Arnav
"I am fine, Di. Stop fussing," he growled.
Di looked hurt and worried, seeing this he softened and mumbled his sorry. Like his poor Di didn't have enough worries of her own, that she be burdened with worry about her temporarily incapacitated brother. When Di left the room, he sighed. It had been three weeks since he had hit a tree and broken his back. It had been three weeks since he had blacked out for a few hours, forgetting everything for just a short while. It had been three weeks since he had seen his wife in the arms of another man.
Wife. Where was she anyway?
The last thing he remembered was hitting the tree and then he was in a hospital bed – he wasn't really sure for how many hours had he passed out, but he finally woke up he saw worried faces hovered around him – Di, Aakash, Payal, Maamaji, Maamiji, Naaniji. His head hurt as he tried to register all their faces and offer a wan smile, to comfort them that he was well. He looked around the room a couple of times and had this feeling that something was missing – yes, she was missing.
"Where is... NK," he finally asked.
Everyone looked at each other, unmistakably the guilt very apparent on their faces.
"Bhai, aap aaram kijiye," Aakash said finally.
He hadn't pressed on then. He didn't need to.
So, she had moved on. Left him to go away with NK, obviously the person whom she loved. Loved enough to even be unmoved by what was likely to happen to her sister's future.
Over the next few days, as his body and mind both began to recover, the pieces of the puzzle began to emerge and he managed to reconstruct the events that had happened. Soon after Arnav had left the cafe, Khushi and NK had left too. Apparently to the railway station, where NK dropped her to board a train to Lucknow. Yes, that is what she was going to do, go away to Lucknow, walking out on their marriage. But sadly for her, a damn tree had come in the way of his car and she was summoned. Apparently NK had to travel to Lucknow to persuade her to return. They returned a day after he got home from the hospital. When she entered the room, she asked in her usual breezy tone, Suna hain aapka koyi accident ho gaya?
He had lost it then. The cheek of this girl, running away, embarrassing him in front of his family and doing things with no regard for the consequences that would result because of her stupidity. Of course, he had been stupid too. Stupid enough to marry this vixen. Stupid enough to want to protect her, from men like Shyam and from her own self. Protecting his sister had compelled him into action, but as soon as he hit that tree, when his entire life flashed in front of him, he knew. He knew that the real reason he married Khushi was because he wanted to be with her forever, so that he could feel alive. This knowledge that shocked him as much as hitting the tree and having the airbags kick in had.
But she didn't think of him as worthy and had abandoned him. That was that.
Khushi came into the room and he looked away. They didn't speak these days. She was in the house, but in some corner far away from him. Only to return in the night, to sleep on the floor beside him. They didn't argue anymore. They pretended that the other was invisible.
She made her bed wordlessly and he found himself twitching. It was his back. It felt itchy. He sat on his bed and willed his mind to overcome the urge to scratch. He was Arnav Singh Raizada, surely he could command his mind to do anything. She was about to lie down, that she saw his face and stopped. She came up to his bed, hesitated a bit and asked, Arnavji, kya hua? Aap theekh tau hain?
He had been shocked that she spoke to him and her concern reminded him of earlier occasiona. This is why perhaps he answered, Mere back mein khujli ho rahi hain.
As soon as he said it, he regretted and predictably Khushi burst into laughter. Angrily he turned away from her. Khushi then came to the other side and held her ears and said, Sorry, Arnavji. Humne kabhi nahin socha that ki aap aisa kuch kahenge. She returned with one of her stinky oil bottles and Arnav stared at it and said, No, Khushi, stay away.
But it was too late. She insisted that he remove his tee and proceeded to apply red stinky oil on his back. Her touch was light, feather-like. The itch went away, even his broken back felt less broken. She was gentle and just for that minute all his pain went away.
He woke up in the morning, a heavy floral induced haze around him. By his bed was a note that said, Laad Governor Ke Liye. Next to it was a large comb and wooden ruler.
He smiled and shook his head. How was he going to hate this woman?
Khushi
She was in the kitchen getting dinner ready. As usual she cooked a lot, something that she did when she was stressed a lot. Ever since the Lucknow episode, nobody in the house spoke with her. Except for Maamiji, who seemed to have some snarky comment quota that she had to complete every day. She didn't blame anyone to be honest. After all, she did run away from home. She wasn't proud of it at all, but when the thought first came into her head, she had thought of it as a good idea.
She was increasingly sure why Arnavji had married her. It was something to do with Shyam, perhaps he knew what had conspired and was hurt because she hadn't told him the truth about her engagement. He probably felt that she owed it to him and his sister. He married her to hurt her. It was NK who confirmed her notion about Shyam. NK, her new BFF, it turned out was an observant man. He knew about Khushi's dhak-dhak problem. He was of the opinion that Nanav too had feelings for her. He had also noticed tension between Nanav and Jeejaji since the wedding. The more Khushi thought about it, the more sense it made.
One day when she was helping little Barun during the tuition classes with a Hindi composition – Humara Pasandita Shehar, the idea had come flashing into her head. She knew that all the wrong in her life could be fixed in one way – Lucknow. She missed her home, the place that lodged all her memories, of the best of times and the worst of times. She had this sudden recollection of walking around the streets of Aminabad along with Payal Jeeji, manically bargaining with the gottawallahs and chikankari artists, even though they really had no money to buy anything. Any money they had was saved to buy sheermal, a special Lucknow bread.
Soon the idea of Lucknow completely began to possess her mind. There was only one person she could talk to about it and that was NK. At first NK had been shocked, yeh bahut risky idea hai, Khusiji. But she had persisted and NK decided to help her. He arranged for tickets, he arranged for her to stay with a family he knew and even wrote a letter for her so that she could meet a friend of his who would give her a job in Lucknow. When NK advised that she rethink her idea one more time, she almost had. Could she abandon her sister like this? Could she abandon her husband like this? And while she sat there with the packet that NK had given her with the tickets and the letter, she felt an arm on her shoulder. She froze as the hand travelled down her back, lingering at the contours and someone's breath close to her. She didn't have to turn to know that it was Shyam, she had knocked down something and run away. She decided then, she would go away to Lucknow and once she went there she will find a way to convince Arnavji too.
But then she returned. If boarding that train to Lucknow was a mistake, ignoring Aakash's missed call was the next one. It took three days for NK to track her down to in Lucknow and bring her back. She didn't want to come back, because she was embarrassed and terrified of facing her husband's anger. But her concern for him, won her over.
On her return, the family hated here again. They had thawed for a while after her hurried wedding, but now owing to her own stupidity, they were back to hating her. She felt sorry for herself. Arnavji and she barely spoke, until the one little shared moment last night over the itching. She lifted her hand from the ladle and examined it. She felt strangely tingly even now because of the impulsive back massage she gave him with her cheap oils. He probably had yet another reason to hate her now.
Di came into the kitchen just then and Khushi offered her a big smile, that was ignored.
She had walked up to Di then and said, Di, aap ab bhi naraaz hain, humse?
Di served some food on a plate and started walking to her room. Something made her pause, she turned behind and said, "bahut saare log Chote ko chod kar chale gaya hain. Ab uss list mein aapka naam bhi jud gaya hain." Saying this she walked away.
Khushi realised the magnitude of what had been told to her. She felt like someone had cut open her chest and ripped out her heart.
When she finally went to bed that night, he was already asleep. She tried to sleep, but it eluded her as she tossed and turned around. She was in some place, a dark alley, somewhere in Lucknow. One hand grabbed her shoulder and slid down her back and heavy breathing. Nahin, nahin, nahin, mujhe chodh do, please, she cried over and over again.
Khushi, kya hua, Arnav was asking her, looking at her with concerned eyes. She realised that she had just had a nightmare and sat up. The tears continued to roll down her cheeks and she pulled the duvet more snugly around her. The next thing she knew that Arnavji lifted her up and made her lie down on the bed.
Arnavji, aap ko to chot lagi hain, aap aisa mat keejiye, she told him guiltily.
He put his finger on her lips and shushed her. So jao, that is all he said, his one hand caressing her hair away from her face. She mumbled something incoherent and smiled. He smiled at her too and that was the last she remembered.
Next morning she woke up to his steady breathing next to her. He looked so peaceful, so beautiful. She placed her hand on his cheek and smiled.
Jalebi, he mumbled in his sleep.
She almost stopped breathing then and then she moved her hand away.
As she got up from the bed she couldn't help but think, surely this is a hint from the universe. Her home, she realised was not Lucknow. Her home was right here. Home after all, was someone you came back to.
There was only thing left to do, she had to make the mighty Laad Governor fall in love with her. She needed a plan.
Bindi
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