Hi all. SOme readers who read my previous FF asked me to do another. here is one called Life's Choices. i promise it is going to be very different. a bit longer than my usual. But hopefully you will be kept happy and interested. Here it is. As always comments are definitelly required.
This story takes off when Jai, denounces Bani as his wife, and Ganga as his daughter. Ganga does not have cancer. Everyone in the series is the same.
Lifes Choices
Chapter 1
P 1 & 2 Page 1
P3C3
P5C4
P7C5
Hi just wanted to let you know that Life's choices will be revived in October togeher with Reclaiming my wife. Hope you guys stay interested. 😉
You know quite well, deep within you, that there is only a single magic, a single power, a single salvation...and that is called loving. Well, then, love your suffering. Do not resist it, do not flee from it. It is your aversion that hurts, nothing else.
Rano looked at the sight in front of her and cringed. She always knew that Jai had a bad temper and had wronged her sister many times. But this was now the limit!. Despite Daksh and Massi telling him the truth, he still preferred to listen to his conniving sister Jigyasa. All the images of Bani?s sad life flashed through her mind, and as if in a daze she walked towards her sister and niece picking them up from the floor.
He looked on impassively.
On the other hand Rano turned her cold, hateful eyes towards him. Tears began to form in her eyes. Her Di?s tear stained face, and Ganga?s lost look tore at her heart. Suddenly a deep primal need to protect her family overcame her. she clutched her sister and niece to her bosom. She took determined steps and stood facing her once revered brother in law and his so called wife.
?look at them?, she hissed. ?this is the last time that you will ever get to see the woman that loved you with all her heart-unconditionally, and it would be the last time that you would get to see your precious child?. ?the family , your righful family that you are wilfully throwing away?. From today on Mr Walia, Bani, Ganga, Rano nor Veer will be remembered as the Walia and Bali families.
?one day, many years ago, we stood outside your door. Three orphan girls. Then we entered your homes, and our lives were destroyed forever, she said her voice cracking with emotion. . Glaring at her mother in law, she continued. ?You were right Jigyasa aunty. All your plans to destroy the Dixit name have born fruit. You never cared for us did you? In fact your hatred for us was so consuming that besides destroying us, you destroyed your children too. Inciting hate in Saahil and Ranveer against us. How could a mother do that, she cried.
I loved Saahil with all his faults, but your cunning and planning made him so irrational that he couldn?t tell good from bad.
You turned Ranveer from a devotee into a devil. You changed the course of our lives, to suit yourself? How despicable. You fault Bani, accuse her falsely, and question her motherly instinct. Tell me how different is she from the accusation YOU hurl at her?
where is your motherly instinct?. You don?t respect young or old. You even forsake your marital vows. For money!!!!
You have slowly poisoned your own brothers mind against the people that loved him the most. It wouldn?t surprise me if you were the cause of their children?s deaths.
Your will be doomed Jigyasa, and I pray to be alive to see that day.👏
?how dare you, you cheap chit of a girl? Jigyasa was outraged. She raised her hand to slap Rano, but was stopped by the steely grip of Adi.
Don?t you dare, Jigyasa or I swear I will break your arm. Turning to Rano he said, Go on beta, take your family and leave. Leave this hell of a place. Spare Bani and Ganga from the curse of the Walia?s. I should have too, many years ago, but it was my foolishness that stopped me. I too thought that I knew Jigyasa and Jai like my own, but today I realised that blood is thicker than water. We are not their blood beta. The Walia?s make their own rules and regulations. They are above us mere mortals. Thank you for showing me the truth today, he beseeched . One more thing, Rano beta, take my Varun with you.
Turning to Jai, she looked him straight in the eye. Congratulations Mr Walia. You too carried out what you promised to do. You destroyed Pia and Pushkar. You destroyed Bani Di, you even destroyed your own children. Are you happy now? Go on with your life Jai Walia. Believe the lies and deceit that your ?so called? loved ones tell you. My God, you the man that had pined and cried for his children, is turning his back on his own blood.
Go on then do what the despicable Jai Walia used to do. Flit your life from one woman to the other. I pity you, Jai. You don?t deserve my Di, in fact you never did. You claimed to all that you loved her, what a joke. You don?t know the meaning of love Mr Walia, she hissed.
As for you Meera. Where is your pride. Despite knowing everything you still choose to want a ?married man?. All that crying, helping Bani and Ganga was just an act wasn?t it. Well your well timed performance paid off well. I hand it to you, Meera. In terms of deceit and conniving you fit into this family perfectly. Be warned Meera, Jai Walia listens and does what ever his sister tells him, so be nice to my MIL, if you want to retain the title of Mrs Meera Walia.
She ignored the pale and angry looks. She ignored Raashi and Ranveer to hell with them too. She didn?t want pity anymore. She wanted a life, her life, a life where she, and Bani could raise their children in peace and harmony.
Twelve years ago they had come to this place looking for hope, love and a family. And almost 12 years to the day they were leaving, shattered, bruised and scared.
For a long time Jai stood in the darkened study. Rano?s words played repeatedly in his mind. How dare she accuse him of all those things. Bani was no saint too. She had repeatedly acted out her planning and plotting on her own. Yet in is heart he knew that if you weighed it all to the last detail, Bani was less likely to blame than him. Still his irrational mind, his alter ego, reminded him that it was Pia, that broke his heart, Pia that deliberately forced herself back into his life. It was Bani that took his children away from him, Bani that chose another man over him. It was the Dixit?s that ruined the Walia?s not the other way around. Or was it?
He had always respected Rano. She was the voice of reason for her sisters, for his immature nephew Saahil, she was the one that Ranveer learnt love and affection from. She bore his sisters taunts. She loved her imperfect son to a point of destruction. She cared unconditionally for Adi and Dadi. she too had succumbed her life to the wishes of the family by marrying Ranveer when Raashi was ill.
And it was Rano that stood by him, giving him her silent support when he needed it. She had been discreet about Pia and his affair, although she was breaking she did not want to hurt her Di anymore than she was hurting already.
She was spot on with whatever she accused Jigyasa off, because Adi had always shared the same concerns with him. God forbid what did she mean about A and K?s deaths linked to Jigyasa?
The friend that he looked upon as a brother, not a brother in law, was also leaving.
Was she right? Did he know the meaning of love? Did he destroy his children. What did she mean when she congratulated Meera for achieving what she set out to do, surely that was fabricated. But most of all did she believe that Daksh and Massi were telling the truth?
But Rano, was wrong about his love for Bani, yes he did love her more than anything in the world once. Once, a long time ago.
He wondered about Ganga. he remembered her friendly chatter, and her eyes. They crinkled when she laughed. No, she was nothing like him, or Bani. A and K were like them, A had his mothers sweet nature and K was the apple of his eye. Ganga did not resemble any one he knew. She was not his.
Suddenly there was a loud bang, scaring Jai out of his wits. Looking around he noticed that the large French window was open, and the wind had blown in and knocked a frame to the ground. Bending to pick it he was transfixed. His eyes grew big. Tears formed in them. He looked at the smiling picture of his mother. It seemed as though her eyes pierced his own. And then he saw it. Her smile curved into a droopy grin. But it was her eyes, they crinkled at the corners. She had the same smile and eyes that Ganga had. God. He remembered his moms chatter too. Despite the horrible treatment she received from her husband, she always showered her children with abundant love. When their dad left them for days on end, it was their mothers chatter and good humour that saw them through. Ganga was not like him and Bani. she was the mixture of his beloved mom and Massi!
Chapter 2
But there is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it's better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you're fighting for.
2 years later:
The school auditorium was packed. Rano, Bani and Varun were sitting in the front row. Rano smiled at her sister, and nudged her.
B-what?
R- Di you are wringing your hands as if you are delivering a speech and not Ganga.
B- Rano, she admonished. That is my baby up there, I don?t want her to be nervous.
Rano laughed. If there is one thing that you could never accuse Ganga off was being nervous and shy. She was a blabber mouth, that spoke her mind. she was only 8 but she did not suffer fools easily. She had learnt that very early on in her life.
As the lights dimmed and Ganga took centre stage, Rano couldn?t help reminiscing about the past. She remembered Ganga?s crying, weeks on end. Asking the same question. Why didn?t her father love her and her mom. At first Bani made every excuse under the sun to appease her baby?s broken heart, and then it was too much. In a fit of anger she had blurted out that her father hated her (Bani) not Ganga. he was angry with Her and not Ganga. that her father hated any one associated with her mother not her. hearing that Rano stopped her sister in her tracks. She begged Bani to tell Ganga the truth, to spare her false hopes. After all their lives for the last decade was fraught with lies and deceit, and if they had decided to make a new life it should be with absolute faith and trust.
Bani did not know whether the truth had scarred Ganga or not, but as soon as she was told the real reasons, Ganga had changed completely. She spoke less of her father and eventually to everyone?s relief, became the old Ganga again.
Ganga was not angry wih her father for herself, but she was angry that her father had chosen to believe in lies about her wonderful mom. Her mom, who had sacrificed everything she loved to please others.
She still pined for him, remembering the times when they were friends and unaware that she was his child. she still liked to believe that one day he would acknowledge her, but for now she would do nothing and say nothing to upset her mom. It had taken a very long time for her mom to be whole again.
Rano glanced at Bani, and noticed the tears of pride that slid down her beautiful face. she sat in such a spot that although the hall was plunged in darkness, her face was illuminated by the lights that shone from the stage. She was proud of her sister. This time she did not wallow in self pity, she had picked herself up from those sad doldrums and approached her life with new hope and vigour.
A lump formed in Bani?s throat. Although she had listened to Ganga?s speech a hundred times when she rehearsed it, now it seemed as though she was listening to it for the first time. Ganga had put in so much of passion and enthusiasm into her rendition, that there was pin drop silence as everyone sat back and listened. she said the words to the speech before Ganga did praying that she wouldn?t forget the lines. At one stage her whispering became so loud that people began to turn around and stare at her in annoyance. That was when Rano had no option but to nudge her hard in her ribs. Safe to say the whispers stopped.
The lone figure behind the pillar also had tears of pride in his eyes. He stood transfixed listening to the words flowing from her as confidently as a stream flows from the ground. She had grown. She was so pretty. She touched her temple everytime she wanted to express a point, a gesture that he had copied from his own dad. Bani had done a good job with her. Remembering Bani he sought her out in the crowd, but could not spot her. he wouldn?t have. She sat in front of the pillar behind which he was hiding. He left as soon as she ended her speech, silently just like the way he entered.
Ganga was embarrassed by the way her mom was hugging and crying for her. after all it was not the first speech contest that she had won. Bani was furious when she saw their amused faces, and to show them a point she clutched Varun?s had firmly and stalked off. Rano and Ganga burst out laughing. Varun loved it. Every time his beloved massi got angry with his mom and Ganga (and that was often), he was guaranteed a treat. 😆
Jai was sitting in the hired car, looking at the exit to the hall. He insisted on tinted glasses as he did not want Ganga or her family to see him. He chuckled as he saw a mother pull her obviously naughty son by his hand and walk forcefully.
G- mom please wait. We are sorry.
Bani was hearing nothing. She was bubbling inside, fighting back her laughter. She loved making Ganga jealous.
G-please mom wait.
B-she stood right in front of the car with the tinted windows. Her back turned to the running Ganga and Rano.
Jai was speechless. He hadn?t seen her in almost 2 years and here she was mere centimetres away from his reach. She was stunning. Her hair shone in the bright sunlight. Her enchanting smile touched his heart. The slight breeze swayed the pallu of her sari (hope that is right, the left over piece that covers the waist and hangs over).
Exposing her creamy midriff to him. He stopped breathing. she looked so good. she had gained a bit of weight but in all the right places. The Bani that he last saw was plae, and thin. a bit sickly looking. but now goddammit she was all woman, and verys sexy. An intense desire to slide down the mirror and touch her filled him. She was staring right into his eyes, but she had no idea. Although she was addressing Ganga it seemed as though she was talking directly to him. she smiled, her enigmatic smile. Time stood still for him. A desire he had long ago denied stirred within him. As Ganga approached she turned around and flattened her back against the window. He touched her. gosh they were millimetres away from each other, but in reality they were from different worlds.
Bani felt a sudden unease. She felt as though she was being watched. Turning to look through the car window, she was unable too. It was virtually black inside. Bending she tried to look closer, in so doing pressing her lips to the glass. It was impossible. What Bani did not know was while she tried to figure out if someone was there, her estranged husband put his lips to her pressed ones wishing that the glass would break away and he could actually taste her. Sighing she stood and walked away. Walked away from the car, from the man that she hated, towards the family that was her haven. 😕
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