PART 9
Prerna wasn’t a stranger to pain, she had seen her father on his death bed, suffered a heartbreak that had left her heart aching for months but this, this was a agony of a different kind it felt like he had taken a knife, laced it with poison and deceit and passed it right through her heart, twisted and stabbed it again and again, making it impossible to breathe.
One thing that had been consistent throughout their marriage was trust, it had been the foundation of whatever they had even when they had nothing, there still had been trust and kukki. Now it felt like the very foundation of it all been a sham, a faux, game she never knew she was being made a part of.
Building relationships from nothing was tough, building them from a rubble of heartbreak and resentment was tougher, they had to build something from anger and resentment, misunderstandings and manipulations, lies, deals and treachery. It had taken months of work to be here, they had built a relationship, a home, a family, a present and a future after so many efforts and now it felt like all of it had been an illusion.
She wanted to be vile and vicious spew poison that would cut him but looking at him so crushed and grief stricken, haunted by the ghosts of his pasts and sins of present, it felt like her heart had been torn into two parts totally at conflict with each other, one had urged her to comfort him, help him fight his past and assure him of the future the other had reminded her of her misery,mocked her constantly for being foolish enough to trust a man like him, to love a man like him.
Love, she had realized that she had fallen in love with him only when he had said those horrible words, the words that had made her heart bleed like never before. He had done this before broken her heart and her dreams in a matter of seconds and he had now done it again ripped her world to shards in the blink of an eye.
“Prerna…” he began taking her hand into his, only to retract it back as he saw her flinch.
“Don’t I can’t talk to you, not now just let me go” she said before practically running out of the house, she needed to get out of here be anywhere but in his presence.
Her retreating back had been a stab on his already wounded heart, he knew he deserved this, he knew this was going to happen, had prepared himself for this but it didn’t mean it hurt any less.
“Let me go” she said, it was bound to happen he knew that hadn’t made him hope any less.
She didn’t really remember hailing a taxi, telling the driver the address or paying him but soon found her way into her maternal house, and to her relief no one was home, she quickly made her way towards her room, locked the door and let any façade of composure slip.
She had cried for a few minutes then sat on her bed, catching her reflection in the mirror opposite to her bed and wasn’t surprised to see her disoriented state,her eyes were bloodshot, hair tussled and misery written all over her face she had looked exactly like she did when she had first met him
Talk about irony. Back to square one
But she was not the same woman, not anymore she had changed, matured and grown, she hadn’t broken down until she had been in the comfort of her room, hadn’t impulsively accused him like before the changes were subtle but significant.
If she could change so drastically in a matter of months why couldn’t he, everything they had shared together couldn’t have been a lie there had to be some truth in it,he ought to have felt something for her. Her heart had questioned.
The man is a master of tricks, you didn’t realize that he hadn’t solely married you for his daughter until he told you, you were nothing but a pawn in his game of chess,like everybody else. Was what her brain had answered.
All she wanted to do was stop thinking about this, about him she curled herself on her bed in hope for a few hours of respite in the form of sleep.
********************************************************
He looked at the ceiling in his bar, sipping his whiskey silently, thanking his stars that his daughter had been too tired to make a fuss about Prerna not being home, at least Prerna was safe at his mother-in-laws place.
She was going to be his doom, he had known it the moment she had stepped inside his house, all angry, fiery and short of breath. If something in his plan went wrong the damage would be fatal it would cost him years of hard work, his daughter immense pain and even if it didn’t, if everything happened the way he had planned it to happen there still would be no way of getting out unscathedh had known it.
He knew love,had seen it, felt it, lived it he had loved his mother with devotion, he loved his daughter with everything he had and he knew Prerna Bajaj wasn’t just love she was his ruin. He could live without her, could find a way to keep his daughter happy and healthy without her but her scent wouldn’t ever leave him,there would always be a void in his home that would stare at him right in the face, mock him every time he would step a foot this house, their home.
The safety,the comfort of mundane life was an illusion that mortals had deluded themselves into believing, the lives people spent years building could be destroyed in seconds, he had seen his own life, solid and happy be bought down In less than a month at the tender age of fourteen, he had spun Prernas and many others life around in a matter of minutes, and now he couldn’t help cursing himself for believing that his life could have been a forever.
He sipped the last of his Whiskey before letting out a mirthless dry chuckle, I told you wouldn’t stay prerna, no one does.
*********************************************************
Prerna had woken up to a headache a few hours later, no longer at the edge of her bed but comfortably laid in the middle wrapped up in a blanket, she had looked outside the window the afternoon sun had set long back giving way to stars, the moisture in the atmosphere told her it had rained she checked the time on her wrist watch 10.30 p.m “how did I sleep this long, O shit sneha” was her only thought as she had scrambled out of the bed, out of her room.
“Priyu, uthgayi beta, tere tabiyat toh theek hai na” her mother had asked slowly caressing her hair.
“Haan maa,who mai….” She abruptly stopped not able to make a story on spot.
“Damaad jika phone aaya tha, ki tu baarish ki wajhe se yaha aa gayi, par itni der kese sogayi, bhook lagi hogi baki sab ne toh khana kha liya hai tere liye laga dete hu” her mother had said.
She had felt bile rise up at the back of her throat at being reminded about him, his effortless lying abilities and his audacity to lie to her mother even if for her sake had been a fresh layer of pain on her wounds. She had tried her best to hide her turmoil from her mother.
“Maa, vo bohot thak gayi thi isliye so gayi, mujhe kuch nahi khana, mujhe ghar jaana haisneha wait kar rahi hogi.” She said unable to hide the urgency in her voice.
“Par betaab hi baarish ruki hai, kahi fir ho gayi toh, yahi ruk jaa, kal subha chalijaiyo”
“Maa meh kaunsa paidal jaa rahi hu, driver ko phone kar deti hu par mujhe ghar jaana hai, aapso jaiye, so sorry meri wajhe se aapko jagna pad gaya”
“Kaisi baate kar rahi hai, maa hu teri, sab theek toh hai na mere bachi” she asked.
Nahi maa kuch theek nahi hai.
She simply nodded unable to lie to her mother. She been able to convenes her mother to go to bed and while she waited for ram to pick her up she had changed into a white kurti and washed her face and drank some water.
She had no idea what she wanted to do but if there was any hope for solace in this world for her, it was in her home.
She sat in the car just a minute before the rain started and apologized to ram for disturbing him so late in the night and lost herself in the patter of rain as it hit the car and streets.
The thought of him had made her heart clench, whether in pain or anger she couldn’t fathom.The day had been exceptionally hard on her from kaki maa’s truth and the pain her husband had suffered and then the revelation about their marriage it felt like she had gone through every negative emotion that existed. She had wanted to hug him and slap him, kiss him and kill him all at once and this was so overwhelming that the mere thoughts about today had drained her energy.
As soon as she had seen the gates of her home, her back had automatically stiffened, she got out of the car into her home not caring about getting drenched.
She had still been contemplating about going to her room, checking on sneha or talking to her husband when she had heard the sound of glass shattering and had a good idea of what had happened.
Her feet had moved towards the bar next to his study, and her assumption hadn’t been incorrect there was a half empty bottle of whiskey on the counter, broken glass on the floor and blood on his hand, didn’t take a genius to figure out what happened.
*******************************************************
How was it, dont forget to leave your comments, they are what makes writing worth it.
Sports
