Once Upon a Midnight Part II - Page 67

Shubhra was at a new low. Glad she sought out Parul. Parul might have been cold before, but her warm side will kick back in when she sees how low Shungra is feeling.

Shubhra feels she is not as important to Tapan as his family is. She needs to see thats not true. She does matter to him. Its her family he has a problem with, not her.

Secret Keeper

Its not perfect" Parul said somber

"To me it looks like it" Shubhra laughed nervously

"Yeh lo chai, kal maine ghar pe rasmalai try ki khaogi?" "Sachi keh rah rahi hoon it tastes like store bought"

Shubhra nodded obediently

"Tum mera bana kuch bhi kha leti ho" Parul chuckled

"I um.. I dont get home cooked food much"

"KAHAN ho aaj kal?" Parul was shocked

"I am home, but u know everyone eats at their own time, and Mom doesnt cook anything" she shrugged

"Ask ur Mom if she will switch places" Parul laughed

They both knew she would hate that

"I could but I suck at cooking" "I only make Maggi"

"Jaanti hoon" Parul said firmly

Shubhra colored she realized who must have told her

They went to sit in the tiny balcony outside Arya's bedroom, it was like a cage with grill covering the whole thing, but they were able to get some rain spray

"I love chai baarish mein"

"I do too" Shubhra nodded

"Batao?"

"About?"

"Aaj YAHA kaise raasta bhool gayi?"

"A consultant convinced me I told u ? to start selling high end homes with a high touch, I have 4 jobs open, for various things, from concierge to data/buyer needs assessment to what not"

"achhi baat hai na?" Parul was confused

Shubhra nodded listless

"Congrats" Parul stressed

"Did u feel jealous of your peers when they had a baby and you couldnt?" she came out directly... finally

Parul was struck for a second, but noticed with her side eye that her eyes were large pools

"Oh! most definitely!" Parul spoke in a whisper

"Oh" Shubhra immediately felt a connection

"It wasnt months you see, it was YEARS, shaadi ke almost 8? 10? saal ke baad" Parul chuckled cynically

"You remember"

"I have now shut it out for so long, I refuse to count now. I have counted so many periods" Parul smiled sadly

"How did u manage to be happy for friends?" Shubhra asked

"Umm.. I didnt... but I didnt show it, Gagan aur meri kaafi ladai hoti thi, he is a more generous soul. He would talk to all kids nicely, hold all babies" Parul chuckled tearing up

"Tough nahi?"

"Oh extremely..."

"thanks for sharing that" Shubhra mumbled

"Koi baat hai?" Parul nudged

"Umm.. u know.. just like that" Shubhra evaded

"Ek aur rasmalai doon?"

Parul served more letting go of the topic

"U know Nidhi right?" Shubhra went back to the topic after almost half hour

"Umm..?" Parul did not know

"She married Sajal Chaudhary? He went to UIUC for grad school with... umm.. Tapan" Shubhra could not bring herself to say his name normally

I love his sister so much... Oh! why... did I have to have this life long awkwardness with the dude?

"Oh haan haan" Parul nodded still confused

"Well, great news Nidhi is expecting... she was the last holdout I guess" Shubhra chuckled trying not to cry

Parul was quiet.. just sighed

"The reveal party was awesome" Shubhra looked up at parul

"Huh?"

"Did u have one?"

"Yaha to illegal hai na" "Log bahar jaakar dekhkar aate hain... I just did boondi ka prashad every month" Parul laughed hysterically

"How sweet"

"Tum meri tarah buddhi thodi ho, abhi shaadi bhi nahi hui" Parul was suddenly all cheerful

She JUST KNEW what to say... how could she do it

"You think so?" Shubhra tried not to sniffle, but did

"I KNOW SO" "Pagal ho kya?"

Shubhra chuckled

"You are talking to me like how u used to"

"TUMSE aisi baat hi karoongi, chhoti ho tum"

"I felt this searing lick of jealousy when I thought of how great it was going to be for her. I am such a terrible friend, I dont have many friends, and the few I have I feel such ugly thoughts" Shubhra declared

"Mere 100? 200? friends hai of my age, almost all their kids are teens, one got married at 19, her kids are almost 20, Arya abhi 1st standard mein hai"

"You can feel younger no... the longer she is a baby"

MUJHE khoob comfort kar paati ho tum" Parul laughed

"I guess"

"Can u imagine how it will be if 5 years from now her daughter gets married and I attend with a 10 year old Arya?"

Shubhra smiled

"I am embarrassed to have more, not that God is offering me twins" Parul laughed

"Overseas they even have babies at 45"

"SO? YOU shud not be bummed love"

Arya came speeding with a lego truck... "Ma aaj main nooodals khaayen"

"Main khaayen nahi HUM khaayen" Parul laughed

"Arey wah" Gagan showed up at the door

Shubhra got up flustered

"Arey rey baitho" he laughed

"Ive got to go" Shubhra started backing out"

"Arey baitho to, aapko thodi maarenge, bas Parul ko kabhi kabhi" he laughed

Shubhra looked horrified

"GAGAN" Parul admonished

"batana mat Tapan ko agar raat ko baat hui to" Gagan continued

And quickly apologized

"Mazaak tha yaar, aap baitho" Gagan smiled sheepishly

"I will head out"

"Nahi ruko khaakar jao" Parul held her wrist tight

The rain soaked grill in the balcony sparkled like jewels when Gagan hit the lights

"I will come back" Shubhra nodded

"Nahi" Parul stood up

And walked with her as Shubhra proceeded to the front door

"Don't tell.. umm.. Tapan" she whispered inaudibly

"I wont" Parul promised

And walked with her as Shubhra proceeded to the front door

"Don't tell.. umm.. Tapan" she whispered inaudibly

"I wont" Parul promised

Parul will FT Tapan right away. Will Tapan make the move this time and call her ? 🥰

"Well, great news Nidhi is expecting... she was the last holdout I guess" Shubhra chuckled trying not to cry

Parul was quiet.. just sighed

"The reveal party was awesome" Shubhra looked up at parul

"Huh?"

Nisha, Is there any chance she might be pregnant with Tapans baby ? How are you planning to get these two together ?

There is no perfect in life. Everyone has problems they deal with.

I must be out of touch. Never heard of reveal parties for revealing the gender of the baby.

I can sympathize with Parul. Dealing with infertility is very painful. I had my kid 10 years after getting married. Every birth or pregnancy announcement brings a twist to the gut.

Chahat

"Kya hai tum dono ka?" Parul was trying her hardest to be cryptic

"Do kahan hai?" Tapan chuckled "Unless you are seeing double"

"Not even funny"

"I am sorry, whats pissing you off, I am on the train the connection is choppy, what do u want from me"

"WHy did u let her give you the ring?"

"THATS your problem?"

"Hmm" Parul whispered

It was 8 AM Gagan was ready to go to work

Arya had been dropped off already

"She left it on that table"

:"Tum rok nahi sakte the?":

"YOU were upset too! Whats gotten into you? You were furious that a----- tore ur dupatta and publicly humiliated you"

"Baat MERI nahi hai Tapan"

"Baat aapki hai, I am tired of living in fear, waiting for the psychopath to kill someone"

"TAPANNN"

"It was ur husband remember"

"Gagan ko kuch nahi hua hai"

"Sure you are right"

"tapan gussa chhod do"

"I am not even angry, are you trying to trigger me?" he shouted

"I AM NOT, You think about this, a gorgeous girls comes by you fall in love propose to her and tell her her Dad is a jerk and dump her"

"Here is my version: I fall for the exact girl whose Dad killed our parents, I shove everything under the rug and act like all is well, the guy tries to run over my BIL, I go yell at him, he brainwashes his daughter, she returns my ring"

Parul began to cry

"maza aaya?"

"MUJHE?" he scowled

"This is so wrong, in every which way dude"

"You cant do anything about it" he was glum

"Kyon nahi Tapan"

"I KNEW IT. when u showed a glimmer of actual resentment for Manik the day after the showdown in Khan Market, I told myself it was too good to be true... you can never do it... lo and behold you are ashamed and cringing"

"I dont have to like the guy for you two to be together Tapan"

"suno, shaam ko Dubeys ke yaha kitne baje jaana hai?" Gagan peeked into the balcony

"Umm.. I dont know" she wiped her tears

"KYA hua?" Gagan was upset

"tapan se " she whimpered

"Hua kya usko?"

"Kuch nahi"

"Kal raat ki Nitin waali baat boli?"

"Umm.. nahi"

"Kya hua Nitin ko" Tapan accused

"Kuch nahi" she shushed Gagan

"Batana mat" Gagan whispered

"Kya hua?"

"Kuch nahi wohi drama... nobody cares for me, poor me... I am all alone..."

"Hes kidding... did vampires kill Kusum?" Tapan laughed

"Pagal ho" Parul laughed

gagan smiled

"Main ja raha hoon" he kissed Parul on the forehead

"Tchh" "Tapan hai phone par"

"Woh sab kar chuka hai" Gagan laughed

"If I tell u something you HAVE to promise u wont tell her" Parul whispered

"AREY BAAP REY, KAISI DOST HO YAAR TUM?" Gagan was shocked

"Aap jao please" Parul ordered shooing him "Main woh baat nahi kar rahi" Parul lied primly

"Kiski baat karne waali ho?"

"Kisi ki nahi"

"Koi mila kya bus stop mein"

"Tapan... Gagan... yaar please jao aap" Parul was shifty

Gagan waved to Tapan and left

"Kal ghar aayi thi Shubhra"

"Oh?" his eyes lit up in a nanosecond

"She is just so gorgeous and real" Parul sighed

"Thanks, I was hoping u wud say that" he shot her sarcastically

"I am sorry I am allowed to say nice things even tho u two broke up"

"Sure... go right ahead"

"To kahan thi main?"

"She visited

"Oh yeah... Tapan what u did was just awful"

"We were done with that topic I think" he reminded her unhappily

"She was sad Nidhi? is pregnant"

"I heard" he sighed

"Tumhe pata hai?"

"Sajal and her live in Ohio, I know"

"She was so sweet.. she was feeling bad but was being brave"

"Why is she sad?" Tapan was a dunce

"Let me see.. she has the hots for Sajal so it bothers her"

WHATTT?" he was shocked

"Mental ho tum... SHE WANTS A BABY" Parul shouted

"Oh?" Tapan went quiet

They both were quiet

"We cant do a thing about that can we NOW?"

"Jaanti hoon Tapan"

"What did u say?"

"Yahi you wre only 31, you can have many babies"

"Ha!" he laughed cynically

"Aur kya kehti main?"

"Daddy will buy you a hot guy" he lashed

"You are a horrible man"

"Sure... shaayad... if she cared she wud be engaged"

"GALTI tumhari bhi hai Tapan"

silence....

"Did she talk about me?" he asked quietly

"Chahte ho?" (ki woh kuch kahi ho? Tumhare baare mein?)Parul implied

"Haan" he said quietly

"What did u say?"

"Yahi you wre only 31, you can have many babies"

"Ha!" he laughed cynically

"Aur kya kehti main?"

"Daddy will buy you a hot guy" he lashed

"You are a horrible man"

"Sure... shaayad... if she cared she wud be engaged"

Beneath his cool veneer, his insecurity surfaces lashing out even at the mere thought of a suitor for her. Her biological clock and his insecurity are marching together with no sight of destination.