Cloaked Intentions

Chapter 11

Next morning found Swara and Sanskar back at his house. She wanted to discuss the case papers, but he had other reasons to be here, more specifically those files that he had found. He wanted to examine those. Sanskar made his way to the study, but Swara hesitated a bit. Seeing her hesitate, he suggested she sit in his room, he would get the files over, but she declined, protesting that she needed to be around the room to remember. After a bit of back and forth, in which Sanskar asked her not to push herself to remember, they finally went to sit in the study for a while and then move to his room if she felt uncomfortable.

Swara occupied the sofa while Sanskar pulled out some files from one of the cabinets near the desk and sat in his Dad's chair.

"Sanskar, don't sit there" Swara said softly "Please"

Sanskar nodded quietly and came over to sit in one of the chairs close to the sofa.

Swara gently put her hand on his, drawing his attention "I know you have avoided talking about it before" she said looking at him, making him look at her intently "But I really want to know"

"Know what?" he asked calmly

"What were you doing all these years?" She said looking into his eyes

"What does it matter now?" he questioned, without answering her

"It matters to me." She said pressing his hand

He sighed "I was in Mumbai for some part of that time. I was staying with one of my distant maternal uncle's during the first year or so, before the case started". Swara nodded, requesting him with her eyes to continue "Once the case started, My Nani and Bade Papa got worried. Someone had been asking around for me and my whereabouts. He had documents made to change my identity to Laksh Agarwal to prevent anyone from finding me. He moved me to a distant aunt on my mother's side, in Mumbai itself. I stayed there until I completed my junior college"

"And then?" she asked

"Then I went to New York to go my undergrad. Once I finished that, I stayed there for a couple of years, working in consultancy firm, before I decided to return"

"What made you decide that?"

"We had lost the case in lower court and were appealing against the decision in High court. I wanted to be back for it." He was lost in his memories even as he spoke "But Both my Nani and Bade Papa didn't want me to get involved in the case and take any risks. He asked me to focus on building a career and a life separate from all of this, while he fought the case in the court and fought your dad in the business"

"Did you do that?"

He nodded "I couldn't get involved in the case, so I had to find ways to keep myself busy and distracted from it. Work helped, though I couldn't really get the case completely out of my mind"

"Did you keep track of Baba?" she asked before asking the one question she really wanted to know "Did you keep track of me?"

"I did keep track during the initial days. But it started driving me crazy, keeping track of your father and not being able to do anything about it. That is when Babe Papa made me promise to back off and not lose my sanity. He reminded me how Mom and Dad wouldn't have wanted that"

"When we met, was that ..." she left the rest of the words unsaid, knowing he would understand what she was asking

"No. It was just chance. We had lost the case in Supreme court just a while before that" he said still lost in his thoughts "That affected me a lot. I wanted to quit my job and move back and fight for my Dad. Bade Papa wouldn't let me. But by then I was past keeping the promise. I had started the track your father, and your photos did pop up in those searches. At that time, I wasn't clear what I wanted to do or how, and that is when by some strange chance, I ended up meeting you at Karan and Priya's house warming party. I recognized you from the photo's in my search."