TS: Almonds and Contentment and Bliss part 3 @ pg 5 - Page 2

Originally posted by: ronitfan

AWWW!!!

That was so simple and poignant .. yet so them! Awww.. how complex they'e become.. from the silly stupid lovers with their sweet nothings to broken flawed human beings with their jagged edges..

Oh, can't wait for the next bit Tiana..this was really lovely!!

<3

:)

Originally posted by: loveleen3

I loved it! Amazing! <3 Complete justice to the prompt! Waiting for the next part.

Originally posted by: shabz50

Loved it tiana just beautiful they have gone from carefree lovers to a couple who can't even say what they truely feel loved it

Originally posted by: neiralove

Ok, I'm back! First a BIG THANK YOU to you, Tiana, for taking up this prompt! 🤗 It was even better than what I had imagined! 😃

I liked how Ragini was dancing around the issue the whole time; it was very much in character for her--always prioritizing the happiness of others over her own. I absolutely ADORED the flashback, especially Ragini's punishment! 😳 😆 If this is her punishment, I can't wait to see how she says thank you! 😉

And the ending was brilliant: the idea of psuedo-contentment and Nachiket trying to put himself in her shoes. Just spectacular! 👏 I can't wait to see what comes next and how he deals with the situation; please post the second part soon!

Originally posted by: ShyNomad

Tiana,

This was awesome...these are such serious issues that they need to address in order for them to truly be able to move forward together. It's the little details in this - her love of almonds, his memory of her likes and dislikes, that make it great.

I am looking forward to more after Nachiket's realization!

Originally posted by: piyushi

Loved it.

It was difficult for Ragini to manage the family in her limited income. But she did her best within her resources. It is easy for Nachiket, Arav, Nishi or everyone else to point that she is stingy with money but they should understand that if she has asked them to let go of some luxuries then she herself had let go more than anyone else. All these years her income was utilized to provide basic necessities for their living and securing their future. She has fulfilled all their requirements. Both her kids are having cell phones. They have laptop for their studies. For many families these are also luxuries. Just because you are not ready to waste your hard earned money on frivolous things doesn't makes you stingy. More than anyone else atleast her kids should understand this. Unfortunately, those two are the biggest failures. Arav is completely money minded and Nishi cares only about herself.

Ragini is content because she knows this is what all she can afford. The term pseudo-contentment fits her situation perfectly. She has learned to modify her tastes according to necessity.

Originally posted by: AngelsFlyAlone

This was frickin amazing!

Hello all. Here is the second chapter. I wrote this in a hurry while working. Honestly it didn't come out the way I wanted it to. I don't even know if it's good enough as I didn't have time to proof read it. Please ignore the mistakes.

And thanks in advance to all who are going to read this as I won't be able to visit the forum for a few days. My work is keeping me too busy. *big sigh*

I hope you like it.

Previous Chapter

...

TS: Almonds and Contentment and Bliss

Chapter 2: Contentment

He slumped into his chair. It had been a long and tiring day at the hospital and he was exhausted. There had been an unplanned open heart surgery that day and he who always loved to plan everything beforehand had been extremely frustrated. He had been telling the family for a long time that the patient's condition was unstable, but they had been careless and because of their foolishness, he had failed. Yes, the great cardiologist Dr. Neil Khanna had failed and the surgery had ended abruptly as the patient's heart had refused to beat. He tried to convince himself that it was not his fault, but deep inside he felt that if only he had been a little more organized then perhaps... just perhaps, the man would have still been alive. He sighed a little and wished for what he wished every day. He wished that that she was here with him. To comfort him, to tell him that it was not his fault and to gently massage his forehead with her long fingers trying to remove the worry lines as she often did when... when things were better between them. It had been four years since their divorce and he still felt his heart pain the same way every time he thought of her. He closed his eyes slowly and tried to get some sleep, but sleep was far from him.

Suddenly he felt someone gently rubbing his forehead. He recognized the touch. It was her. He smiled a little with his eyes closed and whispered her name ever so softly, not wanting her to stop. Oh, how he wanted her to keep on going. He had missed her so much. As suddenly as he had felt the touch, he felt it stop as he realized that there was no way, she could be here with him. He forced his eyes to open and as usual found the room empty. He had been dreaming again. He felt shattered. He looked at the table beside him and saw his phone lying there. In a sudden impulsive fit of desperation, he seized his phone and dialed her number. As the mild tring tring' reached his ears, he realized what he had done. Quickly, he tried to cut the call before any damage was done but it was too late. A babyish voice answered the phone.

"Hullo... Whooo?"

"Uh... I... Who are you?"

"Me... No... Mumma told me not to tell my name bepore knowing who is talking..."

"Is this..."

"Aarav Beta, who is on the phone?"

He felt his heart constrict at her voice. He would know her voice anywhere. So, he had been talking all this while to his son. He wondered how his Princess Nishi was. More than that, he wondered how she was getting on without him. Did she miss him as much as she did?

"I not know, Mumma..."

"Here give me the phone... uh... someone's at the door. Let me see who it is. Ma, can you please see who is on the phone?"

He had heard the bell. He wondered who it was. As he waited patiently for Ma to come he couldn't help overhearing the conversation of Ragini and the visitor.

"Sir, You?"

"Yes, Ragini... The rent?"

"Sir, I will give it to you tomorrow."

"How long, Ragini? You have been saying this for the past one week."

"Sir, it is just that Aarav has started to go to school and I had to pay the fees for him also. So..."

"I cannot let you stay here anymore, if you don't pay your rent regularly... I have my personal commitments too."

"Sir, please. I will sure pay the rent by tomorrow. I promise."

"Okay... If you do not pay it by tomorrow... Then, prepare to vacate."

Nachiket heard the door shut. He was shocked she hadn't paid the rent. Was she really unable to? He felt guilty that he had never thought of providing her any financial assistance.

"Ragini, how are you going to pay by tomorrow?"

"Don't worry, Ma. Dr. Aman has promised to give me the money by tomorrow... Oh the phone... I almost forgot."

Nachiket quickly cut the call and threw the phone from his hands. His previous guilt was now replaced with anger. She had someone else to give her the money. He had just delayed giving it. He never stopped to think who that someone else might be. All that mattered to him then was that someone else was not him and with a new born hatred in his heart, he quickly emptied the bottle of liquor he had on his table.

...

Today, he knew that Dr. Aman was her boss and never believed in paying his employees their salary before the 12^th of every month.

And that old guilt caught hold of him again.

...

He wondered about the mysterious ways of destiny as he sat on the bed flipping through a magazine he had just got from the shop. Here he was married to the girl of his dreams yet his life could hardly be called a dream. He knew it was a contract but he wished that she would not keep ignoring him. True, his food was always cooked by her and his morning coffee always tasted exactly the same it had almost 20 years ago when he had first visited her home. But in spite of all these, he never felt satisfied and the reason was that he hardly ever saw her. She was up and out to work before he woke up and he never managed to stay awake before she came home. Once, when his day was just a simple routine of starting with his eyes on her face and lips on her forehead and ending with the same, he had wondered what it would be like if the routine just changed a little with her eyes watching him fast asleep and ending with the same. He had just let the thought pass by then but now as he lived through the flight of imagination he had had that day, he knew that it was the worst nightmare of his life.

That day had been no different. He had woken up in an empty room on an empty bed with a sore temper because of some horrid dream he had and his temper had reached its peak when he heard from Sunny Tai that Ragini never came home the last night and spent the night at the hospital. How could she? JUST to IGNORE me? This is just going out of control', he thought. He was not going to tolerate it anymore. If she really couldn't bear him, she shouldn't have married him. She was driving him nuts with this ignoring act of hers. He made up his mind to wait for her and tell her exactly what he felt about all this.

As the clock struck half past one, he felt his heartbeats rise. She wasn't home yet. He checked his phone hoping that the room clock was wrong, but Ragini as usual had been very punctual in setting the time. He tried calling her but her phone was switched off. He felt a dull ache settle in his heart as he imagined all the worst possible things that could have happened to her. Suddenly, he heard the front door open softly, he quickly jumped out of the bed and grabbed the nearest rod he could as his mind quickly worked on how to attack the intruder and protect his family. He stood grasping the rod tightly as the footsteps came nearer and nearer. Someone snapped on the light and he was startled to see it was her, he dropped the rod making a lot of noise.

"Nachiket? Shh... Everyone is sleeping. What are you doing?"

"What do you mean by asking what are you doing? You were the one who entered in like a burglar, not me."

"I came in softly so that no one will get disturbed... Why didn't you sleep yet? Do you need anything?"

"Yes"

"What?"

"I need to know why you are ignoring me."

"IGNORING YOU? What rubbish you talk Nachiket."

"It is not me who is talking rubbish, but YOU. Who comes late every day? Who leaves early?"

"Nachiket, I don't go out to have fun, nor do I go out with my friends to pleasure myself, I go out to work."

"Work, work, work!! When did your work become more important than me?"

"The day you left me."

"Uh?"

"Nothing, I am sorry that you are feeling ignored. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

He looked at her tired pale face and felt pain flood his heart. Did she really work too hard? He looked at her almost shut eyes and whispered,

"Why are you working so hard, Ragini?"

"Huh... Well... ummm... I like working. Now if your interrogation is over, can you move over? I need to get some rest as my duty starts at 5 tomorrow... I mean today."

He moved and saw her fall asleep almost as soon s her head hit the pillow. He didn't know what to think. His heart told him to look beyond her tired eyes and listen to her unspoken pleas but his mind told him to accept what he could plainly see, what she had just confessed, she was ignoring him. In the war between his heart and mind, his mind won and with an anger filled heart he went to bed.

...

Today, he remembered how Dr. Devika had once casually told him that Ragini was doing overtime and how she often forgot to bring her lunch and remained hungry most of the days. He had once again failed to understand her.

And that old pain caught hold of him again.

...

Guilt and pain flooded his heart as he saw her standing in the queue impatiently looking at her watch again and again. He had been so unfeeling, so inconsiderate. He never knew how he had so easily thought that the house with 11 people, not to forget the medical expenses of Nani and the big car they had, could run on a single administrative head's income. He remembered the times he had taunted her for cutting the cable connection and the internet connection. He felt ashamed of himself for letting his pride blind him. As he saw her asking the person in front of her to move a little quickly as she had to go to work, he decided that he would never be blind anymore. Quickly he picked up his phone and dialed Dr. Devika.

"Dr. Devika, this is Dr.Neil speaking."

"Yes, Dr. Neil."

"Is it okay if Ragini takes a day off today?"

"Of course, she can take a leave. But is everything alright?"

"Yes... uh... I just want to take her out somewhere so that she may relax... she is a bit overworked."

"Sure... Hope you guys have a good time."

"Thank You... uh... Dr. Devika, is that position you offered me at your hospital still open?"

"We would always be happy if a specialist like you works in our hospital."

"That's great. Can I join tomorrow?"

"Sure. We can discuss about your salary details at my office tomorrow."

"Thank you, Dr. Devika. I got to go now, Bye."

"Bye"

As he cut the call, feeling satisfied with himself, he knew he still had one more work to do. Without a second thought, he walked quickly to the nuts section.

...

"Cash or card, Ma'm?"

"Ca..."

"Card"

"Card? Nachiket, I didn't bring my card."

"But, I did... Ma'm can you please add this to the shopping list too?"

"This, Nachiket, I told you I hate almonds. And why are you paying?"

"Thank you, Ma'm. Here take my card."

"Nachiket... I am talking to YOU."

"Thank you for shopping with us. We hope to see you again soon."

"Thank you. Come, Ragini"

Confused with his behavior she followed him silently to the car park, not wanting to create a scene. As soon as they reached their car, she held his arm and made him stop.

"Nachiket, care to explain what exactly is the meaning of all this?"

"All WHAT Ragini?"

"Why did you pay and what made you buy 2 kilo of almonds?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"YES"

"I got tired of seeing you pseudo contented."

He slowly came close to her and bent his face down such that his lips were almost grazing her ears and whispered softly,

"Mrs. Khanna, I am going to make you see what contentment really is... True Contentment"

...

~la fin~