Chapter #25

 

Sanjay stood outside the nursery holding Daadi's hand. He could hear his little sister in there, and although he wanted to play with her, he was worried; suppose the lady was still in there. Would she send him away?

"Beta it's okay, don't you hear Aryia? She's awake from her nap and I am sure she would be happy to see you."

Cautiously he peeped through the door.

"Sanjay?"

"Yes Papa?"

"Aryia and I are waiting for you, are you not coming to visit with her today?"

He looked up at Daadi who smiled encouragingly. "I'm coming Papa."

Daadi watched the little boy enter the room and closed the door behind him. She walked down the hall where her bahu stood waiting. "At last. He finally went in Rachna."

"I'm glad Daadi."

"Are you okay, Beta?"

"I'm more angry at her than anything else Daadi. That woman has no redeemable qualities in my eyes."

"In that we are in agreement, but I trust that Nanhe will rectify what has been done."

"I hope so Daadi."

 

For today only, Kabir allowed for the nursery door to be closed, if only to give the young boy the assurance that no one would enter without knocking first. Still it looked as if it would take some miracle that would allow the child to relax and enjoy the rambunctious of his playmate. Fortunately, Kabir thought, his daughter was an absolute genius and was able to help put her sibling at ease with one word.

"Jayjay!"

The wonder on the little boy's face was a joy to behold when he heard his sister shrieking her version of his name as she toddled over to grab him. "Papa, Papa do you hear Aryia? She's trying to say my name! She's saying it all wrong, but she's trying!" He watched his papa's surprised face. "Beta, what if she's right and we've been wrong all this time? You might really be named Jayjay. Hmm I think we have no other choice now; we will all have to call you Jayjay.  Ariya is a pretty smart, for a baby that is."

"My Jayjay, Papa!"

Kabir watched as the little boy blinked in surprise; his sister's utterance couldn't have been cued better than now. He listened intently when Sanjay bent to where he sat on the floor and whispered in his ear. "She's really wrong Papa, but you can call me Jayjay so we don't make her sad."

His Papa's agreement and hug made him feel better and along with his sister's claim, finally Sanjay put aside his fear and at last began to fully enjoy spending his allotted time with his family.

 

Naomi sat there, her hand up refusing the sweet. "Not until you tell me how you pulled this off."

"Naomi, you were the one who suggested a celebration, now that I've accommodated you, still you give me grief?" He gently pulled her hand down, distracting her with the butterfly soft caresses of his fingers,   re-offering the sweet . "You do know it's customary to share sweets when celebrating right? You're either going to celebrate with me or not, Naomi; so what will it be?" She smiled finally, and opened her mouth to receive the confection, thankful that it was tiny when he popped it into her mouth unexpectedly.

She covered her mouth to contain her laughter and finished the treat. "Okay, my turn, and I will show you how to do this nicely." She held the treat for him and allowed him to take a bite. She wasn't prepared for him to hold her withdrawing hand through, and her eyes widened in surprise when he went back for the piece remaining in her hand, playfully nibbling of her fingers in the process. "You're right," he said, "your way was definitely nicer. And in answer to your question, not everyone is a  lay-about like you, I just got up early this morning. "

Naomi looked at all that had been done, from the artful setup of the blanket and pillows; the array of food to the pretty floral arrangement, and then back to Rajeev. "I'm amazed then, truly I am. The hours you must have spent in the kitchen alone and still you manage to come across some of my favorite flowers just to add the perfect touch to this set up. Wow, you are absolutely amazing Mr. Agarwal."

"Just call me a man of many talents."

"And tell me, how is it that someone so very talented is still single that I should be to be lucky the recipient of such treatment?"

"Perhaps my talents have just come to the fore since meeting you. Maybe you are the inspiration behind all of this."

 Suddenly shy, she looked everywhere, anywhere but at him. "Stop teasing, you know that's not true."

"You know you have developed this bad habit of thinking you know how I should feel about you. And in particular that you don't think you are worth my attention; why is that Naomi?" He acknowledged her silence as proof of her uncertainty and held her hand, "Look, I know that Abhi hurt you..."

She looked up then and met his eyes. "Don't, "she pleaded, "Please don't bring him into what we have."

"How can I not, when it's obvious that you are, or if not him specifically, how he left you feeling. I can't tell you not to be anxious, but just trust me, if I say you are worth this and more, then you are. Can you at least give me chance to prove it to you?" He returned the smile she gave him, taking it as an affirmative response. "Well I would say that is cause for continue this celebration, don't you think? Let's see if I've learned to do this nicely," he said offering her another sweet with a wink.

 

Sleep now the farthest thing from her mind, Rachna went down to her studio to work on Shryia's design, or any design for that matter. She hadn't anticipated doing any work today, but now felt the need for any activity to keep her mind occupied and off the ill feelings she had toward Sonal. While she hadn't expected smooth sailing as they navigated the situation they were in, this new facet, specifically what had been disclosed by Sanjay, only proved that Sonal hadn't changed one iota. There was no way she could have expected such a young child not to divulge something  that had scarred him as it had, even if done unwittingly. That her deviousness would allow her to go to the extreme, possibly using her own child in her scheming told Rachna everything she needed to know. She would put nothing pass the woman, and despite being effectively on the outside of the situation legally, she would have to keep a close eye on the going-ons during these visitations. She smiled at the irony that while her husband was so determined to succor her wellbeing, that she would be doing the same for him. Logistically it may be a challenge, but she was determined that no trouble come her husband's direction either. She smiled suddenly; the perfect idea coming to her head. All she would have to do was run it by Naomi, although she was sure that her friend wouldn't object. Galvanized in finding a solution so quickly, Rachna settled to work.

 

He was shocked. Never in any of his imaginings would Rajeev have  expected Naomi to turn him down flat, but that was just what she had done. He thought the plan infallible, but by saying no, she had effectively had stumped his efforts entirely. "I don't understand Naomi, why won't ..."

"Come on Rajeev, you are trying to have me believe that someone who can execute a plan such as  this, can't cope with furniture shopping; for his own place no less?"

"I didn't mean for you to take it all on, but to help me out; you come shopping with me, be here to accept delivery if I'm not available, that sort of thing."

She seemed unaffected with his explanation.  He closed his eyes for a moment. "Okay I confess, I had help with the arrangements, I couldn't have done it without her ."

Finally she looked interested. "Her who?"

"Daadi, she organized practically all of it, the food, what to use to set up, and yes she gave me a clue about the flowers.  So I'm not as capable as you think. Mind you I did all the errand running, and ordered the flowers and set up..." He stopped when she placed a hand to his mouth.  "Okay. I'll help, only..."

"Whatever it is, it's fine."

"You don't even know what I am going to say!  But we will have to work around the campaign that I will be working on with KT, that's all. I don't know all the specifics of it, but I will let you know as soon as possible."

"I didn't realize that he had asked you to do one."

"Well we just discussed it briefly before he left, and I hadn't confirmed that I would, but I really want to do it. I think that it would be fitting that my last shoot would be with the company that launched my modelling career in the first place."

"You're giving it up, then?" He studied her resolved expression. "But what about Rachna, didn't you commit to do a shoot for her?"

"Yes that will be the only one left to do after, but we have an agreement on when that will be done. When the time is right, then I will do it. But at the very least, you will be able to see me in action when I do the shoot for KT."

"Thik hai, but about the one for Rachna; am I not invited to that one?" he teased.

She bit her lip pondering her answer, "Well that remains to be seen." But in her mind she secretly hoped that he would be there.  "Anyway, when do you want to start?"

"Well if we are finished up here, perhaps we could have a quick look before we had back home."

Home' she thought smiling, realizing that she would have his company until his place was furnished. Without a doubt she was happy that she would have his company a little while longer, and effectively he had given her all the leeway to determine for how long.

"Are you going to tell me what has you so happy all of a sudden, Sweetheart?"

"I was wondering how you would feel if we took care of everything in a day or so; I can really shop when I have too."

"What, no...I mean, that will just be too many decisions to make in one day, remember I'm going to have live with this stuff, so I will probably be a little choosy." He would become downright indecisive if she was too efficient, he thought; and he had to remember to place a couple special orders, definitely.

 

They returned home after a disastrous shopping excursion, pretty happy for this fact. They had been at odds over just about everything but in all honestly neither cared. "Obviously Naomi, we will have to make a proper plan before we tackle this again, or we will be just wasting each other's time. But I had a great time anyway." He watched as she nodded and then inhaled the fragrance of the flowers as they reached the door. "Make sure to let me know when they are ready to be replaced, okay?"

She smiled up at him. "So I can expect to be spoiled with more flowers then?"

"Unless there is something else you prefer."

"Flowers will be fine."

"Well actually, before we go in, there is something else I wanted you to have." Naomi watched him reach into his pocket and extract a key. Automatically she realized what it was a spare key to his place, which he confirmed it with his next words. "I want you to be able to go there whenever you have to or want to. I hope you don't mind me offering it to you."

Naomi was pondering her decision when she heard an all too familiar voice come from behind them.

"Goodness Pari, don't hesitate, this could very well be the key to his heart he is offering here." The comment got both of their attention, and together they turned towards the speaker. With a clear view from her vantage point, Naomi watched as Sonal gave Rajeev a thorough once-over with what could only be described as hungry eyes, before glancing over to the young woman. "Oh my, Pari, I would definitely take him up on anything he offered. I do hope you are as smart as you profess to be." And just to add salt to the wound she was certain she had inflicted, she sauntered up to the appealing man in front of her. "Hello, I'm Sonal... and you are?"

 

The witch would be dead if she didn't back off,' Naomi thought.  Schooling her features to one of disinterest, Naomi engaged the woman. "Oh hello Sonal, you're here to collect Sanjay already?" She opened the door, and discreetly pulled Rajeev out of her path. "Please, go in, I'm sure KT is waiting for you."

[NOCOPY]

crtkelly2016-05-24 16:27:30