Aryan felt, he wouldn’t say panic rushing through him, no, that would be admitting that Aryan Singh Rathore felt panic, no, Aryan felt out of control, because that’s what this girl did to him. That’s what Imlie made him feel. He did not like it. There was no way in hell Aryan Singh Rathore liked being out of control, not after what had transpired four years ago.
But here he was, on the verge of panic that he wouldn’t agree to, out of control of a situation he himself had created.
The biggest problem for Aryan when it came to Imlie was that he didn’t think, because that was what he was actually doing while transferring the Tripathi Residence in Imlie’s name, not thinking.
It wasn’t like it was unplanned, he had a plan in place to buy the house, the plan nowhere indicated that he would transfer it in Imlie’s name. But here he was, doing a stupid thing, for a stupid girl, who wasn’t stupid enough to not catch Aryan doing a stupid thing.
She was firing questions at him, she stated facts to him, she was right on the point where she would figure out his feelings, feelings that he himself hasn’t deciphered yet, and she would call out on him. That’s what she always did.
But this time he wouldn’t fall into her trap. This time he wouldn’t directly accept her reasons. It was because he didn’t know the extent of his feelings and she wasn’t ready to know what he felt for her. This time, he wouldn’t fail to protect both of them.
She had paused just before uttering the forbidden word, and he wouldn’t let her continue her tirade.
He freed his wrist from her grasp and held her elbow to get her attention. He was going to do something that would hurt her now, but it was absolutely necessary for the long run. He tugged her to look at him and he cursed the tears in her eyes, but he responded to her anyways, “Tum jaanna chahti ho maine yeh kyun kiya? Himmat hai jaanne ki? Toh chalo.(You want to know why I did this? Do you dare? Then let's go.)”
And he let go of her elbow, hoping she would follow him, and when he didn’t hear her footsteps, he turned around to look at her, and she looked at him and then she was wiping off her tears and following him determinedly.
He got in his car and sat in the driver seat, and when she settled beside him, he wordlessly began driving. But silence was something that was intolerable for Imlie, and she asked, “Kahan leke chalat ho humka?(Where are you taking me?)”
He didn’t look at her, wouldn’t even glance at her, but he replied to her anyways, “Tumhare sawaalon ke jawaab ke pass.(Somewhere with answers to your questions.)”
And he didn’t talk to her for the entire ride, she kept asking, and he kept not replying. It was partially because he didn’t want to, but also because some of the questions she had were questions he wasn’t ready to answer.
Finally they reached their destination, the Tripathi Residence.
He braced himself for the onslaught of new questions but when they didn’t come, he looked up to her and saw her looking at him. He looked away then, just because he was calm, didn’t mean he wasn’t angry, and he didn’t want her seeing the anger he carried within himself, even though it might be too late for that.
He asked for what he wanted then, “Main aaj tumse sirf ek cheez maang raha hun Imlie, aur woh yeh hai ki aaj, abhi, andar, tum kuch nahi kahogi. Tum bas dekhogi, sunogi, samjhogi aur bilkul chup rahogi. Do you understand that?(Today I’m gonna ask only one thing of you Imlie, that today, now, inside the house, you wouldn’t say anything. You are going to see, listen, understand and in any case, don’t talk. Do you understand that?)”
Imlie opened her mouth to object only to shut up when he raised his eyebrows and asked again, “Do you understand that Imlie?” Then she nodded, affirmatively.
Aryan accepted her approval and then took off his seatbelt and got out of the car.
He didn’t stop until he was at the door of the Tripathi Residence. He had not ever thought that he was going to do it this way, but here he was. Disorder was not suitable for him, not anymore.
Imlie followed him and they both entered the house, all the Mrs. Tripathi, and the Ms. Tripathi coming over to hug Imlie one by one, well except the one Mrs. Tripathi who hated Imlie. And then it was Mr. Tripathis’ turn, this time also, except the one that hated Imlie.
He let it happen, knowing with what he was about to do, she wouldn’t get this chance again. And after the hugging was done, they began asking what she was there for, had she thought of a solution, and she was about to answer when she stopped and looked at him suddenly. How he knew of her gaze on him was something he didn’t even know, but he wasn’t looking at her, no, he was looking at Mr. Aditya Kumar Tripathi, who was raging towards them like a bull.
He didn’t even stop to acknowledge Imlie, and went straight for Aryan’s collar. Imlie gasped beside him, but he was unaffected. Mr. Tripathi was not capable enough to beat him into submission. He glared at him and took his hands off his collar, throwing them away for his body.
Mr. Tripathi, his face twisted in anger, glared at him, and asked, rather magnanimously, “Iss sabka kya matlab hai Mr. Rathore? Tum aakhir karna kya chahte ho?(What is the meaning of all this Mr. Rathore? What are you even trying to do?)”
Aryan was amused, and he was pretty sure he looked it too. He then, with a little smirk firm on his lips, responded, “Aapke sawaalon se toh lag raha hai ki aap jaante hai kya hua hai Mr. Tripathi. Why don’t you share it with the family?(Your questions indicate that you know what has happened Mr. Tripathi. Why don’t you share it with the family.)”
Aditya huffed furiously, but didn’t say anything. Aryan waited for him, but he snorted a laugh when not a word left his mouth. He continued, “Kyun ab kya hua Mr. Tripathi, ab aap ki bolti band. Okay, let me say it then. Maine Tripathi Residence khareed liya hai.(What now Mr. Tripathi, you choose to shut now? Okay, let me say it then. I have bought the Tripathi Residence.)”
There were gasps of shock all over the place and one of disbelief from where Malini was listening to all this. She moved forward then and ranted, “Of course, aur expect bhi kya kar rahe the aap log. Dekhiye, aapki Imlie ne aap sab ko bacha liye. Aisa kya kiya tumne Mr. Rathore ke saath Imlie, jo inhone tumhe seedha 5 Crore ka ghar laake de diya? Aisa kya hai iss mein Mr. Rathore, jo aap iske saath kuch hi din rahe hai, phir bhi iss par itne meherbaan ho rahe hain?(Of course, what were you all expecting? See, your dear Imlie has saved you all. What did you do Imlie, that he bought you a house worth 5 Crores? What does she have Mr. Rathore, that even after spending just a few days with her, you are showering her with such favours?)
Aryan’s blood boiled at this, this woman was a piece of crap if he ever saw one. The amount of nonsense she spew was out of the world. He clicked his tongue, irritated by her questions, and then replied calmly, “At least Imlie mere saath jo bhi karti hai uss waqt hum dono hosho-awaaz mein toh hote hai. That’s something I can’t say about you Mrs. Tripathi.(At least whatever Imlie does with me, we both are sober while it’s happening. That’s something I can’t say about you Mrs. Tripathi.)”
Malini looked like she had been slapped, and she had, verbally.
Aditya’s face twisted at his statement, and as he was about to say something, Aryan interrupted him and said, “Well, maine hamesha suna hai Mr. Tripathi, that you are a man of your word, although, maine kabhi yeh dekha nahi hai. So, I’m gonna give you a chance today, to show me. Aapne kal kaha tha ke aap apne ghutno par unke liye jaayenge jinke pass aapke ghar ke papers ho. Toh Mr. Tripathi, here we are, time to kneel.(Well, I’ve always heard that you are a man of your word Mr. Tripathi, although I’ve never seen it. So, I’m gonna give you a chance today, to show me. You promised yesterday Mr. Tripathi, you would go on your knees for the person who has the paper to your house. So, here we are, time to kneel.)”
Aryan felt Imlie’s betrayed gaze on him, and he knew what he would see in her eyes as soon as he looked at them, and therefore, he avoided them. But her gaze didn’t stay on him long, because there were the family members that began urging them to ask Aryan to stop.
He wasn’t stopping and maybe Aditya saw that and scoffed, “Hum nahi jaante the Mr. Rathore, ke aap humein jhukta dekhne ke liye itna taras gaye hai. Par hum apne shabdon se mukadne waalon mein se nahi hai, aur agar humein apne ghar ke liye aapke saamne bas itna karne ki zaroorat hai, toh hum yeh karne ke liye taiyaar hai.(I did not know Mr. Rathore, that you are so desperate to see me kneel before you. But I’m not one to back down from my words, and if I have to do something like this to get my house back, I would happily do it.)”, and then he began to kneel.
And maybe Aryan was enjoying this too much, maybe he wanted to see Aditya like that, maybe that was the reason that he ignored all the Tripathi’s and Imlie, and maybe that was the reason he waited for a moment before squatting down in front of him, and tilted his head to look at Aditya, his smirk still on his face, and said, “You got it wrong Mr. Tripathi. Aapke ghar ke papers mere pass nahi Imlie ke pass hai. You have to kneel for her.(You got it wrong Mr. Tripathi. The papers to your house are with Imlie, not me. You have to kneel for her.)”
At that Aditya, who was already glaring at Aryan, looked up to Imlie in disbelief. The family all let out various different sounds of disbelief.
Imlie, with fire in her eyes, grabbed Aryan’s elbow and brought him to her eye level. She then asked, “Ee kaa karat ho tum?(What are you doing?)”
He grabbed her hand on his elbow and freed himself from her. However, before he could say anything, a hand came flying at Imlie, the intention to slap her clear. A hand that Aryan caught.
Imlie’s eyes widened at the hand. She turned to look at the person who was about to slap her and exclaimed, “Maa?”
Aparna scoffed then, “Maa? Maa shabd kaa matlab bhi jaanti ho tum Imlie, yeh jo tum mere bete se kara rahi ho, uske baad tum meri beti hone kaa haq kho chuki ho Imlie.(Mother? Do you even know the meaning of the word mother Imlie, what you are making my son do for you Imlie, you have lost the right to call yourself my daughter.)”, she said in all self-righteous anger.
Like son, like mother.
Imlie’s gaze left her’s then and came to the hand that was still in Aryan’s gasp. At her gaze returned to his Aryan too let go of her hand. This time it was Harish Tripathi that came forward, and said, “Jab maine kaha tha ke ab tu aa gayi hai, ab sab theek ho jaayega, tab maine socha bhi nahi tha ki tu aisa kar sakti hai Imlie.(When I said that I was glad that you were here, that you would solve all our problems, I didn’t even think you could do something like this Imlie.)”
After that Pankaj Tripathi continued, “Kyun kiya tune aisa Imlie beta? Kitna vishwaas kiya tha humne tumpar.(Why would you do this Imlie Beta? Do you even know the amount of belief we placed on you?)”
That was Aryan’s limit. He scoffed at all of their questions then and asked Imlie one of his own, “Yeh log hai tumhari family. Yeh log, jinhe sirf apne bete ki padi hai. Yeh jo tum par zimmedaari thopte thakte nahi, aur agar tum unse thoda upar uth gayi toh tum pe haath uthane par bhi aa jaate hai.(These people are your family? People who only care about their son. People who only burden you with their responsibilities, and if you rise just a little bit above them, they are ready to abuse you, slap you?)”
He turned his gaze on the family member then, and continued, “Yeh log, jinhe pehle ek candidate pasand thi, apne bete ka khayal rakhne ke liye, but ek minute mein inhone usse change kar diya. Aur jab unki favourite candidate is no longer babysitting their son, they want to change again?(These people, who didn’t like the first candidate to take care of their son, so they changed her. And now that their favourite candidate is no longer babysitting their son, they want her changed again?)”
He looked at Imlie, grabbed her elbow, “Dhyaan se dekho inn logon ko, yeh tumhari family nahi hai. Tumhari family tumhaare gaon mein hai. Tumhari Amma, tumhaari family jail mein hai, tumhaare Dadda, tumhaari family humare ghar mein hai, meri Mom aur meri Di. Tumhari family yeh nahi hai, main---(See carefully Imlie, these people are not your family. your family is in your village. Your Mother, your family is in jail, your Father, your family are at our home, my Mother and my Sister. These people are not your family Imlie, I---)”
He paused, something slipping out of his control once again, but she recognised what he was about to say. She knew what he was about to say.
He shook his head sideways, and continued, “Aankhen kholo aur dekho Imlie. Aur agar yeh sab ke baad bhi nahi samajh aa raha hai toh in mein se kissi se bhi pucho, ki yeh kya karte, agar tum Mr. Tripathi ko Pagdandiya se safe waapas nahi lekar aati toh? Tum socho, ke yeh sab tumhare saath kya karte, agar Mr. Tripathi mar jaate toh?(Open your eyes and see Imlie. And if you can’t understand even after all this, then ask any one of them, what would've they done had Mr. Tripathi not returned safely from Pagdandiya with you? Think, what they would’ve done with you had Mr. Tripathi died?)”
He took a breath then left her elbow. He made to leave, aware that he had worsened the situation for her. But he knew, he knew that she had faced far worse situations than this one. At the end of the day, she would cry a little, curse a little, but then come home.
That made him pause, that made him turn around, that made him walk back towards her, that made him place his car keys in her hand, that made him tug her hand and say when she looked at him through her tears, “Jab samajh aajaye, toh ghar aa jaana, apni family ke pass.(When you get it, come home, to your family.)”
She would think of what she would. Let her. She would make her opinions on that. Let her.
She will come home at last, let her.
And she did come home, looking like she had shed about 100 kgs off her shoulder. She walked, but she floated. She talked, but she sang. She moved, but she danced.
And she found him at last.
There she was, at the terrace, at his safe place, and she looked like she belonged there. He took in her presence and felt himself calm down.
But now that she was there, there was no place for calm. He waited, for her questions, her explanations, her decisions. And he wasn’t disappointed.
But he was, because the question she did ask him was, “Kaahe karat ho tum humar liye ee sab? Kaa hum jon pehle bole rahe uu sach---(Why do you do so much for me? Was what I was about to say before tru---)”
But he interrupted her then and replied to her, “Iss waqt tumhe sirf itna sach jaane ki zaroorat hai Imlie, ki main jo bhi kar raha hun, tumhare liye, uski wajah naa main bolne ke liye taiyaar hun, naa tum sunne ke liye. Toh iss baar iss baat ko hum dono ka hi udhaar rehne do.(The only truth you need to know now is Imlie that the reason because of which I do all this for you, that reason is something I’m neither ready to say, nor you’re ready to hear. So let’s just, let it be something we owe to each other for now, to be revisited someday.)”
Hearing this Imlie, who was already on the floor beside him, sighed and laid back there. Looking up in the sky.
Aryan looked at her and then laid down beside her too.
They both gazed into each other’s eyes then, an understanding passing between them, and then returned their gazes back to the starless sky.
Whatever could be, would be.
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