Chapter 7 - Friends and Tears

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The familiar voice made everyone's eyes flew towards the entrance where a man was standing with a cabin trolley suitcase. His lips were upturned and eyes gleamed with excitement. Ritu shifted her elated gaze at that direction while Priyasha rose from her seat and exclaimed from the top of her lungs, "Jeet!" She hastily traversed the hall, towards the grinning man who just took a step inside the door. A moment later the two friends crashed into each other and relished the moment with some airy complaints.

"Oh my God, Priya! You haven't changed a bit since the last time I saw you. Still the same whiny little potato!"

"Stop it, stupid." Priyasha pushed him back and playfully swatted on his arm. "Why didn't you inform me anything?"

"Ow!" Jeet dramatically rubbed the place where Priyasha slapped and complained. "Priya, be easy on me. Your kinks have gotten stronger with age. Oh, look! You've got a white hair!"

Priyasha rolled her eyes with a very visible grin playing on her lips, "Shut up! You should check your eyes first. You're the old man here!"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll let you slide this time." He grinned and hugged her back again. After releasing her for the second time, he eyed around the place and asked, "Where is your psychopath?"

"Jeet!" Priyasha flinched before swatting on his arm again. "His daughter is here. Can you please not call him that in front of his children?"

Jeet ignored her and strode forward, straight to the place where Ritu was standing with a broad smile plastered on her face. Jeet came to a halt in a hand distance and raised his hand to pat on her head. "How is my little angel doing?"

"You can see for yourself. A loooott better."

"That's like my girl." Jeet grinned at her, which Ritu reciprocated with equal enthusiasm.

"So, where are your brothers? I heard the little one isn't here?"

Ritu nodded. "He's away for his business study. And Dadabhai," Ritu gazed at the wall clock before saying, "Well, it's almost time for him to come home.

"Oh! That's good. I arrived at the right time then." Jeet exclaimed and turned towards Priyasha.

Priyasha pulled Jeet's cabin trolley towards the sitting area before shifting her attention to Ritu's physiotherapist. "I think we should call it a day. As you can see my friend is here..." she trailed off.

He nodded understandingly before taking his leave without any complaints.

As he left, Priyasha called Dona and instructed her to take Jeet's trolley to the guestroom and make the room tidy. Dona left with an eager nod.

"So?" Priyasha asked once they settled down on the couch.

Jeet leaned back on the seat and extended his hand along the back. "Well, I wasn't planning to come at this time. But I couldn't turn down that psychopath's request."

Priyasha's brows furrowed at the revelation. "Abhiraj called you?"

"As I've predicted!" He rolled his eyes. "I knew he mightn't have told you. My God, Priya! You two will never change, I swear. He'll always try to solve things on his own and keep you clueless until it's too late."

Priyasha made a face. "Come on! Tell me, when did he call you? Why?"

Jeet's face turned grim. "We discussed about Manyu's case. He needed my advice. Your friend here knows people from the crime branch. So, he wanted me to look into the matter."

Ritu had been quietly listening and enjoying the two elders' banter. Jeet was Priyasha's childhood friend and an officer of the economic offense division of CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation). Naturally, he had connections in the other law enforcement agencies.

"You know this right? Manyu is innocent." Priyasha said morosely.

"Priya, law and justice don't understand emotions. They want proofs. And it's true Manyu and Late Mr. Jagannath Basu talked right before his murder. The case isn't that simple as it seems."

"But my son has no motive against him."

"I can give no further opinion on this unless I talk with Manyu and Abhiraj. And the lawyer."

Priyasha's eyes wavered as she looked down.

"Alright. Enough of that face. I'm starving. Come on. Where is your hospitality, Priya?" He complained, then turned towards Ritu and rebuked in a fatherly tone, "And what about you, daredevil? Hm? You went to save your brother? Look what that become of you! Have you learned your lesson?"

Priyasha arose from her seat and went towards the kitchen, while Ritu looked down and nodded slightly. "Yes. I was wrong. I shouldn't have disobeyed Dadabhai and stayed inside."

Jeet slowly caressed her head and said softly, "Think of the consequences before acting in any situation. It'll save your daring bum from the dangers."

Ritu turned around squarely. "You know what Jeet uncle! I'm tired of everyone advising me the same thing over and over or whenever I meet them. It happened in the past. I can't do anything about it. Yes, of course. I regret it. But I. Can't. Change. Anything about it! God!" She threw her hands up in frustration.

"Ohkay! Easy there!" Jeet chuckled. "Here, let me pacify you. It's like this because you didn't take your time seriously." He paused momentarily before adding, "When you take your time for granted, you'll regret it later. It's just obvious."

Ritu stared at him fixedly. "Then what do I do to get rid of this regret?"

"Well, I'll tell you how you can move on from your regrets. It might sound impossible, difficult, even unattainable. But, it's really not." Ritu stared at Jeet as he continued, "First thing first, don't try to run away from it. Face your regrets and let yourself feel them, without avoiding or wallowing it. It'll hurt like hell, for sure. But if you can't face your regrets, you can't make amends with them either." He paused momentarily before adding, "Then you need to forgive yourself. You can't move on unless you've learned lessons from it and made peace with yourself. And the most effective one, try writing it out. Keep a journal."

Ritu stared at him incredulously. "Really? Journal? I'm bad at writing!"

"You don't have to write a novel!" Jeet made a face. "Just write down whatever going on in your mind. Let it out on paper."

"But I'm a fashion student you know. You tell me to draw something, I might do that. But writing...err!" Ritu frowned.

"Then do expressive art. It'll..." Jeet was about to say something more when Priyasha returned alongside Shreya who was holding a tray of food.

"Who's doing expressive art?" Priyasha chipped in as the approached the other two.

Both of them had a smile plastered on their faces.

"Aarey, so this is your Bouma (Daughter-in-law)," Jeet exclaimed.

"Not just mine. She's your Bouma too."

"Indeed. But we never got the chance to meet until now."

In an effort to negate the accusation, Priyasha sat down next to him and countered, "I told you in which situation it all happened. We did not have time to take it slow, and furthermore, you didn't attend their reception."

"Ah- that!" Jeet picked up the plate Shreya offered and patted on her head with his free hand. "My work is hectic, Priya. You know that."

"But still. You could've sent Naina and Navnit."

"Naina is stuck with her work as well. But I'm sure Navi and Gyan are in touch. Cause my son forced me to buy him the expensive drum set after having a talk with your son. And then seventeen different kalimba! I have no idea what is going on in their heads."

Priyasha laughed airily. "Your son is still within reach. You can at least make him understand things and stop him. Gyan... I don't know!" She huffed and shook her head in disappointment.

Shreya took a seat on Ritu's left side who quipped in, "Drum set? I don't know anything about that. When did that happen?"

Jeet turned to Ritu first. He shrugged and passed a mouthful of food into his mouth. "Six-seven months ago or so." Then he addressed Priyasha, "Stop him? How? As if he listens to me when it comes to his madness about music. And, Priya! You worry too much. Don't worry about your son. I've seen Gyan. He's got that spark in him. Mark my words. He'll one day make you proud. So, Shreya. Isn't it? Do you regret marrying Manyu?"

Priyasha was in the process to shrug with uncertainty about his remark on Gyan while Jeet's sudden question towards Shreya, startled her. She widened her eyes in disbelief and exclaimed, "Jeet!"

But to everyone's astonishment, Shreya sat there unbelievably calm. She shook her head slightly and answered in a polite tone, "I do not."

Ritu scoffed mentally at her modesty. This woman sure knew where to speak what!

"You take your time. I'm sure there are more to see than you've seen till now." Jeet made a brief meaningful exchange with Priyasha whose face crossed in disbelief. She advanced her hand towards Jeet, and by the look of it, it definitely looked like she was about to pinch him. But before she was able to get the chance, two men entered the villa. One of them had a scorn expression plastered on his face, while the other one maintained his usual stoic face.

Priyasha retraced her hand and stood up followed by Shreya. Meanwhile, Jeet savored the food with a big mouthful.

Although Ritu was oblivious of the case history, she knew her father was mad because of it. Abhiraj came and sat on the single couch, to the right while Shreya went ahead and stood beside Abhimanyu quietly.

Priyasha was the first one to speak up. "Jeet arrived only a few minutes ago. We've been waiting for you," she addressed Abhiraj who glanced at Jeet before averting his gaze and said, "Yes, we've already had a conversation over phone."

Priyasha frowned and shifted her eyes on her friend. "You talked?"

Jeet nodded.

There was a sudden change in the atmosphere. The air thickened as Jeet put down his plate on the table and eyed the father-son duo. Ritu gulped drily and observed everyone. An itchy feeling scratched at the back of her neck. Priyasha fidgeted with her hands as her eyes moved amongst the men. Shreya however stood by Abhimanyu's side, her eyes flickering between Jeet and Abhiraj.

Finally, Jeet addressed Abhimanyu. "How are you doing, Manyu?"

Abhimanyu acknowledged his question with a nod first, then said, "I am good. How are you?"

Jeet only smiled before shifting his attention towards Abhiraj. "So?"

Abhiraj cleared his throat and made eye contact with Jeet. "I took an appointment with the lawyer tomorrow. But before that, I think you need to study the case in details."

Jeet tilted his head once and averted his gaze. "First thing first. I will have a word with Manyu... in private."

"I already reckoned you'd want that. Let's go to my work room."

Jeet consented with a nod, and the three men left without sparing another glance.

Priyasha collapsed beside Ritu and stared ahead. Her eyes not really focused on anything.

"Maa," Ritu called softly. When she didn't respond, Ritu exchanged a worried gaze with Shreya before putting a hand on her mother's shoulder. "Maa, everything will be alright. Don't worry too much."

And suddenly, holding her face in her hands, she broke down completely. She sobbed heart-wrenchingly, "Ritu, I am tired. This has been going on and on. I am tired of life." Grievance ripped out of her each pore as she removed her hands from her face and unstoppable tears flowed down her face.

Shreya hurriedly sat down on her knees and tried to calm her down. However, Ritu was too stunned to do or speak anything. She had never seen her mother breaking down like this. She had always been the strongest pillar in her life, in their family. But now that she was seeing her weeping in pain, she forgot how to react.

Meanwhile, Priyasha hiccupped and stuttered. "I'm-I'm tired of ...be-being strong. I'm so t-tired of pretending... th-things are okay, that-that... my-my family is per-perfect! But-but I failed. It's so diff-difficult to make my heart understand that nothing hurts. That... everything is fine. But deep down..." she gasped for air in between and continued equally agonizingly, "I-I can feel it falling apart into pieces. I was supposed to be the string... that holds them together. But-but..." she stopped to drag another lungful of air, "But I'm torn. The darkness is just overpowering my life since the beginning. I-I thought, even if my life was wasted, I'll protect my children. But I failed!" She howled. "I failed at being a good mother. All my children are going through unimaginable pain and I can't even do anything."

Ritu blinked and gazed at her mother. Seeing her broken in worry and grief, she felt numb, brain-fogged. In fact, she was in disbelief. How come the strongest person she had ever known act in such a way? Most of all, she felt scared. If her mother was feeling such a way, how would she survive with her own issues?

"Ritu, get some water! Ritu!" At this point, Shreya's yell ruptured Ritu's trance as she grabbed the water jug and poured some water into the glass. Shreya was holding and rocking Priyasha gently, trying to calm her down. She took the glass from Ritu and proceeded to make Priyasha drink it. The latter was still sobbing in excruciating anguish.

"ISHA!" The sudden shout startled Ritu as she turned just to witness her severely agitated father. His face grew colorless as he processed the situation in front of him. In no time, he rushed over to Priyasha. Shreya got up to make room for him as he sat down beside his wife and demanded loudly, "WHAT HAPPENED?"

Ritu flinched at the tone, while Shreya answered, "I think, she's having a circumstantial breakdown."

Ritu watched her father cradling her mother's face while she kept on weeping bitterly. A moment later, he murmured under his breath, "Enough!" and got up.

He turned towards Shreya and said in an undertone, "You don't need to call us for dinner tonight."

Shreya nodded in understanding. Abhiraj shifted his undivided attention back to Priyasha who had not stopped crying needless to say. Ritu sat there motionless, unable to speak or act.

After that everything happened in a blur. Abhiraj frowned as his jaws clenched. He took one deep breath before bending down and gathering his wife bridal style. In less than a minute, they disappeared in the direction of their room.

..

Author's note: Hey, how are y'all? Just wanted to have a word. This story is slightly gloomy in the beginning, I'm #notsorry. But, you can expect some really good scenes. XD Also, this is a enemies to lovers trope. So, even if a green flag, there will be some angst and drama. Anyway, keep enjoying the story! XOXO


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