Chapter 26
THE NEXT DAY-
Anjali had seen that look on her Chhote's face six years back... It was the expression he had after fighting with Khushiji. Khushiji had tiredly announced that she would be postponing her trip for two days. The reason, she had said, would be known to them before afternoon. While everyone was busy pondering over what reason it could be, Anjali was observing her brother, who was playing with the kids and Khushi, who was watching the father and children dejectedly. Something was very wrong. "Something is not right..." she heard a low whisper.
She almost yelped at the closeness of the voice and turned around to see Anand frowning at his sister and brother-in-law. Anjali nodded in agreement. "I was thinking the exact same thing!"
Khushi caught a glimpse of Anjali and Anand having a silent exchange and she smiled slightly. 'They look good together...'
Forgetting her woes for sometime, she mused on the possibilities of getting her Nanad and Bhaiyya together... She snapped out of her reverie when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Khushi said.
It was Lavanya and NK. Both talked to everyone else except Arnav. The kids knew them as Mama and Mami as NK was introduced as Khushi's brother. The family was very happy with NK and Lavanya's wedding.
Arnav went upstairs on the pretext of some work, but all be could think about was how he could stop Khushi from leaving.
"La I am leaving the day after tomorrow!" Khushi said.
"What, why Chamkili?"
Khushi took La's hand and took her aside. "I remember everything La. I cannot bear living here..."
Lavanya gasped. "Oh my God, Chamkili!" Sue hugged Khushi tightly.
"I will come to your wedding for sure though..."
"Does ASR know?"
Khushi nodded. "He knows I am leaving and also why..."
Lavanya frowned. "And he is not doing anything about it?"
Khushi shook her head. "That's what scares me…"
"Sorry to interrupt, but who says that I'm not doing anything about it?"
Khushi and Lavanya turned to see Arnav standing at the doorway with smug look.
Lavanya continued to look at him and narrowed her eyes. "Chamkili, I need to talk to ASR. Alone."
Khushi smiled and nodded and walked past Arnav without sparing him a single glance.
Arnav looked at Lavanya questioningly as he closed the door behind him. "What is it Lavanya?"
Lavanya turned away from, her entire body rigid. "Do you love her ASR? Like, REALLY love her?"
"More than my life…"
Lavanya turned around. "Then why don't you let her go? Do you even have an inkling of how much she suffered?"
"Lavanya, I-"
"No ASR. Let me speak… For once, let others say what they want to!" she snapped.
Arnav grew quiet immediately, as he knew what exactly she was referring to.
"One a fine day, I had just decided to drop in at Delhi to meet you guys. I visited Chamkili first. No offence, but she was a much better friend to me than you ever were…"
Lavanya paused and grimaced. "And what do I see when I reach her house?"
"She was lying down on the bed, staring at the ceiling, while the rest of the family was packing up. Planning to move out. She was not living ASR. She was just existing. She was absent-mindedly playing with the stars. Garima Aunty told me everything… Even about…Even ab-about your father and how Chamkili's family broke. More shocking than any of it was the change in Chamkili… I helped them to shift to Lucknow, and that's how I met NK. He used to drop in regularly to check in on Chamkili. He was the perfect brother to her….
When at Lucknow, for some reason, Khushi's condition got worse initially…" Lavanya frowned.
Arnav closed his eyes. "That was where we first met…"
"Aha, perfect." Lavanya muttered. "Anyway, Anand Bhaiyya soon joined us and tried getting her back to normal. She would have committed suicide if it wasn't for the fact that she was pregnant….
And out of the blues, YOU show up. AGAIN. That day at the temple, Chamkili was waiting for me to join her when she saw you. Her mind was already fragile and she went into a frenzied state of mind when she saw you… Her nerves had become weak due to lack of nutrition and slightest of pressure could have tremendous side-effects on her. She would have spells of vertigo and blood-vomitting.
When she had seen you, she had cried for hours. Then she got fever and was too weak to cry and when she got up…." Lavanya sniffled.
"When she got up?" Arnav asked warily.
"She didn't remember a thing! Anand Bhaiyya had asked her not to worry, and that he would keep 'Arnav away from her' and she had asked who Arnav was. Doctor said that she had lacunar amnesia…
… Convenient memory loss ASR. I am sure you must have had your research done, hm? Anyways, she HAD to know she was pregnant. So we told her that she was and that her "husband" lived in the US. Later, at the right time, we planned to tell her that her husband died. But for that, we needed a plane crash in news. ANd I told her that we were best friends, and NK had been like a brother to her… Anand Bhaiyya asked us to take her to London with me, where the chances of the two of you coming face-to-face were minimal. And so we left.
When in London, initially things were okay, but she slowly began to realize that she was unable to recollect a major chunk of her life… She didn't seem to remember having a husband, let alone getting pregnant with his child… She asked me how she doesn't remember even meeting me… So we came clean and told her about her condition. She had shrugged it off, just like the old Chamkili would do and said that if her mind wanted to forget, it must've been quite bad. So she didn't care…. She did have certain memory attacks, when she would pass out on seeing something that would be associated to her past… She realized that her husband's face was something she was unable to recollect and concluded that her mind wanted to forget him also… That upset her. So she wasn't as blank as before, but the Chamkili I had first seen, was gone…Forever. And then she said she wanted to shift back to India and we chose Mumbai as then Anand Bhaiyya would be there too. NK wanted to tell her the truth about you, but I didn't let him. I mean you drove her to suicide ASR! I don't know what happened then, but all I know is that it was something too much even for Chamkili to take. NK had told me everything else… About Shyam, your contract marriage…." Disgust was emananting from Lavanya in waves.
Arnav blinked and then sighed. "You can call me selfish Lavanya. I don't care. I have lived without her for six years!" Arnav got up and began walking out. "And now, I'm not gonna spend a minute without her…"
Aami Daakini
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