CHAPTER 52
The car is moving at its own pace, and Avishka is enjoying the outside view while sitting silently with Aashi on her lap. Both of them are playing a lot in between the journeys whose distinction they don't know. Prakram is currently busy finishing his important work, as he doesn't want any interruptions for the next two days. Since he is nearing the end of his work, he is eager to finish it completely. The most important thing is that once he finishes his work, he wants to spend the entire time with Ashi, witnessing the happiness on her face and the surprises he is giving her. He wants to capture it well in his memories, which is why he is freeing himself completely.
"Papa, where are we going?"
Prakram immediately looks at his daughter, but within a moment, his eyes are back on the laptop. He understands that even a moment's delay can significantly delay his work, so he responds to her with a smile without looking at her.
"It's called a surprise, and when a surprise is given, they don't tell anyone, so how can I tell you, sweetheart?"
"Please…"
"Please no…"
"Yesssss..."
"Noooo…"
"You are my sweet papa."
"I know, so behave like my sweet daughter... Don't ask anything."
Avishka laughs a lot after listening to both of them a lot of times because their conversations are always very sweet and enjoyable, due to which she starts laughing at their childish acts. Prakram immediately wants to look at her because he rarely comes across her smiling face, and he does not want to miss that smile at all, but he knows that by getting entangled in all these things, he can delay a lot because only 5 minutes are left for the work to be completed, and he knows very well that after 5 minutes, his entire time will be for his family only. He can play with Aashi and look at Avishka's beautiful smile. Thinking this, suddenly his fingers stop on the laptop because he thought about Avishka's smile, due to which he immediately stops for a few moments, and then while working again, he tries to clear all the things from his mind.
Prakram's fingers move quickly on the laptop, and he can hear Avishka and Aashi playing their favorite game, 'Does it fly?' as they always do. Once he finishes his work, he immediately sets the laptop aside, scoops Aashi off Avishka's lap, and engages her in conversation while rapidly tickling her stomach.
"Ashu needs to know the surprise... This surprise will tickle her stomach vigorously and make her laugh. She will get upset because of the laughter, but I am not going to stop. I will tickly-tickly."
Aashi is laughing loudly and trying to remove her father's fingers from her stomach, but Prakram is continuously tickling her, causing her to be unable to remove his hands while laughing.
"Papa, time out... Mumma, help..."
"No, I want more..."
Avishka is smiling a lot while looking at both of them, and Prakram can feel her eyes on him very well. Since the morning, he has been aware of Avishka's intense gaze on him, for reasons he cannot pinpoint. However, he has developed a deep affection for these eyes, to the point where he never turns back to look at her, knowing that she will quickly divert her gaze away from him. He is in a strange kind of struggle where, on the one hand, he suddenly feels his inclination towards Aavishka, and on the other hand, he wants to stop himself completely because he sees all this as an illusion. While he knows that Avishka is not deceiving him in any way,.
The car then stops at a specific location. Avishka immediately begins examining the scene, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. She immediately turns and looks towards Prakram, but he has gone out with Aashi, due to which she is not able to understand. After taking her out, Aashi notices everything, claps with joy at the sight of the place, and begins to jump wildly in her father's lap.
"Yeee, did you remember that I sat on a yacht? You brought a very big yacht."
"How can it be possible for me to forget something my daughter asks me for? I have taken this yacht for two days, and we are going to have a lot of fun on it in the middle of the water for two days. We will see lots of fish there. We will eat, enjoy, and play."
"Yeeeee…"
Avishka exits the car, attempting to smile as she gazes at the surrounding water. Having overheard the father and daughter's conversation, she now feels nervous, as negative thoughts quickly invade her mind whenever anything involving water occurs. Prakram mentioned that they will be staying in the middle of the water for two days, which has left Avishka feeling extremely nervous and dizzy. Suddenly, she feels herself drowning in water, but in a blink, she manages her situation. Armaan is already present on the yacht, and seeing both of them, he waves his hand. Aashi starts shaking her hand vigorously, as she feels very eager to go on the yacht now. Prakram immediately moves forward; he says this to Avishka while looking at Aashi's pleasant face.
"Come Avishka…"
Carrying his daughter in his lap, Prakram easily climbs the platform between the yacht and the dock to reach the yacht, but Avishka is unable to reach the shore and place her feet on the large wooden ply because she is afraid of the steep climb. Her attention is on the water, which is very deep. When Armaan catches sight of Avishka, he bursts into laughter at her frightened expression. Prakram, seeing him laugh like this, turns to look at Avishka, who is clearly scared of water. He immediately makes Armaan hand over Aashi, and as he returns to the dock, he says to Avishka:
"What happened..."
"Aashi very much wants to sit on the yacht; you take her, and I will go back to the cottage... You both enjoy the ride.”
“But she won't go without you at all; you know that.”
Avishka immediately looks at him, and Prakram can see the fear in her eyes very well. Avishka's eyes turn to Aashi, who is smiling a lot and trying to look at the entire yacht with happiness. She lacks the courage to approach the yacht, but when she sees Aashi, she doesn't want to break her heart. Therefore, she takes a step forward, but quickly retracts and turns back to Prakram.
"I will explain to her; she will leave with you and enjoy herself greatly; both of you go. I am not coming.”
Prakram has understood very well that, due to her fear of water, she does not want to go on the yacht at all, so he holds her hand and starts taking her with him, but she tries to free herself by pulling her hand from his grip. She begins to move backwards, which prompts Prakram to pull her forward, using his body to cover her from behind. Upon witnessing all this, Aashi bursts into a loud laugh, and Armaan joins in, finding the whole situation immensely entertaining to watch. Avishka is trying her best to free herself. Prakram is doing his best to get her on the yacht. Avishka shouts.
"Prakram please..."
"It's not scary at all after we hop in."
"But I don't want to climb, so why wait to see if I find it scary or not? It is scary; I already know."
Prakram has also started laughing after listening to her words, and Aashi's laughter has started resonating a lot. Prakram starts bringing her along with him, but she is trying her best to let him go, due to which he wants her ahead of him. He starts bringing her to the yacht while holding her, but Avishka immediately frees herself by hitting her elbow hard in his stomach in reaction and tries to run away from there. Prakram laughs heartily at this act, knowing that Avishka is well-versed in material art, enabling her to react quickly and use it to her advantage. However, she is now attempting to flee by using this art form to elude him. This very thought makes him very excited that she wanted to run away from the well-trained Mafia king. He is laughing, Avishka moves away and looks back, and Prakram is approaching her with a smile. In response, she points a finger at him and says,
"Please try to understand; I will not be able to go at all."
Prakram rushes towards her, and she recognizes his intention to capture her, prompting her to swiftly flee. Meanwhile, Aashi begins to cheer and shout loudly, gazing at both of them.
"Come on, papa... Run fast, Mumma... Let's see who wins... Come on..."
While Avishka is loudly refusing him while running, Prakram starts laughing while running because he is finding all this so much fun that, where he could easily catch her in 2 minutes, he does not do so and is just slowly trying to catch her.
"Avishka, please sit there once and see; there is nothing like that; you will not feel scared."
"No way…"
The way Avishka rejects him by shaking her head in fear makes him laugh so hard that he bursts into laughter in front of her. This is extremely offensive, but she doesn't care; he's laughing at her fear, and it's crucial that she flees.
"Avishka, now stop it, walk inside the yacht once, and see; nothing is going to happen, and Aashi, I am also with you."
"Sooooo…"
Avishka utters the word "sooo" so loudly that Armaan immediately bursts into laughter, causing Prakram and everyone else present to burst into laughter as well. Avishka knows that everyone is laughing at her, but she has no clue about how to save herself from this situation. She doesn't care about anything other than going away from here; she is just looking for a way to leave from there, and Prakram tells her while moving towards her.
"Look, either walk easily or else I will carry you away."
"Look, don't come near me at all; I am not responsible for any accident that happens later... I know excellent fighting skills."
This warning of Avishka is very funny in itself, due to which there is laughter echoing there, but this statement of hers is much more challenging, and now Prakram wants to take her on a yacht also. There are many reasons for this. He doesn't want her to feel afraid in any way. Second, he had meticulously planned everything, and upon witnessing Aashi's happiness, he felt compelled to stick to his original plan, fully aware that his daughter would not be content without her mother. Third, he also wants Avishka to go to the desired destination, and he knows she will be happy because he knows that when he reaches her destination, Avishka will feel good after seeing the beauty. This is her primary fear, which is scaring her. When she confronts fear, it is unlike anything else she has ever experienced.
Prakram immediately approaches her and begins to hold her hand, but Avishka quickly locks his hand with both hers, pushes him back, and attempts to flee. However, Prakram, fully prepared, quickly turns around, locks both her hands tightly, and effortlessly lifts her into his arms. With a winning smile on his face, he gazes at Avishka, who is comfortably nestled in his arms without much struggle. Avishka begins to vigorously shake her legs and responds to him.
"You are not doing all this right."
"I don't do anything right, and I love to do all the wrong things."
"Prakram please…."
Prakram is ready to board the yacht, taking long strides. As soon as Avishka sees the water below, she immediately grabs hold of Prakram, and even her nails have pricked his palm. Prakram has seen Avishka's face, and he tightly hugs her close to him. She frees her hands from his grip, she wraps them around his neck, and closes her eyes tightly.
Prakram and Avishka come immediately on the yacht; he makes her stand on her feet, and he is laughing continuously. Avishka begins to scan her surroundings, which in turn intensifies her nervousness. She immediately comes near him, puts her arms around his waist, and holds him tightly. Armaan hands Aashi to him, who is clearly having a great time, and kisses his cheek. She asks Avishka.
"Mumma, are you afraid?"
Avishka is unable to tell her anything. Prakram has still not left her completely. He signals Armaan for the yacht to move forward, prompting him to immediately go to the captain for assistance. Soon, Avishka notices that the yacht has begun to drift, and a wave of nervousness washes over her, prompting her to gently turn, cradling Aashi in her arms, and firmly grasping Prakram. With her tight fist, she grabbed his shirt from his back. Prakram holds her protectively and places her head close to his chest while patting her lightly.
Prakram gently cradles both Aashi and Avishka in his arms, and soon the yacht begins to move swiftly. Aashi is enjoying all these things very much, due to which her giggle can be heard continuously. Avishka, who has hidden her face in Prakram's chest to avoid seeing anything, tries to look around by slightly moving her face out, which she finds very gentle and charming but sometimes scary too. Sometimes she smiles lightly when she finds something beautiful. Prakram is watching her every action very well, and he likes her little smile very much.
After floating for a long time, a yacht stops in the middle, and upon seeing all this, a beautiful smile begins to appear on Avishka's face. She is not even trying to go to the corner of the yacht and look into the water because she knows she will start feeling scared again; rather, she is trying to look around, which in itself is very beautiful to her. Aashi is very excited to see the yacht below.
"Mumma, let's go to the corner."
As soon as she heard her, Avishka's eyes became very big, and Prakram started laughing very loudly. He immediately took Aashi in his arms and, continuously laughing at Avishka, started taking Aashi to the corner so that he could look into the water and show her the fish. All the bodyguards of Prakram, along with Armaan, who has been with him for years, are very happy to see him laughing openly like this after so many years. Avishka stands there silently and sees how Prakram is telling everything to Aashi, but both of them are going too far into the corner, due to which she shouts at Prakram.
"There is no need to take her to the corner so much; she is a small girl, and you know how much she starts to bounce around."
"You don't need to worry; I will handle her well. I'm holding her tight like this. Come on; I'll show you the fish as well, and I won't allow you to jump into the water. Not even fish jump on you."
When he jokes like this, Avishka starts looking at him, due to which he starts laughing even more, and this time Aashi also laughs loudly with him and tells about her father.
"Mumma is very scared. "I'm a strong girl, like Papa."
Prakram immediately smiles, kisses her cheek, and looks towards Avishka, who is looking at Aashi with her eyes narrowed.