FF:NO GREATER LOVE(MP):Updt pt31B 11/02 pg121 - Page 86

part 30B

That night Prachi held Milind while he slept; she hated that his fear was causing him so much distress. Everytime he would turn and mumble, she would wake up and soothe him until he fell asleep finally; she ruffled his hair and whispered into his ear until she fell asleep in his arms; and he held her tightly. Milind was the first one to wake up the next morning, and when he saw Prachi sleeping peacefully he kissed her forehead and gently tried to remove his arm from around her so that she wouldn't wake up. He smiled at her thinking of the events of the night before, she hadn't gone; she loved him so much, just as he was. His phone rang then and he got up to answer it, "Milind, this is DCP Singh; I've managed to take in two of the dealers that came into your hotel that night and they have confessed that they didn't know anything about anyone called Milind Mishra. They said they had asked their chief who Milind was, but all he had said was that they needed to do their work without any questions and if they did so then the bade saab would give them even more money. When I asked them if they knew who this guy was, they said they hadn't seen him but they had never been to MM Hotel in Delhi before nor had they dealt with MM"

"What does all this mean then DCP?" Milind had asked not wanting to take a sigh of relief because he didn't trust his luck.

"It means there is going to be no evidence for a case that the district attorney can find against you; and since we had the DA present when these people made this statement and his office has records; the same records we have in case the DA tries anything funny; you could be cleared of all charges at your hearing and your hotel allowed to resume normal operation. All we have to do is nab their chief and once he says who paid him off, we have the right person and you will have nothing to worry about." the DCP said, happy that he was able to do something for Milind Mishra. MM seemed like a good guy who had his feet firmly on the ground and would never jeopardize the lives of young people by selling drugs to them.

"Thank you DCP, " Milind said, "Can I ask for another favor; Can I please ask that I be allowed to go to Dubai for a deal?"

He heard the DCP sigh, "I'll see what I can do Milind; perhaps if the judge can see your previous record and hear this new statement he may give you permission"

"Thanks again" Milind said and hung up. He was going to be cleared of all charges soon, how happy Prachi would be. But no, he couldn't be so happy this soon; nothing ever worked like he wished. He wanted to wake Prachi up and tell her but then decided to let her sleep some more. She hadn't slept well the previous night because of him.

As he left her to sleep in late, he realized that he had to do something about Sukriti. She had fought and argued enough and he had been lenient enough. He had arranged everything with the university she was going to; her flat; her course; enrollment; finance; and they were expecting her that week. All he had to do now was tell her that she was going, and he knew that wasn't going to be easy on him or on her. She was after all his baby sister; and even though he had never liked Saket he had consented to their marriage for her sake; he had been heartbroken to see her depressed after Saket had died, and he knew he hadn't given her as much attention as she deserved but he was doing the right thing now, she had to move on. He made a few phone calls then; and worked on a few things for her so that she would be comfortable while she travelled there and on arrival; and went to talk to her. He sighed once outside her room, this wasn't going to be easy, "Sukriti, you are going to Switzerland tonite; pack your stuff and Ritwick's" he said, looking her directly in the eye. Sukriti glared at him and without uttering a word, went to stand in her balcony. "Sukriti, I am talking to you. Do whatever you want but you are leaving today and that is final; this is whats best for you, i can't see you waste away your life like this" Milind said and when he got no answer, he sighed and went to his room to wake Prachi up.

He smiled at her as she slept, she looked so peaceful as she slept, and so pretty. He went up to her and said "Prachi, wake up" and when she didn't blink or say anything, he kissed her cheek and said, "Prachi, please wake up" and Prachi stirred and smiled at him, and then putting her arms around him said, "Hi Milind, what time is it?" "Uh its 10:00 am" he whispered nuzzling her neck; "AHH, Milind move I'm so late, I've loads to do, hatiyee please" and saying that she got up and hurried to the side of the bed while he caught her arm, "Milind leave me, I need to get ready" Prachi said to him, "Can I come help" Milind whispered in her ear, and she laughed and said "there is no need for that, move" and got her arm out of his grip and went towards the bathroom as Milind laughed.

*

"Milind, please get off the phone and have some breakfast, and aren't you going to work today?" he hadn't been eating properly and was beginning to lose weight, which worried Prachi. She had asked ramu kaka to make some paranthas so that she would make sure he had one or two, because she knew once at the office he would lose himself in his work and not eat all day. Taking a parantha and some yogurt up to him, she tore a little bit off and dipped it in the yogurt and put it to his mouth and he ate while looking at papers that seemd like an e-ticket and banking forms required to change Indian rupees into Swiss francs and euros. "Milind are you going somewhere?" Prachi asked if he was going anywhere, he'd have to take her with him there was no way she'd let him go alone. Milind smiled and since she had sat next to him while giving him the paratha pieces, he put his arms around her, "Yes I'm going, with you sometime later this month but this stuff isn't for me, its for Sukriti"

"Yes bhabhi, didn't you know; he is forcefully sending me to Zurich. Did he not tell you yet how he wanted no arguments, no discussions? Did he not tell you that he always wants everything his way?"

Sukriti stood at the bottom of the stairs and was looking at Prachi deliberately avoiding Milind's gaze, and Prachi put the plate she was holding onto the centre table and stood up while Sukriti walked towards her.

"Did he not tell you that he wants to be free of all responsibility and that's why he is sending me away;that he is tired of acting as if he cares for his sister and so he is sending me away?

She looked at Milind then, "You sent baba away didn't you? You did not want to be responsible for his care and so you sent him to Delhi to die alone, you do not care for anyone but yourself. All you've been doing all these years is nothing but show; its all so fake."

Milind shocked that she was saying all this to him, stood staring at her, hurt clearly showing in his eyes; is this what his sister thought of his love for his family? When he had saved her from Alaap, when he had worked hard so that she could study, when he had married her off to Saket in an extravagant ceremony; did she not remember any of it?Why had baba made it seem as if he had done all this in the letter to Sukriti, but said something different to Sukriti; or had she misinterpret her letter?As he though of all this, Prachi could tell that he was hurt by everything Sukriti was saying and she looked at Sukriti, "Sukriti, stop, you don't know anything about Mi...", and she had felt a strong grip on her arm, Milind had looked at her shaking his head so subtly that only she could tell that he didn't want her to say anything to Sukriti. Then, moving his hand to hers and holding it tightly he had looked back at Sukriti, 'None of this will help you, the decision is made and you are going," he said. Sukriti glared at him and then defiantly walked towards him and said, "I hate you, I wish you weren't my brother, you know I feel so bad for bhabhi because one day, you'll do the same to her, you'll tire of her, her love for you, feel smothered and send her away too" as Sukriti said all this Prachi could feel his grip on her hand become even tighter and his eyes had started to glisten with painful tears. "Fine, I am going, but I'll never come back, ever again; you are not my family any more; and I hate you," then she had run back to her room and slammed the door so hard Prachi had felt as if the house had shook. Milind had stood rooted to the spot, remembering everything he had done for baba and Sukriti and despising himself for neither of them knowing how much they meant to him, and then sat down letting go of Prachi's hand and stared at the floor, and when Prachi came to sit next to him stared at her with a sad look and smiled, "I tried all I could, I did all I could, you know that, right? I never sent baba away, and as for her this is what her good lies in; she could remain here but it will all remind her of Saket, she has to go to a new place to be able to move on. I am not as bad as she says, am I Prachi?" he asked looking at her and she hugged him, "No Milind, you are very caring, much too caring that even the smallest thing hurts you a lot but you never let anyone see it; you think of everyone but yourself. Sukriti can't think this of you, I'll talk to her; I'll show her what baba wrote to me.." and Prachi got up to go but Milind held her arm and sat her down again, "No Prachi, if you tell her; she'll feel bad and then she won't be able to go, to detach herself; its fine, let her think what she wants, if it helps her build a new life, if it helps her forget her past, I don't mind, but if she knows the truth it will make her guilty and she will want to stay here with me."

Prachi looked at Milind then, wondering why he was so misunderstood by everyone when he was in fact so caring, why he hid all his emotions in front of everyone and only let her see them; she was glad he had opened up to her, and she was going to show him all the love she had. She hugged him tightly then, until he pulled away and told her he had a meeting with Preet, and so he had to leave. "Milind, it'll be okay, don't let it hurt you" she told him and he nodded and smiling at her, put his hand on her cheek and kissed her forehead, and left for his meeting.

*

"Sukriti, hurry up; its almost time for your flight" Prachi said; she knew she was going to take Sukriti to the airport because Milind wasn't going to, he couldn't deal with her leaving and he didn't want to get into another confrontation with her especially after all she had said that morning. "Prachi, will you do me a favor," he had asked her, "Will you take Sukriti to the the aiport for me" she had felt his pain in his voice but when she had tried to talk to him, he had walked away and gone into his study. He had stared at the pic of baba that Prachi had kept there, with a garland and he had remembered how touchd he had been when he had seen it. Now all he could do was look at it and whisper, "main teek kar raha hu na baba, I am not doing anything wrong by sending her away, am I?" He sat on the couch then, stared into space remembering the moments when Sukriti had saved him from baba's wrath, when he would give her his extra money so she could buy things for herself; when she would fall or hurt herself, she'd run up to him; and now she had said she hated him, that he had never loved her, that he thought of her as nothing but a responsibility, and as he thought of all these memories, try as he might he couldnt hold back the tears anymore, and as a few fell all he could do was sit and stare at baba's pic hoping that one day, Sukriti would understand why he had done this for her.

*

Sukriti had checked in at the airport and now remained at check-in with Prachi before she went through security to the business class lounge. "Bhabhi, is it just you that's going to say bye, no one else is coming?" she asked Prachi who was holding Ritwick and almost in tears thinking of how much she would miss the little boy who had been her very first friend in the family. He had warmed up to her even before his mother had.

'No Sukriti, Milind is busy; he won't be able to make it. You can talk to him when you call us on arrival" Prachi said and Sukriti turned her face away, "he's always busy bhabhi; anyways I should go; thanks for being so sweet bhabhi" she said and then as she hugged Prachi and took Ritwick from her added, "Bhabhi, however he is, he's still my bhaiyya; please take care of him, he's never loved anyone like he loves you; don't ever leave him or hurt him bhabhi, he won't be able to go on" and as she said that she looked Prachi directly in the eye and then hugged her tears running down both of their faces. Prachi looked up again, nodded and then as Sukriti left to go through security, she waved and turned to go back home to Milind. It was just her and Milind now, in the big house. She knew Milind would be lonely without his family, but they had each other.

When she got home, she found that Milind hadn't turned any of the other lights on; and he had been sitting in his study the entire time. She turned on the hallway light and walked towards the study, opened the door and when she walked in saw that he was looking at older pictures of baba, Sukriti and himself; all together, He looked up when he noticed Prachi and smiled at her, but she couldn't fail to notice that he had tear lines on his face and was holding a pic and staring at it and had spread a few pictures around himself on the couch. "Prachi, come here, look; look at this picture its from diwali one year; and this one is from Sukriti's birthday; and this is from when we went on a trip to..." he was muttering while giving her pictures ia hurry. "Milind, Milind" Prachi said and held his hand but he was still looking down and she had to use her other hand to get his face up so he would look at her, 'Milind, why are you doing this to yourself; you know she doesnt know everything that is why she was angry, I am sure she doesnt mean it when she said she hated you, and she knows you love baba" Prachi said to him; "No Prachi, she is right; she is..." he said and looked at Prachi, who stared at him hating what Sukriti's words had done to him. 'No Milind, you're such a great guy; you've always tried to do what's best for everyone even if it hurts you in the end" she said hugging him, 'I don't know why it hurts you the most, that's not fair; its not fair..."

"I've sent away my family Prachi, i have no family around now" he said in a whisper laden with emotion

"How can you say that Milind, you have me, you'll always have me, I am not going anywhere" and she kissed his cheek a few times, feeling like he needed to know what Sukriti had said to her, and when she whispered that in his ear, she pulled away to look at him and saw a small smile on his face, and he hugged her again.

*

Prachi was getting ready for the party Milind had said they were going to a dinner with one of his business associates. She had worn a sari she had bought the previous week, one which Milind hadn't seen yet. It was pink and beige and a Manish Malhotra design. When she draped it around herself and looked in the mirror she smiled, hoping Milind would like the sari as much as her. She had been feeling tired all week and was feeling dizzy, she hadn't eaten much either, and didn't feel like going out but she knew if she told Milind any of this he would panic and make her go to the doctor. She was probably coming down with the flu but Milind would make a big deal out of it and the last thing she wanted to do was worry him. She was putting her make up on when Milind walked into the room, and stood spellbound at the door watching her get ready, she looked so pretty in the sari with her hair straight down. She was getting up and she turned to face him when she saw him staring, "Milind how does this look?" she asked and he whistled and said, "Gorgeous, but soemthing's missing and saying that pulled out a pendant from his pocket and put the slim platinum chain around her neck. It was from Cartier and it had two links with a key around it. he had ordered it for her from NY. "Milind, its so beautiful and it must be so expensive" she said looking at it in the mirror but Milind silenced her by outtinga finger on her lips and said, 'Nothing is more prcious than you, and you deserve the best" and she stared at him, both of them lost in the moment until he blinked and realized they were late. As he put an arm around Prachi, he saw her swoon and lose her balance and looked at her carefully, she looked unwell but he didn't say anything except frown thinking he would take her to the doctor for a quick check up before meeting Preet. he would inform Preet that they would be late. He walked ahead of Prachi dialing Preet on his phone, and when he turned back, he was shocked to see Prachi lying unconscious in a heap on their bedroom floor.