UBC Day 23 - Email - 21

Priya was working till late that Friday. She had taken a day off because of Navya’s fever and had gotten no time to work the entire day. She finished her work around 12 am, and put her file to attach in her mail and went to check on Navya. Upon finding her sleeping peacefully, she came back and sent the mail across.

Having finished the pending work, Priya stretched on the chair. Sleepless, thanks to a large cup of coffee that she consumed, Priya idled around at social networking sites for a bit. She checked her Facebook, changed a picture there, updated her Linkedin profile and accepted some new requests. She decided to watch a movie online, but before that she planned to open her personal email account and check mails that she hadn’t checked for months.

Priya began to scan through some five hundred plus unread mails. Some Junk, some updates from sites that she had subscribed to, she scrolled further down. Her hands came to a sudden halt. There was a mail from Nitin. It was marked as Reply, and she instantly knew there was more than one.

She launched a search and came across all mails from Nitin.

Mails from the time they dated. Love messages, which they wrote to each other while at work. Then there was that one mail where he had broken up with her. Then there were three emails that were un-read.

Priya shifted in her chair. Fighting back the tears, she opened the oldest.

Recipient – Priya Gupta

Sender – Nitin Kumar

Date – 5^th October, 2012

Subject – Engagement

Dear Priya,

How are you? I don’t know if I reserve the right to write to you or not. I won’t apologize and tell you that I was wrong. But maybe, my method was.

I hope you have moved on from me and found love in your life.

Priya, as you know when I was with you, I had no other priority other than career. You were there in my life, and you provided the support I needed.

I cannot explain how I felt when you announced your pregnancy. I was happy, and I was scared. I was relieved when I got to know that you didn’t want the baby. It felt immoral somehow, so I tried to convince us that we should not abort, and to my surprise you suddenly agreed.

Your sudden excitement regarding marriage and baby made me nervous, and then you went.

You said that you’ll be gone for ten days, after which I was to meet you but you extended that to three weeks.

In these weeks, you weren’t available on phone or otherwise and my life turned upside down. I was offered a position in Hong Kong and was asked to move immediately. This was a new opportunity, a dream come true situation for me.

If you remember, I tried to talk to you about the baby and marriage, but you were always in rush. Priya I just couldn’t continue. I knew you will understand why I left, and left without saying much.

I was hopeful that you will see some sense and move on.

And even today, I hope that you have moved on and have found someone else in your life.

Priya, I wanted to tell you, that almost nine months later, I have found someone whom I liked. At this stage, I am settled in my career and want to start a family. I will be getting engaged on next Sunday.

Nitin

UBC Day 22 - Moving on - 20

The evening went completely opposite to what Priya had imagined.

When Sushant came in, Priya thought that she will warn him about Deepti’s situation. However, by the time he settled down, Deepti was already there. She seemed to be in no mood to discuss her problems in front of Sushant.

In the end, the trio ended up having a lot of fun, playing pranks and cracking jokes at each other. Priya was so relieved to be around her two favourite people.

She felt bad that she couldn’t speak to Deepti about her issues but in a way was happy that her friend had an evening away from her miseries.

In coming days, Priya spent a lot of time, showing around new places to Sushant. Since, she took a couple of days off from work; they spent time with Navya and her parents.

When it was time to go, Sushant told Priya about Nitin’s engagement. It felt as if someone had dropped a bomb on her. Somewhere, she had kept the hope alive that one day when he will hear of their daughter, or see her picture on facebook, he will realize his mistake. But this new found information killed the last bit of hope.

Crying over her loss, was something Priya was over with long ago. She took the information with a pinch of salt and moved on.

Days in office weren’t as pleasant as before. She had been good friends with Harsh and the problems with his relationship made her distance herself a little further.

Priya spent more and more time with her daughter who was about to be six months old now. She had moved on.

Deepti decided to carry on with her work and separated from Harsh. She moved into a new apartment against her mother’s wishes. Priya made sure that she coped up well with the new void that had been created in her life.

UBC Day 21 - the other side - 19

Continued from Day 20 - Affair

In coming weeks, Priya could see Deepti sinking in. She didn’t want Deepti to get into the phase where she was six months ago. The girls met over drink one day, and they couldn’t discuss anything but Deepti. Priya strongly felt that Deepti should move out and had voiced the same.

However, She tried to talk to Harsh over lunch one day. After a while of trying to avoid the conversation, Harsh started with a detailed account of their relationship and the current situation. He explained that they were two very different people and Deepti herself acknowledged the same. He admitted that he wasn’t one of the easy people to live with and he understood Deepti’s efforts to try to live up to his expectations.

He explained his liking to his colleague and confessed that the gossip was more than what was true. He agreed to support Deepti in whatever way he could and it would be solely her decision to move out or stay back. He promised that he wouldn’t cross his limits till she was there with him and he would try to work it out between them once more.

The humility and sobriety on Harsh’s part confused Priya. Each time she tried to put the situation in black and white and thought about Harsh’s wrong, his clear arguments and determined commitments to his relationship stood strong, leaving her confused about him.

Determined to help her friend, Priya called Deepti to her place on a Saturday for a night stay. Deepti agreed.

Priya decided to order some great food and put Navya to bed early. With only weekends at her hand, she was so busy with her daughter and her parents that when she picked up the phone there were several missed calls, out of which most of them from Sushant.

She called him up to find his number switched off. Then she called up Deepti to check the time she was arriving. She was on her last call, when Sushant called again.

Before she could even say hello, Sushant started, “Hey, I have been trying to call you since morning. I have just reached India, now give me the address to your house otherwise I will have to go to search for a hotel.” Priya stood listening to what he said, trying to make sense of it all.

A minute later, it all came back, the mail that he wrote explaining that he was coming to Delhi for some work and since his parents no longer lived in Delhi, he needed her help to find accommodation for a week or so, and she had written him an elaborate reply, scolding on searching for an option when he had her house to stay at. He had asked her for the address, and she forgot to reply.

Sushant voice bought her back, “So madam! What happened? Are you giving me the address or you are coming to pick me at the airport?” She smiled at his joke and gave him the address and direction.

Priya didn’t know how to handle this new problem. Sushant was excited to see her and Navya, and Deepti was stressed. How would she manage it? She thought of asking Deepti to cancel, but that wouldn’t be right.

As usual, her mother came to her help. She calmed her nerves and explained her to let it be, maybe it was happening for a reason.

UBC Dy 20 - Affair - 18

Priya found it difficult to work with Harsh any longer. She had seen a different dominating side of him when she visited his house. She had seen the sadness and anxiety in her friend’s eyes. On top of it, this new found information was something that she couldn’t handle.

“Ignorance indeed is bliss”, she thought to herself as she tried to push it away from her mind but her thoughts seemed to have been stuck there.

She had never made anything out of office gossip, but when the grapevine revealed that Harsh and one of their office colleagues were having an affair, she couldn’t ignore it.

On their way back, she tried to speak to Harsh about it, but she couldn’t. A part of her brain told her that it was none of her business. Another reasoned that it was about her best friend’s life.

“What is wrong with you?” Deepti tried to cajole some information from Priya.

Four of them sat at the bar. It had become more of a routine now. They were all chit-chatting but Priya found it difficult to digest the information that would shatter Deepti’s world. She tried to delay the news till she could and shrugged at the question.

However, her thoughts wouldn’t leave her. When on their way home, Deepti questioned the same thing again. Priya got serious.

Slowly she started, “Deepti, I think I have a bad news.”

Looking at Deepti’s expectant face, she continued. “I have got to know a few things about Harsh through office gossip. I don’t know if they are true. I don’t want to judge him, he seems nice. But you know, they say that he is having an affair…” her voice trailed off.

Deepti looked down and a silence stretched between the two. After a while, she said, “I know about that. I know that girl too.”

Priya was stunned. Her best friend, who had been such a big support to her, had been taking all her pain and hiding it away. She took Deepti’s hand in hers.

Deepti continued, “It has been going on for a month or so. I somehow sensed it. I had met her at one of office parties last year. I have decided to speak to Harsh about it. I want to get separated.”

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This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda. We give out a creative writing theme each weekend for Indian bloggers.

Linking it to my 30 part story for Ultimate Blog Challenge

UBC Day 19 - Dinner -17

Continued from Part 16 - Job Hunt

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Deepti had always measured her life in black and white. There wasn’t any space for greys. She had always known the difference between the right and the wrong.

She had thought her married life to be the same too. She tried to put things that were wrong and things that were right in two different parts of her mind. She made sure that there was a balance between both the sides.

But Harsh seemed to do everything that she couldn’t categorize. He pampered her to extreme ends. Showering with fancy gifts and dinners at the places she didn’t know existed. He was a hopeless romantic case who loved everything from flowers to candles. But at the same time he picked on smallest of things like mismatched cutlery or extra salt in gravy. He would fight with her if her dress was a bit loose or a bit tight, if she gained weight or lost a bit. His arguments weren’t wrong. He did it to correct her, to improve her, to make her more presentable than she was. But she couldn’t take it. When between friends, he would correct her with the right way of opening a wine bottle, she swallowed her tears. But the very next moment, when he would pull her closer and tell her that the wine was perfectly chilled, she forgave him once again.

Of late Harsh’s nick picks had been too much for her to handle. However, knowing his short temper, she kept quiet and took it all. Harsh was a perfect man. But one does not need a perfect man to make a perfect relationship. How she craved to find little imperfections in Harsh, so she could love him deeper.

Today Priya was supposed to come over after work. Deepti had taken extreme care to bring the food and the table to perfection. Knowing her best friend and her knack for perfection, she didn’t want to be cornered in front of two perfectionists.

Harsh and Priya had been colleagues for almost a month now. They were working on a project together and Deepti had called Harsh to ask Priya over for dinner. He kept her on hold while he asked her. She could hear a denial, but after a bit of persuasion she had agreed. On their way back from office, they would pick Navya from Priya’s home and bring her too.

In last one month, Harsh had couple of times mentioned about Priya and her intelligence. She was happy that Priya was finally doing good for herself. However, the judgemental part of Harsh could still not accept her child and her decisions to come back to India. Deepti had tried to reason it with him, but he was too strong on his arguments. She eventually had to let go.

She was in middle of her trail of thoughts and double-checking everything, when the doorbell rang.

UBC Day 18 - Job hunt - 16

Continued from Part 15 - Baby.

To find the entire story so far, please check Mid month blog roll

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Once again girls sat at a relatively quiet corner of the café and sipped their drink. Her daughter was two and a half months now and today was the first evening she was out without her. When Deepti called in to tell that three of them were meeting, and she should join, her mother pushed her too.

They discussed random stories about workplaces, families and life. Most of the conversation revolved around naming the young one. Ritika was recently engaged and Shriya was a mother of a one and half year old child. Shriya helped her with several tips to parenting.

Listening to girls talk about family, Priya couldn’t stop thinking about her daughter’s future. Her family will never be complete. She won’t have the answer to the question, “where is her father?” She thought of her and the word they used for such children, “Illegitimate”. She knew a worst term, but she couldn’t dare to let it appear on her tongue.

“So have you started tuitions?” Ritika asked, bringing Priya out of her trance.

“Umm...no” Priya shrugged. Then she thought and replied with a more appropriate answer. “Actually next exams are far off. Students are generally less interested in these days. Also, I haven’t had time. Now I think I’ll actually look for a full time job.”

“Are you sure you are ready?” Deepti asked.

Priya nodded. She had spoken to her mother about it. She was more than happy to keep the baby and family needed some money. Priya knew tuitions will never be enough.

“Have you applied somewhere?” Shriya questioned.

“Yes, at a couple of places. But you know how it is; no one talks about an opening without any reference.” Priya replied, thinking of all the negative replies that she had received.

Later that night, Deepti gave a brief account of her outing to Harsh while he chatted about his team dinner. When she mentioned that Priya is looking for job, Harsh asked her to ask Priya to forward her CV, his company was hiring and her profile would fit in perfectly.

The very next morning, Deepti informed Priya and by afternoon, Harsh had her CV.

By the month end, Priya was scheduled for an interview at one of India’s best organizations in her field. 

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It seems happiness has finally found it's way to Priya's life. Do you think so too? Or it's temporary?

Mid-month blog roll

I am participating in UBC (If you don’t know what UBC is, lord save your blogging career). And against all odds, I have managed to write a post each day of the first half of this month.

Actually to my reader’s dismay, I am not only attempting a blog a day, I am attempting a 30 part story.

As I have previously said, this is thanks to the inspiration from our very famous Richa Vikas Agarwal’s thirty part story in UBC July.

Although it is not turning out to be what I would have liked it to be, but here I am half way through my story.

For many, it is getting quite confusing to track (or probably not, but I want to believe so) and therefore here I am, your sweet little angel, trying to make it easy for you to read it all.

Links for the first fifteen parts of my story – “Metro mirror” are as follows –

1. Cocktails and Gossips

2. Exams, work andrelationship

3. Friendship beyondboundaries

4. Acquaintances

5. Catching up

6. Accident

7. Coping up

8. Wedding

9. Coming back

10. Last minute jitters

11. Tough times

12. Depression

13. Married Life

14. Reunion

15. Baby

If anyone has patience to critically review it, I am more than happy to share the story so far on mail and will love to get your feedback on the touch ups that are needed and if I can improve on certain areas in second half (others I really love the encouragement and sweet words you all have to say, so please continue)

UBC Day 17 - Baby - 15

Continued from Reunion - 14

“Try this one at least”. Priya pushed her students to work hard before helping them crack a problem. The boys got onto work. Priya resumed her working. She solved the question while her students worked.

The pain in her lower abdomen shot up suddenly. No matter how hard she tried, a slight scream was out before she could stop it. Tears welled up in her eyes and the world dazed.

Karthik, one of the students saw her first. He screamed, “Didi! What’s wrong?” Three sets of eyes turned towards her. For a moment all students paralyzed with shock but very soon sense prevailed.

All four of them got into action. One called her mother and another got her water to drink.

Even when two gulps of water later, sweat kept on building on Priya’s forehead, the group decided to take her to hospital.

Priya was thankful that these four kids were there with her at this moment. Her mother helped her breath. The only person she could think of at this moment was Deepti. She asked her mom to call her up.

An hour later Priya was being rushed into labour room. She was tired and dizzy. Her body was too fragile to take the pain that was shooting up. She thought she might faint.

A very friendly nurse and her gynaecologist were by her side, helping her deliver. “Common Priya.” He mother soothed. Priya tried harder. The pain was so bad that she fainted.

When Priya woke up, she was transferred to her room. Next to her was a crib. Her daughter was sleeping. Seeing her regain her consciousness, nurse came up and gave the baby in her arms.

She generally asked, “Madam! Where is your husband madam?”

She looked at her child and kissed. A fresh tear trickled down her cheek. 

UBC Day 14 - Depression - 12

This story is continued from Tough times - 11

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Priya’s world seemed to have crashed. The tears that she strongly held back when her father went through accident, when Nitin didn’t turn up at the airport, when she found the apartment empty, now came flowing down.

She remembered the time when she realized that she had missed her periods, and found out that she was pregnant. Nitin and Priya were living together for about a year. She had landed on bed with tears in her eyes. She thought of abortion, but Nitin consoled her. He stopped her from doing so, he said that they’ll get married as soon as possible.

Keeping that as a plan, she went to India for a holiday, thinking that he would join her and they will together announce her wedding. That’s why she hadn’t told anything to her parents or to Deepti.

In the coming weeks, grief engulfed Priya as though she had nothing to live for. Her performance at work deteriorated, her social circle disappeared. She denied all invitations to meet friends and missed office every now and then. She visited her gynecologist  who advised her against abortion and asked her to stay healthy.

It was about two months later; notice came from her landlords, for the end of her tenure. She realized she could no longer afford a place like that. She called Sushant to help.

When he came down to see her, he was shocked at her appearance. He cajoled her to tell him the entire story, after which he took an appointment with a Counselor  He also encouraged Priya to tell everything to her mother.

Her mother was surprisingly supportive. She said she understood, and asked her that she could come back home if she wanted. However, keeping in mind the society, Priya chose to stay back.

However, even at the end of two months, she was unable to find a place. She had decided to move into a hostel, when Sushant requested her to come and live with him as flatmates while she found a decent place.

Under her counsellor’s supervision and Sushant’s support, Priya nurtured her health back to normal; however she was still weak to be seven months pregnant. Things were still difficult at work. She had received several warnings during her depression and it was too much of a task to keep up with pressure with her present health.

When she walked in her boss’s office to ask for a maternity leave from next month, he sort of warned her once again that at the end of this leave, she could lose her job. It irritated Priya to the extent that she resigned at that very moment, gave a major part of her saving as compensation for discontinuing without notice and bought a ticket back home to be just in time for her friend’s wedding. 

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What next is in store for Priya? Is life as a single mother going to be easy? Read more on Day 15.

UBC Day 12 - Tough times - 11

This post is continued from Last minute jitters - 10

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Life had shown Priya more than a fair share of miseries in last seven months. She sat there and sighed as she wondered how she got the strength to even survive through all that she had gone through.

Priya was one of the meekest girls in her batch. All her life she had seek Deeti’s support and stayed out of the limelight. When she moved to Singapore, she was highly scared. She had somehow survived. But when her dad went through the accident, she for the first time learnt to take up responsibilities.

Sitting in the mandap of her best friend’s wedding she thought about the plans she had made for herself.

When she last came to India, Nitin was supposed to come down to announce their engagement. They were to have a small wedding in Singapore in a month.  They had decided to make their relationship official.

Maybe it was that assurance, that Priya wasn’t scared of her future.

She thought about the last time she was with Deepti. They had gone to the airport to pick up Nitin. It was on her way that she received a message from Nitin that he couldn’t tell her earlier, but he could not take the flight due to some urgent work. He was re-scheduling his trip.

Priya waited for him for next two days to re-schedule his plan, at the end of which she received a brief call when he said that he had to go to Hong Kong to the company’s headquarters.

She left for Singapore as planned still single. When Nitin did not call or answer messages, she had not thought a lot into it. However, when she unlocked her apartment and found several things, Nitin’s things missing, the reality sunk in.

He had left. Even without a proper word. He left a note, saying Sorry and asking her to check her mails.

She dumped all her bags and opened her laptop. In the mail Nitin had simply told her that he was shifting to Hong Kong and he wasn’t ready to take the responsibility. Neither hers, nor of her unborn child.

To be continued at Day 14.

UBC Day 11 - last minute jitters - 10

This post is continued from coming back - part 9

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“Are you sure about your decision?” Priya asked.

“Frankly, I don’t know, but now it’s too late.” Deepti meekly replied.

“Are you mad? Do you know you are taking a lifetime decision?” Priya asked.

“We can’t help it. It’s India my dear. You know what will happen if I even think about it. Plus it is not going to be bad. He is a nice guy, it’s just that he want things his way and that can’t be too bad.” Deepti said touching up her make up for the next ceremony.

Deepti had requested everyone to leave once Priya reached her room. She was nervous and she had five minutes to talk to her before she went ahead. She told her about her experience of six months of courtship and Harsh’s need for perfection on her part.

Deepti had always been average. She wore simple clothes, ate simple food, though she was updated but it wasn’t as though she could talk on all subjects. Whereas, Harsh wanted his wife to be perfect. He loved to flaunt her and wanted her to take care of her appearance. He constantly corrected at her pity wrong grammar and gave his inputs on other things like her dress or her shoes.

She knew they were for her own good, and a part of her reasoned that she will learn to accept his comments gracefully. But the rebel in her argued. She had always loved herself the way she was and did not want to change.

For maybe a hundredth time, Deepti let out a silent prayer for her married life as she got up to go.

Just at the door she stopped. She hugged her friend tight.

“How many months more?” she asked with tears flooding her eyes.

“Four” Priya replied.

“I have to talk to you. You have been through a lot in these months, let’s meet once before I go for my honeymoon. When are you leaving?” composing herself, Deepti asked.

“Don’t worry. And smile! Everything will be okay for you. He is a great guy. I’ll pray, and yes we’ll meet soon. I am here only, not yet decided when to go back. Common now, let’s go, you can’t be late for all the ceremonies in your wedding.” Priya said and walked her to the hall.

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Don't you hope that all is well with the girls? Read more on Day 12 of UBC.

UBC Day 10 - Coming back - 9

Continued from Part 8 - Wedding

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Priya had gotten back home almost after six months. Given the new conditions of her dad’s paralysis she had resolved to come back more frequently but her own life didn’t allow her to come back. She couldn’t have been a burden on her parents while grieving for her loss while her mother struggled to cope up with the new routine of nursing her father.

However, this was the occasion that she wouldn’t miss for anything. Keeping her problems aside, she had resolved to come back to India, an idea that her shrink excitedly supported. On her last meeting he had told her, “Priya leave your worries behind and go have the best of times. You need to spend time around people who love you.”

She was scared, but finally on the wedding day, she put together all her remaining savings and bought a last moment flight to India and managed to reach the venue just in time without getting a chance to go home.

She asked the driver to park in front of the house and got out. “Oh my god! Look who is here!” shrieked her brother and came running to help her with her bags.

Her mom seemed equally surprised but more because she was supposed to be at Deepti’s wedding. Mildly scolding, she asked “what are you doing here? You should have at least waited for her phera to start”

Priya cried, “Mom, I am home after six long months. And I couldn’t wait to see you. Plus, why didn’t you go? I thought I’ll meet you there. Had I known you won’t go, I would have come home first and then gone for her wedding.”

“Anyway fast, I have just come to drop my bags, say a hello to dad and go back. Yash can drop me. Do you want to come?” She continued towards dad’s room while gesturing Yash to keep her bags in her room and come back.

“No I don’t want to, plus your dad is sleeping, I want to be by his side in case he needs something.” Her mother pleaded.

Quickly changing her killing heels into flats she came out of her room. She wondered how six months ago she could dance all night in those.

When she walked back into the venue a very worried Ritika came rushing to her. She shouted, “Where did you go without meeting Deepti? She has been so worried. She is trying your number, she is in the room right now, went to get some rest while the preparation for phera were over.”

Priya hurried towards the direction Ritika rushed to.

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What has happened with Priya in these six months? What is in the sore for the girls? Read more at Day 11.

UBC Day 8 - Coping up - 7

This post is part my story for UBC. Continued from UBC Day 7 - Accident - Part 6

Next ten days went by in trying to cope up with the sudden tragedy. They bought her dad home after five days and hired a nurse to take care. Priya managed to speak to Nitin and he promised to come down at the end of her trip.

Priya had extended her holidays by another ten days. One evening her mother came down to her room to talk to her. She was of opinion that Priya shouldn’t go back. Priya understood that it was coming from a lot of pain nd she just didn’t want any distance. After consoling her, Priya continued with her schedule.

Finally the days of blues were over. Nitin was supposed to arrive. Priya and Deepti decided to meet up for a drink and then go to the airport to pick up.

Thus, they met earlier than usual. Taking a sip of her wine, Priya sighed. Last few days had taken a toll. She couldn't believe it was just two weeks ago, when two girls sat and discussed their lives. Recalling her conversation from the last time, Priya nudged Deepti out of her thoughts.

“What happened to the proposal?” Priya asked.

Coming out of her thoughts, she took a deep breath. “I have said yes”

“Priya jumped out of her seat. “Are you serious? Wow. This is great news.” Sobering down at visibly lack of excitement on Deepti’s part, she continued in a smaller voice, “But are you happy?”

“I don’t know Priya. I think you were right. I am just stuck. I don’t know him yet, but I guess it will be okay.” Deepti replied.

“Don’t worry.” Priya consoled, sounding surer than she felt.

After a few minutes of silence that had spread between them, Deepti slowly spoke “I’ll miss you. I wish you stayed back. You know your parents get so lonely in absence of both of you. Your brother at his ship, he doesn’t even know about all that happened here.” Priya didn’t reply. She knew that Deepti’s words had some reality. She thought of her mother’s words.

Concluding their evening at the pub, the girls left for the airport to pick up Nitin.

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What will be next? Will Priya ever fully cope up? Read more on part 8.