Perfect Mistakes... Chapter 19 Update - Page 8

Viraat was flicking through channels when he heard his phone ring. "Why does Google not show the sequel of the book??" He heard her say upon picking up. "Sherni, I vaguely remember you were going to text me your number. But, I guess I'm too special that you've directly CALLED me instead. I'm flattered." "Oh shut up Chep!! Tell me the author wrote a sequel. If she didn't I swear I'll skin her alive I mean how could she just leave the book like that, she can't just let him DIE. It wasn't his fault!!"  "Is my hearing okay or is the Sherni actually supporting the GUY?!?" She sounded annoyed, "Stop being irritating and tell me!" "No, there is no sequel, it's just the one book." "But," "I know, when I first read it I went mad trying to find the next part to it. But it seems like the story was just meant to end there". There was a pause before he heard her speak, "Do you really think I'm like Emma? She's a complete asshole." 

This surprised him; he didn't think she would care, "I'll answer that when I see you next." He decided it would be better to tell her face to face. "Fine," she muttered and she hang up. He saved her number and switched the TV off. After a couple of minutes of searching, he found his other copy of the book. Smiling, he sat down and begun reading it for the 250th time. Only people who understood the book would react like that, others would just accept that the book ended there and busy themselves with something else. He was glad the Sherni wasn't one of them. 

Back at the hotel, a restless Maanvi was pacing back and forth. She couldn't understand how the writer could write a book and not end it properly. You can't just leave a book incomplete!! Picking up the book she decided to read it again. There had to be an ending, there had to.

                                                                ~~~

She awoke to her beeping phone. She was up pretty late reading, and finally dragged herself to bed when she couldn't make out the words on the pages anymore. Ironically enough, she valued her sleep and usually never slept late. For her, sleep was an escape route, a way out from the reality of life. It was the one thing that kept her going. If it wasn't for sleep she'd have fallen apart a  long time ago. With one eye open she reached for her phone and saw a text from the Chep.

Whaaat!! She looked at the time, she overslept, again! She quickly put on a pair of jeans and a baggy jumper. Grabbing her phone and room key, she ran out of her suite and rushed downstairs. Walking out of the hotel, Maanvi realised she'd have to take the damned subway and was too busy cursing when she bumped in to something hard. "What the fu.." "Somebody's not a morning person," said a familiar voice. "I received a text from a Chep early in the morning. My day was bound to go bad," she replied scornfully. "Hurtful, but I'm willing to ignore it. Are you getting in the car or do you prefer to get a months' worth of showering done in the rain?" 

Miss Sherni was shivering so he increased the heat in the car. "Couldn't you have said you were waiting for me before letting me soak in the rain?" Amazing, instead of thanking him she blamed him. How was it his fault she didn't understand his text. "And two minutes, seriously. Because of you I forgot to bring a jacket." While she continuously threw blames at him, Viraat quickly grabbed something from the back seat. "Here," he said. "What is it?" He passed her a superdry hoodie, "Wear it, you'll feel warmer," and he also passed her a Starbucks coffee cup, "Drink this too, I'm guessing you're cranky cause you didn't have breakfast." He watched her put on his hoodie and silently drink her coffee. "Why so silent?" 

She was in deep thought. Along with being a Chep, he was actually really nice. He made her laugh when she was pissed at the Mean Brunette. He ate her disgusting food and then lied to keep her happy. Not once did he take advantage of her when she was in his house and she knew it wasn't because of her Taekwondo skills; her petite figure stood nothing compared to his 6ft frame and muscular build. He had the empty house, the quiet street, it was perfect, but yet he did nothing. Instead he let her completely mess up his kitchen. Not to forget, he also let her drive his car (okay kind off), gave her his jacket and got her coffee. Most of all, she knew he was honest.

"Do you really exist?" But she was still unable to believe it. "I certainly hope so," he replied surprised at her unusual question. "I don't get it. I always thought guys were jerks, ego maniac bas***ds". "And what about now?" He asked her softly. She sighed, "I don't know. You confuse me." He smiled cheekily, "Your welcome." She started hitting his arm, "Okay, okay," he protested and she stopped. "A better answer would be that you're right. Guys are jerks. But who isn't. Everyone has an inner jerk in them. The same way in the book the girl was the judgemental jerk, not the guy." She remembered the book, "Do you really think I'm like Emma?" She waited for him to respond. Why did she desperately want him to say no? Why is what he thought of her suddenly so important to her? "No, I don't think you're like Emma. A bit judgemental, sure, but you've only just tasted one layer of the cake. The best part you've still got left to try". And why did she sigh out of relief at his response. "Thanks Che... I mean partner." She was sure he jumped out of his seat when she said that, clearly ecstatic with her warming up to him. "If I say you're welcome, you won't hit me again will you?" She shook her head. "Well, you're welcome. Partner." 

                                                                ~~~

A week passed and they both nearly spent most of it together. Viraat would pick her up in the mornings and take her to the meetings, where they would work with the rest of the pairs as a group on the project. Even though Maanvi accepted Viraat as her partner, she still behaved the same around the rest of the guys in the program. Despite Viraat's countless attempts to make her work with them, she would just refuse and threaten to stop talking to him if he didn't quit bothering her. After the hour finished, they would either go back to her hotel to complete whatever task they were given or he'd show her around New York. They still fought every five minutes but it was never anything serious as they would either end up in fits of laughter or he would apologise to her sweetly, to which she couldn't refuse. 

They were leaving the grey building after the 6th meeting when Maanvi suddenly asked him, "Partner, how come we haven't gone back to your house?" He unlocked his car doors, "I dunno, I guess I'm too scared that you'll burn my kitchen." She laughed sarcastically, "You crack me up. No seriously, you promised to show me around." "I don't remember promising anything." They began arguing till he finally gave in. She smiled gleefully as they both got in the car. "By the way, can I dri.." He refused straight away, "No way am I letting you drive." She asked this every day and he always refused, but that didn't mean she would stop trying. She pulled the seat belt, "Yeah, yeah, she's your baby, you love her, blah blah." 

She watched him carefully, not once did he shout at her or curse her. He never did. Every time she annoyed him, he would laugh or pretend to be angry. He never once started the fights but he always apologised at the end. He was sweet to everyone, the people in the program, his neighbours, her and even random people on the street.

Flashback 

Maanvi was waiting outside the hotel, the Chep was late. Yes, she called him Chep. When he's on her good side he was her partner and when he was on her bad side, like now, he became Chep. She checked her phone again, but still no response to her five texts. After 10 minutes, she saw his car enter the hotel parking lot. "Your late," she said blankly, as she sat down. "I know but I have a reason". "Spare me the details, from now on I'll take the Subway." He tried reasoning with her, but she refused to listen. She probably would've never talked to him again if it wasn't for a voice from the backseat. "Stooop!!" She turned around to see a 6 year old kid, "Who's this?" "That's what I've been trying to tell you," he stopped talking as the kid interrupted. "It's okay Viraat, I'll tell her. Hi my name is Mia," the kid or Mia, said. "I'm Viraat's new friend, right Viraat?" Maanvi watched Viraat ruffle the little girls hair, "That's right kiddo, you're the cutest friend as well." Mia gleamed, "Thank you." She turned to face Maanvi, "Please don't be angry at Viraat, he was late because of me. I was lost and nobody would help me, everyone was too busy rushing. I was upset but then I thought I saw mommy on the other side of the road so I crossed. But I forgot to look left and right and a car nearly crashed in to me. If Viraat didn't save me then I would have a big plaster on my head and everyone would laugh at me." 

Maanvi smiled at Mia's innocence and looked at her partner apologetically. She knew if he hadn't been there, then the little girl would've probably ended up in a much worse state than just a plaster on her head. "Do you know, Viraat is so nice. He bought me an ice cream to stop me crying and he let me play on his iPad. Then he called my mommy. I remembered her number. You see I'm the smartest and the tallest in my class so I'm very good at remembering long numbers. I'm also good at spelling." She was so cute. "Partner, I didn't mean to be so rude." Maanvi said, and he smiled at her, "it's okay, I'd be mad if I was in your place." "No you wouldn't, you'd understand, I'm so..", but just like before, he stopped her from apologising. Mia looked up, confused, "Viraat, if your girlfriend wants to say sorry, why don't you let her??" And cue the awkwardness.

"We're here," he said, but she seemed lost. He shook her, "Yo, partner!" "What." "We're here". "Oh, okay." They both got out of the car and entered his building with rooms. "Now what?" he asked her. She looked around, "Now, you show me your home." He shook his head, "you mean my building with rooms." "Huh?"

Viraat explained, "A home is when a family live together under one roof. I live alone, so this isn't a home, only a building with rooms." He waited for her to say that's bullshit or it didn't make sense but she nodded in agreement, "So are you going to show me your building with rooms or are we just going to stand here by the front door all day?" He led the way.

The foyer she stood in was pretty big. It was an unusual shape, unlike New York foyers. It wasn't particularly square, nor was it round. She guessed the best way to describe it would be to call it an irregular polygon considering it didn't classify as a known shape. She already knew that one of the rooms in the hallway under the stairs was the kitchen, and also knew the room at the end of the hallway was the bathroom, so they entered the unknown middle door room. Behind it was a study, quite large in size with white walls, a round desk, bookcases and an armchair near the huge window. The room was messy with papers scattered on the floor and books open on the desk. She raised an eyebrow at him; he did his trademark hand down his hair thing and shrugged. "Preparing for next semester." She had to literally hold her hands together to stop cleaning it up and did a quick exit back in to the hallway before she did. He closed the doors behind him and followed her out.

"How comes this hallway is curved?" she was curious, after all she was the greedy pirate and all this was her treasure hunt. This was another unusual thing about the Cheps building with rooms, the hallway didn't go in a straight line. He told her that when they constructed this house, they were trying to accommodate a large family so they needed loads of rooms, but due to the lack of space behind the house they created a curved shape instead. She listened to him as she ran her hands down the walls wondering about the people who must've touched these walls before her, stopping every time her hands touched a frame or a window. 

They went back to the foyer stepping out of the hallway under the stairs. "Wanna go upstairs first or downstairs?" he asked her. "You have a downstairs?" "Basement." She made an ooohh face and opted for upstairs first. On her way to the spiral staircase, she again noticed the dining room she saw the last time she came. She also remembered the closed door opposite it and turned to face it. "Partner, what's that room?" she pointed towards it. "First upstairs than downstairs remember," he said and ran up the stairs. 

The first floor was open planned and it was huge. Yellow's, blue's, orange's and purple's brought the room to life, making it feel warm. The entire floor was one massive lounge, with a large TV, comfortable looking sofas, beanbags and an Xbox kinect gaming system on her right.  A pool table and perhaps a poker table took up  the centre of the room, positioned in front of the huge windows with the silky drapes, shadowing the New York skyline. To her left were a couple more sofas, facing a wall entirely camouflaged by numerous frames of different sizes showcasing art, photos, certificates and words. She then noticed the glass double doors next to the staircase on her left and came to the conclusion that all the doors of his building with rooms were the same. 

Pushing open the doors, she saw what was a music room by the looks of it. Guitars, violins, a drum kit in the corner, and many more instruments covered the room. There was also a tiny recording booth positioned in the centre of the room, circular in shape and surrounded by soundproof glass. Maanvi noticed that there wasn't a single piano and found that extremely weird with him being a pianist, but before she could ask he was already up the second set of stairs.

 She followed him up to the second floor which was completely opposite to the first. What was open downstairs was now covered by a wall creating a hallway with three sets of double doors leading to bedrooms behind them. One of them belonged to him, it consisted of the usual bedroom things one would require, along with a large flat screen TV mounted on one of the walls and a Ps3 gaming system attached to it, and an en suite. His walls were painted grey, with dozens of crochet's and quavers printed on the wall near his dresser. He had a black leather bed, and above it she noticed a five letter word that made her smile. 'So Chep liked to sleep too?' she thought amusingly. She scanned his room once more, and again she noticed no piano. The third floor was the same as the second but with two extra bedrooms and another bathroom in its hallway. 

By the time she got to the fourth floor, she was exhausted, but what she saw instantly relaxed her. In front of her was maybe a terrace room. It was basically half under the roof, so a room and half outside, like an indoor conservatory, but on the top floor. There were two indoor swings, and four large modern armchairs which reminded her of bananas. On the conservatory part of the floor there were all kinds of plants and flowers, bringing colour in go the room as well as capturing nature at its finest. 

She found him sitting on one of the swings facing the balcony, the moonlight beam softly highlighting his features, leaving her breathless for a second. Only a second.

She sat on the swing beside him. "It's beautiful," she said softly, barely a whisper. "What is?" he asked her. "You.. I mean your building with rooms, especially this," she indicated the half room half conservatory, praying he hadn't noticed her slip of tongue. 

He smiled, he didn't notice her slip of tongue because he was lost in her as much as she was lost in him. The moonlight beam has enough power to make two people, in the same room look at each other in an extraordinary vision, without the other realising they are doing so. 

"By the way what is this room anyway?" She needed a diversion. 

He snapped out at the sound of her voice and cursed the moon. This wasn't helping the situation at all. It took a bit of time for his brain to process her question before he answered. 

"When I was young I desperately wanted a tree house, but apparently in New York it's near to impossible to get a tree. So my grandpa built this room. My tree house room. He built a conservatory on half of the terrace and knocked down the wall to make it look like the outside, but indoors. He then put in the swings and plants and all of my toys in here so I could play my countless imaginary games in my special treehouse. I would sit for hours watching him paint, build and finally complete one of my many dreams. That's what he did, what he lived for. He would say,

I would always shake my head every time, even though I knew the answer very well. I just loved hearing him say it, I loved getting that feeling of being the most important person in the world when he would say,

She gently squeezed his hand and he whispered, "This is my favourite room."

"Partner, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what are you doing living in this huge house, I mean building with rooms, by yourself?" "Is it truly important that you have to know?" She bit her lip and nodded. Viraat sighed; he might as well tell her. "Fine. But first you have to know who I have in my family and for that you'll have to know my full name." 

Up till now neither one of them shared their surnames with each other. It was like a silent agreement between them, now about to be broken.

"My full name is Viraat Singh Vadhera, I'm the grandson of the.. " "Renowned criminal lawyer V.S Vadhera, the head of the VV Law firm," she finished for him. He nodded. "I guess you're applying for internship there in July right." "How'd you know?" He leaned back, swinging a bit, "That leads me to the next part of the story."

"We lived in Boston. We being Pops (granddad), Bua (Aunt), Ma, Bhai, and me. My Dad and Grandma died in a car crash when I was three. Being in a family of lawyers I and Bhai were always under the pressure of attending Harvard Law and then joining the Law firm and becoming top criminal lawyers just like my great granddad, Pops and Dad. Bhai was the favourite grandchild; he was obedient, intelligent and wanted to become a lawyer. I was the naughty, always jumping, never sitting in one place Viraat, who wanted to be a musician, not a boring lawyer. No offence by the way." She shook her head to say none taken.

"From a young age I knew I was a disappointment compared to Bhai. Don't get me wrong, my brother is like that, kind hearted and almost perfect and I love him loads. Not once did he rub it in my face that they preferred him, instead he'd always tell me that Pops and Bua loved me the same, maybe more and sometimes I'd believe him. But as I got older I understood he was lying, Bhai sucks at lying. I would still pretend to believe him though, anything to keep him thinking I was happy. The other person bedsides my brother who understood me was my Ma. She'd never pick between me and Bhai. She loved us equally. Every summer and at school breaks Ma would bring me to New York to stay with my Grandpa and Beeji (maternal grandparents). If Bhai was closer to Pops and Bua then I was close to Grandpa and Beeji. Grandpa would take me to Central Park every day, it was there he taught me how to ride a bike for the first time and how to throw a perfect fireball in baseball. When we came back, Beeji would teach me how to play the piano. It was from her my love for music arose. We would sit in the music room all evening playing the piano while Grandpa would bring us sandwiches and film us making music. The best thing about them is that they never forced me to do anything, except eat my vegetables, which by the way I still don't do now." She smiled. 

"I considered them my family more than the one back home in Boston. Every time Ma would come to pick me up, I would beg to stay, but Ma would convince me, saying that they would always be here and I could come visit them the next time. She was wrong." 

He paused for breath, her hand still warmed his, encouraging him as he closed his eyes and continued. "It was a week before my 16th when the news of their death came. Ma was crying, Bhai was trying to console her, Pops was handling the press and Bua was attending calls to India. I just stood there hurt, confused, angry and in the end I felt deceived. They left me alone in a world where nobody realises I'm there; no longer could I be the most important person in the world.

A couple of days passed and our normal routines begun. Except it wasn't normal, not for me. On the day of my birthday I went along with the cake, gifts and photographs to keep Ma smiling, but really I just wanted everyone to leave me alone. While tidying up, Ma came to me and gave me a large envelope, it was from Grandpa and Beeji, she said it came in the post this morning via their lawyer. 

I didn't open it till I went upstairs. When I was sure everyone was asleep, I slowly unsealed the flap and took out its contents. I read the letter first; they were wishing me Happy Birthday, saying how much they were proud of me and my music. They also said to never forget my dreams and to always fight for them, no matter what challenges came my way. I instantly forgave them for leaving me, how could I hate the two people who believed in me and my dreams the most. I cried myself to sleep that night, hugging the letter close to me. 

When I woke up, my eyes fell on the larger document which I failed to notice before. It looked legal and important. I picked it up and read it. It was their will, they left everything they owned in my name, this room with buildings, their savings, their Indian mansion, everything. I was about to go and tell Bhai and Ma about this but then I noticed a note attached to the document. It was from Grandpa. He said I was not to mention anything about this to anyone or Pops would get angry and Bua would accuse Ma that Bhai didn't get a share and other crap. So I kept it secret, hidden under my bed, I didn't even tell Bhai. 

A year and a half later, I was to apply for college, and I applied to Juilliard. Pops got angry and accused me of being a failure, for bringing shame to the family. He said I was good for nothing and I wasn't going to get anywhere in life. I didn't argue back, I didn't curse him, I just silently gathered my things and left for New York, I didn't look back once."

                                                                ~~~

Viraat looked down at his shoes, he'd never told his story to anyone. Apart from Barney, who was Grandpas friend, nobody knew why he was alone, living in an expensive house in the Upper East. "Is that why you said your car was a gift? You bought it with their money." 

He looked at her upon hearing her voice. "No that's actually a different story. What happened was one morning I got a call from one of the Range Rover showrooms asking me to come in. When I asked why, they said it was important and that I should be there as soon as possible. I arrived there to find that somebody bought the car and said for it to be delivered to me. But they didn't know my contact details apart from my name. So the manager said he'd find out for him and call me to come in. I wouldn't take it at first because I didn't know about it, but the manager insisted and said it was bought for me. I asked who paid for the car; they said the buyer asked to keep his identity hidden. By then I realised it was my brother cause only he knew how badly I wanted a Range. We would spend hours customising our dream cars, planning journeys together, an American tour. The car is precious to me because it's the only thing I have left connected to my brother. Its how I feel close to him."

"Thank you," she said finally after moments of silence. "What for?" Maanvi stopped him from swinging, and took his other hand in hers, "For sharing your story with me." They both got up still holding hands, "It's okay, one day I hope to become trustworthy enough for you to accept me as your friend so you can tell me your story too." She smiled at him, "Who said I haven't already accepted you as my friend?" 

She watched his gloomy eyes suddenly sparkle, "Really!" "Why? Do you not want to be friends?" she teased him. "No, I mean yes, I mean, eghhh." She took both her hands out of his, "So officially friends," and put one in front of her. "Officially friends," he shook her hand.

                                                                ~~~

They were standing outside a door. "What's this?" Maanvi asked. "Oh, it's a lift." She smacked his arm. "Oww, how come you always hit my arm. And what did I do now," he grumbled rubbing his arm. "Are you serious?? All this time there was a lift and we took the stairs. Up four bloody floors!!" He shrugged, "I forgot." "How did you forget there's a lift in your own house?!" "Building with rooms," he corrected her. The lift doors opened and they got in, he pressed the B button for basement. "You're such a Chep sometimes!" "What can I say, someone lovingly named me that, I have to live up to it."

She expected the basement to be another lounge, but when the lift doors opened she was in awe. The entire room was painted in an indigo blue colour, with a massive pool in the centre, indigo lights lit up the room, along with flickering candles which bordered the sides of the pool. Never had she ever had the desire to swim so badly, as she did now. 

"Like it?", he was dangerously close to her, so close she could feel his warm breath tickle her ears causing her to flinch. "Love it more like." She tried her hardest not to but her voice still wavered from his closeness. He moved away from her, clearly unknown to the effect he was having on her, and pointed towards the gym. She composed herself, nodding at what he was saying, but there was only one question which occupied her mind. 'What the hell just happened?'

Thanks for reading:)

- Ava