympathy dakhwayla tu kahi bichara nahi aani mahaan tar mi ajibaatach nahi.” She poured some water from the jug kept on his side table in the empty glass. Walking up to the bed, she stood in front of him, forwarding the glass toward him. “Balish… hech mhanat astos na satat mala mag ek balish mulgi tula sympathy kashi dakhwel? Too balish to sympathize, Khadoos. I am too balish to sympathize with you so don’t worry about that, okay?”
“Ho? Sympathy nahi dakhwat aahes? Mag achanak hi balish Shishta ithe mazya ghari, mazya room madhe… mazya sobat kay kartey?” He dragged his gaze down from her face to the glass in her hand. “He pani… ka aanlay mazyasathi? All of a sudden… mi tuza kay best friend zaloy?”
She sighed. “Tu Khadoos mi Shishta. Tu… abhyas premi mi… abhyas shatru… tu ghari chaha pinara mi cafet coffee pinari… tu scholar mi shunya… tu kasa maza best friend banshil?”
She almost laughed when he threw an irritated glare at her.
“But yes,” she said, sitting beside him on the bed, “aaplyat common jari far kahi nasla tari ek goshta aahe… aani ti mhanje… you matter to me, Khadoos just enough for me to rush here after hearing what happened.”
“Mala ajunahi samjat nahiye tula sangitla koni!” His enraged self couldn’t help how rough and loud he was being. “Aani ka!”
“How does it matter? What matters is that… it was unfortunate. Whatever happened… shouldn’t have happened but you don’t get to blame yourself for it. You don’t.” Forcefully opening his clenched fist, she made him hold the glass before commanding, “drink!”
“Jya goshtibaddal aaplyala kahihi mahiti nahiye tyabaddal tippani deu naye!” He warned.
“Mag sang na. Mi basli aahe na ithe?”
“Mala tula kahich sangaycha nahi aahe!”
“Mag konala Netra Tai la sangaycha aahe? Lavu tila phone? Deu bolavun?”
She had almost grabbed her phone when he snatched it from her hand and threw it behind them on the bed.
Her thumb pressed against her chin as the rest of her fingers covered her nose and lips, hiding the sweet smile that his reaction had gifted her.
“Khadoos, accidents are not deliberate. Isn’t that why they’re called accidents in the first place? Tu team lead jari karat aslas tari tuza pratyek kshanala lakshya kasa asu shakta tuzya team members kade?” Placing her hand on his shoulder, she hoped that she wasn’t sounding harsher than he could tolerate. “Netra Tai chya hatavar chemical padla. Tichya swatachya hatane padla. Tuza kay sambandha ya goshtishi? Fakta ha ki ti tuzi assistant aahe? How does it even make sense?”
She stopped when she caught his grip tightening around the glass.
“Mi Netra Tai la bhetun aaliye. Bara aahe ticha haat pan tuza kay? Tu ka blame ghetoys?”
She revealed, hoping it would help after she sensed the palpable tension in the air. The scowl that had etched across his face left her with the helplessness that she hated.
When Tanmayee had called her up and informed about the small lab accident that happened in the institute, adding the details of how Shashank got yelled at for not being careful enough with his team members, she had already guessed that he wouldn’t be in a great mood when she would see him. The very fact that the Kanitkars’ Wada was devoid of Kanitkars that day had made her rush to him right away.
She couldn’t be more glad that she refused to join them for the three-day picnic that they were enjoying.
She wouldn’t lie. She did want to go and have fun with them but her fiance had declared that he had work and he wasn’t going to go to that picnic, making her rethink about her own decision.
Stuck between wanting to go and not wanting to go without him – she had ended up choosing not to go, making an excuse that she had assignments to write.
Such a lame excuse, she had thought when she was convincing Kukki and everyone else that she needed to prioritize her studies so that she could get the first class and get herself out of the marriage after a year.
Only her heart knew what a stupid one she was being! On one side – she was cancelling her picnic plan because he wasn’t coming and on the other side – she was claiming that she was going to study harder so that she could walk away from him after a year.
How did that make sense?
It didn’t.
Her heart knew it didn’t.
Their wedding had gotten postponed for six months and every other day, she would find her mind wandering in his lanes. That man’s lanes whom she claimed to passionately despise!
But things seemed more complicated than she had expected them to be, she realized when she heard him confess that he was indeed taking it upon himself.
“Ho ghetoy! Blame hi ghetoy aani… guilt hi. Mala… ghyaylach lagel!”
For a moment, she almost wondered why she couldn’t come into the world right when he was born, studied what he had studied and got herself a job in the same institute as that of his because it would have allowed her to be in the institute with him when the accident fiasco happened.
She had no idea how she would have handled the matter but being with him in those chaotic moments would have comforted her heart.
“Tu thoda paani pitos ka?
Her gentle voice surprised him. Apurva Vartak talking in that soft tone wasn’t the everyday thing.
“Paani nehmich shaant karnara nasta, Apurva. Kadhi kadhi hech paani wahun neun ashya kuthlyatari thikani fekta tumhala jithun paratna ashakya houn basta!”
“Mi sobat astana… mi aanlela paani tula kayam shaanta karnarach asel,” she said, touching the bottom of the glass as she lifted it a bit toward his lips, “aani he tula parat balish watel aani watu de. Ek divas tu swata mala mhanshil je mi tula aata sangtey!”
“Aaj kay psychology cha abhyas karat hotis ki kay? Nahi suddenly itkya mature pane boltes mhanun vicharla…”
For a change, his taunt didn’t bother her because her whole attention stayed on the small smile on his face while saying that. Even if it was momentary, she was glad to have him distracted from the accident thing for a bit.
“De ikde. Mi thevte!” She took the glass from his hand after he had a few sips.
She kept it on the side table and was beside him in no time. “Aata boltos? What exactly is troubling you so much, Khadoos? Itka tar mi tula olakhte ki tu unnecessary vichar karat nahis. Mag ya accident baddal ka?” Her eyes fell to the floor as she shifted a bit away from him. “Accident victim… Netra Tai hoti mhanun?”
He shut his eyes when he heard her whispering the last question to him. He should have known that it was coming from the way she distanced herself from him.
He had foolishly chosen not to clear her misunderstanding that Netra was his girlfriend and it had become a millstone around his neck ever since.
They hadn’t been able to spend enough time alone for Apurva to understand on her own that he didn’t love Netra. It had been almost two months to their engagement and Apurva was still tightly holding onto her Netra was his girlfriend misunderstanding. Though he enjoyed her restless calls to him every once in a while, trying to smartly figure out if he was with Netra, it was problematic for their relationship.
He had thought of making her sit and clear it with her quite a lot of times but his mind always found reasons why he should not say a word regarding that matter. Especially after how his initial honest attempts had failed when he had earnestly confessed that Netra was just his colleague.
“Mala nahi bolaycha aahe, Apurva. Tu ghari ja!”
“Mi nahi janar aahe, Khadoos. Tula he asa ektyala sodun… mi nahi janar aahe.” She declared, pulling her legs up on the bed, making her intention clear with her gesture.
For several long minutes, neither of them uttered a word. Seeing him not giving in, she sighed. “Thik aahe. Aapan ek break gheuya? Let’s forget who we are. Tu asa samaj ki mi ek… ki mi ek… stranger, haan stranger aahe aani tuzya manaat je kahi aahe te tu ya stranger shi share kar. I promise not to judge you on anything that you’ll say. How does that sound?”
“Pathetic!”
He sat indifferent to the pout that his comment had brought on her face.
“But why?” she asked.
“Ek tar mi anolkhi lokanna mazya aayushyat kay challay he saangat nahi pan samja sangaycha zala tar mi tyala ekhadi goshta hach vichar karun sangel ki to mala kadhi parat bhetnar nahi. Even if I share something with you considering you as a stranger… ha break samplyavar kay? Tula he sagla mahiti asnarach aahe aani aapan parat kadhich behtnar nahi he shakya nahi. Aapla lagna zalyavar tar aaplyala rahayla pan sobatach lagnaar aahe.”
“Aapan… parat kadhich na bhetlela aawdel tula?” she murmured her question which made him instantly look at her.
“Mulaat aata ithe to muddach nahiye.” He tried to shrug it off but she didn’t seem to be willing to move on from that statement.
He darted a glance at her from the corner of his eye and caught hurt on her face.
He grew uncomfortable when it didn’t fade even after minutes. Having her quietly sitting there with that fallen face was harder than it should have been, he thought.
“Chal thik aahe. Gheuya break!”
His words snapped her back to reality and even though her heart was still in pain, she managed to nod, prioritizing his distressed heart over her broken one.
He looked aside for a moment, exhaling slower than usual to calm himself down. He hadn’t admitted it yet to anyone but Apurva and literally everything about her had started to affect him a bit too much for his liking.
The only reason he agreed to talk was to distract her from her hurt. Touching the accident topic was better than dealing with the question she had asked, he believed.
“To accident navta!”
Her gaze went to his hand that had fisted the bedsheet into it.
“Netra deliberately spilled the chemical on her hand.”
The revelation froze her in her place. Her raised eyebrows and stiffened muscles gave away that she had no idea about what he was saying.
“Kay? Netra Tai ne swatala… deliberately hurt kelay?” she muttered in a dazed state, shaking her head in disbelief.
“But why would she do that?” Her mind was still processing what he had said. Once the initial shock faded, she began to recover her composure.
“To prove her love for me to me.” His head hung low as he finally brought his misery to his lips that he had never thought he would be able to confess to anyone.
To prove her love for me to me. His words repeated themselves in her ears, leaving her perplexed. Wasn’t she already his girlfriend? Then what was the need for her to go to such extremes to prove her love to him? Could it be possible that… She halted her thoughts, not letting her mind go to the place that would leave her own self that vulnerable where she would need to be comforted forget about her comforting him that she knew he needed.
“Mala mahiti aahe tuzya dokyat kay chaallay aani tyacha uttar mi dila jari tari tuza tyavar vishwas nasnarach aahe!”
“Khadoos, tu visartoys… right now, I am a stranger. Tu bolel te mi aikel… without questioning it.”
His eyes traveled around the room, avoiding her gaze, his hands fidgeting in his lap. “Netra fakt aani fakt… colleague aahe mazi. Ti mazi girlfriend nahiye. Kadhich navti aani… kadhich nasel.”
He had no idea why he had to struggle to summon the courage to look at her. A part of him still firmly knew that she still wouldn’t believe him. He wanted to read it in her eyes and see if she believed him or not but he just couldn’t do that.
“Mag tine he sagla ka kela?”
His tense shoulders almost relaxed as he heard her question. He didn’t know if she believed him or not but having her keep the conversation going felt comforting.
“Maza tichyavar prem nahiye pan…”
“Ticha aahe.” She completed what he could not say.
Nodding, he stood up and walked to the window. “Jevha tine ticha prem mazyakade vyakta kela hota mi tila tevhach sangitla hota ki ti aani mi… he shakya nahiye. Aapla lagna tharlay he sangunahi-“
“Jar aapla lagna tharla nasta tar tila ho mhanala astas?”
“Nahi. Mazya manaat Netra baddal tashya bhaavna kadhich navtya aani aata hi nahi aahe. Aapla lagna tharla aso kiva naso… Netra aani mazya madhe kadhihi kahihi hona shakya nahi. Aani he mi tila sangun sangun thaklo pan…”
She opened her mouth to say something but held herself back before her voice could find her words. He waited for some response from her side. The weight of her unspoken words seemed too heavy for him to carry.
“Mala… khup traas hotoy ya saglya goshtincha, Apurva…” His hesitant self finally let go of the need to make calculated revelations in front of her. “Netra cha satat mazyakade tya paddhatina baghna… ticha satat mazya cabin madhe yena… mazya javal yenyacha prayatna karna… tuzyabaddal waait-saait bolna… nahi sahan hot aahe mazyakadun aata!”
She was intently listening to every word that was falling in her ear. His distraught voice left her with goosebumps.
“Aaj tine limit cross keli. Tula mahiti aahe tichya chehryavar tine kelelya murkhapanacha pashchataap navtach. Hota tar fakt ek vichitra samadhan… aani thodya velasaathi tar… bhiti watli tichya tya samadhanachi!” He turned around, resting his back against the wall that he was standing near as he recalled how Netra had whispered to him baghitla mi kay karu shakte tumchya saathi? before people took her to the hospital.
Baghitla mi kay karu shakte tumchya saathi? He wasn’t going to forget those haunting words for coming several months or even years, he knew.
“Ek minute ithe yetos?”
He lifted his gaze from his feet to her upon hearing her urging him. He wordlessly walked back to the bed and sat beside her.
Reaching out, she placed her hand on his before giving it a gentle squeeze but when he sat still without responding to the comfort she was trying to offer, she slipped her hand around his arm, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Mi aahe…” she assured, intertwining their fingers together. She hated the pain that was etched on his face.
She had forgotten to feel awkward being that close to him in those moments. All that she knew was – that he needed someone and she was going to be that someone for him.
She didn’t know about him but things had changed a lot in the past two months for her. The few dates that the Kukki Gang had set up for them, the few chocolate boxes she had received from him, the little things that she had been exploring about him… had changed a lot for her without her conscious realization.
She had started to miss him in his absence. She had started to crave his presence in every moment. She had started to… feel something for him that she herself was still in the process of understanding.
She had a hectic day in the college that didn’t let her have lunch. She had just freshened up after reaching home and picked up the spoon to eat when Tanmayee had called her up and… she had left everything and rushed to him, without caring about anything else.
She had dropped by Netra’s place for five minutes to make sure that she was okay. Netra hadn’t let her stay longer than that anyway and she herself had no time for that either. She needed to be with him, she knew and that was what she had done.
Mi aahe. He couldn’t understand why those two words seemed to mean the world to him especially when his world – his family was away from him. He might have been able to deal with things better if he had the liberty to lay his head in his mother’s lap for a while but nobody was home.
He couldn’t decide if he was upset that his family wasn’t around in the presence of whom he would have felt better or happy that they weren’t around to see him in that state.
He wouldn’t lie – he had not expected her to show up. He wasn’t too glad to see her upon her arrival either but all of a sudden, having her by his side felt good. He wished he could tell her that he was grateful for her comforting company.
Apurva Vartak. He couldn’t fight that small smile that staring at her brought to him. He had never imagined in his wildest dream that she would hold on to him the way she was doing.
“Netra Tai he far chukicha wagtey!” A twinge of anger rose in her as she tried to see things from his perspective.
“Aata na, Apurva… mala sagla dosh maza watayla lagla aahe.”
His confession made her raise her head from his shoulder.
“Netra hushaar aahe pan ti aapla talent, aapla career… aapla aayushya sagla waya ghalvat aahe aani aaj tine je kela… mazyamule tini te… kahihi hou shakla asta, Apurva aani aaj he kelay udya mahiti nahi kay karel…”
His despair was so unsettling that she didn’t know what she could possibly say that could soothe his pain.
Her mind went back to when someone had proposed to one of her friends and the guy just wouldn’t leave her alone even after she respectfully turned him down.
Having seen what emotional trauma Sirisha went through in that phase of her life, Apurva could actually relate to Shashank’s helpless misery. Apurva wasn’t foreign to what obsessive lovers were capable of doing. When her mind painted the image using Shashank’s words, she could picturize Netra stubbornly lingering around Shashank, making him uncomfortable with her advances, knocking on the door of his cabin just to be around him, and making the comments that left him fed-up.
“Listen, Khadoos… everything on one side and the fact that you have done nothing to feel guilty about on the other,” she said, taking his hand in hers, “what have you even done? You were just being yourself all along. She fell in love with you which none of us can blame her for. Love is not a sin, Khadoos but Netra Tai committing sins out of her one-sided love for you is the problematic part.”
“Mala kalatach nahiye mi tila samjavun saangu tar saangu kasa…” His voice almost cracked, making her lean forward.
“Mi prayatna karu?” She offered to help.
“Ajibaat nahi. Tila aadhich wat-tay ki tu aamchya madhe aalis. Ti tuza kahich aikun ghenar nahi rather tulach aikavel aani te mala nakoy…”
Her slow blink gave away that she wasn’t expecting to hear that. He had always said that he wouldn’t interfere between those sisters and he had been a witness to Netra humiliating her quite a lot of times. He had never spoken a word, neither in favor of Apurva nor against Netra but the way he held her back from talking to Netra gave away that he did not like Netra hurting Apurva, and to her… it meant something.
“Mag kay Karachi tharvala aahes tu?” she asked, resuming the conversation from where they left.
Shaking his head, he let her know that he had no rescue plan in his mind. His mind was too occupied by the complex emotions that Netra’s acts were putting him through to think of anything else at that moment.
She hummed before getting down from the bed. As he watched her going near his study table, he wondered what she was up to. And as she got her hands on his bag, he raised a brow. “Mazi bag kashala havi aahe tula?”
She turned around for a moment, pressing her index finger on her lips, shushing him. “Honari bayko aahe mi tuzi. Tuzya pratyek goshtivar eka varshasathi ka hoina pan hakka asnaar aahe maza.”
“Honari bayko?” He chuckled. “Pan aata tar tu stranger hotis na?”
“Break over, Khadoos.” She grinned.
He facepalmed himself, knowing that the mature woman he was talking to so far was gone and the one who was there with him was the unpredictable Baalish Apurva Vartak.
“Tuza tiffin kuthey?” she asked, upon not finding it in his bag.
He darted a strange look at her. “Tula kashala havaay maza daba?”
She placed her hand on her waist. “Tiffin kuthey, Khadoos?”
“Bagh asel tyatach. Nahi thaamb… visarlo mi bahutek canteen madhe…”
She dropped his bag on the table the moment she heard him and returned to the bed. “Aata mala khara khara saang… tu tiffin khalla hota? Tu jevlas?”
“Tula kadhipasun mazya jevnachi kalji watayla lagli. Tu tar-”
“He sagla tu je boltoys na… that falls in the category of faltu discussion aani aata mi kahitari mahattvacha boltey ki nahi?”
Pretending to be scared of her anger, he placed his index finger on his lips, looking down, silently gesturing that he wouldn’t do anything to escalate her anger.
“Mi jevloy, Apurva. Ha sagla prakar ghadaychya aadhich lunch zala hota.”
She was about to probe him more to make sure that he wasn’t lying but his words took her back to the conversation that she had with Tanmayee and recalled her mentioning that the incident indeed took place after lunch.
She hummed, sitting back beside him.
“Pan tula mazya jevnya-na jevnyane farak padto baghun bara watla,” he added with a smile. “Tuza kay? Tu jevan karun aalis na?”
“Of course. Tu kay mala olkhat nahi? Apurva Vartak and food are soulmates. Aamhi far vel dur nahi rahu shakat.” She flicked her hair back over her shoulder, standing up. “Can I use your washroom? Mala jara chehryavar paani karaycha hota.”
“Please,” he said, stretching his hand wide as he gestured for her to go ahead.
She dramatically bowed in front of him, making him chuckle before she went inside the washroom.
“Apurva Vartak… hi kharach ajab rasayan aahe… ya mulila samajna ashakya aahe… ashakya!” He announced to himself once she was out of his sight. “2 divsanpurvi mazyashi bhaandat hoti… kay te mhanat hoti… haan, aata lagnache rituals suru hoiparyant maza chehra dekhil baghnar nahi aani aaj… aata… ithe mazyasobat aahe… fakt mazyasathi.”
Do share your feedback in the comment section. I always enjoy reading that. It keeps me going.
Much love. <3
I N D E X
Lovely update
Thank you! 🤗
Wowww! I loved it❤️🥺and also love this version of Apurva.You are amazing Harshada💜 Thank you for this fantastic fictional story❣️
Thank you very much, Pranali. 💜
Loved it ❤️. Very different n beautiful perspective in this story. Something which even I had thought about when I had started watching this show.
So very happy that you are again writing on TR.
Let me tell you these past few days life at work n home was real hectic n miserable, when my mood used to be too down I used to read your fiction on TR n it really helped to relieve a little stress. Keep writing as when you get time bcoz u really have a way with words n it gives solace to many people like me . Lots of good wishes n love to you dear ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you, Anuprita. I am glad you had a good time reading this one. Ah, you thought about this? Somehow I never did. It was only a couple of months ago when I thought of exploring this.
Ah, miserable life… tell me about it. Life is being consistently upsetting for me as well. Sigh.
Did it? That makes me really happy to hear that this helped you in some way. Thank you very much for the kind words of appreciation.
Much love. 💜
This is actually superb. Actually fell relax by reading as what ever they are showing on show is pathetic.
Thank you! I’m glad you had a good read. 💜
💜