Part 11
It had been a quick engagement and the wedding was only a few days away. Heer showed no happiness or sorrow. She remained expressionless. Onlookers would misinterpret it as the pain of not having her father at her wedding. Those that knew Heer knew that she wasn't happy with what was going on and that she was just a doll now, doing what Daljeet wanted her to do and had given up on anything. The hope that she had before of everything be alright, was gone. As much as she was against this wedding, there was nothing she could do.
Heer had gotten engaged to Manmeet last week and it was the first time she saw him. She didn't look at him but instead kept her eyes to the ground. To her it made no difference who she was marrying. She was thankful that Manmeet was offering to pay off her debt, which according to Daljeet, was a huge amount. Other than that she felt nothing else for him and didn't care. It was decided that Heer would marry him so her opinion wouldn't matter so why bother?
Though Heer didn't care about what happened to her, there was one person who did. Kaki. She had known Daljeet longer then Heer and knew never to trust anything she said. But since Heer wouldn't say a word to anyone, it was hard for Kaki to do anything. She didn't know what Daljeet had told Heer so she had no plan of action. What she did know what that Daljeet was up to something and she had to figure it out soon as wedding day was fast approaching.
As days went by, Kaki found herself short of time. The wedding was in a few hours and there was nothing she could do. She had tried to talk to Heer, as did her friends, about it but couldn't get a response.
"Please Heer don't do this" pleaded Meera. "You don't know him. You don't love him so why ruin your life by marrying someone you barely know. For all you know he might be some jerk. How about you postpone the wedding and get to know him first."
Heer didn't respond. She just sat there, staring at her reflection in the mirror, waiting.
As the clock ticked, Daljeet couldn't help but smile for things were going so smoothly. She had managed to convince Heer to get married and Kaki couldn't do anything about it. She couldn't wait until Manmeet filled Heer's maang with sindoor and all her dreams to come true.
She was so absorbed in her thoughts that it took her a while to realize her phone was ringing, with the name 'Manmeet' flashing. Daljeet quickly went to get room and closed the door, not wanting anyone to hear her conversation.
"What?!"
"Nothing. I just called to ask you if you remember our little deal" answered the voice on the phone.
"Of course I remember! You marry Heer and get her to transfer all her property in my name and I'll give you 20%" she replied, with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "I told you not to call me. What if someone finds out?"
"No one's going to find out" he reassured her. "Plus it's time for me to head out and come there. Even if someone finds out, it'll be too late for them to do anything."
"Don't be overconfident. You better not mess this up" she warned him, before ending the call.
Unfortunately for her, Shabo had seen how worried Daljeet had reacted when she saw who was calling and went to her room. She had decided to follow her to find out what was going on. Shabo knew what kind of a person Daljeet was, based on what Kaki had told her. She'd been keeping an eye on Daljeet on kaki's insistence but Shabo hadn't expected Daljeet to stoop so low. She had to stop this wedding somehow but didn't know how. She was sure Daljeet might've planned someone as a back up and might force Heer to get married. Guests had started to arrive. She had to talk to Heer.
Shabo hurried up the stairs and signaled to Kimz to close the door behind her. They locked the door while Shifali and the others stared at them, confused about what was going on.
"Heer! You can't get married" Shabo said in one breath.
"I have to get married." Heer kept her gaze on the mirror, staring at nothing in particular. She sat there, in her red sari, adorned with her mother's jewelry, waiting to be called for the wedding.
"How about you catch your breath before talking?" Shifali suggested before Shabo could say anything further.
Shabo took a few seconds to catch her breath before telling them what she heard. When she was done, all stared at Heer, waiting to see her reaction.
Heer was still. She couldn't believe what she had heard. She knew that Daljeet wasn't exactly the nicest person on earth and that she was greedy, which ended up her getting divorced, but she hadn't expected Daljeet to do something like this.
A few seconds passed by as Heer tried to register this piece of information. "She told me Bauji was in debt and that Manmeet would pay it off…" she said quietly, as tears rolled down her face.
"You're father didn't owe anyone anything Heer. She tricked you into believing that" Kaki said gently.
Heer couldn't believe how Daljeet had been able to deceive her. She should've known better then to trust Daljeet. She cursed herself for not talking to Kaki about this. If she had, then today wouldn't be her wedding day. She wouldn't have gotten tricked by Daljeet.
"What do we do now? The wedding's soon." She couldn't get married to Manmeet. Not after all this. There was no way she would let Daljeet get what she wants.
Before anyone could answer, they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Heer beta, hurry up. You're dulha's here" said a voice. They waited until the heard the retreating footsteps before saying anything.
"Everyone's here…." Heer looked at Kaki with her pleading eyes.
"You will not marry him."
"Bua will make me marry him to get what she wants."
"She can't if you're not here" Shifali pointed out.
"That's right. You just go and leave the rest to us. We'll take care of everything here" Meera smiled.
Before Heer could say anything, Kaki handed Heer a lot of money while Shifali and Meera pulled out a bag and started putting as many things as they could in it. Kimz and Shabo went downstairs to stall and soon after they heard the sound of glass breaking and Shabo apologizing for spilling her drink on someone. Meera gave the bag to Heer while Shifali threw a sari cloth out the window for Heer.
"I-I don't know what to say" Heer began but was soon cut off.
"Don't say anything. We don't have much time. Hurry up and go. As soon as you can, call one of us to let us know where you and if you're ok. Don't call here though."
Heer nodded as she was led to the window. She threw her bag down and using the sari cloth, she reached the bottom. Luckily she had been athletic and didn't have that hard of a time going down in her sari. Before leaving, she took one last look at the people looking from her window before running off.
She tried to go to the front and as it was the closest way to the road and everyone was busy inside. As Heer neared the front, she stopped in her tracks. She saw two guys standing there as guards. She realized that Daljeet probably hired them to make sure nothing went wrong. Heer decided to turn back and run but unfortunately, one of them saw her. Not knowing what to do, she ran past them, glad that Kaki had given her comfortable shoes to wear.
After a while she started to get tired but kept running. She knew she was being followed and if she stopped now, they'd catch up to her. Heer saw a car on the side of the road as she ran. She turned back to see the shadows coming closer and decided to hide in the car. She opened the back door and quickly got in. A while later, through the window she saw the men run past the car and released a sigh of relief.
She was about to get out when she noticed a figure coming and quickly ducked. The person opened the door and sat in the driver's seat and started the car. Rather than stopping the person, Heer decided it was best to stay in the car and leave the village before letting the stranger aware of her presence.
Somewhere along the ride, Heer fell asleep. Since the announcement of her wedding, she hadn't been able to sleep peacefully but in the car she did. She now had hope that things would be ok and she wouldn't give up.
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This time I took my time updating. Now do you guys believe me that I'm not an alien and that it's really me?😆 I had something to say but I can't remember right now. I'm too happy to remember😆 Why am I happy? Cuz Sidoo made me a Saksham siggy and I'm too busy staring at it☺️
Cricket
Anupamaa
