Great Expectations-Part XXXI- Pg 202 (23/5) - Page 26

OPti when will we get your next update dear?

Originally posted by: asmimani

OPti when will we get your next update dear?

Originally posted by: kuku..

from sia and shubs!
yeah i know... feel bad for both... but more for Prachi☺️

Part IX

Present

As Prachi sang the last lines of the song she opened her eyes and looked at her husband to check his reaction. Milind was completely enthralled in the music and his eyes softened to convey the deep love he had for the woman with the magical voice who sang so soulfully. The small gathering applauded the spectacular performance but Prachi had already got her reward in her husband's loving and appreciative gaze which conveyed more than a million words or applause could. Milind walked up to his wife, leaned in and kissed her forehead tenderly, whispering how proud he was of her.

Ishan and Sahana rushed to their mother and wrapped their arms around her.

"Mama, that was simply beauuutiful," gushed Sahana.

"Yes, Mama we just loved it," added Ishan.

The other members of her family and friends also congratulated her personally. Ishan then announced that they will now have the special couple dance for them. The lights were dimmed and Prachi and Milind were called to the dance floor. Milind ravished his wife with his eyes as he took her hand and led her to the centre of the dance floor where the spot light was directed. He held her by the waist with one hand and interlaced the fingers of his other hand in hers. She placed her free hand on his shoulder and they slowly swayed in rhythm with the soft romantic number that was being played. Milind was lost in thoughts of the first time he held his wife this way and smiled at how nervous they both were then.

He was very restless since that morning wondering about how he was going to handle the wedding reception scheduled for that evening. After he had showered, he rushed through his breakfast without saying much to his wife. He then made several calls to his clients and business associates regarding the new project he had taken up. He was building a new hotel in Pune and had been tied up in that work the past days, the reason why he had asked his father-in-law to cancel all the pre-marital ceremonies and get on with the wedding. He had barely managed to free himself for the wedding. He still had to settle a few things which he hoped to address by making the calls to the concerned parties.

What he did not want to admit to himself was that there was nothing which could not have waited till he resumed work after the week-long leave he had taken for his marriage. Had he married the woman he had loved, it was most likely that he would have postponed addressing these issues till later and instead spent his time with her. However, with everything turning topsy-turvy in a matter of few minutes yesterday, he wasn't as enthusiastic about spending time with his new bride, particularly after her brazen remarks about his looks. He also wanted to take his mind off the evening function where he will have to confront the woman he was desperately trying to forget. Seeing him busy, his wife involved herself in the cooking and housekeeping although she kept studying him from time to time when she thought he wasn't looking. Although he knew she was puzzled by his behaviour he pretended not to take notice.

Lunchtime went by uneventfully. She tried to make conversation but he responded in monosyllables. She gave up after sometime. Although deep down he felt that what he was doing to her was not right, he was too seeped in his own pain to give credence to hers. He took a short nap in the afternoon and then sat with his all time favourite fiction, 'Animal Farm' by George Orwell. Although he had read it more than a dozen times and could quote from memory more than half the book, he still engaged himself reading it to avoid interacting with her.

That evening the moment he had dreaded arrived and it was much worse than he had imagined. As though seeing her again, looking breathtakingly beautiful in a well fitted silk churidhar kurta, was not painful enough, he had to mutely listen to her bawdy jokes about his wedding night based on the band-aid on his face. She was a loud-mouthed chatterbox who seemed to have made it her life's mission to pull his leg and embarrass him to the core. It wasn't that he was humourless and averse to people making fun of him. He was man enough to take these things in his stride and even retort in kind, if required. On another day and under different circumstances he could have enjoyed her wisecracks but at that point in time he just wanted to disappear into thin air. Luckily his wife seemed as uncomfortable as him and took her sister away. When Ayesha called him to witness what she had done to beautify his wife, he tried to avoid looking at both of them in order to maintain his own sanity, for the two girls were exquisite in their starkly contrasting ways.

****

At the hotel they had to go through the rigour of receiving the large stream of guests. After dinner, Ayesha announced that his wife would sing a ghazhal. He was surprised to learn that his wife was a trained singer. Before she took the stage she turned to look at him. He did not know what to expect and gave her a blank stare. When she started singing he realised that she did have a magical voice but the song she sang was positively boring to him. He tried his best to listen, but somewhere in between all that dragging he ended up falling asleep. He did not even realise he had slept through the song till he was woken up by the claps around him, signalling that the dreary song was finally over. He heaved a sigh of relief and looked up to see her staring at him with tear-filled eyes. Suddenly he felt guilty for showing such blatant disregard for her talent.

He thought he should apologise but by then Ayesha made her next announcement, that the bridal couple will take the dance floor. She then literally dragged the two reluctant people to the centre of the floor. The lights were dimmed and the spot light fell on them. A soft romantic number was then played. He tentatively placed his hand on his wife's waist. When his palm came in contact with the bare skin of her midriff, she recoiled. He quickly lowered his hand to the portion covered by her saree. With his other hand he gently took one of her hands. She reached up and gingerly placed her free hand on his shoulder. He could make out that she was very nervous and soon he realised the reason why. She couldn't dance for nuts. She kept repeatedly stepping on his toes, making him wince in pain. He tried his best to look normal as the spot light was still on them but as she was fairly close to him she could see his pain. She became even more nervous and the tripping only increased in frequency.

He hoped that the song will soon conclude, but just as it was about to finish another number started to play and this time the rest of the guests also joined the newly weds on the floor. During the song the partners twirled around and suddenly he found Ayesha in his arms. He realised soon that this was a far bigger torture, as his heart literally rammed against his chest holding his dream girl in his arm. He was weighed down by guilt for feeling even remotely amorous towards his sister-in-law and tried to suppress his feelings by holding her at arms length. Ayesha was initially puzzled by his discomfort. Later she smiled and asked if he was missing his wife already. He found his escape route and nodding his head, he excused himself mid-way through the dance. He found his wife sitting all by herself, having left the dance floor as soon as the partners were swapped. He took the seat next to her and tried to apologise for sleeping through her rendition of the ghazhal. She, in turn, was trying to apologise for stepping on his toes. However, both of them couldn't hear each other over the din of the music.

****

"I am sorry. I did not mean to step on your feet. Actually, I did not want to dance as I knew I had two left feet but Ayesha dragged me in," she said remorsefully.

He was touched by her act. "That's OK, you did not do it deliberately," he tried to appease her.

She took the iodex bottle she held in her other hand and rubbed the ointment on the bruises.

Thanks Opti..this chapter (the past perpective) was so sweet, and funny at the same time..! Sweet because of the akwardness between Milind & Prachi, and very funny with Prachi stepping on his poor toes and also how Ayesha has no clue about the predicament her poor Jiju is in..sandwiched between two beauties..😆!! Great part. I just love with the past and present perspectivies, you highlight the complete constast between Michi now and then. Btw..simply adore Milind as he apologised to Prachi and ditto same for Prachi..rather than create a wall of silence, they both took the initiative to apologise. Hiopefully, this will be the first step towards friendship.

Originally posted by: ShubS

Heheee! I was grinning throughout the update. Poor Milind!! And I am laughing at him. Aww he did notice that Prachi has a beautiful voice, just that the ghazal bored him.

You made Ayesha dance with him!! Why do you want to torture him more? Please send Ayesha to LA soon!!!

Looks like finally something has clicked between Michi, at least Milind spoke to her normally.

What a huge contrast it was to read about Milind's present day reaction to his wife's beautiful singing as opposed to the past - aww I loved the deep love you described between MICHI in this first paragraph Opti - beautiful!!!