Saving Her

VIII

♪♫ Tumhari tasveer ke sahare,

Mausam kayi guzare,

Mausami na samjho,

Par ishq ko humare

Agar ishq se hai mila,

Fir dard se kya gila,

Iss dard mein zindagi khush haal hai... ♪♫

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Aarav was sitting with his parents in the living room after they called him to come early from work because they wanted to talk to him about something important.

He lived with his parents because his mother didn't want him to go away now that he has finally came back home after 5 years.

"So, what did you wanted to talk about?" He asked his parents.

"Son, you went to Delhi for studies and then you trained in London's branch." His father—Mr. Amar Malhotra said.

"Yes dad. What about it?" he asked impatiently.

"Patience, we're coming to that." His lovely mother—Mrs. Malti Malhotra continued, "You have grown up so much that now you are a CEO and well settled in life and we are so proud of you-"

His father cleared his throat to indicate that she was going off track.

She looked at her husband once and then again turned to him, "Right, so what we are trying to tell you is, we have given you everything you wished for and this one time, we want you to fulfill our wish."

He nodded in understanding and indicating them to continue not knowing what they are up to.

His parents looked at each other and then hesitantly said, "We want you to... get married."

"What? No!" his eyes were wide in shock. He never imagined his parents to ever ask for something like this. Besides he has just got Noor back. She has not even opened up with him and he can't marry anyone else.

"Son, you are turning 25 in a few months, it's the best age to get married, please." His mother tried to reason with him. "We've even selected a girl for you. She is beautiful, you'll like her."

"Mom-"

He was cut off by his father, "Do you love someone?"

He was dumbfounded by his father's question and by the looks of it, his mother was surprised too.

"Oh my god!" his mother breathed out. "I never thought of such possibility. But it's alright! We don't have any problem if there is someone you love and want to marry."

He wasn't surprised by their reaction, he always knew that his parents were open-minded and wouldn't oppose his choices. "Mom, Dad, I do love someone, but marriage is a big thing, we need a little time."

"Really!" his overexcited mother exclaimed. "She must be so beautiful and sweet and-"

"Yes Mom, she is and more." He cut her off with a smile.

"Look at that smile on his face, Amar he must be so in love." His mother exclaimed dreamily and his father chuckled at her.

His parents have always been like that, his father always balanced the overexcitement of his mother with his quiet and gentleness but he could be playful at times.

"So, who's the lucky girl, huh?" his father asked with a teasing tone.

He smiled. "You know her, Dad."

"Really? Who?" He seemed surprised.

"Noor. Noor Sinha."

"Wait, Interior department head?"

"Yes, that's her."

They again looked and grinned at each other.

"What?" he asked.

"The girl we chose-"

"Mom!-"

"Oh! Let her complete, you'll love it. Trust me."

He gestured his mother to continue.

"So, the girl we chose for you is actually... Noor."

"You are kidding." He stated flatly not believing them.

"No son, we are not." His father answered. "I've mentored Noor since she joined the company and I grew a liking for the girl. She is beautiful, sweet and exactly what your mother would have looked for in a girl for you. Malti even talked to her mother this morning."

"Yes, yes!" his mother, Malti, chimed in. "She sounded like a nice lady. She invited us at their house day after tomorrow."

He felt an excitement building up inside him.

"But you don't want to get married, no? It's okay! I'll tell her that we can't come." She feigned innocence.

"NO!" he exclaimed and realized the blunder next moment. "I-I mean, if you have already told them then alright, we can go. It wouldn't hurt anyone to meet them once, right? I'll come."

Both his parents grinned at him and called it a night as it was almost midnight now.

He lied down on the bed while grinning at the pictures from their date yesterday which Noor sent him this morning.

He met Noor in college, she was beautiful, sweet and all smiles and it took him a month to gather the courage to ask her to be his friend. They were best friends for almost 2 years when he realized that he was in love with her. When he asked her to be his girlfriend, she freaked out but after some efforts she agreed.

Their relationship was going smoothly—both of them were happy and in love—but not everything remain the same. The next day after they celebrated their first anniversary she left him and he was heartbroken.

Initially he blamed her and that was when he asked his father to send him to London branch for training but after a few months of living far away from her and home he realized that Noor was too sweet to leave someone heartbroken, that's when he started searching for her but he didn't know where to start because he didn't know anything about her background other than that she was from Mumbai.

He only wanted answers from her but he couldn't find her on his own and he didn't want to take his father's help. He lost hope after searching for her for almost more than a years and that's when he got his hope back. She was here, in Mumbai, working in his father's company all along. So, he didn't hesitated when his father asked him to take over the position of CEO.

The only thing that has always pestered him was, she never talked about her family just that they were conservative. Even now, she has been living with her friends since she completed college and doesn't visit her family much and he wanted to know why.

There were so many questions on his mind and only one person could answer them.

Noor.