Beofre posting the next part... let me clear certain things...
1. Pia is Bani's elder sister. Pushkar and Pia are married.
2. Nearly all the characters are positive, only the circumstances are unfortunate here...
Here it goes:
Previous Parts:
Part 1 - Page 1; Part 2 - Page 3; Part 3 - Page 6;
Part 4
Jai was in a thoughtful mood since he left home after breakfast. He arrived at the office literally tired. He sat in his rolling chair and closed his eyes. Bani… she had changed his whole life. Bani… what am I going to do with her? Bani… why did I ever meet her in my life? He cursed… but he could not curse too. After all, she was his little girl. Now… his wife… wife…
He looked at the appointment diary lying in front of him. No important or emergency appointments. He could relax today. But the thoughts of Bani didn't leave him alone.
Bani… she was everyone's favorite in his house. She used to spread happiness and smiles whenever she came to his house. His family laughed with her, cried with her. She even considered Anu as her younger sister, but never shown it outside often. She used to catch his mother's 'pallu' and roam around the whole house… Her smile used to light the whole house. She never laughed silently. Always loudly. That too, when she starts laughing, she used roll on the floor and laugh. Her smile and laugh were contagious. Her favorite place in their house is the 'jhoola'. She never let anyone sit in the 'jhoola' in her presence. It was an unwritten rule that she enjoyed the first right on it. Bani…
Now… there is no sign of smile in her face… Only he knew how he handled the situation in the morning.
Aditya and Jai were busy discussing about the shares and stock market during breakfast. Dadi interrupted, "Yeh kya… hamesha business business laga rakha hai?" she scolded them as she served them.
Tony came with the coffee pot and placed it on the table. He took a plate and started serving breakfast in that plate.
"Kiske liye le jaa rahe ho?" Jai asked.
Tony hesitated before replying, "Bani Ma'am ke liye…" and continued serving.
Aditya jerked and looked at the plate, then Tony and then puzzled look on Jai's face.
"Ye Bani kahin dekhayi nahin de rahi hai?" Aditya tried to handle the situation.
"Roz aisi hi hota hai aur tum roz yehi poochte ho?" Jigyasa taunted.
Jai did not raise his face from the plate. His mind travelled from past to present and present to past in a swift manner.
"Jigyasa, chup kar. Pata nahin kal raat usne dinner ki ya nahin." Dadi said worriedly.
"Woh humare saath nahin khati, bas. Lekin zaroor kha leti hai." Jigyasa taunted again, her eyes on the plate in Tony's hand.
Tony felt uncomfortable.
"Pata nahin, is ladki ko kya ho jaati hai." Masi's said in a worried voice and looked at Jai for an answer.
Jai, after some silence, then answered, "Masi, woh ab baayees saal ki ho gayi hai. Pehle jaise choti nahin hai ki hum uski har baat par khyaal rakte. Woh apni khyaal khud rakh sakti hai." Jai's voice.
Masi felt very bad with Jai's answer. May be he is right. But she sensed something definitely wrong. "Woh toh teek hi hai. Lekin, kuch samaj nahin aa raha hai. Hamesha khoyi-khoyisi rehti hai. Kya karti hai, kahaan rehti hai, kuch pata nahin chalta hai. Lekin, kal achanak itni khush lag rahi thi ki mujhe laga ki humari Bani wapas aa gayi. Lekin… kal dinner pe phir se nahin aayi… Kya karoon is ladki ka?" Masi's said helplessly.
"Yeh humari Bani kya laga rakha hai aap, Masi? Maine pehle hi kaha ki is ladki se shaadi mat kijiye, bhaiyya. Aapne meri baat suni nahin. Pata nahin, mama ne kya dekha is ladki mein ki…" Jigyasa cursed Bani.
There spreaded a strange silence.
Aditya broke the silence, "Jigyasa, hum iske baare mein pehle bhi baat kar chuke hai. Iske baare mein baat na kiya jaaye toh behtar hoga." Aditya tried to end the topic.
Jigyasa noticed Masi's and Dadi's approving look to Aditya's words, then she looked at Jai, who was silent.
She cooled down a little. "Maaji, main jaanti hoon ki Bani humari hi ladki hai. Phir bhi, mujhe mama ki baat achchi nahin lagi, us waqt bhi, aaj bhi. Mujhe aaj bhi samaj mein nahin aa raha hai ki mama ne aisa kyon kiya?"
Masi said, "Jigyasa, tum achchi tarah se jaanti ho ki didi jab kuch kehti hai ya phir karti hai toh uske peeche kuch na kuch wajah zaroor hota hai."
"Who toh main jaanti hi hoon. Lekin, mujhe aisa kuch nahin lag raha…" Jigyasa said and carried on with her breakfast. "Na kuch bolti hai, na kuch karti hai, ghar mein ladkiyaan aisi hoti hai kya… kabhi kabhi aisa lag raha hai ki woh humari ghar mein rehti hi nahin…" She stopped and then continued. "Pehle toh woh humare ghar ki na hote huye bhi humari lagti thi. Ab… ab humari hote huye bhi humari nahin lag rahi hai." She poured out her heart.
Jai got up from his seat, "Aditya, main car mein tumhara wait kar raha hoon." He left the place.
Jai, as he remembered the incidents during the breakfast, could not help think how narrowly he avoided every one's questions. How could he tell them that… that she was like this because of him… How could he tell them he was creating a great mess… Jai sighed and remembered the way Bani was waiting for his arrival the previous day evening. Her eager face, that shy smile, that expecting steps… He remembered Masi mentioning that she was happy the whole yesterday. Only he knew what the reason could be. He could not get the incidents of the night out of his head.
When he was getting ready for the sleep as usual, he thought Bani was not in the room as usual and that she was going to sleep elsewhere. He took her photograph, which he had taken just for her on the occasion of Diwali 11 years back – her first Diwali in their house… the way she was jumping on that day, how happiness reflected in her face. He had asked her to pose near the entrance of their house. She had happily posed for him. How he wished, he could bring back those days… How he wished, they would have been in Aligarh itself, instead of coming to Mumbai… He sighed and came out of the thoughts and placed the photograph back into the drawer of the night stand. At that time, he heard the door being opened. He thought it must be Tony. But when he turned back, he realized it was Bani… He frowned as he was shocked. What was she doing here? Bani got scared of his frown. The scared expression in her face pricked him somewhere.
He walked towards her. The scared expression became clearly intense. At that moment, he realized how much his girl was scared of him… Him… No, he had scared her literally of everything. When he stood in front of her, she lowered her head, her eyes searching for something on the floor. He held her face and made her look at him. There were no tears in her eyes, only fear. Oh God, how he wished, he could tell her how much he love her… Thinking, he hugged her like he used to hug her when she was small as if to protect her from the world. (But, the thing which he failed to understand was, he was the world to her…!) "Bani…!" he called her just as he used to call her.
Bani's whole body stiffened, then relaxed in his hold.
He wanted to cuddle her the whole night and relieve her of all the pains and sorrows. He carried her to the bed and placed her with care on it. Her face reflected surprise. He made her lie properly and tugged her into the sheet and joined her immediately. He placed a protective arm around her and nearly lied over her. Bani was confused and she looked at him with a big question in her face and eyes. He noticed it. He softly caressed her cheeks, then her hair as if to make her sleep. But she did not. The question did not disappear from her face.
"Oh… Bani…!" Jai badly wanted to answer all her questions. But where would he start from? He hugged her and placed his face on her shoulders and kissed on her shoulders by mistake. He heard a tiny gasp from her.
Jai raised his head and looked at her. The lips parted while gasping hasn't closed yet. He caressed his face. As if the kiss just before affected her, she closed her eyes as he caressed. Since when his touch started to affect her? Their relationship was the answer. Jai realized whatsoever it be, nothing can change the fact that they are married – he is her husband and she is his wife.
At that time, she brought her hand to his face to hold it. But her hold reflected her innocence. Jai could not resist her innocence and he kissed her cheeks, then her forehead taking his sweet own time. Bani started squirmed a little as if controlling her to savour the moment. Jai wanted the moment to stay for prolonged time. As if on an instinct, he kissed her lips. He did not see any protest or encouragement from her side. Her innocence always had its own effect on him. The effect increased his need for her and drove him crazy at that moment in her hold.
"Bani…" He called her with love and affection before making love to her with patience. He handled her with care. He might not have handled her before properly, but he wanted to handle her with care now at that moment. He aroused desire in her with his care and love and lots of patience. Yet, she never uttered his name as she used to call him at least once during their whole love-making.
After that, Bani grasped his arms tightly and went to sleep. Jai caressed her hair with his fingers, nearly the whole night as she slept.
When he got up in the morning, she was sleeping as if she had not slept for a number of days. (Which was true, but he was not aware of it…!) He left for office while she was sleeping.
He was not guilty that he made love to her but he was worried because he felt the move was made in a little wrong time.
He decided to go home soon that evening to check on Bani.
Thanks for reading... 😊
Edited by abhilashasharma - 17 years ago
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