To read the first part of this story click here.
"Would
you like to have some desert, Maam?"
the waiter pitched in and asked Nina
who was trying to stuff the large rumali roti that she had ordered. Jatin
slurped the last spoon of the soup and stared at Nina trying to connect to her.
They were sitting opposite to each other in a cozy restaurant with extravagant
interiors for the fifth time and yet there was nothing romantic about the
couple.
Their
parents had introduced them a month ago
during a family function and Jatin had
wished that time could have stood still the minute he had seen her. He knew
she was the one for him. In
the past one month, Jatin had tried his level best to make his way into her
heart. Like every newly engaged couples, he sent her flowers and tried to make
each moment special when she was around.
It
wasn't the same for Nina. She barely responded to Jatin. He noticed her
never-to-bother attitude and tried to break through the walls she had securely
built around her. However, all he received in return was her mere,
"hmmm" and "Umms" to whatever he spoke. Nina
was engrossed in her thoughts even when she was surrounded by a large crowd of friends. Ever since
the morning she was defeated in love
and her trust was broken, she never thought
of getting back to her normal life.
The
day she had met Sunaina, she couldn't hold herself from confronting Vikram
about it, who on the other end replied very casually, "You never asked me
if I was married or not Nina"
"Then
why did you ask me to move in with you, Vikram", Nina retorted.
"I
asked you to move in till Sunaina could come back. Don't tell me you wanted to
move in forever?" Vikram chuckled. Vikram's
careless attitude and nonchalant replies made it palpable that she had fallen
prey to a notorious man who was never going to be bothered about her feelings.
For days she pleaded with her manager to transfer her so she could be out of
Vikram's sight, but all her attempts were futile. With her concentration
completely lost, she began to perform poorly. Her mentor was no longer by her
side to support her. With her diminishing performance, she was among the lot
that was laid off by the company and given the pink slip.
Over
the past two months, Nina, who had found her happiness outside the streets of
Valsad was back home trying to recover from the wild heart ache. She was
slapped by her father when she mentioned about Vikram, who was the reason why
she did not want to get married. With no support from her family, she had to
give in to the idea of getting married to Jatin.
The
snares of the past hovered her present, which she couldn't make peace with. She
knew she was playing with Jatin's life but the options before her were meager.
She managed to make her way back to Pune with an urge to find a new job and get
married to Jatin.
That
evening at dinner as Jatin sat engrossed
in her beauty, Nina was unaware of her feelings. She wasn't sure if she would
fall in love a second time. Her life had taken a swing and she didn't know
where she was heading.
Deciding that she should find her way out of the mess,
she got up. "Jatin,
please wait here till I get back", Nina stormed out of the restaurant and
caught a taxi. Minutes later she was
back to the restaurant with a woman accompanying her. Jatin
watched Nina enter the hotel and waited for her to come towards him. Instead,
she moved her footsteps in a fast pace and walked
to the opposite table.
"What
a surprise, Vikram?" Nina began. Vikram sat with a woman holding her hand
in a loving manner. On noticing her, he immediately let go off the woman's hand
and began to introduce his counterpart, when the other lady who had followed Nina from the taxi came to light.
It was Sunaina.
"Is
she the next female who is supposed to move in with you for a while,
Vikram", Nina's confidence knew no end.
She
turned to the woman seated at the table, "Well, I am sure Vikram wouldn't
have told you about his beautiful wife Sunaina", Nina pointed out to
Sunaina which left the woman who was seated dumbfound.
Turning
to Sunaina, she spoke, "Oops,
Sunaina, I will do injustice if I do not correct Vikram's introduction about me,
I am Nina, Vikram's ex-girlfriend"
Having
said this, she stormed outside the hotel leaving the crowd perplexed and Jatin clueless. A while ago, she had heard a
familiar voice when she was seated with Jatin. On verifying if it
really was Vikram, she left the hotel, deciding to teach Vikram a lesson. With
her anger finally vented out, she felt relieved. Standing outside the
restaurant, she wasn't scared about the world anymore.
She wasn't scared if
Jatin would accept her or not. She had finally broken through the shackles and
risen above. Reminiscing every minute of the evening as she walked back home,
she realized that her confidence was back and she could face the world without
any guilt. The
heart that was crushed and crackled had finally become strong and powerful. Nina knew that she could fall in love
again.
She had found her victory in her defeat. Silencing her qualms, she walked back home
cheerful and regaining her confidence which she had built almost a year ago
when she had walked out of the streets of Valsad.
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