Part 9
Sudhir opens the door after some time. He sees Priya
standing there with tear filled, apologetic and hopeful eyes staring back at
him through the gate.
Priya:
Papa please listen to me. Papa I miss you, I need your help.
Tightly gripping the dreadful gate that taunted her by
acting effectively as a barrier between her sorrows and happiness, she
continues to plea to her dad to let her in. Afraid that he might close the door
like last time, she begins to plea faster saying all that she has to say in one
breath. Sudhir turns his face away listening to her daughter's
desperate pleas. He does nothing just stares away knowing very well that her constant
pleading with those big, moist, painful eyes will melt his heart in an instant.
Seeing him stand there like a statue sent a cold shudder through her heart as
it shivered, losing hope for the first time since all this had happened.
Priya:
Papa I am going. I love you papa...this is the first time that you have turned
your back to me, your Priya.
He shuts his eyes tight hearing her shaky voice but remains
frozen. She turns around to leave when suddenly her ears perk up to the sound
of the gate clicking open. Spinning back around she saw her Papa had moved away
from the door. She enters the apartment shutting the door behind her. Seeing
her father sitting on the sofa she goes near him and kneels down on the floor
in front of him, looking up at him before she rest the side of her head on his
lap.
Priya:
papa please forgive me⦠I know that
even though it was not my intention, I have hurt everyone so much. Especially
you! You have always been there in my life as a friend and I didn't
even bother to get your opinion before I made the biggest decision of my life.
I want to rectify my mistake, I can't see everyone
in pain on my account or anyone's for that
matter and you know this Papa!
She looks up at Sudhir who is sitting on the sofa, gripping
the edge of it with both his hands and looking in the direction away from
Priya. Priya shakes his legs and pleads, his body shakes with her action but
his mind is firm and his emotions remains stagnant. She gets up and sits on the
sofa right in front of his gaze. One glance at her face, drenched with tears
and her eyes overflowing with remorse leaves him helpless. He shuts his eyes
tight not ready to comply too her pleas and give in to her justifications.
Priya (her
voice rattling due to her convulsive crying): Papa please I am your baby girl, your daughter, your friend, I am
your Priya. Don't you recognize
me? Don't
you love me? Why aren't you looking at
me Papa? Do you hate me so much that you can't even listen to
why I did what I did?
Sudhir (finally
he spoke up, startling her): Baas
Priya!!! (he paused, opened his eyes, she is confused with where this is going,
his body language and his words did not match) I am sorryβ¦
All this is my fault, there must be something lacking in my love or in the
trust in our relationship that caused you to take such a drastic decision. I am
such an unfit father that I could not do anything for you. That's
why my Priya, my beti, daddy's little angel
couldn't confide in me with her troubles.
Priya: Papa
don't
say such things, it is not like that!! I trust you completely.
Sudhir: than
why Priya?? Why didn't you tell me
that you were alive? The Priya I knew would come running to her Papa with each
of her little worries and this Priya sitting in front of me, (he looks at her,
an eyebrow raised, confusion planted in his expression amplified by his
scrunched up forehead) she can't be my Priya.
Priya starts sobbing, her eyes shut tight and her bottom
lip sticking out slightly as she pouts. Sudhir is reminded of her childhood
days when Priya used to cry in that same manner. His heart melts and he just
can't
resist wiping her tears with the palms of his shivering hands. She calms down
feeling his touch, which has always had this soothing effect on her. And as a
reflex, she immerses herself into his embrace, holding him tight as she wept;
he places his one hand on the back of her head patting it gently. He breaks the
hug and gets her to stand up with him.
Sudhir: Priya
look at me. (she continues to look down, her eyes still brimming with tears),
Priyyaaa beta(he says more sternly with a desperately sincere undertone. She
squeezes her nostrils together as she sniffles and looks up at him innocently).
Now that's like my good
girl. (she smiles through her tears. He wipes her cheeks once more). You go to
the washroom and wipe your face and Papa will make some Aadaarak walay chai and
than Priya and her Papa will drink and discuss all tensions away just like old
times. (he smiles)
She freshens up and meets him back in the living room.
Aahhh the smell of the room was enticing to her senses sending her nerves back
in time as she felt the same sensation the same relaxation that would follow
the smell of gaaram gaaram Aadaarak chai! She sat next to her father on the
sofa and she explained everything that happened to her. Everything from her
accident, to her return to the KM with Raina, her decision to depart from KM
giving Ram the opportunity to move forward in life, the news of her pregnancy,
her attempt to contact Ram, the bitter realization that he may have moved on
and her struggles to also move on in life with Pihu being her direction and
motivation. She explained Ram's intrusion in
her life and his decision to take Pihu away from her, which lead to the
compromise marriage with Rajat so that she could re-enter Mumbai and be with
her daughter. Sudhir listened intently, imagining her daughter struggles and
feeling pride in her sacrifice but when she explained the reason for the
marriage he just had to stop her from delving deeper into the sea of
misunderstandings.
Sudhir: beta
that's
wrong. Your name is cleared; Ram spent his many empty, sleepless nights to
remove the false accusations against you. He wanted you to rest in peace and
that would only be possible if your name was cleared. In this battle he made
night and day into one and his love for you lead him to victory. If you entered
as Priya Kapoor no one would have laid a finger on you. But poor Ram, he is
like the walking dead, his heart beats with no purpose. He's
back to his old habits flirting with death.
This thought saddens Priya immensely but she has seen his
destructive behaviour herself this month. She wonders why Ram told Rajat that
he would have Priya arrested the minute that she steps foot in Mumbai? She
teased the possibility that perhaps Rajat was lying. Discarding this thought
with the acknowledgment of Rajat's helpful
demeanor towards her she began to question whether Ram had lied in order to
prevent Priya from coming to Mumbai for Pihu. She had to ask Rajat whether he
knew about this truth, she had to hear it from him before she would make any
assumptions against him, he has helped her so much these past couple of days..
Her mind could not handle the distress in her heart regarding Ram's
pain at her and Rajat's expense so she
asks her father for some advice. She wonders what she has to do in order to
make Ram realize that she has not moved on either and that her and Rajat were
just friends, good friends.
Sudhir: Priya
just be honest with Ram, he deserves your honesty. Stop hurting yourself to
protect people; you have to live your life for your own happiness. Who you
choose to spend this happiness with is your choice. You have a decision to
make, either let go of Rajat and bring Ram back in your life or remain with
Rajat and set Ram free with the truth that your happiness is with someone else.
Whatever your decision is I am with you but Priya remember this decision is not
yours alone, Pihu is also a huge factor.
I would
give all the money in the world to see the genuine smile on your face that day
when you gained your father's confidence. But than again,
after realizing the power of love I would have given all the money in the world
to go back to the five years that we spent together and fill it with love a lot
sooner. That day you must have had a bounce in your step, you had taken your
father's advice and enacted the
decision that brew instantly in your mind the moment you found out that Ram had
fought to acquit you of all criminal charges. Divorce! It was a surprise to me
but it was an even bigger surprise to Ram and the entire Kapoor Family. Ram,
Priya and Rajat; three souls on different paths with different goal but all
fueled but one thing, the only thing that matters in this world, LOVE.
When you
got home from your father's house that evening
determined that your mind wouldn't deter from the decision that
you had made, life threw you another twist. That phone call changed everyone's perspective of viewing the world and viewing the people
around us.
Priya was about to walk to her room with the papers that
had her future inscribed on it. She heard the phone ringing in the hallway.
Looking around she found no one there and putting the papers in her purse she
hesistantly answered the phone.
Priya: hello?
Ayesha
(breathing heavily): help me please. woh sid... kush...
priya:
Ayesha!!! kahan ho tum.?
Ayesha
(crying): di... di.. help me di, sid
before she could finish the phone was abruptly
disconnected. she ran into shipra's room, for sure she would know about
Ayesha's schedule.
priya
(barging into shipra's room who was having coffee with KK and Dadi): Ma...
Ma...
shipra
(gets up and snakes towards her to push her out of the room and slam the door
on her face): Ma? only my daughter can call me Ma. with what right are you
calling me Ma?
priya scrunches her forhead and shuts her eyes for a quick
second to digest her mother's arrogant response with the complete disregard of
the potentially hazardous situation. KK and dadi stand up in response to
shipra's words and priya's reaction, sensing an argument in the making.
priya:
oh please Ma dont start with me now. What's more important
than you and
me in this moment is Ayesha and Kush's safety. Where are they?
Priya tried to explain the phone call she had answered but
her words just grazed the surface of shipra's ears and bounced back. Shipra
felt that this was priyas way of getting the attention of the family members. She
was almost certain that Priya was jealous of Ayesha's success and therefore she
wanted to disturb her photo shoot with Lemar fashions at Hotel Exquiste and
that's
exactly what she told Priya in front of KK and Dadi. Priya had got the information
she needed, indirectly Shipra had told her Ayesha's
whereabouts. KK's heart trembled upon hearing Priya's words and safeguarding
this uneasiness she requested Soumaya to call Ms. Roy whose sons party Kush was
at. Soumaya did as she was ordered and two things became confirmed in everyones
mind. First thing was that if Kush was fine and enjoying the party than Ayesha
must also be safe. This confirmation lead to the second in their minds, which
was that Priya was indeed lying.
However, Priya knew she wasnt lying. She got the address of
Hotel Exquiste and Ms. Roy's house from the driver who had dropped Kush and
Ayesha to their respective destinations. Clutching her purse tightly and
dialing Ayesha's phone number she headed out of KM to go to Ayesha but before
she could she bumped into Rajat who was just returning to the KM.
Rajat:
I'll call you back Mr. Saxena. (he hung up the call and turned his attention to
a flustered Priya) what happened Priya is everything okay?
Priya (relieved
to see him): no rajat nothing is
okay. I have to go.. Woh ayesha and kush... the hotel and party.
Rajat looked at Priya confused and this hint of confusion
was delaying Priya in her quest to help her sister and nephew.
Priya:
i.. i will explain later i have to go..
Rajat (sensing
something bad was about to happen):
wait tell me where you have to go and i will take you there. on the way there
you will have to explain everything to me a little slowly so that i could make out
what you are saying.
Priya:
okay fine. We have to go to Hotel Exquiste and fast Rajat.
They both ran out of KM and Priya explained the entire
situation to Rajat. Rajat called one of his drivers and told him to go and pick
Kush up from the party and bring him back to KM. Priya kept thinking that she
should call and inform Ram about the phone call but her fingers froze before
she could dial his number. He was angry with her and like the other family
members he might not believe her. After this is all over, she thought, i have
to tell Ram about this and also about my decision.
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