CHAPTER- 7

I apologised to joo-won for what happened,then succeeded in suppressing the Matter as only I,joo-won, do-woon and SEO-joon knows it I asked them not to mention this to anyone.

The concert was also very good.

now we are leaving for udaipur, on a road trip that's why I decided to stop by at my old college campus and meet my friend .

(at the campus)

"so this was your college ",Ron said as we walked towards the entrance.

and I was just walking quietly as I was remembering all the old days ,how I came here,my first friend ,then meeting him, playing with each other ,studying, bunking classes, the old banyan tree under which we used to sit and I used to play guitar, then I started working as playback singer ,and finally dropping out just to follow my dreams.

as we were walking through the garden I saw that old banyan tree ,I walked towards it and just stood under it keeping my hand on its bark.

"it is still there", I said.

"this tree looks very old",rose said.

"yes, it is ,let's go", I said and moved towards reception.

"what happened again ",yae-joon asked to haa-joon.

"how would I know ",then they followed me to the reception.

(at the reception)

"Hy...good afternoon mam!", I said to miss smitha our receptionist.

"yes..how may I help you?",she said without looking up.

"I wanted to meet ankita sachdeva phd last year student",I said, then she suddenly recognised my voice and looked up.

"oh my God,MJ ",she said getting up and then came out of her cabin.

"I can't believe you are here finally after so many years",she said as she hugged me.

I pulled back from the hug and smiled at her.

"then how are you here today, suddenly?",she asked.

"umm....I came here for my concert, and ankita was not picking up my calls so I wanted to meet her",I said.

"ok....Let me see where is she",she said checking class time tables.

"Meera you will have to wait her practicals are going on",she said looking up.

"ok no problem ",I said.

"umm...can I go in ", I asked hesitantly.

"do you have your old campus Id card?",she asked.

"umm....I don't have my ID card ",I said.

"then I am sorry you can't get in",she said.

"ok ...no problem we will wait here", I said

"guys you can go back and sit in the car, I don't know how long will it take",I said looking at them.

" it's fine we will get bored sitting inside, anyways ",he said.

"ok then have a seat", we sat on the benches near the reception area.

after 20 minutes ankita finally came, she went to reception without looking at me.

"Ankita...", I said getting up .

"oh..miss MJ is here",she said.

then I walked towards her.

"I had to you were not picking up my calls",I said smiling at her.

"yeah...sure..,but I wanted to ask something ",she said.

"what...?", I said holding her hand.

"how can you be so shameless, after doing all that you still have guts to meet me?", she said yanking my hand.

"what...are you saying?", I asked confused as hell.

"Miss Meera jai singh, pretend infront of someone else, because I know you very well .so stop this drama of yours ,and leave me and my family alone,We have already suffered a lot because of you ",she said smirking .

"wait what are you saying ?",I asked but I had some idea it was about Aniket and me.

"really...meera well enacted ,now please leave ",

she said joining her hands.

"ankita...I am sorry but..", I said

"don't be, don't be sorry meera...because it will not help anyone, neither it will erase my hatred for you nor it will bring my brother back ,just leave from here or I will do something terrible, which I won't even regret later",she said angrily

"I am sorry ankita ,but believe me I didn't do anything wrong, why will I do something to hurt aniket,I loved him then and I love him now", I said tearing up.

"wow.....,you loved him...,don't ever say that again otherwise people will not believe in love anymore, and don't ever take my brother's name again ,you don't know how much he suffered because of you, do you even remember how depressed he was preparing for entrance examination because he wanted to go to America to be with you,do you even remember whenever you came back he would leave all his work aside and just roam around with you ,even that year when he left us forever, he didn't came to my engagement, and was accompanying you.

and at last you took him away from us forever.

you killed him meera,you killed..",she said.

"no..no..no I didn't kill him", I said crying.

"and you know what, you were not even punished for your crimes because you were not just meera ,you were the superstar meera jai Singh by then and got away from it very easily ",she said crying.

"n..no no listen to me please ....I ",

"shut up ,just shut up.....and leave from here,because this didn't affect you then nor it will now,but do you know my mom is still waiting for her son ,she asks me every day where is he and thousands of questions which I can't answer,....can You tell me how should I tell her to stop waiting for her son who is never going to come back.....huh..tell me!",she yelled at me loudly grabbing everybody's attention.

And I just froze there in shock.

"please stay away from us meera",she said walking away .

"Ankita...listen to me...I really don't remember what happened to me and him on that day but believe me please I didn't do anything .....ankita ....ankita listen to me once please ",I said following her and holding her hand from back.

"leave my hand ",she yanked off my hand almost pushing me and I fell from the stairs infront of reception.

"aaaaah.....", I fell and she just stood there watching me fall.

as I fell Ron reached there without wasting any time .

"meera....are you fine",he asked picking me up.

"are you mad....I've been noticing you for so long and I didn't say anything, but you went too far , I will sue you just wait and watch ",he said to ankita.

"stop..Ron please...",I said.

"oh really.....but before doing that please hide meera somewhere or else she will go to jail before me",she said and walked away.

"you...!",

"stop it Ron please..",I said cutting him in between.

then he took me to our vehicle and made me sit inside. then we left from there.

we were going to udaipur in a minicoach .

I was sitting on the last seat alone.

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we left from Mumbai at two in the afternoon, and it is almost 12 midnight ,everybody was asleep by then just I was awake because I was afraid of my nightmares I decided not to sleep.

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I was getting bored and sleepy so I decided to go infront, I went and sat in the cabin ,and started chatting with driver (north Indians can chat with anyone 😅😅)

"namaste...!",I said

"namaste ..madam",he said

"aren't you going to sleep",he asked curiously.

"umm...yeah I have been asleep whole day so, I can't sleep now",I said.

"hmmm....true , I sleep during days when I have night shifts ",he said driving.

"by the way where are you from ?",he asked.

"well....from rajasthan but my parents moved to Mumbai when I was ten", I said.

"ooh ...even I am from rajasthan, where in rajasthan?",he asked again.

"umm....udaipur ",I said.

"ok..well I am from jodhpur ",he said.

"you know my great grandfather was the chief cook in royal palace of jodhpur, and his grandfather was special man of the king.....",he said and went on nonstop with his stories for next 1 hour.

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"and then king was very impressed that he appointed him as the chief cook",he said

"hmm.."I responded.

"what about your family, and parents ",he asked.

"uhh..my dad is a civil engineer and my mum was a professor ",I said.

"ohhh...what about your grandparents?",he asked.

"umm I never saw my grandma but My grandpa was a archeologist ,he was very interested in old palaces,history,nature and stuff",I said.

"hmmm....I guess he was a nice man ", he said.

" yes ..he was ,whenever I used to visit him during holidays he used to buy me lots of books,and take me on trips to amazing forts and palaces ,he loved me a lot ",I said.

"you are a single child right?",he asked.

"no....I have a younger brother and he is a soldier ",I said.

"wow....soldier, jai hind",he said as he saluted me.

"jai hind ",I saluted him back laughing.

we were talking and suddenly Someone appeared infront of the bus .

"stop...",I shouted then everyone woke up.

then the bus stopped,

"what happened .....?",joo-won said in a sleepy voice.

"I saw someone standing between the road ",I said.

Ron thought I was again hallucinating so he didn't took it seriously.

"believe me guys there was a weirdo standing between the road ",I said.

they didn't believe me. so I asked the driver to testify.

"mohan tell them ,even You saw him right ?",I asked looking towards him.

"madam.....actually...I wasn't paying attention and ...maybe there was someone ",he said .

"you don't have to speak for her just tell us if you saw someone?",yae joon said.

he looked at me and then spoke.

"no sir , I didn't saw anyone ",.

"fine...",I said and opened the door of the bus and got down.

"meera meera wait",Ron said from behind but I just left from there .

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the bus was standing between the lone highway, on both sides of the road there were just forests and bushes, and it was all very dark no sign of life, just the bus's lights were making it bright enough to see around.

I went and stood exactly where I saw him.

"here...he was standing here..",I said as Ron and fred got down .

"ok..meera we believe you now get in please ",they said just to assure me.

then they hopped in I was going to hop on when I heard something from behind but shrugged it off.

Ron asked fred to go and sit at my place and asked me sit beside him, I denied but he ,didn't let me leave.

The bus was driving, and the music system was playing songs .

and sudden that song played on the FM station.

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"tum kyu chale aate ho ..."

"har roz in khwabo me chupke se aa bhi jao",

*****

"oh really who is coming in your dreams every day?",

"someone...",

"wait...wait stop it aniket ",

****

all those flashbacks were again infront of my eyes.

"change the song ", I said to the driver.

"why you don't like KK sir",he asked.

"no I just hate this song so change it,right now",I said getting angry.

"ok madam ,sorry",he said looking through the mirror.

"meera calm down,and sleep now.",Ron said.

"sorry!", I apologised to him then slept leaning on the window side.

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we reached udaipur by next morning at 6 .

and by 7 we were at my old haveli.

we all got down and walked in through the entrance.

"aah....this haveli is as gorgeous as it was back then ",I said stopping a bit.

"wow...meera it's really very huge and beautiful ",they said.

"yup...it is and is very old too",I said .

then we walked by the garden .to the main door of the house.

It was a old style rajasthani architecture house,so it didn't had a door bell just two big iron rings attached to the door.

I knocked on the door using them. but nobody opened the door.

"maharaj ji .....o maharaj ji darwaza kholiye",I called the caretaker and cook of the haveli.

(maharaj ji open the door)

"maharaj ji .....!",

"bindiya.....are koi toh sun lo..",then I called our cleaner bindiya but nobody answered

(bindiya....atleast someone listen to me)

"hugh.. ",I sighed in frustration.

"what happened?....",Ron asked.

"don't know pata nahi kaha chale gaye sab?",I said.

"what ...?",they said confused.

"umm....sorry I don't know where are they both",

I said.

"wait a minute ,come with me",I said.

"where .....",they asked .

"just follow me",I said walking towards the garage.

The garage door was also closed. then I climbed the tree near the door.

"oh meera what are you doing?",fred asked.

"meera come down,you'll hurt yourself ",Ron said.

"don't worry I am quite experienced in climbing trees ,and this is not the first time I am sneaking in ,from here",I said while sitting on one of its branch.

joo-won and others just laughed standing there.

"what..?why would you do that", they asked.

"umm...every Saturday,Sunday nights me and my friends from here used to gather at roof of water tank ,and I used to tell them horror stories ,and we played games ,but my grandfather didn't like them so he asked me to stay away from them",I said then held another branch and jumped in through the ceiling window.

"ss...aah",I said as I hurt my foot.

"what happened are you fine??",ron said panicking.

"yeah....just wait a second I am opening the door", I said.

then opened the door.

"come on in !", I said .

then they all came in.

"oh it's still here",I said looking towards my grandpa's beautiful jeep.

"wow.....meera she is so sexy",haa-joon said.

and joo-won glared at him .

"sorry..?",I said.

"this bike.....wow",he said hugging it.

"thanks ,it is my dad's bike",I said.

"it is just....wow...,will you let me ride it just once", he asked making a cute face.

"ok ,but first let's go in because I don't know where the keys are",I said.

then we entered the haveli through the garage.

their eyes widened as they got in ,and it was obvious because my haveli was as beautiful as a palace beautiful chandelier, big dining table ,huge paintings,and it was extravagantly decorated .complete vintage look.

"wow...",they said looking around.

"wow...meera you never told me it was this beautiful ",Ron said.

and I just smiled embarrassedly.

"are lovie bitiya aap aa gaye",maharaj ji said coming out of his room.

(daughter lovie you arrived?)

"yeah...and nobody opened the door",I said folding my hands.

"woh I was bathing ",he said laughing.

"this long..?", I asked.

"ab ....sorry ",he said.

"ha ha ha it's okay",I said laughing.

"then it's okay",he said relieving a bit.

"oh....and meet my friends, this is Ron,rose,kara.........shi-woo and j..joo-won ",I introduced them.

"lovie bitiya I know them already, and K.THx I love your songs,and I am your big fan",he said smiling shyly like Ron does.

"ooooh. ...I am feeling quite betrayed, you never praised me ,and you are fanboying over them .oh God I am so miserable ",I said.

and they all started laughing.

"thank you sir",Kthx replied in a unison.

"oh don't call me sir please ,call me maharaj ji ",he said again showing all his yellow teeth.

"God I am going from here,after facing this much discrimination ",I said over acting a bit.

"lovie bitiya sorry,I just like their songs but I love yours ",he said.

"tsk....tsk..tsk..tsk hypocrite ", I said teasing

him.

"sorry....",he said tearing up.

"you again started teasing maharaj ji",My mom said grabbing my ear.

"ah..ah..ah mother India leave my ear please...aah",I said.

then she left my ear ,and they all greeted my mom.

"mom,when did you came ?", I asked

"yesterday at night, you will go away in a month or so and I wanted to stay with you for a little longer ",she said making a cute face.

"maa.....",I said then hugged her.

"bindiya, bindiya. ....!",she called our maid.

"she is out of town her husband is sick ",maharaj ji said.

"then maharaj ji show them their rooms",mom said to maharaj ji.

"ji bhabhi ji",he said (yes sister-in-law ).

"come with me...",he said gesturing them through his hands to follow him.

"maharaj ji you forgot me",I said standing behind.

"ji bitiya ",he said turning back.

"don't worry I can go to my room", I said.

maharaj was 50 years old man ,he was very fair and fat at the same time ,he was cute too .

he and his family have been working here even before my dad was born .he used to play with me whenever I used to come here .and took care of me as his little sister but I always acted like his big brother.

my room was downstairs and theirs was on the second floor.

"guys quickly change and come down for breakfast ",my mom said .

then I first went to my grandpa's room greeted him infront of his photoframe.

his room was still the same ,and I realised nothing changed everything is still same but grandpa is not here anymore. I noticed the lifeless dried blue roses in the flower pot.

they were grandpa's favourite.

then I made my exit and went to my room.

I opened my room door and was surprised because that room was beautifully decorated, and every thing was at its place the way I liked,It looked like it was waiting for me all this while.