Motherhood

Arjun saw Manya leave the building with Shambhav from the window of his office.

*He couldn't believe that all the pain in this entire world had somehow made its way to his destiny, and now refused to leave his side. How can almighty be so cruel to him: apparently, she was willing to talk to everybody from her past, with him as the sole exception. What exactly was his fault in everything that had panned out? Was it that he had been unaware of what a bitter story fate had planned for them, or perhaps he was actually not good enough for her. He had noticed her smile fade away this morning, after their encounter. He remembered the way her face had straightened, all traces of mirth leaving as soon as they had made eye-contact; her body language betraying nothing. She was not his Minnie anymore- just a statue of pure professionalism. And now, she was smiling wide as Shambhav rambled on and on about something. And the weird part was, despite all the pain he was putting up with, he was still willing to do everything for her. Had she just bothered to ask him once, he would have travelled to the other end of the world to fetch anything she desired; he would have faced any ferocious beast to prove how much courage her love gave him; he would have scaled leagues in the ocean if only she had trusted him enough to stay by his side. But for now, the fact that she was happy, regardless of who she was with, was all he had to console himself. Perhaps, in another timeline, it would have been Arjun whom she would have been walking with, hand-in-hand and smiling like she had stars in her eyes. But in this wretched reality he was condemned to, there were two important tasks that demanded his urgent attention.*

Thinking thus, he dialed Ishaan's number. After a few rings, the call was finally answered. "Thank God, some things really do change," he remarked to himself as a smile spread on his face.

"Hello, how are you?" Ishaan replied from the other side of the phone.

"I am good. How are you?" 

"I am also doing well, buddy! Have you got any updates from her?"

Arjun took a deep breath, stuffing his free hand into his pocket. "Not really, no. But she visited the office today!"

"Really?" He could sense Ishaan's tone pick up at this bit of information. "Why didn't you inform me about this earlier, then?"

"I don't think she still wants to see either of us!" Arjun explained the situation using as few words as he could, but let out a long sigh of resignation towards the end.

"I am sorry Arjun, this is all because of me." Ishaan tried to apologise, but Arjun wouldn't have any of it.

"Don't feel bad, it was nobody's fault. And even if it had been yours, you have already apologized for it. Let's just leave this topic, as we are both just hurting ourselves by discussing this over and over. By the way, I have great news for you: the papers you wanted are done. You can collect them anytime from my office, or if you want me to send them to you, I can do that as well!"

"Oh no no. Thanks for your kindness, but I will collect them from your office itself."

"Okay then, I'll see you when you come by the office. Bye."

"Bye!"

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The very mention of marriage threw Manya off, she didn't even process the entire statement before she started freaking out. She had expected it to be a major problem of sorts, prepared to offer all the help she could- financially or emotionally. Her brain promptly glossed over Vendy's words and only landed at 'married'.

"Wait -What!" A flabbergasted Manya sat across from Vendy, who just smiled enigmatically as Manya rambled on. "You are getting married...when, where, with whom?! And why so suddenly? You do know that your career is at its peak, then how-why? I have too many questions for you Vendy, but before that, I need to calm myself down. So I might need a glass of water, or wine- either is fine to quench my curiosity." She said, laughing, while trying to hide her panic because of this news.

Vendy smiled; she had expected a reaction like this from Manya, but she was still somewhat taken aback. Hadn't she just told her that she was getting married to Ishaan? Handing her a glass of water, she started to speak again, after Manya seemed to settle down a bit.

"Manya, I know that you are shocked by this sudden announcement. But trust me, everything happened so quickly and unexpectedly that I didn't even get a chance to think twice. I am really sorry for my behaviour though, and all the inconvenience caused by me. But can I expect you to forgive me? I am sure if you know the reason behind it, you will forgive both of us-"

"Us?" Manya jumped at the word, as if she had been pinched. "What do you mean by 'forgive us'- whom you are getting married to? Do I know him? Is it someone from our friend group? Tell me?! Tell me everything, now I am getting really impatient to hear everything. As you know, I don't exactly have a lot of friends to gossip with."

It dawned on Vendy all of a sudden that Manya had just regained her past memories only a few days ago. Ishaan had briefed her on the situation, but she wasn't aware that Manya was still having problems in her daily life. Had she known, she would have been more careful to reveal the information. Full of sympathy, she leaned across the table to place her hand over Manya's, and looked into her eyes. She said sincerely "I know, and I always want you to remember that I have considered you as more than my own sister. I just want you to know that I will never do wrong by you, or have never wished for anything wrong to ever happen to you. But if in any scenario, someone happens to portray me as the vamp, will you trust me and look back into the matter; or will you just simply take the narrated facts at face value?"

Manya had been hoping to hear the happy story of her friend getting proposed to, and getting details of how she was planning her wedding. Instead, she was being made to hear something she had no clue about. She frowned and asked, "Why are you talking like you are going to run away, taking all my money and happiness with you!" She laughed, mocking Vendy's inexplicable hesitation and then continued in a sombre tone. "But don't worry, even if you ever plan on doing this, just tell me once. I will give you everything myself, as nothing is more important than your happiness. So don't trust anybody enough to place the statue of your trust in the hands of people who can break anything, anytime. Now enough with this doom and gloom, just tell me- why are you planning to get married so quickly?"

"Because I am planning to be a mother!" Vendy replied, relieved with Manya's answer and with a big smile on her face due to the news. 

As far as Manya had known, Vendy was not in any serious relationship,but the things that had been revealed that day indicated otherwise. Married life...and now, motherhood? It was almost going too fast to catch up with.

"OMG! What! you are pregnant! Girl, are you serious? You already have some explaining to do, and you are adding even more to the list! Tell me everything from the very beginning, but at least tell me the name of the person you are going to marry first!"

"Manya! Listen, please don't freak out after listening to this. Please, promise me."

"What do you mean? Why would I freak out after listening to the name of the person? You are not getting married to a mafia leader or don, are you?"

"No, but-"

"What but? Why would I be freaking out, then, instead of being happy for you? I am a mature adult, who doesn't exactly freak out after every new thing she hears or looks at. You know what-"

Vendy couldn't take the feeling of guilt and deceit, of keeping Manya in the dark even after her fragile mental state. She blurted out, spurred by her feeling of betrayal, "I am getting married to ISHAAN!"

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