Author’s POV

Amaya was in her room finishing up her painting which she started 2 days ago. It was a beautiful painting of a Swan family.

This painting is giving her peace as Swans represent peace and unity. Swans share a very strong bond with their families, they stay together for lifetime and take care of their kids until they are independent to protect themselves.

As she was working on her painting, she heard a knock on the door. When she opened the door, she found Aarav standing in front of her along with a few things in his hands.

“Bhai, you here and what’s all this” She asked him

“First let me in, then I’ll show you what I got for you.” He said while moving inside the room.

Aarav kept all the things on the bed then moved towards Amaya who was still standing. He held her hand and made her sit on the bed next to himself.

"See I brought these for you" He said while showing her a branded purse along with branded perfume, bracelet, and sunglasses.

"Everything is so pretty bhai, but there was no need for all this. You have already brought so many things a few months ago." She said while looking at him.

"How was there no need, you are my sister and if it was for me I would have brought a lot more things. I didn't have enough time during this trip but when I will go again then I will bring more things, and you can't say no to me. Few years back, when I used to go away from home for 2 days, you used to send me a huge list of things. So what changed, now you don't even ask for one single thing." Aarav asked with a small smile, making Amaya look at him with moist eyes.

"I know you miss everyone, even though I miss them a lot but that doesn't mean we will stop living our life. They love us a lot Amaya, if they saw us being sad, do you think they would be happy?" He asked and Amaya shook her head in response.

"Okay now enough emotional talk, this is my second time giving an emotional speech today. When I went to give things to maa, I had to give her a talk also. Now let's focus on the gifts only. And one more thing, tomorrow you are coming with me to the office. I know it's hard but now you have to try, you can't stay sad your whole life." Aarav said while standing up from the bed.

"But bhai, the office has so many old memories, I won't be able to stay strong." Amaya said in a low voice.

"Someday you will have to face this bache, even our house has so many memories. Yet we stay there, it's our safest place right. And all those memories are our good memories, we should always remember them in our good memories so next time when we think of them we have a smile on our face." Aarav said with a smile.

"As always your painting is beautiful." Aarav said and kept his hand on her head before leaving the room.

After Aarav left, Amaya engrossed herself in painting again, adding the last few details. She wants to finish it by today, as tomorrow she will go to the office along with Aarav.

Few hours later, Rahul entered the house while whistling a song. As soon as he saw Aarav sitting on the couch in the living room, he ran towards him and threw himself on him.

“What did you get for me?” Rahul asked, being all excited after pulling himself away from Aarav.

“Wow, no hello or how are you” Aarav asked, raising his eyebrows, making Rahul let out an embarrassed laugh.

“I meant to say how are you doing bhai, I know you missed me a lot. I missed you too, now the main thing is where are my gifts.” Rahul said the whole thing in a single breath making the whole family who were sitting nearby laugh at him.

“Such a selfish kid” Aarav teased Rahul, who still doesn’t care about what he said, he is waiting for his gifts that he knows Aarav has definitely bought for him.

“Rahul, I forgot to bring your gift, there was so much workload that it slipped my mind. I’ll bring something for you next time.” Aarav said innocently while Rahul was not able to believe that how can someone forget about the most precious person of the family. Well it’s kind of true since Rahul is the youngest child of the house, he has been the most favorite and pampered among all the children of the house.

“Rahul, Aarav has already kept your gifts in your room, he is just teasing you.” Neha said, making Rahul look at Aarav with accusing eyes.

“So mean” Rahul mumbled before walking upstairs to his room.

Soon everyone joined the dinner table. Rahul was quite happy after seeing his gifts.

“Thanks for the gifts, bhai” Rahul exclaimed happily while pulling a chair for himself to sit.

“Maa, we will be leaving for Mehra Mansion in about a day or two. Since the house was locked for a month, I have asked servants to open the house tomorrow and get it cleaned properly.” Aarav said to his mom.

“Aarav, I have finalized Ranvijay’s wedding next month, and I want you three to stay here until then.” Vikram spoke, making Aarav’s eyes widen in shock.

“And he agreed” that’s all Aarav was able to think at the moment.

“I know how to make him agree, you can talk to him if you want but there is no way I will be changing my decision.” Vikram said and started eating his dinner.

Aarav was extremely confused about what was happening. He looked at his mother who signaled him that she would talk to him later.

“Maa, Amaya will be joining me in the office tomorrow.” After finishing his dinner, Aarav said to his mother with a smile.

“That’s great Amaya, I’m happy that you are finally making progress.” Neha said with a big smile while looking at Amaya who in response smiled back at her.

“But what’s the need for her to join your office?” Grandmother asked Aarav while everyone else started looking at her. Amaya was not able to look anywhere so she just bowed her head a little down and stared at her plate. She always felt that the grandmother never liked her presence, but she always ignored this feeling.

“What do you mean Nani, that office is not just mine. It belongs to Amaya as much as it belongs to me, or I would say that it belongs to her more than me as the owner was Bade papa, who is Amaya’s father” Aarav spoke harshly as he didn’t like the way his grandmother spoke earlier.

“Maa, we have already seen enough drama this morning, there is no need to create more.” Neha said to her mother who just made a face as her daughter and grandson supported that girl.

“Dadi, di is really talented. She is going to handle everything very well, I think even better than Aarav bro, Right bhai?” Rahul said and asked Aarav, who in response nodded his head saying “of course, my sister is the best.“

“Now let’s go, I will help you to choose the outfit for tomorrow as you will have to look the best on your first day. I mean you look the best either way, but still.” Rahul said, pulling Amaya out of the chair.

“Di, don’t take any of dadi’s words to your heart. It’s not worth it, okay?” Rahul said as soon as they reached Amaya’s room while Amaya nodded in response with a small smile.

…………

Ranvijay’s POV

“I didn’t forget about you Buddy, after all it’s only you with whom I can open up myself. Someone whom I don’t have to be emotionless around.”

Buddy is my pet dog whom I found three months ago near my office building. When I first saw him, he looked unwell and his front right leg was kind of broken as he was limping while walking. There were not many people nearby since it was already late at night. I didn’t find it okay to leave him alone in this condition.

At first when I went near him, he growled at me but later stopped as I gave him some biscuits that I had in the car. He started eating them as soon as he saw them, and slowly he started trusting me. Soon I took him to a vet, who told me that he is probably an abandoned dog. He is a Rottweiler, almost 2-3 years old, the vet said that he is underweight and has few injuries on his body.

I didn’t want to leave him alone in some shelter as he needed proper care and treatment. So I brought him to my house with me. I have always been fond of animals. I still remember when I was a kid, I used to ask my mom to get me a pet. But since my grandmother never liked animals, they never allowed me to get any pets. I used to take some food for the stray animals that were near the Oberoi Mansion.

I named him Buddy, don’t know why but I felt good to have him with me in this house where I live, scratch that to where I used to live all alone.

It took him about a month to fully recover, and in that one month he deeply bonded with me. After that I sent him for training for two  months, and after he came back he changed in a nice way. He is only friendly with me whereas on the other hand, he is quite dangerous for strangers. The one who was looking for shelters three months ago was scared and hurt. But the one who is sitting with me right now is strong and fierce.

I don’t understand how anyone can abandon such a wonderful and lovely soul all alone. The vet told me that the broken leg was more than a week old, and he had been hungry for a few days. It clearly indicated that someone abandoned him after his broken leg. Instead of getting him treated, they left him all alone in pain to die.

The barking sound brought me back from my thoughts. “Yes, buddy, let’s go upstairs. I have some work so I will be in my study, and you will not disturb me did you get it?” I said in a stern voice after which he slowly barked one time and climbed the stairs. I should know better, in terms of listening to me he is just like Rahul. I sighed as I climbed up the stairs towards my study.

As I was walking, I took out my phone from my pocket and called Aarav, I know he is back from his business trip. 

“Hello bhai, got time to call me” He said as he picked up the call.

“Stay away from Rahul, everyone is becoming dramatic like him.” I said, rolling my eyes, he chuckled.

“I called you to tell you that I will be coming to your office tomorrow morning, I have to discuss a project with you.” I said

“Sure, bhai, I will see you tomorrow.” He said and I hummed in response and hung up the phone. 

……….

Thank you for reading

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