SS:The Vine of Desire...Last (E), PG-8 - Page 6

omg bani dont leave

Actually I wanted to end it in the last part itself… where bani is too guilt-stricken and ashamed of herself…and she decides to leave… but then an idea clicked and I thought it would be nice to write something more…I will write a bit about pia and pushkar as well… I have brutally edited them, so a bit of compensation…

Hope you all will like it…!!!

[E]

7 Months Later… …

Every night in my dreams
I see you. I feel you.
That is how I know you go on.
Far across the distance
And spaces between us
You have come to show you go on.
Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you're here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

Love can touch us one time
And last for a lifetime
And never go till we're one
Love was when I loved you
One true time I hold to
In my life we'll always go on
Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you're here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on
There is some love that will not go away
You're here, there's nothing I fear,
And I know that my heart will go on
We'll stay forever this way
You are safe in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

{Celine Dion : Titanic, Another personal favorite}

He woke up with a startle…his neck sprained as he stood up from the chair…it was nothing knew…his nights were endless and detained of any sleep…her memories haunted him day and night, torturing him which he bore with superlative fulfillment…

Jai searched for his mobile…in his dirty, untidy room…under the huge pile of files, he finally located his mobile phone…it was 1o' clock in the night…he was about to disconnect the call when out of instinct he picked it…

"Hello…"

"Mr. Walia…" a soft, hesitant voice spoke to him…as soon as the call ended he opened his laptop, quickly booking a flight ticket, which would depart in the wee hours of the dawn…about fifteen minutes later he dragged the empty suitcase from his cupboard, throwing his clothes into it, whatever came to his hand… the next hour and an half went into searching for his visa and passport which he had misplaced somewhere…checking his credit cards, he showered, shaving his weeks old stubble, wearing a neat set of clothes, putting on a leather jacket he wheeled the suitcase out, remembering that is was Sunday and that no drivers would be available he sprinted towards aditya's bedroom, banging the door…getting no response he barged in…pouring a glass of water over his face, making him jump up in fright…

"Jai…what the hell!!!!" aditya sat upright, petrified…

"Drop me to the airport…" he demanded like a stubborn child…

"WHAT!!!!"

"Come on…I am getting late…" he pulled him up…

"Wait…let me change…"

"You look perfect…" he dragged him out…

Aditya felt embarrassed, clad in a pair of funny looking pantaloons and a loose t-shirt, he somehow felt relieved seeing the airport sparsely populated and avoided looking at the pretty air-hostesses, prim and proper walking across him ready to join their duty…

"What is all this…??" aditya said, hiding his face in a magazine…highly under-dressed, sitting in the airport lounge…while jai sat calmly waiting for the flight to be announced…

"I am going to London…" he said…

"London…WHY??? There is no new venture as far as I know…"

"It's not business…" he answered

"Then…"

"She needs me…" jai said getting up, hearing his flight being announced…

"Who she???" aditya scratched his head; before he could question, jai was gone…

Yes, he has been observing jai for the past many months; jai had turned into something else…buried in work day in and day out…as if he was safeguarding something from the over-prying eyes of the world…it wasn't certainly pia and his divorce to her…in fact he had been greatly relieved…then…suddenly it struck him…his best friend was deeply in love…he kicked himself mentally for not being able to read it before…but who was this woman and if he loved her then why didn't he tell anyone…a throng of questions revolved in his mind… …he was left with no option but to wait for jai to speak up… …
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Pia sashayed down the ramp in her usual elegant style…as the elite, high-profile audience consisting of the top Bollywood actors and actresses, branded fashion designers, fashion critics, media…she posed as the cameras clicked… …today she was the top model, it took her a lot to achieve this position…but she had found her only goal in life… ending her walk she descended down the stairs going backstage…

"You were brilliant darling…" the designer complimented her… she smiled removing her makeup and accessories… …she was happy…very happy…she had the world at her feet…changing into her casual clothes… she left the place, excusing herself from the party which was going to be held later on…sitting in her new car, she drove to her three-bedroom penthouse…

She sat by the window…staring down at the sparkling traffic lights…she had everything but… to gain all this she had given up some of the most precious things in her life…her sisters and her love…she had loved pushkar but when Jai Walia proposed her she sought him as a route to easy fame, she didn't deny it any longer that she had used him as a pawn to access the glimpse of the world she always wanted to be a part of… yes she was selfish, but for her, it had always been her ambition…at the peak everyone was lonely… she realized it today when no one was by her side to share her joys and sorrows with… …she picked up her mobile…searching for a number… not able to muster up the courage she switched it off…burying her face in her palms…breaking into tears… …

Pia waited patiently… sitting in the restaurant, she had a meeting with a company executive for a modeling contract, the executive was yet to come…her eyes fell on a distant familiar looking person…she got up from her seat walking closer…

"Pushkar…" she whispered…causing him to turn back…his face hardened…

"How have you been…?" she asked

"Wonderful…" he said with restrain…

"Pushkar…I…I am sorry…I…"

"Can we…" pia tried to form words…

"Pushkar…" a sweet voice interrupted them…a cute looking girl came in…pushkar hugged her with a broad smile…

"Stuti…meet her…she is pia…my friend…and pia she is my fiance…stuti…"

"Hi!!!" stuti said brightly…

"Aren't you the famous model…" she said…

"Yes…I am…" pia said trying to hold her posture…

"I have seen you…you are great…" she said, getting a call she excused herself…

"Do you love her…???" pia asked looking into his eyes…

"I have given up on love…thanks to you…but stuti has taught me to believe again…" pushkar said proudly…

"She knows about me…" pia asked anxiously…

"Yes…"

"All the best pushkar…after what I did, the least I can do is wish you well…"she said with a stiff smile…

"And congratulations…" pia walked away…
pushkar stood for a while, and then went towards where stuti was standing… …
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Jai waited patiently, loitering outside the "Imperial College" in London, after checking into a hotel, dumping his luggage he had hired a car and reached here…stopping for a second, he put his hand inside his coat pocket, he felt the bangle…a rush of emotions spread through him…a warmth so deep…so profound that its redolence hasn't left him… that night when someone called him, he was shocked to find out that it was Rano who in measured words requested him to come to London as soon as possible…

"Bani…is she fine???" he had asked thunderstruck…

"She is okay…cane you please come…" rano had requested him in a feeble voice…

"Mr. Walia…" rano's voice alerted him…jai turned around seeing a petite, bespectacled girl, she hadn't changed much since the time she left, in fact she looked even more younger, almost like a youthful girl in her sweater…

"Bani…where is she…??Let's go and see her…" he said hurriedly… …

"We need to talk…" rano said clutching her books tightly…

Rano sat uncomfortably in the couch, as jai looked at her questioningly…

"Will you say something…you are killing me…??" jai said unable to bear her growing silence…

"Do you love di???" she asked pushing back her thick glasses…

"Do you know??" he asked…

"Do you love di??" she repeated…

"How did you know…did bani tell you???" he asked impatiently…

"Do you love di??" she asked again more firmly this time…

"What has happened Rano??? Is something wrong…?"

"Do you love di???"

"YESS YESSS….I LOVE HER MADLY…I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR HER SINCE LAST 8 BLOODY MONTHS, BELEIVING THAT SHE WOULD COME BACK TO ME…BUT EVERYDAY MY HOPES CRASH DOWN…I LOVE HER THAT'S WHY I HAVE COME RUNNING HERE LEAVING EVERYHTING…NOW CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED??????" he shouted like a fanatic…frightening rano… …

"She…she is not fine…" rano uttered, gulping down…seeing the deadpan expression on his face…

"What happened???"

"Di came to London…she seemed very upset…I thought it was due to pia and your divorce…she found herself a good job, rented an apartment, everything was fine for a month…but she was not the same person anymore…I mean…she was always lost in her thoughts… blankly staring at things, not paying attention to anything around her…I was surprised to see a letter from her office that she was not being able to concentrate and they had recommended to see a psychiatrist…the reports were shocking…she was suffering from serious depression…the doctor said that she was blaming herself for something, she lacked confidence and doubted herself, as if she had committed a crime and she was punishing herself, she was being treated but it only got worse, she never spoke up…until one day when she broke down crying as we were cooking…in a state of trance she told me everything… about you…" rano looked away, outside the window…

"Then…" rano moistened her lips…

"The next she lay unconscious in her bed…we found out that she was two months pregnant…she was happy for the first time…but…" rano held back her tears… …he had been careful but they had got carried away at times…a child…he sat rooted to his spot…

"But…" jai caught his breath…

"A week later she fell down the stairs and lost her child…the doctors told that she was mentally so weak that it might be unable to recover her to normal…she is getting treated for months…but there has been no sign of improvement…it was when I had given up hope that I called you…please Mr. Walia…get me back my mother… " rano cried out…

"I have destroyed her…"
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Rano pointed out…jai's face turned to see her…his Bani…it pinched his heart to see her like that, a thin, decreased figure, pale face, dark circles around her eyes, sitting idly, staring at nothing…he couldn't bear the sight…he ran away from there… out…far away…stopping in the middle of the deserted road he let his suppressed tears flow… he cried…he cried like never before…he cried out every pain he felt inside him…he cried… …

"Mr. Walia…you can't be weak…we have to get her back…" rano called out from behind…jai wiped his tears by the back of his hand…

"Yes…we will rano…she has to be fine again…"

He was scared…scared to face her again…what it would be like to be understood without having to speak, the comfort of silence without the threat of misunderstanding or estrangement…but he has to make her speak out… …

"Bani…" he called ever so softly, like a slight brush of air…they saw her body twitch… he came in front of her, kneeling down…he took her hand…sliding the bangle on her thinned hand… he kissed the beating pulse…

"I love you…" he uttered, his voice choking….bani breathed heavily as if a new life had been infused into her… her dried eyes took his image…she opened her mouth eagerly…her eyes flickered with light…she began saying something…but no words came out of her mouth…only sounds…as if she was dumb…she made frantic hand gestures trying to tell him something…

"Yes bani…I am here…I am here…" jai said holding her hands…she continued making noises…until she slipped into unconsciousness out of exertion and weakness…the doctors rushed in…

"I want the best treatment for her doctor…don't worry about the money…" jai said…

"More than treatment I think she needs you…Mr. Walia…" the lady doctor said…

"In months she has only reacted to you…that means she is strongly bonded to you…only you can make her normal…"

"Can I take her with me…?" he asked eagerly…

"Yes, but you have to be very careful…"

"I promise doctor…I will take care of her…"
+++++
Bani stared as jai cooked; she sat on the small stool in the kitchen, he had bought a house and for the past month and a half he hadn't left her side even for a second…he was blabbering something she didn't pay attention to…this man had left her utterly boneless every time he looked her way...now the same man affected her twice what he had eight months ago…ten times that… Their gazes met and locked; sweeping her out of reality on a tidal wave of emotion, like always...he smiled continuing with his work…Why had nothing changed? She had been gone for some time, if not long enough…any reaction to him should have been mild… It would be so easy to start things all over from scratch…and put it all behind them, move it outside and close the blinders… but it didn't work that way, one can't erase an emotion placing a notion like that might seem hard life facing an ocean of cold facts… a moment later…she found him near her, pressing her hands between his…

"I love you…" he kissed her fingers… …she released back her palms swiftly… with a bent head she tried to speak…

"I…o…our…child….I… killed…it…" she said…he lifted her chin up…

"It wasn't meant to be bani…" jai said…she looked away, not wanting to trust his words…

"I promise bani…we will have a cricket team…I know how much you love kids…" he chuckled placing his head in her lap…snuggling…he had missed her terribly…

"And I know you will be a great mother…" he didn't move as he felt the wetness of her tears on his cheek, the tears which she had cemented inside her for so long…finally the damn broke loose…he held her as she wailed in lament… …

Rano stepped back…she silently left the house closing the door without a sound…they both needed each other now… she walked over the lush green gardens, under the bright sun…wiping away the tears of happiness… …

His intense eyes resembled the glowing coals…without the slightest warning, he lifted her up, as she cried out all the pent up grief…taking her towards the bedroom…making her lay down on the bed…he brought out a velvet box…revealing a sparkling diamond ring, he put it on her finger…getting a small casket, he opened it taking a pinch of red vermilion, he filled her parting…her breath stuck in her throat… …

"Now…you can never go anywhere Mrs. Bani Jai Walia…" he said kissing her tears… …

She tried to swallow, but he was suddenly so close to her she couldn't even think...Not only did he reach for her, he went straight for the buttons on her light colored cream cardigan, she didn't allow her gaze to leave his face…did he still want her…making her his wife in such unceremonious way…he undressed her as if annoyed by the whole convention of wearing clothes… …

"You are beautiful…" he whispered…tears filled her eyes again at his unexpected, almost unwilling worship…but instead of increasing her need for restraint, the tears made her feel needy, greedy... …There was nothing she wouldn't let him do to her at the moment or for the rest of her life, she was his and only his…she finally gave up fighting the naked truth…she thought desperately as his body covered hers and he kissed her at last…

"I love…you…" she hugged him… …

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The End…

God bless

Dhani