Eksha: Us Against the World chapter 3

When vedant and ekagra came down after changing the table was already set and abhay and veeransh was bickering about something again. When ekagra looked at the home cooked meal and the lively yet peaceful atmosphere he felt as if someone had put a soothing balm on his soul. He stood at the entry way of the dining hall and tried to remember when was the last time he had dealt this peaceful he couldn’t. He couldn’t even remember when was the last time he felt like the weight of the world wasn’t on his shoulders and suddenly with this lightness came exhaustion. The wave of exhaustion and sadness hit him so suddenly and hard that he felt as if he would fall from the impact.

Ekagra was just 18 when his father decided that it was time he started bearing the burden of being the only heir of the Shekhawat family. For 5 years he juggled between his studies and the office work to the extent that he had little to no time for himself let alone for making any friends. When Shailesh Singh Shekhawat ordered his son to join the Shekhawat empire it was barely half of what it was now after 10 years of ekagra’s blood and sweat, Shekhawat empire was 1 of the largest and the most respectable empire in the world yet not once had Shailesh given ekagra a pat on his back or a word of encouragement. After his parents divorced when ekagra was 15 he lived with his mother for 3 years until he turned 18 but unfortunately his mother was had died during a plane crash while coming back from a business trip. Ekagra had barely had any time to grieve when his father had expected him to come back and excel both at studies and office work. It was exhausting from waking up every day in a cold mansion surrounded by nothing but house helpers as his father lived with his step mother and step sister in another mansion to going to work in an office where his hard work was never appreciated and always deemed as something he is supposed to do as a heir, where all his decisions were undermined and authority challenged by his step mother who knew nothing about business in contrast to ekagra who had earned his reputation from working hard as an intern to progressing year by year to the job of a director. It was so exhausting.

While ekagra was lost in his own thoughts and the painful reality of his life he hadn’t realise when his eyes got wet. He came out of his head when veer got another smack on the head this time from vedant and let out a loud whine. He quickly wiped his eyes and got back to his blank neutral expression. He didn’t think anyone would notice but Isha did she saw everything from his pain filled eyes to his lost expression to his blank one and this just strengthened her resolve to be there for him all over again.

Vedant (FL older Brother)

Ab ek or baar bakwaas kari na to time out me bhej dunga

With a shocked and offended expression Veer replied

Veerash (FL younger brother)

Time out me bacha thodi hu I am 22 years old

Abhay (FL older brother)

Harkate to bacho wali hi hai mentally you’re still just 3 years old kiddo

Veerash (FL younger brother)

Hadd hai matlb agar koi apni vegetables na khana chahta ho to vo bacha hogya. Justice to hai hi nahi iss ghar me

Before veer could get another smack on his head and really lose his brain Isha interrupted lightly twisting his ear

Isha (FL)

Jii bilkul ab rajputana khadam me thodi hi koi justice kar sakta hai haina! Nautanki aapke liye humne paneer bhi banaya hai uski taraf bhi dekhe or sabko khana shuru karne de

Veeransh looked over to where Isha had pointed and indeed there was his favourite paneer there his heart swelled in joy he knew his didu would never let him suffer ant lose she always fulfilled his every demands and wishes no matter how small or big

Ekagra also felt a little lighter after looking at veeransh’s big bright smile veeransh was the most mischievous out of all of them after all he was the youngest he had practically grown up with the sisodiya siblings and had seen veer grow up he always felt at home with them even after not being in contact for a year now everything was still the same

Isha pulled a chair for ekagra and gestured him to sit. He couldn’t look her in the eyes after what he had said but he didn’t regret it he had to let her go he didn’t deserve her. He casted his eyes down and sat but Isha wasn’t disheartened she understood him and his silent gestures he always refused to make eye contact and his lashes fluttered when he felt guilty or was nervous she knew that

Isha served everyone the delicious delicacies starting with vedant then abhay and veer and fed each of them the first morsel from their plates with her own hand and kissed each of their foreheads. Her mother used to do this it was considered good luck and an honour to have the first bite of the food from the Laxmi of the house it was believed that the first bite by the lady of the house contained love and blessings. After her death isha took on this role to not let them feel the absence of their mother’s blessings. Each of them passed her a bright smile when she fed them and kissed her hands in return a silent thank you and to show how much they appreciate her. While ekagra just kept admiring this pure and lovely bond between the siblings feeling bittersweet about having someone’s unconditional love especially of a person who wasn’t afraid to show how much they mean to each other like these siblings does.

After Isha was done with them she went towards ekagra who was stunned at this sudden inclusion of himself in this pure and holy familial moment and held the first morsel towards him with a sweet smile and signalled him to eat with her eyes when he remained stunned

While ekagra was shocked vedant had a proud smile whereas abhay and veeransh had teasing ones

Veerash (FL younger brother)

Ohooooo vo Kya gana tha abhay bhai kuch aisa tha na “ jabse tere naina mere naino se lage re”

As veer started singing abhay ever the calm one just smiled and shook his head

Abhay (FL older brother)

Khalo bhai sa nahi to ye dhol bajta hi rahega

This caused veer’s smile to vanish and he immediately started glaring at abhay who ignored him as usual.

Ekagra came out of his daze and focused on Isha’s eyes she reassured him with her eyes still smiling at him like he was the most precious person on this planet she forwarded the morsel again and this time while looking into her eyes where there was nothing but reassurance and peace he ate it. Without giving him a chance to recover Isha bent down and placed a light kiss of his forehead too

And ekagra closed his eyes and a tear fell from his eyes on his cheek even though that kiss lasted for merely a second he felt he got the world from it. He felt safe and loved and appreciated.

Isha understanding his inner turmoil just wiped the tear of his cheek and gave his cheek a gentle caress and went and set on her seat besides her brother. No one noticed this small act of pure comfort between them as they veer and abhay was still bickering and vedant was trying to stop them.

As Isha sat on her seat vedant smiled towards her and fed her the first morsel followed by abhay and veer each kissing her forehead too while she smiled up at them.

After which they all ate their dinner in a peaceful lovely and happy atmosphere with veer distracting them from the earlier tension in the room.

After dinner everyone went retired to their rooms for the night and ekagra went to sleep in the guest room.