Against All Odds

Chapter 8

Author's POV

A week had passed since Rakesh had rejected Niyati's hand for marriage. Shikhar asked him the reason for rejecting infinite number of times but he wasn't ready to divulge any information. This wasn't sitting well with Shikhar.

Sitting on the terrace even the cool breeze wasn't enough to change Shikhar's mood. He had thought it would be a piece of cake to find out what was wrong with Niyati. He had already hit a wall trying to find out what was wrong with his brother. Now this.

Shikhar could not digest that even Rakesh had refused to tell him the reason. One thing was clear something had happened. Something really bad. Rakesh was fine when he went to talk with Niyati alone but when he returned, his mood had changed. What exactly happened? Did Niyati say something that was that bad? It had to be. Why else would he reject her?

What Shikhar hated the most was the fact that Rakesh wasn't ready to tell him the reason behind it. All he said was " We are too different from each other."

Shikhar wasn't an idiot not to understand a lie. But what was so terrible that even Rakesh wasn't ready to tell him? What had Niyati gotten herself into?

One week of thinking about this again and again was giving Shikhar a headache. He needed a break, so decided to stay at his place today.

With a glass of whiskey in his hand Shikhar was lost in his thoughts. Was Niyati's secret so bad that no man would be ready to accept her? If so, then would it be right to bring his bro closer to her? His bro was also hiding something. Was that secret as bad as Niyati's? Whatever they were hiding, will they be able to solve it if they came together? Or would their secrets create problems for each other instead?

Shikhar had to take a big decision now. Should the two most weird people come together? Even if they did, would they be able to see past their secrets and embrace each other?

A simple matter had just gotten complicated. Niyati was a middle class girl. Whatever she was hiding should have been a simple matter. But the way Rakesh reacted, it was anything but that. On the other hand was his business tycoon bro. The way he had changed and was safeguarding the secret it felt as if he had murdered someone. With his contacts he could get away with that even. Shikhar was well aware of that.

Drinking an entire bottle of whiskey had only made Shikhar's head fuzzy instead of helping him to reach any decision. He was missing Ashu like anything. But he wanted some time to think by himself. He tried to acquaint Ashu about Niyati's strange behaviour but she refused to accept it. She was adamant on her opinion that Niyati was just boring and that she would never get into any trouble. All Niyati was cut out for was to take care of her. She barely had a life of her own.

Ashu's views and her reluctance to see Shikhar's point of view had started to irritate him a bit. Something needed to be done to make her realize that everyone had their own life. Niyati being her sister, will always hold a big place in her heart, but not the whole of it. In fact, both the sisters needed to understand this.

Somehow things were getting clear in Shikhar's head now. It was high time everyone realised that something was wrong with them and that it affected people around them, be it his bro, his love or Niyati. They all needed to come out of their past and start living a good life.

Shikhar had now come up with a plan. It was time to put it in motion. The chances that it will backfire were very high, but he had nothing to lose from it.

" Sweety I have a plan. We need to implement it tomorrow itself. No point wasting more time. Let's do it. What do you say?"

Shikhar asked Ashu clutching his cell a bit tightly so that it didn't slip from his trembling hand. He shouldn't have drunk so much. The hangover could spoil his plans if his mind isn't sharp tomorrow.

" You know I'm always with you. But think twice. I'm still not sure your most eligible bachelor bro will fall for Niyu. "

Shikhar was sure Ashu must be looking at her nails as if they are her whole world.

" Then I will give up the idea. But no harm in trying right? I don't know why but I'm having a good feeling about this. Something will come out of it. That's for sure. "

" Fine! Let's do it. No harm trying."

Next one hour on the call with Ashu was less about the plan discussion and more about sweet talks. He was missing her dearly even though it had just been a day. Whiskey had added fuel to that. He wanted to run to her, but he was too drunk to drive right now.

Ending the call, Shikhar headed straight to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. A day that may decide their future.

Future of four lives were about to get entangled tomorrow and change forever. Shikhar had no idea that his plan was about to change their lives forever. Would it be good or bad? That depended on how they reacted to the situation.

One thing was sure… secrets were about to be revealed.