2. Harsh

"Come on man. Pass him the damn ball." He said.

"Pass."

"Fuck man what the heck are you doing?"

"Pass the fucking ball."

Were the other voices that could be heard on the ground?

The whistle sound was their cue for the break. When they were back in the stands. Everyone was upset with Daksh who was not passing the ball to any of the teammates on the ground and they had a feeling that Daksh was betraying them.

"Fuck bro.. don't you know how to pass a fucking ball or are you not playing from our side." He questioned angrily, clenching his jaw.

"N. no.. no. I... I am playing.. playing from.. y.. your side only." stuttered Daksh. As soon as he spoke these words a punch landed on his face. Looking for the source of it, Daksh lifted his face.

"First, you don't pass the ball to any of us on the ground. Then, you have the balls to fucking lie," he said grinding his jaw, his face full of fury.

And soon another punch landed on his face followed by more.

"He won't step his foot on the ground. He is not part of our team from now on. Let him play for those fuckers only." He spat fuming and left.

Soon, they were back on the ground. With a score of 12-16 and with 2 minutes and 30 seconds in hand. The target was hard to achieve but not impossible. With the cutthroat competition, they finally won the match with a score of 17-16.

Everybody was cheerful and excited after winning their game.

The only reason for their triumph was their caption Harsh Solanki who works as CEO of his company. He is an elegant, good-looking man with long silky black hair, and a well-groomed beard standing 6 feet tall. He occasionally plays football at district matches that are held in his locality.

"Congratulations guys.. it was indeed a good game. We gave those fuckers a hard time. Now, I will head home. Maa must be waiting for me for dinner." he said while dabbing his face with a towel.

"Come on captain. Let's go out for drinks to celebrate." spoke one of his teammates.

"Nope, not today. Can't keep Maa waiting for too long. I promised to have dinner with her today." he said.

Today after numerous days he promised his mother to have dinner with them and he didn't want to upset her by being late.

"Let him go guys. Aunty will already be very upset seeing his busted knuckles and him being late." Shouted his best friend, pointing his forefinger towards his hands and then joining both his hands and praying for his best friend.

"When he was late last time, Aunty was fuming in anger and he came to my house for the night. Don't stop him. Let him go." He said while teasing him.

This is his best friend Riansh Kapoor. They have been inseparable since childhood. He owns his firm and they sometimes work together as business associates in some business partnerships.

He headed out from the ground towards the parking lot. Throwing his duffel bag in the back seat of the car he drove towards his home.

As soon as he entered he came across his mother Mrs. Tanisha Solanki standing with her hands on her hips waiting for him, infuriated. She is a sweet woman, who loves her son unconditionally.

"Sorry maa. I know I am late and I am sorry but I promise this won't happen again. Now, please serve me dinner. I am famished." he pleaded to his mother, hugging her.

"This is the same thing you always say when you are late. This always happens. You never come on time either because of your business meetings, your gym or your football. I know you very well to know what you are trying to do. Why can't you talk to your father once? You are punishing me as well. Forget that incident for me." Huffed his mother, worrying for her son. Only she knew how she was holding back her tears recalling those memories and seeing her son like this pierced her heart.

"Maa please drop it. I am gonna go and get freshened up, you serve dinner." He shouted while climbing the stairs leading towards his room.

Sighing she went towards the kitchen, reheated, and served food on his plate. She had no other choice.

Will he ever forgive his father? Will he always be like this? Will they ever get back to being what they were?

All these thoughts were disturbing her.

In his room, discarding all his clothes Harsh stepped into his shower all this while mulling over her mother's words.

How can I forget that? How can I forgive him? Is it so easy to forgive someone when their words and actions still haunt you? Will I ever be able to forget those hurtful memories he has given to me?

Not getting any answer to his inner turmoil as always, he came out of the shower. Wearing his t-shirt and sweatpants he walked down towards the dining hall.

Taking a seat on a chair, a grin made its way towards his face seeing his favourite moong dal halwa on his plate.

"Maa why do you work so hard? You need to take care of yourself." He mumbled in between relishing his favourite moong dal halwa.

"To see this smile on your face." Whispered his mother while caressing his hair with all the love. Lost in her thoughts The smile which I don't get to see. The smile which you don't smile anymore now. Will I ever get my son back or have I already lost him?

Finishing his dinner, they both headed towards their room.

He is a morning person. He works out, first thing in the morning and after a refreshing bath, he directly heads towards his office.

When he was about to leave, his mother called him halting him in his tracks.

"Beta come to have breakfast with us." Called his mother.

"Maa I am getting late for the office." He told his mother about to leave again.

"Don't worry your father is not at home. He has gone to one of his friends' houses." She pulled a chair out for him.

"Come na bhai. Join us."

"Yes, beta come have these piping hot paneer parathas. You will love them."

Came other voices.

There it is, his family sitting at the dining table.

His church (paternal uncle) Mr. Tejas Solanki. He works as a legal adviser for his company. Harsh idolizes his approach toward business.

His chachi (wife of paternal uncle) Mrs. Aditi Solanki. She is a beautician. She runs a salon.

His younger brother Harshit Solanki. He is twenty-one and is completing his MBA. He wants to follow in his brother's footsteps and wants to be a successful business tycoon just like him.

His cousins Hanshika Solanki and Hanshik Solanki. Hanshika is a twenty-year-old young girl, doing her graduation. Just like Harshit she also wants to follow in her brother's footsteps and wishes to prevail in the business world.

Hanshik is twenty-four old and is working as a junior associate in a law firm.

His elder sister Mrs. Harshita Arora is now married to her childhood sweetheart and has a 3-year-old daughter Shubhi Arora.

Lastly, his father Mr. Dheeraj Solanki. He doesn't share a great bond with his father because of their past.

"So Bhai, I have got a project in my college where you have to present a company's finances over the last decade. So, I was wondering if I could research this on your company." Inquired his little sister. She was scared of his reaction but asked anyway.

"Come to the office tomorrow at noon. I will help you with all the details you require for this project." Said Harsh while eating a morsel of paratha.

"Maa I am leaving." He said, getting up from his chair. Taking blessings from the elders he left for the office.

"Dekha mera beta kuch bhi nahi kehta tum usse aise hi darate ho." Scolded Tanisha.

("You are scared of my son without any reason.")

Hanshika was still shocked at how her brother agreed to this but was cheerful that she could do this project in her brother's company. She idolises him and working with him on this project is just surreal.

But how can he disagree when all that ever matters to him is his family's happiness? He would do anything to see them happy. Assisting his sister on this project was just too trivial for him.

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Din raat tujhe main dekha karun

Aankhon ki yahi bas chahat hai

Din raat tujhe main dekha karun

Aankhon ki yahi bas chahat hai

Main qaid ho Teri lakiron main

Tere saath hi meri qismat hai