Thank you all for the comments and the PMs. I apologize for not updating sooner. I just had a busy week at work.
Will try to make another update tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then def. on Monday.
Happy Reading!
Anam
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Chapter 4
Bani continued to peruse the finances of the Shelter trying to find just a little more money for the programs. How could the shelter get more sports equipment if they didn't have a budget for it? This was the worst part of being the director; often there was more they wanted to do than could be afforded and that's where Jai used to step in, he never asked for invoices, all he ever wanted to know was the things the shelter needed and couldn't afford and the rest was taken care of without anyone ever knowing. Before Jai got involved with the shelter, Board of Directors of the shelter were fortunate enough to have a crew of counselors that went "volunteer" so that they could have that much more money to spend on the children. Of course, those counselors were slowly growing restless waiting for the day that the shelter could offer them something for their work. When Jai had become part of the shelter, the first thing he did was change the "volunteer" status to "colleague" and made sure those kids who spent endless hours with the children got paid for their hard work. After Jai's death, the counselors didn't know if they would still get paid or not and Bani assured them that the shelter would continue to get the support that Jai used to provide them.
Sighing, she realized that she was really thinking of him again, not so much the pages of numbers before her. She was trying though; she couldn't help it if she failed. So she just let herself dream of him…
His eyes…
His lips…
His kiss and his touch…
Her favorite memory was their dance from the night before the hurricane. The way his body melded against hers, the two completely and totally in sync as they danced together…the caresses! It was sheer perfection and she often relived it in her dreams. After all, it was the best memory she had of their little time together in Goa. It was hot and passionate and symbolized what their lives should have been like. It was also the only dance they had on their stay in Goa and right now, that's exactly what she was picturing…
Their dance…
But the slamming of the outside metal door to the Shelter interrupted her dreams, returning her to reality in a very cruel way.
"Hello? Sameer?" she called from the office, pushing herself from the chair and waddling towards the hallway. When no one replied, she added, "We're not really open yet…"
"Yea, but I knew you'd be working here today," a very deep voice replied.
"Oh! Hi, Tarun," Bani replied, entering the gym and pausing near the hallway's entrance. "I wasn't expecting you."
"I know," he pulled a hand from behind his back to reveal a sunflower. It was slightly wilted, most likely from the cold, but still a touching gesture. "But I wanted to bring some sun to your dreary day."
She offered a weak smile. Tarun had been there for Bani since the day after the hurricane. He had been the one to bring her to a doctor and retrieve some clothing for her that morning on the beach. Tarun had been at her side for the long, tiring, search for Jai, even for the unsuccessful ending to the mission to save her husband. His arms provided comfort on more than one occasion and his hands wiped away her tears. Tarun had stopped coming to the house after Jai's death because it was too much for him to bear knowing that his best friend since childhood wouldn't be there to give him evil glares for always being late for dinner (which he had with the family at least three-four times a week). However, his number one priority was to give Bani the shoulder to lean on and the support that she needed in such difficult time. In return, Bani had asked him to come back to the house, to always come over like he used to, needing the security of his friendship, which he willingly provided.
But he just wasn't her Jai.
His dark brown eyes were filled with such hope when she asked him to take her to one of her doctor's appointment. She could tell that he wished that she wanted more from him, more than the kindness he offered. But all she wanted was that same companionship he had offered before, not the love he was determined to give her now…
But he never pressed her for more and still was her shoulder to lean on when the pain was the worst.
Slowly, she found her heart opening to him, but never let it get further than a friendly hug or a kiss on the cheek in thanks.
And still he never asked for anything more.
"Thank you, Tarun; you didn't have to do that."
"I wanted to," he neared her, handing her the flower. "Bani, I was wondering…I know you said you're not ready, that it felt as if you were being unfaithful to Jai, but I would like to take you out tonight…on a date."
'Funny,' she thought, 'Sameer seemed to want the same thing and simply hadn't had a chance to ask.'
There was hope in his eyes again and she felt no need to break his heart, to dash his dreams. He was handsome and kind, trustworthy and sweet. His heart was pure and he treated her with respect.
Any woman would be lucky to have him.
But she didn't even feel an ounce of love for him, because she was in love with Jai.
Yet she found herself nodding and her mouth replied, "I think I'd like that," before she could resist.
He smiled, wider and brighter than ever before. Quickly, he closed what little distance was between them, pulling her into a hug and gently kissing her cheek. "Eight o'clock?"
"Make it seven. I'm usually asleep by nine," she gently caressed her belly.
"Seven it is. See you then," he chuckled and left.
And then she was alone.
What in God's name had she just done? Agreeing to date a man! She was married for Heaven's sake!
"But Jai is gone," something inside her argued.
Shaking her head, she turned to walk away when she heard the door open again. About ready to ream Sameer out for taking so long to get her something to eat, she was surprised when a female voice began to echo in the gym.
"Hey, boss," Yukti called walking into the gym, her sneakers squealing on the floor.
Bani turned and smiled at the girl. Yukti was twenty-four years of age. She was tall, about five-foot-six, with long brown hair and big chocolate brown eyes that were always sparkling with laughter. Wonderful with the children at the shelter and the people she worked with, Yuks, as she was fondly called, had worked for Jai at the Walia Industries and then later also started accompanying him to the Shelter to help out when they were short staffed, hating it when he called her Yukti Widge, her full name, which he often did. Now, she happily worked for Bani and loved to torment her boss, who had turned out to be a close friend for her. The two shared many secrets over glasses of milk and brownies from the shelter kitchen.
"Yuks, how many times have I told you not to call me that?" Bani huffed, pretending to be angry. "Don't make me use my secret weapon."
Yukti laughed. "You know, Jai didn't appreciate that either. Guess you two hate acknowledging your leadership skills. Sorry."
Bani laughed lightly, trying to ignore the stabbing pain at the mention of her deceased husband. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work?"
"Um, hello, I'm at work," Yukti laughed, walking to the office to hang up her coat. "I went to that stupid meeting with Ranveer this morning and I was going to bang my head against the wall if I didn't leave the office as soon as I got out of the meeting. I swear yaar one of these days either I'm going to kill that lady from UB Groups or just shoot myself. Why does she have to question everything? You know we would've been done with this meeting two hours ago had she not decided to question every little thing" she placed her coat on the hook and walked to the desk annoyingly. "So anyways, what do you have me doing today? Paperwork? Dealing with chenni and menni?"
"Now that you mention it, Sameer never did agree to do arts and crafts today…"
"Oh no! Hell might as well freeze over because I so am not going to deal with the finger painting queens of Mumbai. I ruined a perfectly good pair of Nikes because of those brats. I didn't wear my good sneakers to have them painted purple you know."
"And here you're the mentor…"
"Yes, and this is why I work for your company and am not the teacher! Dealing with little brats is the last thing I want to do. If my kid behaved the way they do, I will send them off to a boot camp!" she laughed. "How's the tot?"
"Growing. Malvika says he is just fine," Bani rubbed her belly. "He's going to arrive right on time and be the light of his mommy's life." She paused. "Yuks, can I talk to you about something?"
"Nope," she teased. "Come on, Bani, have I ever stopped you from yakking my ear off before? We've known each other how long?"
Bani giggled. "Ok, ok. Tarun was here."
"I know, I saw him as I pulled into the lot," her eyes glazed over. "So, what did the living god want today?"
Bani shook her head and chuckled. "He asked me out…on a date…as more than friends."
"And you told him no like you did Sameer last week, right?" Yukti asked, looking at the afternoon schedule.
"Actually, I said yes," her reply came softly.
"You what?" Yukti spun around. "Wait, Miss Lonely Hearts Club president said yes to a date from a man that has been at her beck and call for the last four months?" She crossed to the window and looked outside, scanning the sky.
"What are you looking for, Yuks?" Bani questioned, joining her at the window.
"Pigs. If you're going on a date then pigs have GOT to be flying," she continued to peer outside.
"Funny, Yukti Widge, funny," she grumbled.
"Oh no! You so didn't go there, Bani! You so did NOT use my FULL NAME," she laughed.
"I did," she replied stoically.
"Oh, I would so quit if I didn't need that big fat paycheck," she teased. "Ok, since you have a date this evening, I'll take arts and crafts AND I'll close up with Sameer so that you can be out of here in time for it. Ok?"
"Thanks, Yukti." Bani didn't seem thankful.
"No problem, just stop calling me Yukti dammit!" she headed for the door. Pausing for a second, she eyed her friend, who had been staring out the window still. The way she stood, one hand on her belly with her sad eyes staring at the dreary sky, caused Yukti to shiver. "Bani?"
"Yes, Yuks?" she looked at her friend and co-worker.
"In answer to your unasked question, no, you're not cheating on Jai. In fact, I'm positive he would want you to move on. He loved you, Bani, and he wouldn't want you to be in so much pain," she left the room.
Bani just stared at the door. How had Yukti known she was thinking that? Shaking her head, Bani realized that Yukti was usually right about things like this. She had an amazing way with the kids, often helping to figure out what was troubling them long before the child would admit it. She'd been the reason that two children had been removed from abusive households and all she had done was watched their behavior. So in all reality, it wasn't surprising that Yukti knew Bani feared that Jai would be displeased.
Sighing, she walked over to the couch and sank onto it, looking at the wilting sunflower on her desk. Even with Yukti's reassurance, Bani felt that she was disrespecting the memory of her husband…
And that hurt.
"I'm sorry, Jai, but just this once I have to do something that gets me away from all the memories. I know Tarun will help for tonight. Forgive me?"
The flower's weight tipped the glass vase over, spilling the contents. As she picked it up, a chill ran down her spine and she swore she heard the word: "Forgiven."
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Yukti sat on the bleachers, watching as the smaller children began cutting out the pictures they had drawn to make puppets. Lions, tigers, bears…footballs. Ok, so there was no such thing as a talking football, but who was she to dictate the laws of creativity? She could only thank God that the finger paints had been empty; she wasn't ready for another day of paint wars. Of course, that meant "Trouble with Capital T," as she now referred to the Patel twins, refused to do arts and crafts and were attempting to weasel their way into a game of tots' basketball with Sameer, who looked none too pleased. He disliked working with them as much as she did. Oh well, at least they weren't HER problem today.
Sighing, she glanced towards the office, seeing Bani in the small room working feverishly on the books for the month. She was still trying so desperately to keep herself occupied, while fighting with memories and dreams. Yukti knew all too well what she was feeling. She had lost both her parents in her late childhood, watching their lives fade slowly from their bodies in a car accident that left her the sole survivor. Of course, the love she had for them was monumental, but nothing like the soul meshing love Bani obviously had with Jai. Still, she had inkling that there was more to Bani than she was really showing and she wanted to tear that wall down and help her friend through this.
But it wasn't easy. Bani often refused help and when things like Tarun asking her out for a date popped up, she suddenly was lost and seeking someone's opinion. It wasn't easy for Yukti to give her help with this situation either. After all, she had never been married and her love life was sorely nonexistent.
Then again, Yukti hadn't been completely honest with her friend either, but that was another story entirely.
Her thoughts were interrupted when her cell phone rang on the cold metal bleacher beside her. Sighing, she grabbed the tiny silver phone, flipping it open. "Hello?"
"Yukti?"
She knew that voice, having heard it often at the Shelter, at the office and in her dreams. It was the deep, soft, caressing voice of Tarun Sablok. "Hi, Tarun," her voice dropped. "What can I do for you?"
"I have a huge favor to ask of you, Yukti," he replied, his voice tinged with the slightest bit of begging and a tiny bit of apprehension.
She knew she wasn't going to like this, could almost read his mind. This had something to do with Bani and their date; she could sense it. The last thing she wanted to do was help Tarun romance her friend, but what could she do if asked? Say no? Well, ok, so she COULD say no, but she wouldn't. Yukti just wasn't that type.
"Yukti? Are you there?" he asked.
"Yea, Tarun, I'm here. What do you need?" she asked softly.
He slowly told her every detail of his idea for his date with Bani, specifying everything from the color of the tablecloth he was using to the music that would be playing while they ate and hopefully dance, even though Bani was pregnant. Of course, that was followed with exactly what he needed from her, which of course had to do with their date. She wanted to cry. Some women had all the luck…
If she wanted to call losing your husband twenty in a dangerous storm, only to be found by the second sexiest man on earth, who instantly fell in love with you, lucky.
Ok, so it wasn't really luck and she sure as hell wouldn't call it FATE.
"So, will you do it, Yukti? For me?" he begged.
To be continued…
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
