Ep. 9 Aahil's Past

Sitting on one of the benches at the railway station, Aahil started crying holding his face in his hand, his heart clenched with pain as her mother’s heartbroken face appeared in the back of his mind and he recalled, how he used to live happily with his both parents once upon a time.

FLASHBACK

“What are you doing, Ammi?” Aahil asked his mother, who was busy packing food in the lunch box.

“Today is your Baba’s birthday, so I have made his favourite food, Al Harees. Let’s go and surprise him in the office.” Aahil’s mother, Aamna, replied with a beautiful smile playing on her lips.

A ten-year-old Aahil clapped his hands in excitement, “Yay, we all will have lunch together today.” Aahil exclaimed as they could hardly sit together for lunches and Aamna ruffled his hair.

“Let’s go.” Aamna held Aahil’s hand, and they exited from their mansion. After forty minutes of driving, the driver stopped the car outside the massive building. Aamna and Aahil entered inside the building and no one stopped them because she was the wife of the President. They both entered the elevator and reached the top floor of the building where her husband’s cabin was situated.

“Aahil, be quiet, okay. We will surprise him.” Aamna whispered and Aahil quickly put a finger on his lips but when Aamna slowly opened the door of the cabin to surprise her husband, the scene inside the room left her shocked. Aamna stilled in her place leaving the doorknob, her eyes burned as she found the secretary hovering over her husband and he was holding her by the waist.

Aamna took two three steps back, her heart picked a race, and she slightly shivered. Aahil watched her confused, and then he tried to barge in but Aamna yanked his arm back and dragged Aahil out of his father’s office and later out of his father’s life.

FLASHBACK ENDS

A billionaire’s son became poor in a blink of an eye. The mother-son duo left Dubai the same day and came back to India. Aamna didn’t even try to contact anyone from her family and cut all the cords with her relatives that could build a bridge for Aahil’s father to reach them as she was scared that he will use money and power to take Aahil away.

She started working in a local tailoring shop to support Aahil’s education and Aahil too helped his mother by making dress designs on paper so she can show customers new designs for their dresses, and it turned out that customers loved his designs, and that’s when Aahil decided to become a fashion designer in the future.

He wished to open India’s best dress designing studio and gift it to his mother, who worked tirelessly to support his education and two times meal, but unfortunately, his mother suffered a massive heart attack that led to her untimely death.

The last words Aamna said to Aahil on her deathbed were, “Never deceive the girl who loves you. Your heart should belong to her. You have seen your mother breaking down every night because of your father. You have seen my pain and suffering. I hope I have raised a gentleman. Never leave Meera, do whatever you need to do to make your story successful. And last, if you ever meet your father, tell him I forgive him because today I have realized, no matter how much I try, I still cannot unlove him.”

Aahil’s life drastically changed when his mother died in front of his eyes, it took him months to finally bury the pain in his heart but the hollowness of his life didn’t go away and then one day, he got a call from an international number.

He received the call, hoping for a selection for an internship in international studios, but it was his father’s call. He wanted to meet him, but Aahil refused and blocked his number.

Aahil thought his father will never disturb him again, but he was wrong as he still receives calls from the new international numbers and hear his pleading voice.

A loud siren of the train broke Aahil’s stream of thoughts and he startled, looking up at the approaching train. He removed tears from the corner of his eyes and walked out of the railway station, controlling his emotions. He entered the driver’s seat of his car and started the engine, heading towards his apartment.

Aahil was driving the car on the empty secluded road but after a few minutes, a sports car suddenly come out of nowhere and bumped into his car from behind.

Aahil looked in the side mirror and spotted a black sports car. For a moment, he felt that the car accidentally bumped into his car, but the black sports car banged into him again.

Now, Aahil was sure that the sports car was doing it deliberately, so he increased his car’s speed and after a few seconds when he looked at the side mirror again, he noticed a white Mercedes has taken over that black sports car and come behind Aahil’s car.

He could see that the black sports car was trying to take over the white Mercedes, but the white Mercedes wasn’t giving him any chance and Aahil felt like the white Mercedes was shielding him from the attacks of the black car.

Aahil wanted to stop the car and confront them, but he didn’t do it because he was not sure who was behind him. So he increased the car’s speed and left that place as soon as he can.

He reached his small apartment after an hour of driving and closed the door from inside, sighing in relief. He spotted Aman sitting leisurely on the beanbag watching a movie on the laptop with his headphones on.

“Hey bro, finally you are back. I was kinda getting bored here.” Aman said in a loud pitch glancing at him but Aahil, without a word, moved toward the kitchen and bottoms up a glass of water.

“What happened, Aahil? Why are you sweating? Is Meera ok?” Aman asked, removing his headphones.

Aahil walked to where Aman sitting, wiping sweat off his face, and took another beanbag beside him. “She is fine! But something happened today.” He looked confused, recalling the past events.

“What happened, dude?” Aman asked.

“I am not sure whether I should exaggerate it, but someone tried causing my accident. A black sports car deliberately hit my car from behind, twice!! I don’t know, maybe it was just an accident and I am thinking too much about it.” Aahil said. “I don’t have any enemy,”

Aman’s entire demeanour changed suddenly. “I don’t think it’s just a mere accident, especially when you are mentioning that car tried to hit you twice. See this message.” Aman said, pushing his mobile in Aahil’s direction. “I got this last night.”

“LIVE YOUR EACH DAY LIKE IT’S YOUR LAST DAY BECAUSE YOUR DAYS ARE GOING TO END SOON”

A chill ran down in Aahil’s spine as he read the message. “Moron, what the fuck is this? You received this text last night, and you didn’t bother to tell me?” He nearly shouted at Aman.

“I seriously thought it’s some kind of prank or something, but now I know this is serious. Someone is behind us.” Aman replied and they both stared at each other for a few seconds, contemplating their next move.

“Let’s file a complaint.” They said in unison.

***

“I’ve reached home safely,” Meera dropped a message to Aahil and opened her dear diary to write about her feelings.

Dear Diary,

“I am home today after six months. Well, calling this house home is like making fun of the word. My mom is always busy with her friends and kitty parties and my dad is always busy with his business and foreign tours. They don’t even take some time out from their busy schedule to spend with us and I am okay…. honestly okay, as my heart has stopped craving for their love and attention, but I feel pity for my sister.” Meera wrote in her diary and gazed at the starry night outside her window.

“I and my younger sister Piya were always each other’s family. We both grew up playing with guards and maids, but then two years back, I left Piya alone to complete my higher studies and met Aahil in college. I fell in love with his caring personality and when I met his mother, I felt his mother’s presence for the first time in my life. She was so sweet, warm, and welcoming that she didn’t let me feel like an outsider.” Meera wrote in her diary.

“That’s why I made Piya meet Aamna aunty and, as expected, she also started loving Aahil’s mother and since then she has been pestering me to marry Aahil, and pleading me to take her with me as a dowry. I laughed so hard when I heard her dowry part for the first time but later realized that she was not happy in this house with our parents. She is suffocating in this big mansion and looking for a chance to escape.”

“I wish everything goes as I and Aahil have planned. May we both excel in our career and convince my parents to approve of our relationship. I wish everything falls into place and I take my sister away from this haunting, silent mansion.”

Meera closed her diary when she heard some noise outside. She stood up from her desk and kept her diary in her closet. She stepped out of her room and saw her parents walking in through the entrance of the house, assisted by their servants. They watched Meera standing near the staircase upstairs but just smiled walking into their room without exchanging any words with her.

Meera was accustomed to such greeting, but she felt bad. She shook her head, and turned to go back into her room, when she heard Piya’s voice.

“You bothered yourself to come out of your room to greet them, di (sister)? Don’t you know how they are? They don’t care about us, they only care about their damn business.” Piya said, rolling her eyes.

“Piya, they are our parents and we must respect them. Maybe they are not the way we want them but still, they deserve respect. Anyway, Let’s go to bed. It’s getting late.” Meera said, and they both moved to their respective rooms.

***

Next day,

“Good morning mom, dad,” Meera said as she sat next to her father on the dining table.

“Good morning, dear!” Reeva, Meera’s mother, answered sweetly but as usual, her dad was busy with the newspaper and ignored her greeting.

Meera started eating her breakfast, and Piya also joined them, giving school bag to the driver. All four of them were busy eating when Meera’s father, Abhinav, grabbed their attention.

“Meera, as your studies have been completed now, so I thought it’s a perfect time for you to get married.” He said in a domineering voice and it sounded more like an order to Meera. Meera’s heart skipped a beat, but she quickly composed herself and focused back on her father.

“A very good friend of mine has sent a proposal for you. The family is good, his son is handsome and well mannered. I already like him and he is going to take over his father’s company soon. He is the sole successor of the entire empire. If you want, I can arrange your meeting with him.” Abhinav said and looked at Meera for a reply.

Meera gulped in nervousness, and her body began trembling, but Riya held her hand under the table. “I have to!! I have to do this for my love. You can do this Meera. It’s time to confess!!” She motivated herself and looked back at his father, who was waiting for her reply.

“Dad, I don’t want to marry him or anybody else, I…I have… I have someone in my life and I love him.” Meera stammered while saying the last part and looked down, shutting her eyes tightly.

After a few moments of complete silence, Abhinav spoke up, “Okay, if you have already chosen someone for yourself, then I want to meet him. Tell him to come with his family.” He stood up from the head’s chair, wiping his mouth with a napkin when Meera interrupted him again.

“He has no one in his family. His mother died last year and his parents are already divorced, so the father is not in the picture.” Meera said and his father looked at her for a second, knitting his bushy eyebrows and Meera shivered under his intense gaze.

“Okay fine, I want to meet him. Call him on the coming Sunday!” Abhinav left and Reeva picking up her clutch bag followed him out. Piya looked confused about how her father was convinced without an effort, but pushing every thought back in her mind, she congratulated Meera and left for her school.

Everyone left the dining area, but Meera was sitting there dumbfounded. “Was it really that simple? And I spent countless sleepless nights thinking how would I tell them I love someone?” Meera wondered with a broad smile beaming on her face.

***

Present Day,

The train has halted in the middle of the dark forest for more than an hour and the college students were in dilemma hearing the story. “Please tell me, the boy her father selected is not Ritik,” Heena said, she looked at the Ascetic a little distressed while the latter maintained his enthral smile.

“Why do you look so distressed, daughter?” Ascetic asked Heena. “Do you feel you know them?

Heena shook her head but her heart surely skipped the beat as she gazed into the deep blue eyes of the Ascetic.

Ascetic averted his gaze away from Alina. “Someone should go and check why the train is not moving? He looked at one of the boys in Heena’s group and he left to inquire about it.

“Did Ascetic really mean something when he asked Heena if she knows them or was it just one of his tactics to divert the topic?”