Part 18
He tried to move forward to console her but she just put down the glass and left the kitchen. Seeing her leave in tears, he got confused. "Now why is she crying? Did I say something that I wasn't supposed to? All I said was'." And that's when he realized.
Prem thought that she must have understood something else when he said that.
"I hope she didn't think that I want her to leave me. I don't. I never ever want her to leave. All I wanted her to know is that she could keep the gift. I hope that she doesn't feel that I don't want her here."
He decided to talk to her right now. Putting the glass of water aside, he went towards his room.
He slowly pushed the door to open it. His gaze searched for her in the room until he finally spotted her. The soft blanket was covering her up to her waist. She was sleeping sideways on her bed. She was holding onto a little frame and silently crying. He didn't know why, but his heart ached when he saw those precious tears pour out. All he wanted to do was hug her tightly and never let go.
But he knew that it wouldn't be right. With a heavy heart, he dragged himself to his mom's room and lay straight on the bed. Sleep was hard to get when he was disturbed y the fact that he said something to make her cry. He twisted and tossed his body all over the bed and somehow he finally succeeded in getting some sleep. But his heart kept aching.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Dekh, baccho jaise harkat mat kar. Jaldi se dawaii kah le." She told Preet.
Preet was acting like a clown running away from the monster who was trying to feed him medicine. Heer had been chasing Preet all around his room to feed him his medicine. But this little monster was abundant into not eating it. Or maybe he was just trying to trouble her as much as possible.
Heer was not at all mad. She was enjoying this chasing around. Preet was exactly like her Meher. Meher would also bother Heer like this when she didn't want to take the medicine.
By now, Preet was on the other side of the bed opposite Heer.
"Please bhabhi. It's so disgusting. I hate taking medicine." Preet whined.
"But it's for your own benefit. The quicker you take the medicine, the quicker you will recover." Heer tried to explain to him. In one hand she was holding a tiny tablet and in the other hand a glass of water.
"Now you better stop bothering me and take this. I promise, if you take it then I'll make whatever you like for you to eat." Heer tried to bargain this offer with him.
Preet fell in her trap and agreed.
"Mujhe gajar ka halwa khana hai." Preet said and he walked closer to Heer.
"Maine abhi banati hu. Par first eat this." Heer held out the tablet and the glass of water.
"Gosh. You and Prem bhaiya sure know how to emotional blackmail." Preet mumbled as he took the tablet and swallowed it down with a sip of water. He handed the glass back to her.
"Good boy." Heer said pinching his cheeks.
Saying that, she left the room and headed to go towards the kitchen. But she stopped at the door step when she spotted him. The cutest and most handsome face she had printed in her heart was staring back at her with a slight grin. Dressed in a simple dark blue shirt and deep blue jeans, he was looking as fresh as ever. The sleeves of his shirt were folded half-way up and he didn't in shirt his shirt. The face was glowing as he had smoothly shaved. His hair was freshly cut with tiny drops glittering from the shower he had just taken. Man did he take her breath away.
Realizing that she was staring at him for too long, she blinked her eyes a couple of time and then returned him a smile. Nervously, she walked past him, whiffing in his captivating cologne. He was making her go crazy. But she controlled his feelings and safely made her way to the kitchen without fainting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After taking a warm shower, he stepped out of his room only to hear her sweet, pleading voice. He traced her voice to where she was and found her in Preet's room.
Is it just me? Or does she look more beautiful day by day? This is really not helping in me having to stop loving her.
He couldn't stop examining her. She looked as simple as ever in a light green colored churidar. The fabric of the churidar was silky and soft. The outline of the churidar was covered with tiny sliver beads. The rest was plain but it still managed to make her looking attractive. Her silky hair was tied in a cute pony tail. She was wearing a small silver jumkas. Her neck was adored with her mangalsutra and her maang was filled with a tiny pinch of sindoor. To finish her look, she had a tiny round bindi on.
She needs to stop blowing him off like that. He witnessed the whole scene. Heer pleading to Preet and Preet having fun bothering Heer. It made him love her so much more. When her gaze fell on her, he couldn't stop but stare back. A smile automatically came on his face and she returned his smile genuinely. As she walked past him, he whiffed the jasmine and rose flavored fragrance that was coming off her. Her presence made her inside tickle and somehow, he loved the feeling of loving her.
Taking his attention off her, he looked at his sweet brother. He was looking at him with a smile on his face. Prem smiled back and walked closer to him. As soon as Prem was close to him, Preet bended down and touched his feet, got up and touched his forehead. This was a normal thing. Every morning, Preet had seen Prem touch his mom's feet before leaving for work. For Preet, his brother was like his father as well as his best friend. The best he could do for his brother was take his ashirwaad. Because of him, he was alive today.
Prem smiled back at his brother and pinched his cheek.
"Feeling better?" Prem asked his baby brother while he caresses his cheek.
"Yeah. And guess what, bhabhi's making me gajar ka halwa." He sounded as excited as ever. Preet's foot was feeling much better then before. Even though it hurts when he would put a lot of pressure on his left foot, he was able to walk this morning. He held onto Prem's hand for support and headed toward the living room to watch some morning TV.
After setting Preet into his seat, Prem decided to call his mom. Today, she was coming back from her yatra. He couldn't wait to have her back home. He wanted to see the happiness on her face on the sight of seeing her son. Picking up his cell phone from the side table, he went into his room. He dialed her number several times but no one picked up. But on his last try, she did pick up.
"Maa" Prem was excited to talk to her after a long time.
"Arre Prem. Kaisa hai tu beta?" Gayatri was so glad to talk to her son.
"Mai theek hu Maa. App ki tabiyet kaisi hai aur yatra kaisi rahi." Prem asked.
"Yatra toh bahot acchi thi aur meri tabiyet bhi bilcul theek hai. Preet kaisa hai? Aur tu Heer ka dhyan theek se rak raha hai naa?" Gayatri knew her son very well. She wanted her bahu to get all the attention she deserved.
"Preet bilcul theek hai. Aur Heer bhi." Prem agreed to do as he was told.
"Dekh Heer ko kuhsh rakna. Aur usse har who cheez dena joh usse chahiye." She said lovingly.
"Ji Maa. Aap ke train 8:00 baje poohoch jaayegi naa? Mai aa jaounga." Prem asked.
"Prem who mai train se nahi bus me aa rahi hu. Bus se mai jaldi aa paungi. Tu 6:00 baje lene aa jaana. Theek hai?" She informed him.
"Theek hai. Sambhal ke aana." Prem agreed with a smile. He couldn't wait to meet his mom.
After talking to his mom, he went back to the living room. Preet was engrossed in watching the cricket match.
"Bhaiya it's India vs. Australia. Hurry up, let's watch." Preet yelled as he saw Prem come. Prem joined his brother and they both the match. But after a while, they both were able to smell the sweet fragrance of the halwa.
"It smells so good PB. I think she'll be able to give Maa some competition." Preet had his eyes glued to the screen but he wanted to tease his brother.
Prem gave him a glare and he shut up. He got up and headed towards the kitchen. The sugary, sweet aroma was attracting her towards her and her jalwa. Sorry halwa.
As he entered the kitchen, he saw her stirring something in the pan. She was really concentrated in her work that she didn't even notice him when she turned around to get some dried fruits. He folded his hand across his chest, leaned back against the wall and admired her every little move. After about 5 minutes, her halwa was prepared. She took out two bowls and added some halwa in each one. She turned to call Preet but stopped when she saw him standing there.
Without saying a word, Prem approached her. In slow and steady steps he walked close and closer to her. Heer stayed glued in her spot but the slight smile on her face seemed to have vanished. Prem stood right next to her and reached out for the bowl. He took a spoonful bite and savored over the sugary flavors. It was mind-blowing. Prem loved the halwa. He looked at her and saw her questioning eyes. Without having her say anything, he knew that she was asking him on how it was. He gave her a sweet smile in response. She smiled back and picked up the other bowl and headed out of the kitchen to give it to Preet.
All three of the ate their breakfast as well as gajar ka halwa. By 9:00, Prem left for work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Now you have to tell me." Preet told Heer. They were both playing carom in the living room.
"What?" Asked a confused Heer.
"About how you both met. I need to know every little detail." Preet wasn't going to leave her today.
"Preet, we-" Before she could say anything, the door bell rang. Heer opened the door and saw that Maya was there. She pulled Heer into a hug and then both of they went back to Preet.
"What's up boyfriend?" Maya greeted Preet. Maya joined in in their game of carom.
"Nothing. I was trying to figure out Heer bhabhi's love story. But she isn't telling me." Preet whined.
"I know. Prem also lied to me. Trust me, I don't even know. But I do know that they love each other and that's what matters. They are both too shy to tell us anything so I just gave up." Maya grinned at Heer.
At last, Preet also gave up and the game continued. The trio had a lot of fun. They watched movies, ate popcorn, Maya made fun of Arjun, Preet told Heer about Prem's chioldhood, and then Heer told them a little about herself (except the fact that she got kidnapped by the person she loves the most right now).
At around 5:00, Prem came home along with Arjun. Heer and Maya made some coffee for them and they talked for a while. Maya and Arjun decided to stay there until they get to meet Gayatri Aunty. Preet, Heer, Maya and Arjun were playing a game of card to kill time. Prem decided to watch some TV as he had half and hour to kill. He flipped through a few channels and then came to a news channel.
"Kitne baje ki train hai Prem?" Arjun asked Prem.
"Maa train se nahi, bus se aa rahi hai. I am leaving in half an hour to pick her up." Prem informed everyone.
But his mind froze when he heard something in the news.
"AAJ KI TAAZA KHABAR! ABHI ABHI MINISTER KE BETE KI CAR SE EK BUS KA ACCIDENT HO GAYA HAI. WHO BUS HARIDWAR SE MUMBAI AANE WALI THI AAJ SHAM 6:00 BAJE. LEKIN AFSOOS KI BAAT YEH HAI KI US BUS MAI SE KOI BHI NAHI BACHA HAI. BAS POORI JAL CHIKI THI AND HAR EK PASSENGER KE LASH MIL GAYI HAI. HAMARA REPORTER ABHI SAB PASSENGERS KE NAAM BATANE JAA RAHA HAI."
The camera switches to a reporter hold a sheet. He slowly read out the names.
"Rehman Ali. Laxman Prasad. Radhika Soni. Sneha Patel. Ashlesha Patil. Daljeet Kaur. Balwant Chadda.... and Gayatri Juneja."
Not a single person in the room spoke a word. Everyone in the room had tears filled in their eyes. Arjun decided that it was best that he get to the bottom of this matter.
"Mai abhi yeh saab pata laga kar atta hu." Arjun quickly left the house without waiting a second.
Heer saw Preet's eyes well up. She instantly hugged him and tried to stop him from crying. Preet hugged her and cried for losing his mother. Heer didn't know how to console him. She just hugged him and patted his head to calm him down.
Maya ran to Prem and sat next to him. Without saying anything she held onto his hand. Every single person in the room had tears in their eyes. Heer noticed Prem's quietness and knew that he was trying to act strong in front of them but inside, he was shattered inside. Her tears were pouring unstoppable. Prem's eyes fell on Preet devastated state and he got up to sit next to him.
Upon seeing his brother, Preet threw himself in his brother's arms. Prem was successful in calming Preet down. Maya helped him up and took Preet to his room.
Without saying a single word, Prem left the room and went to his mom's room. Heer watched him go. She was heart broken to see him like this. She knew that he needed some time alone. She turned off the news and went to the tiny mandir, next to Prem's room.
With tearful eyes, she prayed to God to give her all of Prem and Preet's pain. She can't see them like this. Gayatri Maa, who had given her so much affection, was no more. Why was it that whoever she loved was taken away from her? Why was it that the people she tremendously loved were given so much pain?
As she prayed, she felt someone's hand on her shoulder. She turned around to find tearful Maya looking at her. Heer hugged her tightly. Maya caressed her hair and tried to calm her down. As they broke apart, Maya wiped her tears away.
"Heer, you have to be strong. At least for Prem's sake. He hasn't even cried once. He knows that if he cries, then Preet will cry. I'll stay with Preet. And I think you should stay with Prem. He will be able to open up to you." Maya adviced Heer.
"And don't worry. Arjun and I will be here tonight. Don't worry about anything." Maya said before she went to go to Preet's room.
But she couldn't face him. She was scared to know his reaction. How was she going to comfort him?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey Guys! I know this part might have turned your a little sad. But I wanted to try something new. There is going to be a major twist coming up. But I promise that whatever will happen, it will happen for the best. Sorry for the delay in updating but I was experimenting. Please leave all your comments and I hope that I didn't disappoint you! Thanks and take care.
Palchin
Edited by Dr.Smart - 15 years ago
CID
Music Corner
