Chapter 16

Chapter #42

Knowing what she intended to do would most likely seal her fate in the eyes of the family they had called upon, Mehek turned where she stood and, cup in hand, boldly made her way into their neighbour's kitchen. No one stopped her; instead she imagined they were pleased that she had taken the initiative. There, she found a lone servant toiling to keep up with demands of the visiting relatives who had for all intents and purposes gathered to inspect the prosepective bride Pammi had selected for her only child.

 

Yes: even though Kanta Chachi had chosen not to speak on it, Mehek soon understood exactly what was happening here. Just as she knew that her aunt was relying on the manners that had been ingrained in her from young to stop Mehek from protesting what was happening, at least not in present company. And she had been right. Once Pammi's praise over her television appearance was over and done; the inspection had begun and despite being painfully aware of being weighed and measured: that her every action, every word, every expression was under analysis, Mehek had behaved accordingly. Under no circumstances would she bring shame either to her aunt or to their family name. Which meant she had to set her emotions aside and push away the hurt that Kanta Chachi had covertly taken this course of action in the first place. So, Mehek smiled and offered her respects to the women she had been introduced to. In turn, she had accepted their vocal assessments of her person without complaint, even as she wished for the ground to swallow her up, for the assembled group turned out to be very much like their hostess: brash almost to the point of vulgarity. To a tee, each of them took turns questioning her and Kanta Chachi; their probing necessary to determine if she was suitable for Pammi's prince.  Ajay: a boy she was scarcely acquainted with, but who she knew she would never agree to marry. She only had to get through this visit, and then she would make that perfectly clear in no uncertain terms.  She sighed internally praying for the time to pass, so she could leave this group who gave the impression that it was their kin who was the true prize and that she should be honored for even being judged worthy of him. Of course, they didn't declare it out loud, but under the guise of complimenting her, she picked up the veiled innuendos being directed at her of how lucky she was to be considered by Pammi at all.  Only once, when one of the youngest of these cackling crows had insincerely lamented Mehek's lack of a slim figure before supposing that her "child-bearing hips could be a plus, had Mehek been tempted to storm out of the house. However, she quelled that desire when suddenly the speaker was called to task by the eldest of their group: the prospective groom's great-aunt. In fact, most of the off-colour banter ceased, when the woman interceded. Gratefully, Mehek had smiled at the elderly woman, who had for the most part remained an observer to the proceedings around her. Undoubtedly, she would have some pivitol role in the matter and Mehek could only hope that she would be the voice of reason and end this farce once and for all.

 

It had been due to her: the matriarch of the family, that Mehek now found herself in Pammi's kitchen. Upon paying further attention to the steely-eyed elder, she noted with confusion that while the woman was clearly held in high esteem by her family members, she had hardly been cared for by her relatives that afternoon. True: she had been served refreshments as they all had, however the offerings were obviously not to her liking. Her untouched chai, at the very least had to have cooled to totally unpalatable levels and no-one had done anything about it. This bothered Mehek to the extent that she approached the woman where she sat "Mausii, would you like a fresh cup of chai?"

"As if such is capable in this home, nowadays; I would be better off with a glass of water than this tepid concoction Pammi insists upon serving," the older woman replied with disdain, casting a scornful look in her niece's direction. "Well let me see what I can do," Mehek replied taking the teacup away.

 

Now, as she perused the kitchen, Mehek laid eyes on the instant chai mix on the counter that Pammi had provided and imagined that this was the offending ingredient that had put ther elderly woman off her refreshments. If anything like PD, there was no ready-mix yet invented that would compare to a delicious homemade brew. This Mehek thought, she could resolve, certain that the ingredients would be had the house. Quickly, after asking the cook for the things she needed, she set herself to the task.

*******

 

"I like your beti very much Kanta ji; any family would be blessed to have her as their bahu. I cannot believe that I am actually saying this Pammi, but you have chosen well."

 

Perched beside the senior, Mehek lowered her head, but not before catching Pammi's triumphant smile. That being bad enough, she chose to imagine Kanta chachi's relieved reaction rather than actually viewing it. It would just make what she would have to do even more wretched, because she knew neither her mind nor her heart would allow her to acquiesce to what looked now to be a foregone conclusion. She wasn't surprised, that the one family member she had spoken with the most freely with would be the one to seal her fate. And, it was all because of a cup of tea; a freshly made masala chai, that had lent to Mehek being granted a rare smile and an invitation to sit with the senior for a while. Mausii had been very easy to talk to and the 'conversation not contrived in the least, but now with her pronouncment Mehek understood that to the older woman, the endgame was always behind the motive. Far from being angry at herself, for she didn't believe that she had been lured into any trap, Mehek accepted the situation as being the worse result of the fifty/fifty chance she had in staying for this. She only prayed that the damage to her and chachi's relationship would not prove irreparable once she made her own intentions clear.

 

"If only this family could offer her the life-partner a daughter such as she actually deserves," the elderly woman lamented.

 

Mehek's head shot up, when the woman continued unexpectedly; effectively offering the reprieve she needed. Her startled gaze met the senior's look of understanding, and if that wasn't confirmation enough that she had heard correctly, the older woman patting her hand did. "I'm afraid beta, there will be no alliance brokered here today." Strangely, her expression told otherwise; that she was hardly upset over the prospect.

 

"Mausii, what are you saying!"

 

Ignoring her niece's shrill exclamation, the elderly woman addressed the senior of their two guests. "Kanta, I cannot begin to understand what my dear niece has conveyed that would persuade you that marriage to my wastrel of a nephew would be ideal...

"Witch...you witch. You have always been jealous: first of my mother; of me, but to speak ill of you own nephew..."

 "Ill? I have yet to speak ill of the boy. Do not make me, Pammi, for I will if I must, and you of all people know there is much I can disclose about my dearest great-nephew. The boy has been spoilt since birth and the results speak for themselves. Even my dearly departed sister: his grandmother understood this...as much as she doted on the boy, she knew what he had become...do you  really think she would have...that she would support ruining a girl's life just to placate your desires, Pammi? If Mehek wasn't who she was today, on the cusp of stardom and an avenue for you to hobnob with the rich and famous would you have even considered her a match for Ajay?  Are you so abhorrent to destroy a good girl's life as a mean to an end? Or are you that delusional in believing that Ajay is a prize?"

 

Ignoring Pammi's spluttering response, Mehek looked to Kanta Chachi and saw the first glimpse of unease on her aunt's face before she held out her hand in niece's direction. Folding her hands to the woman she sat beside the young woman stood intent on following her aunt's unspoken instruction that they depart...now.

"God bless you, Mehek Beta," the woman whispered kindly.

"Thank you Maussi."

 

*******

Another cup of tea in hand, Mehek knocked softly on her aunt's bedroom door, before quietly letting herself in. There was little chance of Kanta chachi being asleep; she had been far too upset for that, but Mehek hoped that she would be able to rest for a while after the drink Mehek had especially prepared for her.

"Chachi..."

Pained eyes: a mix of emotions emanating from them, rose to look at the woman she loved like a daughter. She sniffed and ignored the offering, instead getting up and heading for her chest of drawers, began rummaging through the one that contained her miedicines. "Sit down Mehek and roll up your sleeve," she called out. Despite thinking her aunt was making too much of things, Mehek did what she was asked, after setting the chai on the nearby nightstand. True her arm did ache a bit, but not enough to warrant the attention Chachi believed it needed. However, that changed as soon as she saw the bruising, she hadn't anticipated marring her arm; a testament to how ferocious Pammi's grip had been.

  

Immediately, her mind cast back to that moment, when upon seeing that she and her aunt were intent on leaving that the overbearing woman had intercepted her, first cajoling Mehek to ignore what had just been said and stay. Mehek recalled her shock, when the heavy-set woman suddenly grabbed her and physically stopped her when it was clear the young chef would defer only to Kanta's wishes. "Just who do you think you are," Pammi seethed to her unmindful to the fact that she was accosting a guest to her home. "Pammi, unhand her," Mehek heard just before the once affable hostess began spouting her vitriol. "Shameless" she had called Mehek; suggesting that only by whoring herself to a rich man could a slovenly, uneducated s**t like her have gotten to where she was in her career. No respectable family would want her after Shaurya Khanna had finished with her, and then what..." Pammi had stared in fury when she saw Mehek's refusal to wither under her berating. She would have carried on, but for the slap that Kanta Chachi delivered as she opened her mouth; a move that astounded not only the woman herself, but also all who had witnessed Pammi's revolting display.

 

"Oh God," Mehek exclaimed after rotating her arm and grasping the full extent of her injuries. She felt her aunt's return and turned to her. "Chachi..." 

"This cream and an ice compress may help a bit, but what is done is done," Kanta said  regretfully before she liberally applied a cooling salve to Mehek's arm. "I cannot imagine he will be happy."

"Furious," Mehek agreed, knowing that she would have to stop Shaurya from exacting some form of revenge on their neighbor if she did not mange to keep this from him. It would serve no purpose other than to exasperate the already tenuous situation they were in. Hesitantly, she peeped at Kanta who quite uncharacteristically sported a sly smirk. "Aacha, well if there was anyone worthy of his temper it is Pammi," she muttered as she massaged her niece's arm unaware that Mehek had seen her reaction. "And what of me, Mehek," she asked, acknowledging her own role in this afternoon's fiasco.

"It will bother him, very, very much, that you thought this... that arranging my marriage was the best choice, but he won't act on it. Because he knows I love you, Chachi. Because the approval of my family for our relationship, your's especially is all that I wish for, and that until there is no hope for it..."

"I do not know if that is something I will be able to give, Mehek," Kanta interjected, not willing to hear the rest of her child's comment suspecting that she was about to announce that she would choose Shaurya Khanna over her family if pushed to that point.

"We're not asking for it today, Chachi, only that you consider it. He is not the man we first thought him to be," Mehek stated firmly. "A chance to prove it is all he needs...and frankly it's what he deserves after today." 

 

It was probably the closest she had ever come to accusing her aunt of anything in her life, but she couldn't help herself.

 

"I believe I will have my tea now, and a moment alone... to consider things," Kanta declared, breaking the poignant silence that had fallen between them.

"Ji Chachi," Mehek replied, grateful that  due to her boldness, that she would be granted even this.

 

******

 

 The next morning, from the balcony off his bedroom; his morning coffee in hand, Shaurya overlooked the work the landscapers were doing on the grounds. He nodded in satisfaction hearing the whirring of the machinery taming the expansive lawn and foliage surrounding the mansion. The sounds echoing inside indicated something similar: that his mother was directing the house-staff to ensure the home's interior be in pristine condition for their guests this evening. And then, on clockwork the commercial vehicles arrived: the Pool-cleaning company coming to spruce up the swimming-pool and the florist bearing the arrangements that Maa insisted upon having today. He spied the arrangements with a wary eye. Although he trusted his mother's taste, he was also aware how excited she was for tonight, and even from where he stood, the first of the bouquets seemed rather ornate, maybe just a bit too over the top for the occasion. He would go and check...  just to make sure. Everything had to ...needed to be perfect.

 

There would be twice as many Sharmas attending tonight than there would be his own, not that it mattered to Shaurya. Swetlanta and Shruiti opting out of the dinner party was hardly surprising, and just reduced the chances of something going wrong, since only those with a vested interested in his wellbeing would be present. His mother's, and to a lesser extent his father's support, he had expected, but it was his brother Vicky who had surprised him most of all. That the normally henpecked husband had flatly rejected his wife's demand to go out with her for the evening in favor of his brother and his guests told Shaurya that his younger cousin understood how important this dinner was to him. It was a pleasant surprise: one Shaurya hadn't expected to touch him as much as it had, for they (Vicky and he) understandably hadn't been close for many years now.  And until today: when the younger man had stood for him over the woman he had married, Shaurya hadn't realized how much he missed his cousin/brother, when ignoring him seemed the only option he had. In addition to bringing two families together, Shaurya hoped that the gathering would prove a new beginning for the two of them as well.  If adding that to his already overflowing list of pleas, wasn't asking too much, he thought ruefully directing his liteny up to the heavens.

 

As if the very thought of his brother conjured him up, Shaurya was halfway down the staircase, when he heard Vicky calling out to him for assistance. He met the younger man just inside the door, laden with boxes.

"Vicky, what the hell?"

"Give me a hand Bhaiyaa. I've just come from raiding White Chilli's storeroom; I think I've covered everything we need. KMaa will let us know."

"Everything...?"
"Aacha Vicky beta, you are back, wonderful. Awara, help Vicky take everything into the kitchen. Shaurya come and see the flowers. I made sure to have jasmine feature predominately in them, but I want you to take a look at them before the florist leaves, thik hai." She looped her arm through her handsome son's and led him towards the dining room. "You must thank Vicky for thinking of the one thing that both of us overlooked. With the Sharmas being vegetarian, it would be nigh sacrilegious for their meal to be prepared in something that non-veg meals have. Thank goodness he stopped the preparations before they began," she added. She took in her son's expression of horror, and then gently patted his hands.

 

"Calm down Shaury, the crisis has been averted, and we are here for you...and tonight will be perfect...I promise."

 

[NOCOPY]

crtkelly2019-01-27 13:18:41