Starlit Ningts With You

There is a luxurious and beautiful mansion which has high walls and security forces are deployed all around for protection because this is not a house of any common man but it is the house of India's topmost diamond merchant Viraj Malhotra.

And in that same beautiful mansion, there is a beautiful room which is a man's room but is completely decorated giving a girly vibe, full of toys.

There is a man sitting on the bed in that room and he is none other than Agastya Malhotra. And there is a cute cradle placed right next to the bed in which his adorable 6-month-old daughter Anvi is sleeping peacefully.

Well, he has also made another room for his little one, which is decorated beautifully and is filled with different kinds of wonderful toys where she plays with other family members, but at bedtime she is with her father only because she cannot sleep without her father's presence, she does not stop crying if she is away from her father.

She is completely attached to her father in such a way that the little one can feel his absence in any condition

And for all these reasons, Agastya does most of his work from home and does not leave her with anyone else while she is sleeping otherwise his little one will not be able to sleep peacefully and the rest of the family's sleep will also be disturbed.

In the last 6 months his whole routine has changed and he considers this change as a blessing, His daughter is his blessing who came into his life in very unexpected way and made his already blessed life more beautiful.

He never thought he would experience fatherhood so soon, but now he is a father and he is trying to fulfill this role in the best possible way.

He can never forget the moment when he held this little one in his arms for the first time; he can never forget the unsaid bond he felt with her that day and now his day is not complete till he sees the face of his little one. His Anvi is his life for whom he can do anything.

" It's been a month since I saw you in person, And I don't know why but not a single day has gone by when I haven't missed you or talked to you about my day, doing this makes me feel good."

These words are of Agastya who is currently sitting in a half reclining position against the headboard of his bed and he is talking to the picture of the person in his phone whom he loves very much.

" Even Anvi misses you, whenever she sees your photo she tries to come to you but unfortunately you are not with us." He adds talking further with that picture.

And actually whenever Anvi sees her photo in her father phone she starts crying loudly as she does not find her close, She just longs to go to her whose picture her father is looking at.

" Before leaving you must have cast a spell on both of us so that we cannot forget you but this is wrong na, when you could not stay with us then why did you do this magic on us ?" He asks her a question, as if the picture will speak and answer his question.

" I wish you were with us, you, me and our Anvi." He says while imagining his beautiful little family which will probably never be complete but his imagination gets interrupted when he hears Anvi crying.

" Oops, The time to talk to you is over." He says while looking at the picture on his phone screen and after keeping the phone on the bed, he goes straight to Anvi's cradle to take her in his arms and calm her down.

" See, Anvi misses you but she also gets jealous when I talk to you like this." He says further while taking Anvi in his arms.

" As soon as my attention shifts away from her for a little while, she starts crying. She doesn't like it at all if I talk to someone else in her presence or if I focus my attention on someone else. Just a girl's thing." Agastya says all this to the picture while rubbing his nose against Anvi's nose, on which Anvi, who was crying, now starts giggling.

" What happened, why were you crying meri jaan ?" He says looking into the beautiful eyes of his little girl which are filled with tears and he wipes those tears.

" Now see, my Anvi's eyes also remind me of you because her eyes are exactly like yours.

Whenever I look into Anvi's eyes, your memories start tormenting me more."

While wiping the tears from Anvi's eyes, Agastya talks to the woman with whom he was talking a few seconds ago.

" Are you hungry ?" He asks Anvi but obviously she can't say yes or no but Agastya looks at the time and it is time for her meal.

Agastya prepares her formula milk while holding her in his arms and then while waiting for the milk to cool down a bit, he plays with Anvi, talking to her in her babyish language, where Anvi is just giggling after listening and seeing her father's words and antics.

🦋🦋

It is night time, the Malhotra family is sitting at the dining table.

" Maa, I have to go to Mumbai tomorrow, there is a very important meeting.

So will you take care of Anvi ?" Agastya says to his mother Payal

" And why did you even need to ask this question? Why do you think I can't take care of my granddaughter?" Payal asks him

" No, it's not like that: but sometimes it gets a little difficult to handle Anvi, so... Agastya expresses his concern, to which his mother rolls her eyes slightly

" Ye lo, naye-naye bane pita, ab ek maa ko samjhaa rahe hai ki bachche kaise sambhaalana hai." Payal taunts him, to which he pouts.

( Here you go, a newly-minted father is explaining to the mother how to take care of the kids.)

And sitting there, his father and younger brother Akash smile after hearing this.

" Beta, I have taken care of you, so now I will take care of your daughter too. So don't worry about her, concentrate on your work." Payal says further to which Agastya smiles.

" Well, it's good that we got a day with our Anvi, otherwise this man doesn't even let her play with us." Viraj complains

" Papa, it is not like that, it is just that Anvi doesn't like you all, that is why I keep her with me." He says this teasing his family to which all look at him with their eyebrows raised thinking what a big liar this man is.

" Bhaiya please...our princess loves us as much as she loves you, it is just you who takes up her time the whole day." Akash says at which Agastya raises his eyebrows

" Really ?" Agastya asks

" yes and It is only in your absence that we get her time...and that's why now I will not even go to college tomorrow, I will stay with the princess the whole day." Akash adds to which Agastya smiles.

" And yes I will make sure to send you a video of Anvi laughing and playing with us so that you can know how much she loves us." Akash teases him saying this to which Agastya smiles.

Well these days this is the topic of discussion: In this family, their talks are not complete without talking about Anvi, Anvi's arrival brings a different vibrancy and happiness to this house.

And then with these happy moments and conversations the family completes their dinner.

🦋🦋

" I am going to miss you a lot, my little jaan." Agastya says while kissing the soles of Anvi's little feet.

It is morning time where Agastya is ready to leave for Mumbai and before leaving he is spending his time with Anvi.

" Maa, I know you will take care of Anvi, but please call me if anything happens."

Before leaving, Agastya once again asks his mother to take care of Anvi.

Well, right now Anvi is sleeping that is why he is able to leave so easily.

And today he is saying this repeatedly because in last 6 months, he is going out of the city for the first time leaving Anvi.

But since this work is important, he has to go.

" Okay, don't worry, I will take good care of her, and I will definitely call you every minute when she cries, okay ?" His mother says teasingly to which he smiles.

🦋🦋

On the other hand, in Mumbai.

A woman, dressed in a yellow Anarkali suit, is sitting cross-legged on the bed in her room.

Her face is pale and her eyes are filled with extreme sadness.

Well, looking at her, anyone can say that she is currently in depression who likes to stay alone, In her solitude she gets some relief from the past things of her life.

Living in this colorless life she has forgotten all her hobbies, but sitting in this solitude she has not forgotten one of her hobbies and that is to make designs of jewellery on blank pages.

Her hands slowly and meticulously create a beautiful bangle on the blank page.

" Meher..." Her hand stops when she hears her name in the voice of her husband Vivek.

She raises her eyelids and looks towards the door where her husband is standing,

She keeps the paper that she had in her lap aside and gets down from the bed and stands in front of him and Vivek comes closer to her.

" I want to introduce you to someone." Vivek tells Mehar

"Whom?" she asks in her soft voice

" For that, let's go out of the room." Saying this, he holds her hand and takes her out of the room to the hall

Reaching there, Meher sees her mother-in-law and an unknown girl but even after reaching there she remains quiet and waits for her husband to speak.

Meher is able to feel something by seeing the expression on her mother-in-law's face which is making her realize that she is very happy today.

" Meher, this is Tanvi." On hearing Vivek's words, Meher looks at Tanvi who is not looking at her in a good way, but she is full of pride.

But there it doesn't matter to Meher, she is used to the bad looks she gets from people in this house.

" Meher, Maa has chosen her as the daughter-in-law of this house." says Vivek

Daughter-in-law? Isn't she already the daughter-in-law of this house? Meher looks at Vivek in slight confusion.

" I mean to make my wife." Vivek completes his words and on hearing this, Meher feels a different kind of peace in her heart.

Yes peace, for some reason today Meher does not feel bad at all that her husband is introducing her to his future second wife.

Her that husband, for whom she left her parents, her entire family and everything and today he is going to leave her and marry someone else.

Well, today while she is getting relief from this news, she is also feeling a little pain but the feeling of relief is more than that pain.

Because her love for her husband, whom she loved, had died long ago, she was just maintaining this marriage for the sake of it because she did not have any choice.

But today she is happy that where she had no choice except staying with him, her husband himself is freeing her from this relationship.

" Meher, you know how much I love you." Vivek says this while cupping Meher's face at which Meher looks into his eyes where she can see nothing but lies and deceit but still she remains silent.

And on hearing these words of Vivek, his mother and Tanvi roll their eyes sighing

" But Meher, life cannot be lived only with love, we will have to think about our future....You can never become a mother but we will have to find some other way to carry forward the lineage of this house and this is the only reason for me marrying Tanvi." Vivek, still cupping her face, speaks to which Meher looks at him.

Well, she has many answers to his words but she does not want to say anything to him.

The world has progressed so much, yet people tell lies like this to hide their deceit.

If she could never become a mother, there were many other ways to have a child but he chose to remarry, and still, in front of the girl he is going to marry, he is claiming to love her.

She wonders what kind of a girl she is who is ready to marry a man who claiming to love his first wife in front of her.

But maybe the girl also knows that he is lying and that is why it does not matter to her as she knows that now she is more valued in this man's life than his first wife.

Meher removes Vivek's hand from her face upon which Vivek looks at her.

" You don't need to explain yourself so much, I know why you are doing all this.

The house needs an heir, which I cannot give, so it's ok, this marriage is necessary." Meher says, to which Vivek smiles slightly.

" I am happy with your decision." Meher says to which Vivek smiles

" So when are we going to get divorced ?" Meher asks Vivek, to which Vivek gets shocked.

" divorce ?" Vivek asks.

Well, Vivek may have chosen to marry again, but he is so physically attracted to Meher that he cannot even think of leaving her.

He is attracted with her physical beauty. Despite her refusal, He forces himself on her every day in the name of love, claiming that he loves her, and helpless she, is unable to do much. Some days he leaves her on her repeated request but he always needs her to satisfy his physical needs.

Well the reason why she tolerates his everythings is that, it was a love marriage but as days passed his love got limited to her body only but he always fools her with his words that he loves her.

Well for a long time she was fooled by his words because she loved him but with time, things have become clear to her as to what he wants from her.

" Meher, I am marrying Tanvi only for the child, but I love you... I am not leaving you so why the divorce?" Vivek tells her and moves closer to her but Meher steps back.

" Whatever the reason you are getting married is right, I am happy but I want a divorce...I do not accept living in this house as your mistress when you are going to give the status of a wife to someone else." She says this to which Vivek looks at her angrily.

" Have you gone mad ?, what kind of words are you using....and listen to me carefully, I will not give you divorce, you will stay with me." Vivek says

" And I will not stay with you." Suddenly Meher raises her voice saying this on which Vivek gets shocked seeing her courage.

" I want a divorce. I will no longer live in this house as an object of your pleasure." Meher speaks in her high pitched tone but the very next moment her voice is drowned by the sound of the slap that Vivek gives her.

" If I am talking to you nicely then don't cross your limits, never talk to me in this tone again." After slapping her, Vivek says looking at her angrily

But when Vivek finishes his sentence, Meher turns and immediately slaps Vivek in retaliate, seeing which his mother and Tanvi get shocked.

And Vivek looks angrily at her who is already looking at him angrily.

Well, Vivek has seen this side of her for the first time, before today neither had she ever spoken to him in a loud voice nor had she ever raised her hand on him.

But today Meher's patience also ends because first of all she is happy that he wants to make someone his wife but she doesn't like his pretense that in the name of love he wants to make her his mistress and keep her in this house.

She cannot live with him now when he is getting married again. She don't know how he must have convinced that girl for this whom he's getting married but this is not acceptable to her.

And the reason she slapped him was that she tolerated everything he did to her till now but this thing which he did to her in front of his mother and would-be wife was not acceptable to her and that is why today she slapped him in return.

And further before Vivek could say anything, Meher speaks :

" I am leaving, you will get the divorce papers soon." Saying this, Meher goes towards the room to get her bag.

🦋🦋

In the room, Meher doesn't do much but is packing some of her important things,

Well, at this moment there is not even a single tear in her eyes or any regret on the decision she has taken.

She doesn't know where she will go after leaving this house but she knows this much that she will not stay in this house, with this man even for a moment now.

She herself doesn't know where she got this courage from today, but now she will not step back.

She packs her things and as she turns to leave, she sees Vivek at the door.

" Look, listen to me, stop." Vivek tells her to which Meher looks at him strangely.

What kind of a man is he?

Even after all this, he still has the audacity to say this

" I will forgive you for the slap you gave me, but think where will you go, who else is there for you except me?" Vivek tries to stop her by reminding her that in reality she has no one else but him.

Well, Meher has a grandmother, parents, brother and sister-in-law but they all have broken ties with her because Meher chose Vivek over them.

4 years ago, Meher had expressed her desire to marry Vivek in front of her family but due to his conservative thinking, her father refused to accept her wish and asked her to forget Vivek and marry someone of his choice but at that time Meher was so crazy in love with Vivek that she left her home just to be with Vivek and because of this, Meher's family broke all relations with her, telling her that she is no longer their daughter and she should never come to their house again.

And from that day till today neither Meher's parents or any family member has spoken to her nor has she met any of them.

Meher's family does not know what condition she is in and how she is.

" I know I have no one but now I would prefer to die rather than live with you.

In the name of love, Meher Murthy will not be fooled any more." She says at which Vivek suddenly start smiling at which meher gets confused

" Murthy ? You have probably forgotten that there is no identity of Meher Murthy, Your identity is only my name, Meher Vivek Shetty. Apart from that you have no identity." Vivek tells her to which she looks at him

" This is not my identity, this is my biggest curse." Meher says this on which Vivek gets angry

" Who is giving you so much courage ? think things over once before speaking..." He says to which she sees him

" And, It was your good fortune that even after you slapped me I was ready to forgive you but if you don't like it then go, but remember you will come back here because you also know that without me you are nothing." He says to which she looks at him.

Well it was not like she was this weak Mehar earlier also, her parents had made her capable where she could stand on her own feet but love made her lose everything, she had forgotten herself in the love of this man.

This man never allowed her to go out and work, made her completely dependent on him and today he is making fun of her like this.

Well, it is not his fault either because it was she who gave him the opportunity to make fun of her.

And further she doesn't stay there to listen to him more and starts leaving from there which makes him angry. Even after all this, she is choosing to leave him.

Meher comes out of the room where her mother-in-law and Tanvi are standing.

" Finally this jinxed leaves the house." Meher's mother-in-law taunts her, to which Meher doesn't say anything but just walks away from there silently.

🦋🦋

On the other hand, it is evening time.

Agastya is coming out of a building in Mumbai after completing his meeting where his car is waiting outside.

" Hey, Shashwat let's meet, I have a few hours left for my flight." Agastya says over the phone, to meet his best friend Shashwat who is a cricketer by profession and lives in Mumbai.

" Ok, I am coming." Shashwat says from the other side of the phone and then both friends disconnect the call and Agastya sits inside the car where the driver starts the car.

Agastya looks out of the car with a smile.

"Whenever I come to this city, something good happens to me. Even today a good thing happened, the meeting was successful but I am not satisfied...Mumbai please give me something double good today." Thinking all this, he says all this in his mind while smiling.

But suddenly he stumbles when the driver suddenly applies the brakes.

"What happened?" Agastya asks the driver

" A girl came in front of the car... maybe she got hurt." The driver says while getting out of the car followed by Agastya who also comes out worried.

But as soon as Agastya comes out and sees the girl, he gets shocked because she is none other than the same girl with whom he talks in his imagination all day long.

" Meher ?" Agastya calls out her name as he cannot believe that he is actually seeing her in front of him and that too in this condition.

To be continued........