Does Aishani Mahal deserve to have shoes thrown at her for not updating this book for a while? Yes pretty much. 

Once Kamala gave her sister the box, she left her room. Gauri tried to find something that she could burn the pictures with before leaving to the place where she wanted to get rid of memories. She went downstairs with the box to find a matchbox. She kept it in the box and then she was about to tell her parents that she was leaving for a few minutes when Kamala said: mum and dad aren't home.

Gauri: why and when did they leave?

Kamala: basically they left when you were busy sulking in your bed and they left because some aunties called them over. It's a surprise that they called them over especially with what happened.

Gauri: how long do you think I can be out for till they come back?

Kamala: mum and dad left like 20 minutes ago so you have time on your hands. I'll text you besides you won't be gone for long. 

Gauri: so you are going to stay alone?

Kamala: yeah so? In Jaipur, you all let me stay home alone. 

Gauri: in the daytime, not when it is nearly dark.

Kamala: arre yaar, tu jaye. Bye. 

Gauri was about to speak when Kamala pushed Gauri out of the house then smiled at her big sister before closing the door. Gauri sighed as she walked away from her house and started walking on the road till she got an auto. She gave an address and soon she was at her destination. 

Gauri: I haven't got money on me but if you can wait here and then drive me home, I will get money from my house to pay you. 

Auto driver: theek hai mam. 

Gauri gave a small smile before walking away from the auto and she started walking near a standing figure...a tree. Near her high school, there was a tree that was still there today and it was known as the wish tree. Students from her high school would go to the wish tree to make a wish, mostly to wish for top marks in their boards so their parents don't murder them, good grades so their parents don't disown them, or admission in IIT or NEET so again their parents don't disown them. Some would wish for things like a new phone, new laptop or even a new dog though their mother would never allow it. 

When a student made a wish, they would get a tiny lock and a tiny key and they would lock that little lock on the tree to keep the wish secure. That's why the tree was known as the wish tree.

Gauri looked at the tree. She looked at the locks that were on the tree's branches. She knew well that she wouldn't be able to find the lock that she locked on the tree years ago but she had the memory, she remembered the day very well when she locked the lock on the tree....

Gauri kept the lock on the branch and with the mini key, she started to lock it so it was secure on the branch. It was at that moment, she was backhugged by a pair of two strong arms and those arms pulled her close to the person's chest. Her cheeks turned a light rosy pink as she said shyly:  Om?

Om: haan, who else? 

She smiled as he nuzzled into her neck before noticing that she was locking the lock. 

Om: Gauri?

Gauri: bolo.

Om: why are you locking the tree? Who will steal it? I mean it's an ordinary tree, no one is going to nick it. 

Gauri: Om, this is a wish tree. All students ask for a wish here.

Om: really? Then I wish for a Suzuki motorbike.

Gauri: really?

Om: really.

Gauri: a fancy new motorbike?

Om: haan. 

Gauri: here.

She kept a mini key in his hand. He looked a bit confused before Gauri said: I have made a wish for both of us. In this lock, our love is in there. Our love will be safe inside it forever. This lock will open with both keys only.

She said as she showed him her mini key.

Om: in that case, we must lock our bedrooms as well. We can have the keys of each other's bedroom too.

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, saying: aap bhi na, there is nothing important than love in life. You will realise it one day.

Om: I have realised it already. In my heart, I know how much I love you. Dil ko zubaan, aankhon ko sapne mil gaye ... aashiqui mein, zindagi ko mainne mil gaye. (The heart got a language, the eyes got dreams ... in love, life got its meaning)

Gauri: which dialogue is that movie from?

Om: arre it's not from a movie.

She gave him a look.

Om: Aashiqui 2.

Gauri: Om?

Om: bolo. 

Gauri: tell me properly, do you love me or not?

Om: will you kiss me if I say yes?

She gave him a shy smile, looking down. Om turned her around so she was facing him. He lifted her face up with his hand so she was looking right into his eyes.

Om: I love you.

He leaned his face a little closer to hers so that their lips could meet.

She opened the box to pick up the tiny key. The tiny key to their lock. 

Gauri: that day I kissed you because I thought you loved me but turns out I was wrong. I wish I knew your love was hollow like you! What to call a guy who left his girlfriend especially when she was pregnant with his child?

Whilst she looked at the mini key on one side of the tree, Om was sitting on the ground on the other side of the tree. He was looking at the sky before looking at what was in his hand, a mini key...identical to the one Gauri had.

She gave it to him to keep for the lock and he had kept it ever since. He didn't even throw it away when they broke up...well truth to be told when he broke up with her. He kept it with him from the last 7 years and it normally stayed in his wallet. Some would normally kept their loved one's photo in their wallet but Om kept the key in his wallet because that key was the key for the lock that contained his and Gauri's love inside.

Om then looked at the branches where there was coloured ribbons and little ornaments. The students in his high school would decorate it with coloured ribbons and little ornaments so other students would know that this was the wish tree where they could make a wish. He saw a yellow ribbon and gave a small smile at it. Yellow....Gauri's favourite colour. She loved the colour a lot. Though he was a big fun of dark colours, after meeting Gauri, he started to love yellow. 

He remembered the day he backhugged her and she gave him his mini key. He remembered the first time they met, in the library when she caught him flirting with another girl, he forgot about the other girl and he went after Gauri. It was at the library when he fell for the shy new girl.

But now those feelings he felt once were now dead. Right?

On the other side, Gauri kept the box down but before she did, she got the matches out and lit a match. She still kept the mini key with her because she didn't have the heart to throw it away. 

She remembered their movies dates. She remembered their first meeting. She remembered how he would use his seniors to spend them with her. She remembered when he asked her to be his girlfriend. She remembered how madly in love she was with him. She remembered when they used to bunk school on his insistence. She remembered how in early evening, they would sit on a bench at a corner shop and they would listen to music, sharing earplugs and he would lie on his lap cutely. 

Om: I promise I will love you forever.

He said as he kissed her hand.

She remembered each and every memory of theirs then she looked at the burning match. 

Gauri in mind: it's time to get rid of you, your promises and your memories. I have to make space for new memories now. From today you are only the person I work for, nothing else. 

She looked down at the box before letting go of the match. She watched as the match fell from her hands and landed on the box. Once it fell on the box, she turned and walked away from the box and the tree. 

As she walked further and further away from the tree, Om smelt smoke, he kept his key in his wallet before getting up to see that on the other side was fire. He saw a figure walking away and he said loudly: OH DID YOU START THE FIRE?

Gauri didn't hear him as when he yelled this, she already reached the auto. The auto went away and he was about to stomp on the fire when Mishti came with a bottle of water in her hands.

Mishti: how drunk are you Om? Stay away from the fire!

She kept him away from the fire and before he could say anything, she opened the bottle of water pouring it on the hungry flames. Thankfully the flames decided to be tamed by the water. 

Om: I was going to sort it out.

Mishti: by getting burnt? Great idea Om! Really! 

Om: I know right.

Mishti: I was being sarcastic. I don't know why you drank a lot today and you shouldn't have driven the car! I had to get a taxi to follow you. Now come on, give me your car keys, I am taking you home. 

Om: how will you get home?

Mishti: don't worry about me.

She made him follow her to his car then he gave her the keys so she could open the car, start it up and drive him home. 

As she drove him home, she managed to get some glances of Om. He looked broken...she wanted to ask him but Mishti knew he wouldn't give her a proper answer. Once she dropped him home, she gave him back his keys and she started to walk to her own house till she found an auto. 

...

It was the next day and since the bank holiday was now over, Gauri woke up still tired. She didn't get much sleep last night as she was thinking a lot about Pari. She missed her though she didn't really know her that well. She got up and freshened up for the day. Once she was ready, her dad was waiting for her so he could drive her to her workplace.

Avinash: Gauri, I am not impressed with the fact that you revealed your past's biggest truth yesterday to our guests.

Gauri: sorry papa.

Avinash: I know that you are still upset by what happened in the past but you also need to remember that people will judge you for what happened in the past. Now it wouldn't matter if maybe you failed some important exam in the past but in your past, you got pregnant which to society is shameful.

Gauri: I know papa. 

Avinash: thankfully yesterday when we met those guests in the evening, they didn't think much of what you said to them earlier but Gauri, I want you to think three times before you say anything in the future. 

Gauri: theek hai papa. 

Avinash stopped in front of her workplace building. He gave his daughter a smile as she smiled back at him before she got out of the car. 

Gauri in mind: you are not going to get affected by Om's presence in this building. 

Gauri walked into the building and went in the evaluator. Once she was at the floor, she knocked at Om's office cabin. 

Om: enter!

Om being at a place of work early? There's something new. He wouldn't even come early to school unless she forced him to.

Why was she thinking all about this? Personal life had no place in profession life.

She opened the door and Om looked up from his phone to see his ex..oops his personal assistant standing in front of him

Om: oh, my assistant. Welcome back. I hope you enjoyed your day off. I want you to get me a chamomile tea. I have a smashing headache. 

Gauri just gave a nod as she went out of the office cabin to make this man his tea in the staff's kitchen. As she made the tea, one of the workers came up to her and said: you good? What are you looking for?

Gauri: dried chamomile.

Worker: oh here.

She got the small pot of dried chamomile and gave it to Gauri.

Gauri: thank you.

Worker: no worries.

The worker went away as Gauri kept the chamomile in the boiling water and soon the tea was ready. She kept the tea in a mug and went out of the staff kitchen to give her boss his tea. 

Gauri: here is your tea.

She said as she kept the mug of tea in front of him.

Om: great. Mind giving him a head massage please?

What was she? A personal assistant or his servant?

Om noticed her looking around and he said once more: you gonna give me a massage right?

.

.

.

And we are done for the day...sorry for a boring chapter❤️

Will Gauri manage to survive another day with Om as her boss?

Will she also meet Pari again?

Target: 20+ votes and 10+ comments