LOST IN CASE 3.1.26
SRK Targetted Again
X-MAS PARTYY 02.01.26
King and Love & War to split in 2 parts inspired by Dhurandhar??
People do care about Abhiara/Abhiru!!
Band Baaja Baaraat To Re- Release
7 year leap for Yeh Rishta
Happy 300 Manvikians.....
Akshay Kumar & Rani Mukerji in OMG 3?
Bani swiped her access Card in a perfunctory manner and huddling herself closely walked past the Employee's Entrance Gate, her head bent down, trying to betray the swollen face and puffy eyes, thanks to the physical stress caused by the accident and doubled by the emotional blow that came her way the same evening. Since she had come to Office at a relatively odd hour of 7 Am, the crowd in the Back-Office area of the Hotel was sparse and as the Night duty staff left the building, occasionally nodding at Bani, she clenched her fists tighter, overcoming her tears and walked as fast as her legs could take, towards the Elevator and then straight to the Office. As Bani placed her handbag in her Cubicle, she heaved a sigh of relief, that today she didn't have to the Corporate Office and had her Duty at the Hotel instead! Opening her Cupboard, she mechanically took out her Uniform and left for the Washroom to change into them!
It was 10 Am in the morning, Bani drowned her fourth cup of Tea and tried hard to ignore the splitting headached which seemed to make her spin the moment she tried to get up from her seat! "Madam, aapko Executive Floor par bulaya hai, 10 minute mein." As Bani looked at the Office Assistant, she wondered who had called her to the Exec Floor at this hour, as the General Manager of the Hotel would be on his daily rounds at this time. "Theek hai…Bulaya kis ne hai?" The Assistant looked clueless and said, "Woh Shirley Madam ne bola aapko upar bhej ne ke liye." Bani was confused wondering why the GM's secretary had called her in, pushing the papers stewn across on her table onto her drawer, she locked it and walked across to the Elevator to go to the Executive Floor.
"Morning Shirley…How is the baby now?" Bani greeted Shirley with her trademark warm smile. "Bani…Hi…Long time!" Shirley came across from her Work Station and hugged Bani asking her how she was doing after the accident. "You should have been at home, recuperating, why did you join Office so soon?" Bani just shrugged her head and asked, "Did Boss call for me, Shirley? I thought he wouldn't even know that it was my duty here today!" Shirley just nodded her head and said, "Well, you know how Boss's are…Go inside now, he has been waiting for you." Bani wished a few more staff she knew on the Executive Floor, as she walked past the narrow corridor, where in the End, a Teak coloured door boldly stated, "General Manager" below which was written, "Debashish Banerjee". Bani knocked softly on the door and then opened it and walked inside the pile carpet which seemed to sink her feet as she walked into the huge Sea-facing room. "Morning Mr. Banerjee. Did you call for me?"
As Jai turned to face Bani, all the remaining color on her face too drained away, as Jai took off his reading glasses and kept it on his Laptop and stared at Bani, she just kept standing, rooted to her spot, the remaining color fading off from her face! "Good Morning and as you can see I am not Mr. Banerjee. I wanted the final listing of the Guests for tonight's TCS Function. Hope its ready." As Bani kept staring at Jai, trying to comprehend what sort of a man had she ended up falling in love with, his eyes drifted back to his Laptop and with a concentrated expression, he punched in a few keys, blissfully unaware of any presence in the room, least of all the woman's whom he had shared a passionate moment together a day before.
"What happened? Any questions?" Jai looked up at Bani again and asked in a polite, officious manner, as Bani reddened and clutching her fists tightly, summoned all her will power to not lose her composure and certainly not show any emotion. "Nothing Mr. Walia. Everything is crystal clear. The file will be in your table in the next 10 minutes and I will personally take care of all the final arrangements. Thank you." Bani spoke coolly and tightly and as she turned to leave the room, Jai called out in a soft voice, "Bani…Can we talk?" Bani's hand was still on the Door knob and she did not turn to face Jai, as she realized that she was almost choking with tears and dreaded their arrival any moment. "Not in front of him. No…No…Not at any cost." Bani thought to herself and without turning to face Jai, she spoke in a clear and icy tone, "I think our meeting is over Mr. Walia, I need to meet my deadlines now. Goodbye." And as an afterthought added, sarcastically, "And Good-day."
Bani opened the door and stormed off, her head bent down, while Shirley looked on astonished as she saw Bani almost rushing down the Corridor and take the stairs instead of the Elevator.
It was past midnight, when the TCS Do got wrapped off and Bani, having satisfied herself that everything had gone off with utmost precision, with a mere glitches thrown here and there, changed from her Uniform and taking her Bag, walked out of the Hotel. Every bone in her body ached from the strain of organizing and executing the huge gathering and the mental strain of avoiding Jai throughout the day was not easy, but surprisingly, after their meeting in the morning, Jai had neither called her up nor had she chanced upon him, save for one glimpse in the Foyer, where he had been having Coffee with Mr. Banerjee. Bani had quickly ducked away, as Mr. Banerjee had chanced upon her walking into the Lobby and waved across to her. The last thing she wanted was to have Jai stare at her, while she looked like a wreck, physically and emotionally.
The cool air hit her face, as Bani wrapped her Duppata in a Shawl like manner and waited for the Cab to come. Bani thought to herself how much life had changed her in the past few months. There was a time when she couldn't venture out of her Mount Abu House after Sunset, but now here she was, in big bad Mumbai, waiting for a Cab to take her back home past midnight. Bani smiled sadly to herself and wondered if this was the life she wanted.
As her Cab drew up besides her, Bani proceeded to open the back door and almost throwing her bag in, tiredly climbed in and put her head back on the seat rest. "Easy…the Bag hurts." As the Cab started, Bani who had here eyes closed was completely startled, as she opened her eyes and almost screamed, as she saw Jai sitting besides her, smiling casually, sitting back in a nonchalant manner. Bani was so astonished that she just did not know what to say or react. "What? What are you doing here?" Bani managed to stammer, while still staring at Jai goggle eyed! "Taking a ride back home with you, what else? Can't let you travel all alone at this hour, can I?" Jai spoke in a soft tone without a hint of sarcasm in it, the smile never leaving his eyes. Bani was now furious and giving one cold stare at Jai, leaned forward and told the driver in a furious voice, "Taxi roko. Abhi, yahan." As Bani realized that the Cabbie not only kept driving but paid no heed to Bani's orders, she fumed, as she almost screamed, "Taxi roko, warna main abhi police ko phone karti hoon. STOP THE DAMN CAR RIGHT NOW."
As the driver kept driving, not even daring to look behind, Bani shrugged her head in exasperation and turned to face Jai, who now looked slightly amused as he put his finger over his lips and muttered, "The lady has a temper. Itna gussa kyon ho rahi ho, ghar hi toh jaa rahe hai aur waise bhi, is waqt tumhe doosri taxi nahin milegi." Bani kept glaring at Jai and then spoke in an icy tone, "You have lost your mind…Really, lost it. I regret the day I met you Jai."
Jai kept staring at Bani, now with a dead serious expression and after a period of silence, spoke softly, "But I don't regret it one bit…and btw, thanks for calling me by my first name. It sounds unusually good now." As Jai and Bani kept staring at one another, Bani bit her lower lip and turned to face away from Jai and looked out of the window at the empty roads, as warm tears flooded her face and she made no attempt to stop them. The Driver kept stealing glances from the rear view mirror, trying to grasp what was going on between the pretty girl and the man who had paid him thrice the usual fare to keep driving, only after Jai had assured him that his intentions were very good and he just wanted to cheer up his 'Wife'!
"Bani, are you crying? Bani? Please look at me. Please Bani, don't cry…Let me explain atleast. Bani? Tum sun rahi ho na?" As Jai held Bani by her shoulders, her body racked gently with her sobs and she tried her best to wipe her face in a manner that a child does, as Jai looked heartbroken and anguished and holding Bani, told the Driver, "Sardarji, Taxi rokiye please. Hamara Ghar aagaya." As Jai proceeded to step out the Cab, the Driver enthusiastically told Bani, "Madam, ab maaf bhi kar dijiye Sahab ko, bechare kitna maafi maang rahe hai aapse. Miya Biwi ke beech mein toh yeh sab hota rehta hai." As Jai gently pulled Bani out of the Taxi, she gaped at the Driver and then when she was out with Jai, standing a few meters from Walia Mansion, she asked Jai, in an astonished voice, "You said that we are married?" Jai gave an awkward look and as she pushed a wad of notes into the Driver's hands, said, "He wouldn't agree to have me in the Car, otherwise. I told him that my wife is upset with me and I wanted to cheer her up and get her back home, as both our kids won't sleep without her." Bani almost let out a laughter amidst her tears as the innocence in which Jai spoke and then drew a deep breath to stop herself from expressing any sort of reaction, especially after the callous way in which Jai behaved with her, almost making fun of her, or as it seemed to Bani.
"Bani, I want to speak to you. On what happened yesterday and…on a lot of other things, that ideally, I wouldn't have wanted you to know…But I thought about it and I think I we really need to speak. So please, just for the last time, listen up." Jai's voice ringed with sincerity and an urgency that Bani couldn't refuse him, not that he would have listened to her, even if she had tried to walk away from him. As Jai always said, no one could walk away from JW, least of all Bani! As Jai held Bani's arms gently and offered her his handkerchief to wipe her tear strained face, he paused awkwardly and said, "Roshni Chopra, the lady you met yesterday at my house was…my Fiance. We were supposed to get married a few years back, but something happened that made me snap our relationship." Jai and Bani both kept quiet as they slowed down and stood a few feet away from one another, as Jai kept his hand on Bani's shoulder and looking into her eyes said, "I have a past…One which I am not proud of Bani…and something which I wouldn't have wanted you to know and that was one of the reasons I didn't want to get involved with you in the first place." As Bani made no attempt to shrug off Jai's arms, she bowed her head down and spoke quietly, "So, that is why you did not acknowledge me when I came to Walia Mansion with Pia and Rano?" Jai nodded his head affirmatively and continued, "I tried so much to keep away from you, to not think about you during all my waking hours…and my sleeping ones to. To avoid you at home, at Office, but even if I had succeeded in dismissing you from my mind, I couldn't have done away with you from my Heart, could I?"
As Bani looked at Jai, she tried to fathom, if it was a question he was posing or was it a statement he was making. "Your past doesn't matter to me, neither does you future. Its only you, that matters to me." Bani spoke emotionally and then after a lull, said, in an awkward note, "Why has Roshni come back?" Jai let go of Bani and turning to face away from her, put his hands in the pockets of his blazer and taking a deep breath said, "I don't know. And frankly I don't care. As far as I am concerned, she is a closed chapter and one which I certainly didn't enjoy reading. I just wanted you to stay away from her and that is why I lost my temper when you came in yesterday, unexpectedly." Bani looked confused and asked Jai, "But how would it matter, if she meets me…We don't even know one another." Jai closed his eyes and a pained expression filled his face as she spoke darkly, "Bani…We…Roshni and I knew your Mother…Very well, she would have come to know about you from your family name itself…" As Jai turned to face Bani, a sad smile spread across his face and he spoke softly, "And it helps that you are your Mother's reflection…in beauty and in character." As Bani kept staring at Jai, stunned beyond measures and not able to grasp at what she had heard, Jai came near to Bani and holding her firmly by her shoulders said, "Bani…you remember when we met, 7 years back in Mount Abu? While on my way back from the Mumbai Airport, along with Roshni, who had come to pick me up, we both met with an accident, a terrible one…the victim was grievously injured, but we could take her to the Hospital…Where she succumbed after battling for her life…The Doctors tried their best to revive her, but she had already lost too much blood."
Bani felt that she had stopped breathing, as she turned pale and cold, standing listlessly beneath the starry skies, as Jai with moist eyes, kept holding her, his grip so tight, that her hands felt numbed, like the rest of her body. Bani whispered slowly, "My Mother died…7 years back…In a road accident…in Mumbai…" As Jai held back his breath, Bani felt nauseous and after a pause said, "You killed my Mother? It was you who had driven over her and left her dying in that Hospital? It was you who had thrown that cheque on my Father's face when he had tried to register a case against you? It was you who had destroyed my whole family in one stroke, orphaned me and my sisters?"
"No…No…Bani…Listen to me…Let me finish what I have to say. Please Bani." Jai pleaded with Bani, as he realized that she had completely mistaken what he had wanted to say, but Bani seemed to be too shocked by what she had already heard to hear anything more.
Bani was so shaken, that she could barely react to what he was saying and in the same dazed tone, kept murmuring, "You hid this truth from me…You gave us charity so that it could ease you of your guilt…You reciprocated my love out of pity and not because you felt anything for me…You gave me a job, a house, all the affection because of your guilt…..and I fell in love with you….for the last 7 years…I have been in love with you." As the tears flowed from Jai's eyes, a traumatized Bani said, "I loved you…I loved a man who ripped my family apart…I loved a man who is a betrayer, a liar…a murderer….Do you think I hate you for this?"
As the eerie silence of the night enveloped Jai, Bani's dead voice spoke, "I hate myself the most this time…because I made the mistake of loving you. Even if I forgive you for what you have done, how will I ever forgive myself, Jai? Tell me how will I ever forgive myself?"
As Jai looked on shattered, Bani, still shocked and traumatized broke free from Jai's clutches finally and in the stunned mode, stepped backwards from him, as if his mere touch will burn her to cinders…..
=====================================================
Very depressing part, I am sure, but am in the process of wrapping off Ajnabi in the next installment!😃 I always wanted to see JW in specs (Since I wear them too!) and hence made him wear reading glasses in this part, thought he would look so intellectual in them!😳
Btw, I promise you a very good Finale.....a full circle!😃
Cheerios,
MT
Sports
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Members Lounge
Cricket
