5~*NOT just a passionate affair~*Pt 43 (1&2) THE GAMES BEGIN

10th September

OSR PART 43 - Let the games begin - PART 1

SRI INSTITUTE - EN ROUTE THE SPARE CLASSROOM

Was that September morning particularly pleasant or was it the side-effects of his newfound joy spilling over? Were Shantamma, ammi, Balaji and the new gardener-chap extra happy today or had they only been responding to his own cheshire-cat grins since sunrise? Did the traffic at the junction 'feel' more manageable than usual or was it him being extraordinarily patient that day? Why, even his left shoulder blade felt as athletic as ever now - had it really healed to normalcy overnight or was it the magical cure of the feel-good hormones spiking in his body?

He couldn't remember the last time his pulse had skipped so many beats in a morning. He didn't know if there ever was another instance in his young life when he'd longed for something so eagerly!

It was the longest they'd gone on with no form of contact whatsoever. No calls. No emails. No messages. Damn the nine day wait! Not knowing what was going on with the 'other' half of his life - and worse, not being able to do anything about it had just about killed him. He was getting edgy - possibly a bit irked too, by his girlfriend's prolonged silence.

Thankfully; all those uncertainties could be laid to rest. She'd finally called - late last night!

'Can you please come to SRI tomorrow at 7:30 am? I have to talk to you. Let's meet at the spare classroom... the one on the second floor... in B block...'

The lurking restlessness in his psyche had taken a back seat ever since. His mind could at long last lay to rest the underlying worries about his girl's wellbeing. He could once again delve upon thoughts more cheerful - thoughts in anticipation of their much-awaited rendezvous.

Like; what would her initial reactions be the instant she saw him? What would she have to say to him? Would they just stand dumbfounded at first glances, reliving bliss for a few special moments - or would their volley of excited chatter immediately start echoing in the empty classroom? Would she notice the new Hugo Boss coolers sitting on the bridge of his nose - the one she knew he'd been meaning to purchase for a while - or would she just overlook them and want to hug him tightly instead? Would she cry her heart out in relief - or would she break out into the widest of grins and put her arms around him with her typical 'Hey boyfriend ... come hither' looks?

After much thought, he'd hedged his bets on the rosier picture - on meeting his old chirpy Jo! She HAD to be happier than she was when he'd met her last. For starters, she was back at college full time. She'd even sought herself permission to attend university early today. Furthermore; not only had she managed to call him of her own accord from her landline, she hadn't sounded too distraught over the phone either. Were things at her place getting better? Had his able girl succeeded in calming her family's nerves so soon? Well, he'd find out soon enough! To top it all, he had his bit of good news to share too. Especially, the sweet conversation he'd had with his Ammi a couple of days ago

'Interesting plans, no doubt...but Jalal... I wonder... where and how...Jodha fits in the midst of all this...you know, JODHA...your special friend...'

He was confident that if nothing else, THAT info should bring the biggest of smiles on her lips!

Straightening out a fold creasing his slick red checks - coincidentally, one of HER favourite shirts - he made his swift way through the empty corridors of the B block. Nah, he hadn't deliberately planned on wearing her preferred 'red checks' that morn. However; as he'd buttoned himself up in front of the mirror - a past conversation on that particular attire did come to his mind

'I KNOW you know this boyfriend... but I'll tell you anyway...you look dangerously handsome in those red checks!'

SRI INSTITUTE - THE SPARE CLASSROOM

'FINALLY! Here we are... ' a lopsided grin erupted on his lips as he let his eyes absorb the mesmerizing visuals for a while, before gently shutting the door behind him 'Hey sexy...I've missed you like hell...' he paced towards the young lady who was calmly leaning against a wall of the empty classroom, till his physique stood barely a hair's breadth away from hers 'How are things?' he enquired out of concern. When she replied not for a few seconds thereon, he tempered down the effervescence in his manner a notch. Slipping off his coolers, he tucked them into his front pocket, noting all along how she was watching him with intent. For some reason, her otherwise sparkling eyes seemed very still and mysterious now - much like the bottomless ocean that hid a multitude of secrets within 'Kyaa hua?' he whispered once more in an attempt to dispel the silence, slowly allowing his forehead to touch hers as he did so. Placing his fingers on her cheeks, he began gingerly caressing her profile. After a few soft strokes thus, his palms entrenched themselves around her features in a clasp much firmer 'I love you Jo...' with his face now adjacent to hers, he guided her lips near his own 'I've missed you so...'

He'd stopped. He was compelled to. The kiss that was meant to be, didn't materialize. She'd put her hand up, barricading his advances.

Removing the palm that was enveloping her face so warmly, she receded - her head leaning back against the wall again 'Hello Jalal' she greeted him thereafter - her attitude candid and her tone unwavering

'Jalal?' his smiles vanished - and this time for longer 'No hi boyfriend? No kiss? No smiles? No hugs? And what's with the plain stares? Something's wrong...' taking the cue, he took a cautious half-step backwards and folded his arms 'You called me here to talk about something...obviously, something's up... what's going on?'

'I...' she glanced down, then rolled her eyes up to the ceiling before she could face him once more 'I don't know how to say this Jalal...but...'

'I'm all ears...' he frowned sceptically

'This would not be pleasant...' she sighed

'Not pleasant?' he smirked 'Worse than what we've been through in the past couple of...'

'Jalal' she cut him off 'We are going to have to end this...to end our relationship!'

'What!' after a short pause of nothingness, he almost laughed out loud at the words he thought he'd just heard 'What are you...'

'You heard it right...'

'WHAT!'

'You - heard - it - right...' she restated impassively

He fell silent. The purport of her grave message struck him down like a bolt out the blue would. Was she playing a joke upon him? Well, it didn't feel funny anymore. Funny? In fact, it was starting to feel distressing 'Jo...' he bridged the gap between them again, his brows knotted into a deep scowl 'Such lines don't suit you...you know that? Kyaa kehne ki koshish kar rahi ho?'

She didn't respond. Even her expressions hardly gave away much. What was she trying to do? He strived to read her eyes many times, but all his efforts were turning futile. For the first time since he'd known her, he couldn't decipher the language in those hazel attributes of hers. The weight of his frustrations began piling upon him. His pulse commenced racing - and in a NOT-NICE way 'I...I... I understand...' his throat had dried up, so he swallowed hard to be able to continue 'I understand that there have been troubles Jo... I realize you've been facing a lot of problems lately... but we'd always promised to stick together...' he clutched her face, his growing agony evident from the strength of his grip 'Jodha... we'd vowed to stand strong... to keep no secrets from one another...to be one...you're just scared...unnerved maybe...'

'Do I look scared to you?' she defiantly peeled away his clasp from around her cheeks 'This is a conscious decision I've taken, Jalal...'

'Wow' he broke out into a bout of disgusted laughs, more flustered by the unemotional nature of her answers than the answers themselves 'Conscious decision YOU'VE taken to end OUR relationship? Wah! And what am I supposed to do? Thank you for informing me about it...' his laughter died down into a few disgruntled sniggers 'Aur main kyaa kyaa sochke aayaa thaa...' the tension in his head was steadily surmounting, making way for an excruciating headache - but he could do nothing to stop it 'Is this why you'd asked me to stay away...to not call you...so you could make this ridiculous choice in my absence and feel not an ounce of guilt while making it...I trusted you implicitly and you've broken my trust, proving me a fool!' as his features inched near hers - as he studied the puzzling aloofness in a face that he so adored - the twinges of grief in his heart intensified. Unbeknown to him, his grimaces turned a shade more aggressive 'Is this why you didn't bother contacting me even once to find out how I was doing...most of my classmates called me up to find out how my shoulder was ... since I've quit college, I received about 75 messages from friends...but, not ONE of them was from you...'

'Well...I didn't ask you to quit, did I?' she reminded him, unintimidated by his glares

'Bloody HELL!' he swore aloud resentfully. She had just smashed his pride to smithereens with that ungrateful retort of hers. He couldn't come to terms with it. He just couldn't. This was not his girl. This was not his Jo. She could never be so callous to anyone but her arch enemies - definitely not to him. Something ought to have happened that had compelled her to become so cold 'Damn' gritting his teeth, he was about to slap the wall beside her ferociously when a strange phenomenon interrupted him from doing so. A gentle morning breeze that'd wafted in through the grilled windows had blown over a lock of her hair onto his face - reminding him of whom he actually was with, all over again 'F**k... no... no... Jalal...' he took in five deep breaths, mustering all will required to rein-in his temper 'Don't' lose your cool ... think straight...think straight... she is your Jo... your FIERCELY LOYAL girl...' once his hastening breaths had returned to near-normalcy, he reverted his attention to her hypnotizing profile - his tone gentler now 'What's gotten to you...or rather, WHO's gotten to you Jodha? Those words are not yours...' as he went on to observe her expressions, his voice became shaky - giving away the state of his emotions 'You can tell me...I'll understand... have I ever NOT understood you...have I ever NOT supported you...then, what are you hiding from me and why?'

Her stares still unbroken, she continued studying him and his actions calmly 'I always warned you that this was not going to work...that this would not end well for us... but, you were the one who pursued and insisted that we should give it a try... we gave it a try...' she shrugged 'And look what's happened...'

'What ARE you so bitter about? What's been happening at home...is your family threatening you?' when she persevered with her tight-lipped stance, he grabbed her by her shoulders to jolt her out of it - an act that alarmed him more than it did her. He so wished he could shake her hard so that she'd speak up - so that she'd tell him the truth - but he knew relationships didn't work that way, so he curtailed his primal instincts there 'Speak to me Jo...tell me what happened...try me... test me...' he reminded her in despair 'I am YOUR Jalal...the one who didn't even mistake your frustrations when you yelled at me for misguiding you on that fateful night...do you think I'd...'

'I am engaged Jalal... I got engaged over the weekend...and the marriage date has been fixed...it's to happen in January...' she exhaled 'That is the truth!'

The betrayed boyfriend stood motionless for a whole minute. Not only was the ground from under him slipping away, she was slipping off along with it too and he didn't know how to stop it. His otherwise steadfast faith in their future together was diminishing into oblivion. Rattled; he continued boring into her - the perplexing sternness in her eyes somehow seemed capable of sapping away the warmth from his own gazes too 'Y...y...y...' he stuttered for a few seconds, struggling to make any coherent form of sound. He was sucked into a new wave of disbelief - not because he'd just learnt the disturbing news of her marriage date being fixed, but because of the complacent attitude with which she'd rendered him the biggest shock of his life 'You're kidding, aren't you...' the agitated man glanced around and then down a second later. It was then that his attention fell upon her fingers. Ha! They were empty. Just as he'd hoped - all this HAD to be a charade of hers 'You don't even have an engagement ring on...' he sneered in near-desperation

'We don't exchange rings... our traditions are different...' flipping open her handbag, she fetched out a brand new Samsung Galaxy. Browsing through the apps, she stopped when she reached the folder where she'd managed to import the photos 'We have a Tilak ceremony...instead...' she held it up for him to see 'Why would I lie?'

He glared at the phone in her hand, increasingly miserable with each passing moment. No, he was not half as bothered by the ceremonial snaps on the screen, as he was by something else more disturbing. There was another glaring concern staring him in the face - the new mobile phone. She'd bought a new phone, but she hadn't cared to tell him about it - or give him the number yet. Worse, she didn't look like she had any intention of doing so either 'So, you've got yourself a new phone?' the evident hurt in his charming glances as he put forth that query would have melted the toughest of women - but it didn't appear to move her. Well, not much anyway!

Averting his line of sight for a brief moment, she explained her constraints 'My family got me a phone as a gift, after the Tilak...but, they have sought a promise from me that I should stop contacting you... so I didn't see the point in giving you my number...'

'God... this is f**king ridiculous...' he started clapping his hands loudly - jeering at the absurdity of it all 'While I've been discussing about you with Ammi...dreaming about our future...you've been busy celebrating your engagement to someone else... getting gifts... giving promises... congratulations Jodha Singh!' it was a good few minutes before the jarring echoes of his claps eventually came to a halt 'And who's the unfortunate dulha? It's that Rishabh dude, is it? The guy YOU used to ridicule... what a big joke! Tut tut tut...' he nodded his head sarcastically - mocking her, mocking her family, mocking himself, mocking them and mocking life as a whole. However; the jibes, the fury or the caustic grins could in no way hide the sorrow that was tormenting him inside. He was now nothing but a devastated man - a shell, a corpse barely standing on its own two feet 'And what exactly does he offer your family that I cannot? Oh yeah I forgot... he's the quintessential Rajput dulha,while I am not, eh?'

'Stop victimizing yourself and villainizing me...' she sliced through his taunts midway 'As though you're the only one who's had to sacrifice everything. You think it was easy for me? Have you ever had to fight with your own family? NEVER! Have you ever had to fight against... cry to... beg and plead... get taunted by...or be ostracized by your own? NEVER...then how would you know what I went through?'

'Fair enough...' he yelled back 'But we knew this was going to be tough... we knew it would take months if not years to convince your family...we'd planned to stick together through thick or thin... only two weeks back you'd cried on my shoulder, whispering we're meant to be together forever...and suddenly, you've conceded defeat?' as all those wonderful memories flashed in front of his eyes, he let his face drop onto his palms. He was overwhelmed by the sudden wave of painful sentiments that'd just hit him. Yet for some reason, his spirit still wanted to hold on - onto that flickering ray of hope - onto the last shred of confidence he had in 'them'. He'd always imagined that they were the most ideal pair that could be - then why were they falling apart now? He looked up in woe at her - the one who he longed to draw out of her ongoing spell of apathy - the one who he wanted to believe could still be his 'Have you been compelled into this? Have you been blackmailed? Please let me help you Jodha...we can still get through this... don't give up... I can request Ammi to...'

'I don't consider giving in to my family's wishes as defeat, Jalal...' she dismissed his notions with a pragmatic nod 'I am strong... but like any other daughter, I cannot continue being strong at the cost of my parents' health... at the cost of my home's peace...'

'Parents' health?' he asked in confusion, setting aside his personal ordeals for a bit 'W...what happ...'

'Its all fine now... anyway...' she ignored his query to pose him one of her own 'See, I've known you for less than a year...I've known THEM for 23 years...they are the ones who brought me up ... and nurtured me... how am I supposed to mistreat them?'

'So you can mistreat ME instead?' a man already crushed on so many levels, Jalal did little but smirk at her ridiculous logic 'Jodha, I assumed the importance of a relationship is based on what it signifies... not based on how many years you've known someone...but anyway, I've understood...what I mean to you...'

'So if YOU had to choose between your Ammi and me... who would you choose then?'

'I know that I'd never give up on either of you...'

'Well then... you're more efficient a human being than I am! That's all I can say...' she let out a semi-empathetic sigh 'Anyway, I had no other go but to reach this decision Jalal... you'll get over 'us'... you are a strong man... you'll have to man-up and deal with it...'

What the hell was she saying! Did she have an inkling of what he was going through? Man-up? His fingers rolled up into a hardball 'Are you for real? Stop spouting nonsense...' he retaliated, the brief composure in his attitude instantly reverting to hostility. So offended was he by the remark that he didn't realize how ruthlessly his nails were now digging into the flesh of his own palm. He'd put up with enough of her drivel - and for long enough! Wasn't she tired of hurting his self-respect? No more 'Just because I am a man, I have no emotions? Don't I have a heart? Don't I feel pain?' he punched his chest - as though to show her that he did have a heart seated inside - an alive and beating one that was well capable of experiencing heartbreak too 'Am I not bound to feel cheated? Even when I've been used like trash? Who gave only women the right to feel so?' his fist spontaneously slammed against the wall in order to burn up some of that fiery rage spreading within his body. However, the force of his strike had been so pronounced that his knuckles ended up getting caught in the hinges of the window, peeling a layer off his skin there as he withdrew his hand. Strangely though, neither did he wince in pain nor did she react to sight of blood on his fingers 'I refuse to believe that this is the Jo I know...' he confessed thereafter 'I refuse to admit that I would be such an imbecile to fall in love with a woman who can't care...the Jodha I loved always wanted me to succeed in life... she was my pillar of support all through...she couldn't even bear the loss of my pet, who she barely knew herself ... and YOU...'

Originally posted by: varshaakulkarni

Yeahhh new thread ... congrats🥳I am sooo happpyyy👏

Originally posted by: ..Tahniat..

let's torture her till she gives the update😎

Originally posted by: varshaakulkarni

Yeahhh absolutely ... iske saath saath mein tujhe bhi torture karungi jaan ...😈🥳