PArt 2
As they entered their room and preet shut the doors, meher looked towards preet in confusion. He looked at her briefly, then began speaking,"Dekho meher, mein nahi janta ke tum yeh shaadi ke liye kyun razi huwi( no one was aware of lalit and balraj's deal except for their wives) , likin mein yeh shaadi ko nahi manta. Meri shaadi ke baare mein tum janti ho, aur mein ab pyar mein nahi wishwas kar tha hoon. tumhare hona ya na hona mere liye koi mine nahi rakhta. Meher was shocked by his harsh words. what kind of marriage was this?
The fact that Preet slept in the guest room was known to everyone, yet no one said anything. Heer felt terrible for her sister. She thought meher and preet would be so great together but this was a nightmare for her little sister. Everyone pitied meher and pampered her because of it. Meher, however, was used to the treatment: she used to get it from her father but now she got it from preet. The only difference was that she didn't really care what preet did because she didn't love him.
When Meher came over for her pag phere, balraaj for the first time hugged meher. Teji's eyes glistened at the site, even preet's expression softened. Gaining balraaj's love meant more to her than anything, thus she was happy. Her happiness radiated throughout the Juneja household. two days after her wedding, meher went shopping. According to gayathri, a bride should have many new things and since meher's wedding was so small she did not receive many gifts. Meher timidly approached preet for money. "Woh, uh ma keh rahi thi ke mujhe shopping karna chaiye...." Preet gave her abrief glance and handed her a thick wad of cash. Meher was irritated by his behavior.
That evening Meher returned to the house with three men carrying bags for her. the entire family looked up, including preet. "Meher, tum tho pura dukhan kareed ke ahi ho! dikha tu kya lahi hai!" kulraj exclaimed in excitement. all the girls scurried into meher's bedroom to see her purchases. All the girls scurried to meher's room and as she opened the bags, the girls realized that majority of the clothes were for everyone else. She had not bought a single thing for herself. the excitement on your innocent face was too much for gayathri to bear. Gayathri could not help but compare her to ashlesha, who never bought anything for anyone on her shopping trips unless she was prodded to. Meher had bought several things for preet and she showed kulraj, heer, and gayathri. they stared at her with a twinkle in their eyes. She responded,"What? i think his wardrobe needs some updating!" gayathri pinched her cheek, "Tum khud ke liye bhi kuch li ke nahi?" "Of course mein khud ke liye be shopping kari!" meher said happily as she took out some beautiful saris. all the ladies laughed at her excitement. "Why don't you and preet go out tonight in your new clothes? waise, ms. khuranna's party is tonight, we should all go!" kulraj said.
After much convincing the family decided to go. As preet came in their room to pull his outfit, meher handed him the new clothes she had bought. "What's this?" preet said. " I know we aren't even friends, let alone anything else, but I bought something for everyone and I would really appreciate it if you wore this. Plus, its much better than what you normally wear." meher said a little mischeiveously. "Are you giving me a present or are you insulting me?" preet looked at her incredulously.
"What do you think?" meher said as she turned and walked away.
gayathri and Lalit decided not go to the party and take care of Kulraj's children. The women took forever to get ready so kiran, preet, prem, kulraaj came in one car, while harman brought veera, meher, and heer. As Veera, harman, meher, and heer walked in Preet did not glance, but as meher walked passed him his jaw dropped. The back of her sari blouse dipped into a V shape with a simple diamond broach connecting it. Her back was bare, preet was about to march over to her and tell her to cover herself, but he realized that she was nothing to him. Why should he care? He went to get a drink, but kulraj brought over meher to him. "you two are newlyweds, so everyone wants to meet you." Kulraj slowly introduced meher to the guests, preet politely nodded but he didn't realize that he had instinctively put his hand on her back. Meher stared at him but he continued to talk to his colleague. As they were leaving the party, some boys outside whistled as meher walked by with preet. this irritated preet and he took his coat off and wrapped it around her. "I am not cold." meher said while looking quizically at him. "I don't care. there was no need for you to wear that sari." preet said while still looking ahead. Meher stopped,preet finally realized what he was doing. Meher turned to him with anger in her eyes, " Tum , kaun ho the ho mere se aisa bath karne ke liye? waise, these are the most words you have spoken to me since we got married."
"Toh, yeh sab tum meri attention lene ke liye kar rahi thi? tum Ash ki tara banne ki koshish kar rahi ho!" preet regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth.
Edited by tadashi - 14 years ago
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