Gift of love
“DO mujhe” she tried to grab her ear riing
He closed his fist on her fingers, and she tried to grab it inside his closed fist
“Kya kar rahe ho Raanav, DO mujhe” she wailed
“I said I have something I didn’t say I was going to give it to you”
She lay under him in bed, twisted trying to extricate it from his hand
“You said on the way… MR LAWYER… you said on the way “I have something I need to give you” she made stuff up
“Ms Mathur I did not say that”
He groaned stretching himself on her, it was almost 3 AM
They both were mighty tired
“Mujhe de do phir so jaana” she whispered in his ear
“Oh that simple huh?” he smiled at her
She yawned and smiled
“Meri ek earring ka kya karogey”
“I don’t know yet”
“I need to show to my Ma, baad mein tumhe de doongi”
“How about I tell your Mom you found it”
“SHE WILL ASK ME”
“Tell her… I ran into this guy at Bua’s” he gently nibbled her neck “In trying to get away from him I left it on him” he whispered groaning as he kissed her passionately
“I searched a LIFETIME” “It seemed like to me” “Kitna dhoondi hoon main” she said
“I wish I knew” he said softly looking into her eyes knowingly
“Tum itne wicked ho?” she ran the back of her fingers on his cheek
“Are you surprised?” his eyes glittered
She closed her eyes
He was reminding her of the preconception she had of him
“I just needed to digest the rejection Raanav” she said glumly
As he rolled over and lay on his side
“I have lived and breathed research and hopes of getting into a Ph D program, this is a huge blow to my self esteem”
“This is not the very last try, you could try again”
“I put years into it” she was almost teary
She was careful not to cry in front of him he realized
“sadly highly competitive programs are great about being generous in handing out disappointments”
She nodded shutting her eyes
“My earring will definitely make me feel better tho” she said with closed eyes
He laughed and laughed but did not hand it to her
They slept in the position they lay in
The next morning Satyen was up early for breakfast and the family had gathered
He handed Smrita her “NY gift”
It was some rare hand crafted bracelet she had “always wanted”
Rakshit took cue and handed her a diamond pendant, the diamond the size of a lemon
OK… fine… grape
“Oh baby… you didn’t have to” Lekha cooed
“I do babe” Rakshit promised in a growl
“Aura ap?”
“Does it have to be public?”
Raanav questioned
For being a Mama’s boy he sure knew how to dodge her expectation
“OOHOOOHH” satyen teased
“As long as you are planning” he nodded
“They married in such a hurry, he probably doesn’t even know what she likes” Smrita garnished it with lime and cilantro
“I couldn’t do what you did” Lekha promised
“I doubt we could do what the other person has” Viveka smiled
“Beta have a fabulous year” Satyen handed her an envelope
It was not money, it was not property, it was not a land deed, it was instead a list of philanthropists that were dear to Satyen, and their personal cell phone numbers
He knew his DIL would never accept anything monetary
Viveka smiled
“So many names” she gushed
“Its not even 10” “I am sure you will learn a lot from them and they will help your cause” he said proudly "They will be happy to hear from you" (he had already informed them that they should be hearing from his new DIL"
Smrita wanted it to be priceless art or jewelry
Satyen had one upped her
By not even going there
This angered Smrita more, every attempt Satyen was making to find out what Viveka truly loved and making it happen was a step closer to building a bond with this middle class girl
Thank God Raanav did not give her anything
Before he even thinks of it I will make sure its not crazy expensive
“You cannot determine how she lives her life or what career she chooses” she told Smrita firmly
The couples were off to work, he was getting ready to
Smrita did not look happy
“Are you going to be OK when she walks in with a coterie of underfed basket weavers from Rajasthan and Gujarat and introduces them as her coworkers?”
“Do you really want her to pretend she has a glamorous job so she can fulfill your dream of having a sophisticated DIL?”
“Aisi baat nahi hai Satya…. You are encouraging her venture to spite me”
“NAHI Smri… I am not, she loves this, she wants to do this, she is reeling under a major disappointment”
“KYA HUA?” Smrita’s eyes lit up
“She was rejected from the Ph D Program at IIT” satyen looked heart broken
“BAS?” Smrita didn’t get it
Satyen looked horrified
“OK let me put it this way, it’s the equivalent of Raanav not verifying the transfer pricing clause”
Smrita realized what Satyen was doing
“Don’t bring my child into this” she whispered
“Who bhi kisi ki bachi hai Smri… she is hurting, maine usko Board member nahi banaya, we didn’t give her one thing Lekha has received from us the last 4 or so years”
“I wish you had given her something monetary!” Smrita mumbled
Anupamaa
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