TUM MILE

Chapter 5

After a good hearty meal at their favourite spot, all 5 of them were staring at each other. This was when, being the eldest, Laksh took matters into his own hands.

"So! Dr Nikhil! Can we have some serious talks?" Laksh asked and the atmosphere suddenly got heavy. Swara lowered her gaze. Sanskar saw her getting uncomfortable. He knew things may get hard for her.

"Calm down Dr. Bose!" Sanskar said in a low voice. Swara just nodded. Seeing her getting more uncomfortable, Sanskar held her hand tightly. Swara felt a shock in her hand and she looked shockingly at Sanskar. She did not expect this from him. She looked at Sanskar with lots of questions and in reply, Sanskar loosened the grip.

"I thought you will feel better!" He again said in low voice, "Trust me!"

Swara saw a truth in his eyes. She knew Sanskar would never have even touched her had she not been in this condition. She understood that his intention was just to comfort her. So she gave him an assured look.

"Nikhil ji! We are talking to you!" Laksh said in a mischievousness filled voice, "I know everything and so do everybody else. Sanskar accidentally got to know last night only!"

"Thank you for saving my life!" Nikhil said looking at Sanskar, "That was an impulsive decision."

Sanskar sighed. He looked at Laksh and he signed him to speak.

"In this impulsivity, you almost forgot that your family will die if something happened to you!" Sanskar said in a deep voice.

Nikhil did not say anything. He just lowered his gaze.

"You read your didi's diary, for what? First of all reading someone's diary is not a good thing. Never do that." Laksh was now getting serious, "And then you got to know something which you should have not known! It's okay to feel distressed about hearing something which has such a potential to crush your world. But did anything change? No na! Then why such a drastic step?"

Nikhil did not say anything.

"Stop playing with cutlery Nikhil and answer me!" Laksh said with visible command in his voice.

"I don't know. I just felt that my whole world came crushing down when I read those lines. I felt my life was built on so many lies. I never knew mumma disliked Swara di because of this reason. Why did they hide such a big thing to me when Ragini didi got to know about it when she was just 14? Why Swara didi never told me?"

Nikhil tried hard not to break down. On the other side, Swara pressed hard on Sanskar's palms.

"Nikhil! Because this was not important for you to know! You know what is important for you to know, that Swara loves you a lot. When she got to know that you were not at home, she did not even care for herself and ran away in thr middle of night. This is important." Laksh tried to explain Nikhil.

"I don't have any issues with didi! I love her a lot. I...I just did not know how to react! I ..... I am sorry!" Nikhil finally calmed down.

Ragini wiped Nikhil's tears. She smiled a little and said, "You know the truth! You can understand that nobody is wrong. Only the circumstances are! Hai na!"

Nikhil nodded. He then looked at Swara. She was trying hard not to cry. Her whole identity was on the stake. Her identity had now become the cause of crisis.

"Didi! You know why I was not able to look at you last night!" Nikhil said looking at Swara, "Because my eyes were heavy with guilt. I just don't want to imagine the paib you went through. I read everything and I felt as if your words were stabbing me. I just don't want to accept that this is your pain. I just don't want to accept that your childhood was snatched from you because of this reason. That's why!"