Chapter 30 (Blockbuster)

◀PLAYLIST FOR THIS EPISODE▶

Longest chapter of the *30 chapters' era* 😍 !! Enjoy!!

*****

Vihaan stormed into Dheeraj's room, who was still lying in bed, texting Vidya giddily. Tossing the pack of wedding cards on the bed, Vihaan groaned, "Brother, what sort of joke is this?"

"Will you shut up with your stupid arrogant stunts in front of me? I may still tolerate it because we are the sons from the same mother, but don't ever think others will also do the same." Dheeraj jumped out of his bed to stand, facing his brother.

"I am not here to listen to your lectures early in the morning. I just want to know when did you fix your marriage and I don't even get to know it?" Vihaan shouted again.

"If you had this little care in you, you should have known what all runs in your family. You should know there is a different world outside of your damned workroom!" Dheeraj yelled at his younger brother, most probably for the first time in his life.

"Don't you ever humiliate my workroom again, brother. You don't even know what it means to me!" Vihaan snapped, raising his voice.

"So only you have the fucking right to humiliate anyone who comes in your way but you can't tolerate humiliation for yourself! Where is the justice, boy?" Dheeraj crossed his arms across his chest.

"Are you arguing with me, brother? You are the one who hid the truth of your marriage from me, I didn't hide anything from you," Vihaan said, lowering his voice.

"There was nothing to hide from you because everything took place in front of a live audience. It was your fault that you kept yourself locked in your artificial cage last night," Dheeraj said, picking up the cards from the bed and replacing them on his table neatly.

"Last night as if?" Vihaan's mouth fell wide open.

"I did get engaged to Vidya last night and the marriage will take place on the twenty-fifth of this month. Today is the first day of August and I barely have twenty three days left for all the arrangements." Dheeraj shifted to fold the blankets lying scattered on his bed.

Vihaan jerked backwards, his heart racing faster than ever. "Your engagement? Then what about Sanchi's planning and plotting... Arjun and the Ringers' park and the rest? You said to someone over phone that they are the stars of last night's event and..."

Dheeraj grinned. "Of course, Sanchi and Arjun are the major stars for the success of my love life. Mom and dad were planning to unite me with Vidya for so many days but when nothing happened, Sanchi came forward. She made Vidya confess her love for me and later when she met Arjun, they became good friends. He, being my best friend accompanied Sanchi to help us. He booked the Ringers' park for Vidya and me, so that I could confess my love to her directly."

"What!"

"The day you left for Burhanpur, I finished with the proposal and we united at last. Mom fixed our engagement last night. Sanchi and Arjun took the responsibility to announce it before everyone. Don't you think they were really the stars for me, for Vidya?" Dheeraj sat on the bed, pulling Vihaan's arm behind him.

Vihaan took a seat beside his brother, covering his face with his palms. "I am sorry brother, for yelling at you."

Dheeraj rubbed the back of his brother, realizing the pallor and devastated look on Vihaan's face. "What is the matter, Vihaan? You don't need to tell me a sorry but, to someone else for humiliating her. Why did you insult Sanchi in the worst way possible?"

Blinking his eyes for a couple of times, Vihaan finally uttered, "I committed a sin, brother. I not only insulted her for no good reasons but also asked her to leave the house."

"I already know it and guess what, she has really left the house last night." Dheeraj disclosed the truth.

"Where did she go? I really didn't mean it to her. I was so angry that I...." Vihaan jumped out of the bed, his legs trembling with fear.

"Don't worry, she is safe wherever she is but I don't think she will meet you. Even if she agrees to meet you by the kind heart she possesses, but Vidya will not allow you." Dheeraj shook his head.

"What Vidya has to do in it?"

"Call her 'sister-in-law' from now. By the way, she was the only single audience to your conversation last night. She is totally pissed at you." Dheeraj warned him.

"Did she tell you all of it?" Vihaan was surprised.

"Of course she did and fetched a disheartened Sanchi to her house till our marriage. How could you insult the fast that Sanchi kept for you? You may not believe in God but the poor girl believes strongly. She risked her own life to see you back home, safe from the dangerous mission." Dheeraj shot a dissatisfied look at Vihaan.

Vihaan heaved a heavy sigh, feeling guilty of his own deeds. "Brother, was it Sanchi who sent the lunch to me at the bureau that day? Tell me the truth."

"She did it only for you but your stupid arrogance has always forced her to stay away from you. So she requested me not to tell you," Dheeraj explained him.

Vihaan held Dheeraj's palms. "Brother, just tell me how can I meet her now? I know I can't meet her at Trivedi house."

"I will try getting information from Vidya about Sanchi and I will try finding some ways so that you can meet her. But you need to promise that you will not again hurt her without any proper reason." Dheeraj remarked and Vihaan nodded like a guilt-ridden fool.

***** 

Sanchi left the Trivedi house early afternoon to visit the orphanage. Now that she was out of Shakti's danger, she couldn't stay away from the children for a long time without meeting them for once. She was somehow missing them badly and spending time with them would help her get over from the pain that she had received from Vihaan.

Vidya was sitting in her cabin at the hospital, wondering of the storm in Sanchi's life. "I thought Vihaan had changed but he really hurt Vanya. I can't get over with the humiliation, I wonder how will she bear with it? She wanted to visit the orphanage today and I allowed her. She might feel better in their company for some time. I could have accompanied her but I had an important operation to deal with at the hospital."

Vidya's phone rang and she answered, "Dheeraj!"

"Are you at the hospital now?"

"Yes I am."

"How is Sanchi doing? I hope she took enough rest after all that happened." Dheeraj asked, concern in his voice.

"I don't know how she is feeling inside her but she might feel better later. She decided to visit the orphanage today and I feel the children will make her happy a little," Vidya informed him.

"Oh! That's nice she went there." Dheeraj sighed satisfactorily.

"Did you talk to Vihaan and gave him a taste of his own medicine?" Vidya asked angrily.

"I did and he is extremely guilty for what he did last night."

"I hope he realises his folly soon and stops treating Vanya like a garbage."

Dheeraj chuckled silently. "Yeah, he should. Okay fine, do your work now and let me also do my work."

"Hey man, you are the one who gave me this phone call. I was doing my work peacefully until now. You Bundela brothers need to stop throwing tantrums around or else we soul sisters will give you a piece of our minds!" Vidya chided before disconnecting the call.

Dheeraj grinned like a silly boy and sent a text to Vihaan informing him of the whereabouts of Sanchi. Dheeraj also warned him not to hurt Sanchi again or else he would inform their father about it.

***** 

It was already late evening when Sanchi was ready to take leave from the people at the orphanage. The children and sister Maria were under the impression that Sanchi was leading her married life happily with Vihaan.

When Chetan accompanied Sanchi to help her board the train to Indore, she caught hold of his hand. "Che-tan, did you ever tell Vih-aan any-thing rela-ted to 'hickory' or the 'han-ds of a clock'?"

"I didn't tell him anything as such." Chetan tried to remember. "But I usually keep saying such things to different people around me."

"Do you remem-ber saying any-thing to anyone with Vihaan aro-und you?" Did he hear any-thing as such? It must have taken place in this sta-tion and I am hun-dred per cent sure," Sanchi asked, picturing clearly the name of the station written in Vihaan's sketch.

Chetan took a couple of minutes trying to remember and then muttered, "I remember now, Sanchi sis. There was an uncle here who hated stammering things. So I just shared my feelings about stuttering things with him. Vihaan Sir was standing very near to us, waiting to board the train. He must have heard it."

"What did you exa-ctly tell the man?" Sanchi was curious.

"I just said that these stuttering things are like the clock in the poetry I had read in my evening school's classes, the 'Hickory Dickory Dock'. All the three hands of a clock stutter for a fraction of a second or for a minute or for an hour before they march forward. But they show us the right time always. Hence, we are never scared of the hands of the clock but we are always scared of time. It is the bad times in our lives which we are scared of. All the stuttering things are never bad." Chetan tried narrating some similar lines to Sanchi.

Sanchi felt a sharp pang of pain in her chest as her limbs faltered. "From whe-re did you learn such ama-zing lines and why did you say such a thi-ng?"

Chetan embraced Sanchi. "You don't even know how much you mean to me. You stood beside me during my bad times even when you were yourself in trouble. Whenever people insult stuttering things, I feel they are insulting you indirectly. So I told him these things and he bought the full basket of flowers from me."

Sanchi waved at Chetan again before boarding the late evening train to Indore. It was getting dark and she had to reach home as early as possible. Sitting beside the window inside the train compartment, Sanchi wondered, "Even I have insul-ted Vihaan for call-ing me 'hickory', with-out reali-zing that he never meant to humi-liate me. We both are basi-cally sailing in the same boat!"

*****

Searching for Sanchi and struggling desperately to meet her, was driving him crazy. Vihaan had enough of his arrogance and ego with her. For once, he wanted to apologize for his wrong behaviour to her and for being such a jerk all these days. He had hurt Sanchi and indirectly had hurt himself.

When he reached the orphanage after Dheeraj's text message, it was very late. The children informed him that Sanchi had already left for Indore. Vihaan sped his Royal Enfield to reach the city before Sanchi could. He knew if she entered the Trivedi house, he wouldn't stand a chance to meet her there. Vidya was pissed at him and she wouldn't allow him at all.

By the time he reached the city after the long ride along the highway, it was nine o'clock of the night. Not being able to figure out where Sanchi was, he paked his motobike at a distance from the Trivedi house. For the first time, a courageous man like him was feeling scared to break into someone's house. He decided to wait in the dark till the lights to the Trivedi house were put out and everyone went to sleep.

After an hour when the Trivedi house turned darker, he climbed out of the vehicle's seat. With trembling fingers, he dialed Shaurya's number. He was wondering if Shaurya also knew everything, besides Vidya.

"Is it you Vihaan, who is calling me after so many days and that too, in the middle of the night?" Shaurya spoke over phone.

Vihaan rolled his eyes. "Actually I...I can't get Sanchi over phone. Maybe she doesn't have network and...."

Shaurya laughed. "So what do you want?"

"I want to talk to her once." Vihaan sighed.

"Where are you?" Shaurya asked, laughing lightly.

"I am...at home. Sanchi went to your house for Vidya's marriage and I didn't speak to her since the time she left."

"So you want to sneak into my house quietly to meet your wife?" Shaurya asked, laughing again.

"No, I said I am at home," Vihaan blurted quickly when he felt a squeeze on his shoulder. Turning about, his eyes met Shaurya's, who was standing right behind him. "Shaurya!"

"What are you doing outside my house in the middle of the night?" Shaurya asked, frowning his forehead.

Vihaan almost freaked having been caught red-handed by Shaurya. "I...I came to meet Sanchi once. But where were you?"

"I went out of the city the day before yesterday and I am just returning now," Shaurya informed him. "Why do you need to meet your own wife secretly? You can just ring the bell and meet her."

"You won't understand man, we just had a quarrel and she is pissed at me. I want to give her a surprise and apologize to her," Vihaan said in a haste.

"That's like my sister's husband. I hope you aren't hurting her." Shaurya wrapped an arm around Vihaan's shoulder. "Come, I will help you meet her secretly."

* 

Vihaan followed Shaurya quietly into their house, struggling to walk in the dark without making a noise. Vihaan hid somewhere near the corner of the hallway while Shaurya walked to the servant's room. Calling for one of the workers, he asked, "Do you know where Vay, I mean Vanya is staying in the house?"

As soon as the servant informed him, Shaurya walked back to where Vihaan was. "She's in the guestroom. I'll show you the way."

The door to the guestroom came into view and Vihaan's heart skipped a beat. Shaurya halted, whispering softly, "She's right here. Talk to her as much as you want but remember to sneak out of the house in the same way as we came in. Take these extra pair of keys to the main door. You can return these to me later."

Handing over the keys, Shaurya warned again, "Talk to her, make her laugh and love her, but don't hurt her ever."

"I know that. Your hands and my limbs! Now go." Vihaan felt annoyed and Shaurya left the corridor, laughing at the insane Vihaan again.

***** 

Sanchi was trying hard to sleep that night again. Vihaan's humiliation and the revelation of the truth behind hickory were disturbing her lately. Thinking of all the painful things in her life, the room around her turned dark. Sitting straight vigorously from her lying down position, she grabbed her mobile to switch on the torch.

"Is this a po-wer cut?" Sanchi stared outside the window and found the lights to the street also put out. "Now what am I supp-osed to do? The dark-ness scares me. How will I sle-ep?"

Sanchi thought for a second. "I think I sho-uld go and sle-ep with Vidya to-night."

As soon as she unlatched the door and stepped outside, she was pulled into the room by a pair of strong arms, locking the door behind them. Fear gripped her as she struggled hard to scream for help, but all in vain.

A known palm was pressed against her lips and the fragrance of it's skin was very familiar to her. "Don't scream, Sanchi. I'm not here to hurt you, again."

Recognizing the voice, she mumbled against the warm palm on her lips. "Vih-aan!"

He let her lose the moment she had recognized him. Breathing in and breathing out, she tried to calm the rapid throbbing of her fluttering heart.

Vihaan didn't know how to face her, how to initiate a conversation with her or how to apologize to her. He maintained a peaceful silence for more than a couple of minutes before throwing his hands around to locate her arms in the dark.

The torch to Sanchi's mobile had already turned off and the only light illuminating the room partially came from the window. The full moon on it's second day was yet shining brightly in the night sky.

As soon as his hands found her delicate arms, he pulled her to his chest, cocooning her to his bosom affectionately. To apologize to the person you had hurt, one tight hug was enough to melt the other person's anger for you. Vihaan did the exact thing in the hope that she would forgive him for whatever he did to her.

Sanchi was able to feel the rapid rise and fall of Vihaan's chest against her skin and his gentle move was able to decline most of her anger against him. She snuggled her arms under his armpits to reciprocate to his kind gesture.

"I'm sorry for the kind of jerk I am and the manner I behaved with you. I really don't know how to apologize to people but I mean it to you, Sanchi," he mumbled very softly against the crook of her neck, his chin placed comfortably on her left shoulder.

The difference in their height meant nothing even if Sanchi was without her high heels. Her curves fitted beautifully against his well-built body and he seemed to be very comfortable with her. 

Rubbing her palm against his back, she whispered, "You cou-ld have just utter-ed one word 'sorry' and I would have belie-ved that you mean it, beca-use I know you are-n't in the habit of utter-ing that word to many peo-ple often."

"You understand me so well and I didn't try to trust you even for once." Vihaan was still holding on to her, against his chest. He was not ready to let her go off him.

"I know we have ne-ver been on good ter-ms with each other and I tota-lly under-stand your anger. I was the one to hide thin-gs from you and I sho-uld apolo-gize," Sanchi said, an honest apology in her voice.

"I was also at fault. I touched your phone and deleted the text from Shaurya. I was behaving like a fucked up ass these days!" Vihaan nodded his head. "But how did you come to know that it was I who deleted it?"

Sanchi laughed. "Beca-use I saw you fidget-ing with my phone, from the bath-room door. After you left the room, I check-ed my mobile and found Shay's miss-ed call. But when I gave him a call, he told me he had al-so sent a text. So I knew it was only you. You were get-ting angry on me eve-ry now and then and I was al-so the one who conti-nued pester-ing and humili-ating you."

Vihaan slowly separated from her and pulled her behind him to stand next to the window. As the moonlight illuminated their faces, their eyes met one another. Sanchi's eyes were moist and tears were still rolling down her cheeks whereas Vihaan's eyes were dampened with light dark circles under them. He hadn't slept for many days and the roughness of his skin proved everything.

Picking a drop of the salty water from her cheek, Vihaan held his forefinger against the moonlight. The liquid bead shone when light fell on it and he uttered, "I know I'm the cause for these precious beads. So tell me what I can do to earn your forgiveness."

Sanchi cupped his face with her soft palms. "If I hadn't for-given you, you would have al-ready been thro-wn out of the room ear-lier than expect-ed. But what have you done to your-self? You look so sick and pale, not the prim and pro-per Vih-aan I've kno-wn so far."

"I've not been able to get proper sleep in all the days I was away," Vihaan said, lowering his eyes.

"Why? Was the trip to Burhan-pur so hec-tic and horri-ble?" Sanchi asked, horror choking her voice.

"The trip was nothing new that I can't handle. I was being tormented by