Author's Note: Hello! Missed me? No, I still haven't got any offers yet BUT I finally decided to update! Thanks for waiting, I don't really know when my next update will be but I'll try to do it when I can. Enjoy! Oh and BTW, next chapter...all will be revealed! So await with your chai and popcorn! :D
Amicitia, A New BeginningChapter Twenty- Four
Maanvi looked at the driver's mirror, seeing the reflection of her new family waving behind. She smiled as Daboo talked to her about everything that was happening in the district: the gossip of the neighbours, him meeting a girl Sumi. Maanvi simply nodded, not really listening to his conversation, she was still thinking about what had Virat said. As the Palace started to become smaller as they drove out, Maanvi's heart began to pang, as if she was leaving behind something important. Shiv looked behind through the mirror to see Maanvi deep in thoughts. He smiled, understanding her thoughts and rolled his eyes at Daboo's talks.
The car drove into the driveway as Shiv parked it. Pinky and Beeji simply ran towards the car and hugged Maanvi as soon as she got out. "I've missed you so much!" Pinky squeezed Maanvi who was finding it hard to breathe. She struggled and got herself out of her mother's arms, who looked at everyone embarrassed.
"Maanvi, beta." Beeji said as she hugged Maanvi. "How are you?"
"I'm fine Beeji." Maanvi replied as they walked into the house. She entered, looking at the main room in happiness. She missed this place. She missed everyone. After all, this was her maayka's. "Everyone is treating me really well." Maanvi smiled as she looked around. She frowned. Beeji placed her head down, understanding who Maanvi was looking for. "Beeji, where is Papa?" She turned around but couldn't see him.
"Actually..." Pinky spoke. She gulped, not knowing how she should go about this. After all, how do you say to someone that your father hates your husband?
"Maanvi, you must be tired. Go and get freshened up." Beeji spoke hastily, trying to take the pressure off. Maanvi shook her head, frowning again. She didn't know what was there to hide.
"Did something happen?" She turned around to face Daboo. "Daboo, look. You always tell me everything right? So tell me what happened?" He didn't reply. She rolled her eyes in frustration. "You were blubbering about nothing back there in the car, now what happened?!" She shook her head and hastily sighed. "Will someone please tell me what is going on?"
"Maanvi," Shiv spoke. She galloped towards him, encouraging him to speak on. "Uncle wasn't happy with...Virat." He looked away, unable to see his friend's face.
Maanvi sighed, nodding slowly. She had expected this. She had seen the way her father had treated Virat a few days ago, but didn't take no notice. She didn't know it would go this far. She took a deep breath. "Where is he?" She looked at her mother who replied that he was in his room. She nodded, and took a few steps into her parent's room. She needed to tell him that she was happy in her life, and if she was happy than he was to be happy to. No regrets.
"Papa?" She spoke, stepping into the darkened room. She could see a dark figure sitting on the rocking chair, looking back at the back wall. She sighed, turning the switch on. The lights came on with a flick and the room shone. Madan sat rocking in the chair, with a picture frame in his hands. It was of Maanvi when she was younger, hair brown hair just a few inches from her shoulder, her smile was big and wide and her teeth had just started to fall out. She walked quietly towards him.
"Remember this?" He said, indicating to the picture. "It was your first day at school, you were so happy, so excited, so nervous. So many emotions all at once. I had to calm you down to even get you ready for school." He placed his thumb over the glass. "You were so young then. You needed me every single way through. You wouldn't even do anything without telling me. Nothing. Now what happened? When did you get so big? When did you grow up?" His voice faded gradually.
Maanvi tried to stop the tears from falling through but one escaped. She sniffed as she knelt down and sat next to her father's leg. "Papa..." He closed his eyes, saddened that his beloved daughter was sitting in front of him, bawling her eyes out. He looked at the picture and then back at Maanvi before placing the frame back and caressing her hair as she cried. "I'm sorry." She whispered. He soothed her before sitting in complete silence. Just the two of them.
"Are you happy with him?" He spoke.
Maanvi looked up and nodded. "Yes, Papa."
He nodded. "Then fine." He smiled slightly. "If you're happy then I'm happy. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for acting like this. I'm sorry for being rude to...Virat." He eventually said.
"Papa what you did was acceptable. Everything happened at once and you did what any father would do." She smiled. She stood up and hugged her father. The father and daughter spent a few minutes reminiscing about their sweet past. He was guilty after seeing his daughter cry that what a great blunder he had made. It wasn't about him, nor how he felt but how his daughter felt, that was the bigger thought. Madan sighed, understanding that now it wasn't about the little, cheeky grinned girl that once sat listening to his stories on his lap, but the beautiful, mature woman that stood in her married avatar in front of him. He was proud of her. Extremely proud.
Virat walked up and down his room, wondering what to do. It was nearing night and the sky had started to turn darker. He sighed, looking at the newly made bed. He could smell her scent in this very room. Where she had slept, where she had changed. He was missing her, feeling extremely anxious. The more he was with her, the more he wanted to be with her. It was as if spending time apart was hurting him. His heart began to hurt as he became restless. He opened the drawers and took out the packet of cigarettes before staring at it. He remembered the time Maanvi had taken it off him, the way she wouldn't let him smoke. He smiled before chucking the packet into the bin with no second thoughts. He was addicted to these drugs, back when Maya had been with him. It wasn't right for a young man to not drink nor smoke and as soon as he had started to date her, he had began to fall into the popular clique. There were times when he would come home drunk, completely out of conscious and other times he would find himself waking up in an unknown place. He had managed to get rid of his alcoholic habits especially since a friend had died of liver poisoning, yet he still couldn't get rid of his smoking habits. It was addictive. He never really had any reason to stop...until now.
He sighed, plopping onto the bed and placed his head into his hand. He was missing her too much. "Maanvi, what must you be doing now?" He sighed, shaking his head. "Why am I thinking about her right now?" He rolled his eyes before falling back, placing his head onto the pillow. He closed his eyes before opening them again. He smiled as he saw Maanvi sleeping besides him. He looked at her softly breathing, her hair falling onto her face. He watched in awe, gulping as he slowly moved her hair back, touching her silky skin with the tips of his fingers. He leaned up, making sure he doesn't wake her up. She moved slightly and he quickly turned away. Making sure that it was safe, he turned around to see the bed was empty. He sat up quickly, wondering where she has gone. Realising that he had been dreaming he rolled his eyes, smiling. "This Maanvi will be the death of me." He said to himself. "Looks like I have to meet her, some way or another."
"Virenji," Jeevika brushed her hair as she got ready for bed. She looked over at her husband who had looked back. "When will the media meeting be at?" She thought about Maanvi and how she might be knowing that in a few days the whole of Chandrilasia will know about her marriage to the younger Prince.
"Badi Ma has said that as soon as Maanvi comes back tomorrow, the secretary's and advisor will be accompanying us to the Palace gardens. There we'll get Media involved and introduce Maanvi to them." He smiled, replying.
"Hm," She stared at him in deep thought. "Do you think she'll be accepted?"
"If you got accepted then I'm 100% sure she'll be too. After all, you too are behna's, though with no khoon ka rishta." He joked.
She pulled a face. "Yuck Virenji, how bad are your jokes. And besides, Maanvi and I are sisters." She stuck her tongue at him. "Do you remember when it was our time? And I left for my pag phera?"
He nodded, hugging her from behind. "Of course, you had to leave to Rishania after our wedding but when you had to come back, you were stopped because of people who wanted to see you." She smiled and laughed slightly. "You couldn't come for the next week because of this block. I was so upset." He whispered. She blushed, remembering each and every moment. Viren would always call her, wanting to meet her but couldn't because of his duty and the fact that at that time, many Chandrilasian's and Rishanian's would be out waiting to catch a glimpse at the future Queen. He smiled. "By the way, do you think Virat would be able to wait?"
"Meaning?"
"Well, If I couldn't wait for my wife would Virat be as restless as I was?" He thought.
She shook her head. "Virat isn't as bad as you Virenji!" She smiled. "Stop teasing my devar!"
He gasped in mockery. "Moi? Teasing? No!" He smiled before pulling her towards him and looking into her deep brown eyes. "I'm not like that. And besides I was just saying."
"There is a difference between you and my devar. You had to wait a week and he has only a night. Virat will be fine, unlike you."
He gasped again, "Today is simply not my day. Besides, I was thinking why not take our phera's again? Let's get married again."
Jeevika looked at her husband, trying to hide a smile. "So, I can go back to Rishania for my pag phera and you can wait for a week?" She mocked.
"NO!" He shook his head frantically as Jeevika laughed. He pulled a face at her laughter before falling into a fit of giggles himself.
Virat waited until the Palace became dead quiet. There was always some servants hanging around, so he had to make sure he was extremely careful not to come in front of them. He crept towards the back, past the servants quarter's to the back exit. It meant that there was a less of a chance of getting caught: not that anyone would question him, it was merely a question of embarrassment if his brother finds out. He tiptoed near the door and crept out. Once outside, Virat made sure that there was no guards around. Normally, there was only one or two guards at night guarding the Palace as opposed to the six or seven during the day. He looked over the wall and noticed the guard talking on his phone. Virat hissed, and waited until the guard had turned around before running to make a clean getaway. He smiled, glad that he had escaped. It wasn't the first time he had done this, in fact when he was younger, he would run away from the Palace at night and walk along the Chandrilasian streets. Back then he wasn't so noticeable and would blend in with the few children on the streets. It was his only way of having a normal life. A dual life. In the day he was Prince Virat Singh Vadhera and at night, he became Virat. Just Virat.
There was usually no one around the Palace grounds at this time of the night, and he was feeling pretty safe. He couldn't get his car for obvious reasons and decided to get a lift. He walked far away from the Palace before entering the grounds where taxi's waited. These people were from the poorer villages and would come here to make some money, they were usually people who hadn't seen the Royal family before and it meant that they wouldn't recognise him. After all, it was mainly the younger generation that recognised him as he didn't have the want to attend Royal events.
"Bhai, can I get a taxi?" He called out.
A man came out nodding. "Give me two minutes, I'll be back soon." Virat nodded before rubbing his hands together to create warmth. He looked around the place, the cold air making it's way through. He shivered. He felt someone tapping on his back. He turned around to see an elderly woman, her face slightly covered in a ragged veil standing in front of him. She passed him a small glass of hot tea, her wrinkly hands shaking.
"Garam chai," She gave the cup to him without waiting for a reply. Virat smiled in appreciation before reaching out into his pockets and getting out some crisp notes of money. She shook her head as he placed it towards her. "God bless you beta. May you be safe always. Always." She said hurriedly, a slight apprehension on her face. He wondered what she was talking about before shaking off the thought as the taxi driver came back.
The car journey came to a quick end as Virat made sure that the man stopped a few streets away from Maanvi's. It would seem peculiar if her family members saw him arriving at night. He paid the man and stepped out before making his way to her house. He had been through this way before, back when he had first seen her. The day he had spent the night at her house. He smiled, climbing the very same tree that he had climbed. He peered over the window, sure that it was her window. He knocked. Once. Twice. Thrice. Before frowning. "Where was she?" He thought. He was about to go down when the window opened and he leaped in. Suddenly, he was introduced to the hard bashing of wood as he fell down and the light coming on. He hissed, trying to keep quiet before rubbing his shoulders.
"Virat?!" Maanvi gasped as she threw the wooden piece out and ran towards him. She went bright red, knowing that the intruder that she thought was there was none other than her husband! She helped him up. "Virat what are you doing here?" She spoke. He smiled, trying not to let the pain hurt too much. He rubbed his shoulders.
"I wanted to see you but I didn't know I'd get this much of a welcome." He tried to smile before rubbing his shoulders in pain.
She looked at him and bit her lip. "Is it hurting too much?"
He looked at worrying and shook his head. "No, it's okay. It's just..." Maanvi didn't let him finish his sentence and turned him around to look at his back. She peered through his white t-shirt and noticed a slight bruised forming. She gasped, cursing herself for hitting that hard.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't know you would be here." She quickly replied before running to her drawers and getting out some antiseptic cream.
"Maanvi...it's fine." Virat tried to say but Maanvi wouldn't have none of it. She ordered him to take his shirt off. He stood wondering what to do before holding the sides of his top and pulling it over his head. Maanvi watched as he did, taking a glance at his toned body. She blushed, realising that she had been looking a bit too long and looked away. He noticed her awkwardness and turned around and sat on the bed so that she could apply the cream. He hissed as the cold cream touched his bruised shoulder before it began to soothe down and Virat could feel her hands over his body. He gulped as she applied the cream, the pain going away. He turned around once she was done and he looked at her. "Thanks." He smiled genuinely.
She nodded, appreciating it. "So, why are you here? Might I add, again?" She crossed her arm against her chest and waited for him to speak.
"I...er..." He stuttered. He blushed. "I was missing you." He looked away. Maanvi nodded, smiling. "I mean, not that it was important. I was just bored and thought what better way to spend the night than with you?" He realised the double meaning of his words. "I mean..." He looked away.
"I know what you mean." She nodded. "Virat?" He looked at her. "What were you saying before? Before I left? What game was Maya playing?" He stared deep in thoughts.
He shook his head. "You must be tired, I'm sorry for disturbing you." He began to wake away but Maanvi held his hands.
"Virat. Tell me." She whispered.
He stared into those innocent eyes and melted. He knew that he had to tell her, this was the only way he'll ever be able to get rid of his past, his demons.
This was where he belonged.
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