Chapter 5

Chapter 3-Jaspal

Jaspal badly wished to slap the living daylights out of his brother.However, his instinct for self preservation got the better of him.He immediately dispatched his public relations team to deal with the media,requesting his secretary,Manoj to come up with a plausible cover story.He trusted him to come up with an airtight story.The guests themselves seemed polite enough to ignore the scandal but he knew better.He had dinner served and had them escorted into the dining marquee.

The next item on his list was his circus of a family.To deal with them,he had to separate them.He called up his brother in law and had him take Jassi di and their son Garry home.He felt sick at the glee which simmered for a second on her face as she took in the mayhem.As unorthodox as it was to send her home during a family crisis, they didn't need her fanning the flames.

He approached his father who seemed ready to murder his eldest and bury him on the spot.Wishing to spare Angad further trauma,he sent him to find Prabhjyot.The two of them were not to come out of her room until he allowed them to.He also had dinner sent up for them.

With all the hassles sorted,he finally dove into the heart of the problem.

SLAPPP!!!

He winced in sympathy as his brother got a resounding slap from his parjaai.His daarji seemed to disapprove but he didn't say anything.His bebe seemed to agree with his parjaai though.

Jaspal himself was rather conflicted.The whole point was to de-escalate the conflict,not fan it further.To his horror,his veerji straightened and raised his hand,ready to slap her back.He immediately stepped in between them.

"Parjaai,I beg you.Please go back to your room .You seemed too stressed out and angry .You might end up doing something you'll regret.Please."

She looked at him,her face as hard as stone.He half expected a slap,but thankfully she nodded and stormed off.

"And bebe, could you please sit with Prabhjyot and Angad till we return? They must be extremely anxious and worried.Angad looked close to tears and parjaai is in no condition to console him."

His mother too nodded and left.

That left him with his father and brother ,the last people he wished to spend quality time with.

Daarji hadn't said a single word,which didn't bode well for either of them.He braced himself for the worst.

"Jaspal,please tell your brother to get out of my sight immediately.I have no desire to see that sorry face of his."

His Inder veerji simply grinned and decided to make himself comfortable on the ground.Thankfully ,they were alone with no one watching.Jaspal desperately wished to vanish.

Unfortunately he was stuck in the Brar mansion,whether he liked it or not.He looked at his brother, pleading silently,hoping against hope he'd take the hint and leave.Lady luck had deserted him again.His Daarji walked off silently,his stick clanging on the ground.

"Looks like the old man has given up."

His brother chimed.In all his life ,Jaspal had never seen his brother this happy before,not when he'd gotten selected for the hockey Nationals,not when he'd gotten married or not even when Angad had been born.

Perhaps it was the happiness borne out of desperation ,that seemed the purest of all.

He hoped he never had to know it.His veerji started to laugh,the loudest he could muster and Jaspal was too tired to stop.Once the alcohol,vanished he'd start crying.He was familiar with the drill.

He took a seat beside his brother and the two of them stared at the sky above,the stars barely visible.Inder had put one arm around him,the way he used to when they had been children.

He didn't bother going back to the stage.His daarji would deal with the mess and the guests.All he wanted was to enjoy his rare and rather ill timed moment of peace and quiet.