part 11
As preet finished telling the story, raj hit preet on the back of his head. "Ghadha!" raj said.
"Ouch!" preet said rubbing his head. "what was that for?"
"Tum ne itni achi ladki ko chor diya? arre, even i can tell how much she loved you! and you think she was pregnant with someone else's child? Arre, idiot- that baby wasnt hers- you guys have only been apart for 6 months. pregnancy is for 9!"
"I know ke woh uska bacha nahi tha, I know ke usne probably koi galat chees nahi kari hogi, likin hum dono ek dusre se nahi pyaar kar the hain." preet said.
"Haan, bhai, tumhari india se lautne ke bad kitni girlfriends thi? Hum kitna baar jahte hain likin tum koi bhi ladki ki taraf ank utha ke bhi nahi dekte ho."
"Woh sab diffrerent hai. Kaam ki tension, aur aj kal koi achi ladki nahi dikh ti hain. And i have been on lots of dates, just no relationships." preet said denying all of raj's assumptions.
'Chalo, thik hai jaise tum kaho." raj said rolling his eyes/ ?Waise koi nahin jaan tat hai tum dono ke situation ke barre mein?"raj asked.
"Haan. actually veera jaan thi hain. tumhe yaad hain woh theen mainen pehle visit karne aye thi. Likin usne kisi ko nahi bataya hain, aur use pata nahi kyun meher pasand bhi nahi hain. Jab woh ayi thi, mejhe use batana para ke meher kyun nahi thi, but she didnt really react. " preet said matter-of- factly.
"Yeah, i dont think veera will create any problems for you. Waise, meher jis tara se tumse mili mujhe nahi lagta ke woh ab tak naraz hai. Tu bhi abhi zindagi guilt free jee sakta hai. Want to go to club RAw tonight? I heard the bartender is really hot!" raj said.
"Nahi, yaar, mujhe bohut jaana hain likin Mujhe two days main india ke liye nikal na hai. I have to book my tickets and pack. " preet said holidng his head out of frustration.
As preet left, Raj made a quick call to veera. This was all a big mess and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.
**Two days later***
Preet came to the address meher gave him to pick her up. She stayed in a small but quaint apartment in a nice area in town. Meher had been really hesitant to let Preet pick her up, but Preet had been admanant. He was curious to see how meher had been living in canada. He felt relieved to see that she had been living comfortable, however, he didnt know how she afforded it. He had sent her check every month, but they were always uncashed.
As meher turned the door knob of her apartment, she waved to someone inside, and smiled. Preet noticed this and couldn't help but ask meher all his questions. "Uh, meher mujhe pata hai ke tum mere checks cash nahi karti thi, tumhaare pass paise kahan se aye?" preet asked shifting his eyes from the road.
"I worked as a montessori director. I had gotten my degree in that, so it was easy." meher said casually.
Preet couldn't beleive how different meher looked and acted. She seemed so confident and content, but not necessarily happy. She wasnt carefree anymore but the sadness when they had parted was gone. It was like she was numb. She didnt have that spirit like when he had first met her, nor the glum of 6 months ago. She seemed older and more mature than the childish girl he remembered.
They quietly reached the airport and boarded the plane. As meher took her seat next to preet, another girl sat on the other side of preet. Meher did not miss the flirty glances the girl threw preet. She made preet uncomfortable, he did not know if this was appropriate in front of meher. Meher realized she had no reason to be jealous, preet owed her nothing, she thought. She quickly closed her eyes and put her earphones in. Sleep quickly came to her. Preet was shocked by meher's nonchalance once again. He felt that even if he and meher were just friends that she always had a jealous spot for him. He had always taken that for granted but somewhere inside him he felt something.
The long plane ride filnally came to an end. As preet and meher landed in ludhiana, preet started towards the luggage claim, meher told him she would just come from the bathroom.
Preet was startled to see meher come out of the bathroom. She had changed from her skirt into a black, red, and white printed sari, her hair was down, and she had that manglesutra around her neck. She looked beautiful, and elegant. Again he noticed the change from that childish meher into this woman he hardly recognized. Meher called out to preet and he quit staring at her.
Meher and Preet arrived at the Juneja house. it was late at night so they assumed everyone was sleeping. To their surprise , as they entered the house the lights came on and everyone yelled "Surprise!" There were close to 100 people at the house. Since preet had not lived in India for long he was not familiar with most of the people. However, he was surprised to see that the first person that hugged meher was veera. "Why was veera being so nice to meher"he thought. Meher's family was there as well. Balraj uncle looked fit, and he said that his health was an excuse to lure them to India. Infact, he was in remission. Meher took her father into a tearful bear hug hen he said that. Preet was touched by their emotional moment and he put his hand on meher's back. Meher turned to him and gave him a weak but grateful smile. As meher tore away from her bauji, gayathri came to preet, "Arrey nalayak, tumne meri bahu ka kya halat kiya hai!" Preet looked at his mother confused as prem chuckled behind him. Gayathri took meher's hands and turned her, "Dekh meri bahu kitni patli hogaye hai." they all smiled as gayathri said that. "Likin sach meher, tum bahot khoobsurat lag rahi ho. Bilkul ek suhagan jaisi. Bas ek chees ki kami hai."
"Kis chees ki, ma?" meher asked. 'Sindoor ki! tumne apni sindor pehenna bhool gaye."
"oh haan, main jaldi main nahi lagai." meher said with her eyes downcast.
" koi baat nahin, likin sindoor ek suhaggan ke liye sabse aim hota hai. Aaj se tum kabhi bhi suni maang nahi rakna." gayathri said patting meher's cheek.
Heer rushed and brought a box of sindoor.
"Chal preet, meher ki maang mein sindoor dal." lalt said.
Preet looked up in shock. he had quietly listening as his mother spoke to meher, but he was startled that he would have to apply it infront of so many people. His hands trembled as they reached meher's forehead. After he applied the sindoor, everyone clapped.
A few minutes everyone resumed their normal chatter and music. Meher was talking wih heer and kulraj when teji called to her, "Arrey meher dekh kaun aya hain!" Meher turned to see sameer there. She smiled widely. "r tumhe pata Sid ko bacha bhi hogaya! Aur yeh sab new york mein rehte hain. Kya tum usse kabhi milne nahi gayi jab tum canada mein thi?" teji said. Meher replied no. To which preet was shocked. This was the same guy that meher was with at the mall the other day. Why did she lie to her mother, and what was he doing here" preet thought.
Lots of more twists and urns coming! I hope you guy like it so far! I will try to udate while i am in pakistan, but if not see you guys in a month! 😊
Edited by tadashi - 15 years ago
Hindi TV Shows
