Next Sunday: Carrying grocery bags in both hands, Aryan slowly made his way towards the lifts from his car, parked on the street instead of the carpark of his apartment block. He was still  resting in his apartment as per Doctor's order.  Thankfully he was kept entertained and busy by his neighbours, who knew him since he was a teenager. Aryan's neighbour on the fifth floor had renovated his apartment, and sold it to a young couple and they were having a housewarming party. A Large statue of Ganesha adorned the corridor next to the lift near  their apartment and they were using the emptied car park to serve lunch for all the guests invited. As Aryan pressed the floor button and waited for the doors to close, he heard frantic footsteps and Chandni entered the lift. Both kept

"Oh God!!! Do you have to remind me of that? It was not my fault, you know. But your girlfriend's" "She was not my girlfriend!!" hissed Aryan as he advanced towards her. "Okay one of your wannabe girlfriends. But still, I must have made a mighty fool of myself that day. Did I blabber too much? I am sorry you had to see me like that. I don't know what came over me that day! You must have been embarrassed." "I wasn't and I will never be embarrassed because of you Chandu! In fact, that was one time when you spoke freely with me. And I am thankful for that! I can never forget that night in my life." Suddenly the space between them seemed to have shrunk and the rest of the room became oblivious, as he locked his gaze on Chandni's face, as her eyes darted rapidly, probably

Aryan blindly walked out of the Hospital without any idea where his feet were taking him. After sometime when he looked around, he realised he was sitting on a wooden bench in the playground area that the hospital built for its little patients. Small kids were playing under the loving supervision of their parents.Parenthood wasn't something he had even given a thought about till now. The tragic way his relationship with Chandni ended, he had no hopes of even thinking of marital bliss or having a family. He put all his energy into avenging his parents' death rather than looking for any female company. But few of his friends have become parents recently and he always envied their joyful life. His dazed senses still registered the sounds of the traffic outside the hospital and of dista

 "So, this is what you think of me is it? That I am like her?? That's okay Dev. I expected better of you, but I am ready to accept all the blame for hiding this since we met again, but please, I beg you, not to misunderstand me, that I have done this to take revenge on you or anyone. Even if you believe it or not, this is the truth. Before we met, I was truly under the impression that you have settled abroad happily with someone, that girl I saw you with. And I wished you nothing but happiness. I genuinely thought knowing about Atharv would only create unnecessary complexities in your life and I wanted to spare you from all that. Even after we met, seeing all the girls going gaga over you, my resolution became stronger. I wanted you to marry someone and have a happy future, unburdened with a hurtful past and a child...""Burdened my foot!! Who the hell are you to decide what I need to do with

  Contrary to the placid exterior she was trying to show, Chandni's heart thudding loudly. She had been preparing for this moment for many weeks now, but still felt nervous and jittery and watching the shock on Dev's face sucked out whatever little courage she had gathered inside her grievous heart. This was not a happy moment for her because she also knew what Dev's reaction was going to be, when she would finish everything she needed to say. "Chandni what... What are you saying? How can it be? I mean what was all that, when Aishwarya filed a case against me when we got married as you were underage, and argued that our marriage was invalid?" Aryan asked, his confusion overriding any other emotion. Chandni smiled ruefully watching his face, which reflected the same confusion and abomination she felt,