Abhigya FF: WOH HUMSAFAR THA last ch pg 76dt 9.4.16 - Page 51

Chapter 31

One month later.

Time was moving on , things and circumstances were changing around but all these didn't seem to affect Abhi and pragya. They were still just the same, as though they didn't want to accept what life was offering them...yet they didn't protest, didn't argue, didn't fight against their fate. They were doing everything that was expected of them and on the outside they appeared calm and collected but within only they knew that every passing day was killing them.

pragya gazed sadly at the calendar before her, the due date was now round the corner, she caressed her belly, few more days and then everything would change. A new life would come in this world, people around would happily move ahead in their lives but her life...her life would finish. It tore her heart now with the baby so big and so real and moving all the time. It was hard to push aside the thought that very soon she would separate from him and the baby forever. She blinked back the tears that clouded her eyes and continued to stroll in the garden. The doctor had suggested slow walking and light breathing exercises, all this would eventually help her during delivery. As advised she was taking proper care of herself, refrained from taking emotional stress and even attempted to keep her mood light by keeping a smile on her face, however her smile seldom reached her eyes.

Shalini was more than satisfied seeing the way things were shaping up. The baby was growing fine, even pragya looked normal, though lately she spoke less, kept to herself , didn't inquire about abhi and all these were more than welcomed by shalini. Not to forget, abhi had once again started calling her up instead of pragya ever since he came to know that her cell phone broke and she didn't wish to have a new one. No longer the position that she held in his life was under threat. The control that was slipping from her hands was now back. She was the reigning undisputed queen once again.

Abhi immersed himself in work to keep the thoughts of pragya at bay, he spent the whole day and evening at site and returned home late night only to sleep but she hardly left him...during the day, he kept her thoughts at the back of his mind and at night after drinking himself to sleep, her dreams invaded his sleep. He'd stopped analyzing as to why the relationship between them had changed so dramatically ,that now it had been more than a month since he'd seen or heard anything from her, one more time unwilling he'd succumbed to her wishes. If all this made her happy and she wished to keep things like this then he wouldn't change a thing. He flared his nostrils and pulled the gears harder to reach the site.

Getting off the jeep, he craned his neck up and examined the huge building that stood before him. By working day in and day out the construction workers had managed to achieve the set targets before time. His cell phone vibrated, it was his wife on the other side.

"tell me."

" abhi I was thinking of organizing a small puja for pragya." he wrinkled is brows in confusion, all of a sudden what was the need for her to keep a special prayer for pragya?

"what for ?" he retorted.

" we can't have a lavish godh bharai for her but at least this puja can bless both pragya and the baby ." By God's grace this difficult pregnancy would end soon and more than worrying about pragya's health she wanted the child to stay blessed. Had she been pregnant herself she would have carried out all the rituals but that wasn't the case.

" when she'll return to ratnagiri then we can arrange the puja here ." He was concerned over pragya's condition , didn't want her to stress herself unnecessarily. When the child would be born they could always comply with all the required rituals.

Shalini shook her head after hearing her husband, he didn't know a thing about traditions and customs. Every ritual had a meaning and was effective only when performed at the right time. She tried to convince him," abhi try and understand this puja is for the well being of our baby. It's important we have it now." He paused for a minute, maybe it would benefit the baby but what if it exerted the mother?

" how long will it last ?" sensing that he was coming around she replied hurriedly that it was a small prayer and wouldn't take much time. He agreed reluctantly," fine."

" so you're coming tomorrow ?" he ironed out his furrowed brows and thought now what was the need for him to be there?

" what will I do there ?" he asked in irritation.

" you're the father , the puja can't commence without you ."

He pursed his lips, this was not a good idea, pragya didn't like to see or hear him, in fact his presence irked her for reasons still unknown to him. He had thought of going back to her just a few days before her delivery to ensure that everything carried out smoothly. He didn't want to hover around her and disturb her.

" I'm busy ..won't be able to make it." He lied blatantly, the last thing he wanted was to see pragya land up in the hospital because of him. In these four weeks she'd made no attempt to get in touch with him, clearly she didn't want him around. The realization though true still pierced through his heart. However deep down he was aware that she wasn't doing all this out of her will and it pained her as much it pained him.

Shalini was taken aback slightly by his refusal, in the past he never thought twice before agreeing to come down to Mahabaleshwar, as far as she could make out he always liked to be around the unborn child, now how could his work be more important?

" I promise I won't keep you engaged here for long . just half an hour " He thought for a while, the puja would get over in half an hour...after attending it he would return to ratnagiri and not stay there. He hoped things hadn't worsen between them to such an extent that she wouldn't tolerate his presence even for thirty minutes!

" puja , is at the shiv mandir?" shiv mandir was the temple that was nearest to their home and for a moment a thought crossed his mind, would she agree to visit a temple? He rolled his eyes, whatever she would decide.

" yes." Shalini was glad that he had agreed upon. He nodded his head and replied," fine. Tomorrow at five in the evening I'll see you at the temple." With that he disconnected the call.

He tilted his head slightly and looked over his shoulder suspiciously, why did he feel that someone was overhearing his conversation. He turned and looked around, there was nobody but still he had this nagging feeling that there was definitely somebody.

Sighing deeply he started approaching the building when his gaze fell on that small little girl who might have met with an accident on the site some months back. She had grown up in this time and was playing with wet sand trying to make a house, his eyes softened seeing the sight. Her father was working near her, keeping an eye on her. A fleeting smile spread across his lips, in a few days he too would be a father, holding his child in his hands.

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pragya glanced blankly at the sari and the jewellery kept before her, once again she was expected to get into somebody else's shoes. As much as the thought cringed her she knew all this wouldn't last long. She would be free soon! free' really? Would all this actually get over and would she be free forever? Did she want that? She smirked at her fate, when was life the way she wanted it to be.

She picked up the sari and started getting ready, watching her reflection in the mirror she thought of him. He would be there...with her. After breaking all ties with him, finally today she would see him. She didn't want to but still somewhere it made her happy, somewhere it sparked her otherwise dark life. He always managed to cast an effect on her, his thoughts gave her a reason to live and his presence actually made her alive.

She knew his lips would be sealed but his eyes would have several questions running. When everything was going well between them then why did she all of a sudden made things ugly? After getting so close to him, why did she move back? After mending his tormented heart why did she crush it herself? He needed answers, he deserved to know, she knew that but she wasn't sure that she could explain things without breaking down in front of him. She didn't know whether she was capable enough to show him the future, make him face the bitter reality when she herself was still finding it difficult to accept.

She saw laxmi standing behind her, she immediately dropped her gaze, fearing she might read her eyes. But she didn't have to do that, laxmi already knew very well what she was going through. She had noticed the changes in pragya, there was a time when her conversation started and ended with the sahab but now...she hardly spoke about him, as though he was diminishing from her life. Though it was extremely tough for her but laxmi was glad that at least she was making that effort. In this short span of time, pragya had matured a lot, the care free girl hopelessly in love had now turned into a sensible woman.

Shalini called both of them out, it was time to visit the temple.

pragya stood at the footsteps and raised her head to watch the huge idol. She had stopped expecting anything from Him, she had stopped hoping that He would make her life any better. She was standing here today not for herself but for the life that was growing inside her, for the woman standing a few steps away talking to the priest, who had put on stake her everything to bring this new life into this world and for the one who had to compromise on his principles and kill himself so that this life could come into being. Immense hope and happiness were pinned on this child. Life of every individual related to it would change after it came into existence. So after a very long time she hoped at least this little one would get what it truly deserved.

Shalini took a step toward pragya but halted in the middle when a white van pulled up abruptly near them. Four masked men got out of it and grabbed pragya, before she could scream her mouth was covered and she was being dragged into the van. laxmi and shalini both screamed in horror," STOP!"

But couldn't do anything when the men pushed them down and drove off. The people in and around the temple remained as mute spectators, fearing for their lives, none of them came forward to help them. Shalini couldn't believe what had just happened, pragya had been kidnapped!

Abhi drove swiftly through the traffic and slammed his hand against the steering wheel, he was late to reach the temple all thanks to a sudden and unexpected mishap on the site. He curled his lips in irritation on seeing his cell phone vibrating with shalini's name flashing on it. He would be there in another half an hour. He parted his lips to tell her about it but before that he heard her nervous and shaky voice from the other side," abhi..abhi." She was stammering badly and he could sense that something had gone wrong, but what? She couldn't even tell him and it was only boiling his blood, " speak up" he growled that startled her and she spoke hurriedly " Some goons have abducted pragya from the temple ."

His face creased, he couldn't comprehend what he had heard. He felt as though someone had sucked life out of him and his eyes went wide in shock.

He pressed the accelerator harder, he didn't care if today somebody came down his jeep. Why would anybody kidnap pragya? She hardly knew anybody around, they all were new here to develop enemies. He flared his nostrils in rage, what the hell was happening today? First that accident on the site and now this. He wished he had reached there on time! He blinked his eyes slowly as something occurred to him, yesterday he'd felt someone overhearing him while he was talking to shalini about this visit and then this small mishap on the site that only delayed his program...perhaps all this was done so that he ran late and these miscreants could abduct pragya...yeah, he was absolutely sure, this was the actual plan but the question who the hell was behind all this still remained unanswered.

He pursed his lips and gripped the steering while firmly, his knuckles turned white, he fumed in anger and didn't apply the brakes until he reached the temple.

Shalini who was still in a state of shock ran to him and said in a quivering voice," Everything happened so suddenly and quickly that I failed to react."

He ran his hand through his hair and kicked a stone that was at his foot in frustration why on earth did they kidnap her, if they had a problem with him then they should have attacked him and in this unknown place where would he find her? he turned around and glared at shalini," I told you to postpone this puja till you returned to ratnagiri...but you didn't listen to me... and why would you ? after all who am I, an idiot shouting and worrying for no reason ?"

Shalini who was equally worried couldn't see him blame her for this, after all she was keeping this prayer service for their child, what wrong had she done?

" this incident could have been averted had you reached here on time ." Her voice was low yet determined.

He shook his head, now was not the time to play the blame game, he was simply venting out his fury on her, in fact he was mad at himself, he knew he had so many enemies who wanted to bring him down on his knees still he made this foolish mistake of leaving both of them here all alone without any security.

" any idea who could be behind this?"

She tried to think hard, to recall anything that could help but failed. They had covered their faces behind masks and they didn't even speak anything.

He felt his phone vibrate, it was an unknown number, he snarled," who's this ?"

" namaskaram..." this was it , he knew who the caller was before he completed himself,"...Abhishekh bhai."

Abhi curled his fingers in a fist and scowled," RAJ!."

Raj sniggered from the other end hearing his angry tone, it gave him immense pleasure as he added," missing your wife and baby ?"

Abhi contorted his face, shalini was with him then was he mistaking pragya as his wife? pragya was pregnant and maybe that's why his men presumed she was his wife.

" you dare not even think of harming them otherwise ..." he spoke through gritted teeth but was not allowed to finish his sentence as raj interrupted and said," nope abhishekh, this time I will call the shots ."

Abhi gripped the cell phone hard, his chest heaved in rage, he thought he shouldn't have let go this rascal alive in ratnagiri. After taking away the land from Raj, he'd tried to get back at Abhi by attacking him and now this man was holding pragya as hostage

Shalini came forward and held his arm, he couldn't afford to lose his cool, pragya and the baby were in his custody.

" come to the point raj, tell me what the hell do you want ?" with every passing second his anger was reaching new heights and raj was enjoying every bit of it.

" patience abhishekh patience." raj chuckled.

Abhi rolled his eyes, he swore he would kill him once he got hold of him.

There was a moment of silence that didn't last long as Raj spoke," come and meet me. Let's finish an unfinished deal ." Raj informed him where he was put up and explained him the way to reach there.

Abhi disconnected the call and without wasting another second got in his jeep. Shalini came behind him and asked," after getting the money now what more does this creep want ?"

He flared his nostril and narrowed his eyes, yes they had given away raj money for that land but that probably wasn't enough for him and he had kidnapped pragya for that very bloody piece of land!

" today pragya's life is in danger because of that land which you were so desperate to lay your hands on." His eyes were accusing and burning like a flame of fire, once again he regretted giving in to her wish to buy that land from raj. Had they built the shopping complex on some other land then today things would have been different. He had no one else but himself to blame for all this.

Shalini lowered her gaze, she didn't regret her act of forcing him to buy that land from raj, on completion of the shopping complex project it would definitely profit them, it would rain money then she would see if he still opposed her decision.

She gulped the lump formed inside her throat, here she was hell worried about pragya and he was just holding her responsible for this whole fiasco. She curbed her irritation and asked softly on seeing him turn on the ignition," won't meeting raj without your men be quite risky ?" she was right, he was unarmed, in fact he was not even carrying his gun, he didn't find it necessary to carry it here in the temple, he again slammed the steering wheel in frustration, one more mistake on his part.

Without his men, empty handed he was visiting raj's den, knowing very well that he wouldn't spare him still he didn't back out and replied bitterly," I can't afford to wait for my guards to arrive here...i have to rush ..pragya needs me...just pray to your God that she's fine ." With that he turned the key, shifted the gears and sped away.

His concern for pragya was noticed not only by his wife but someone else too. laxmi observed him standing a little far away. His anger, frustration and anxiety over not being able to reach here on time, on failing to prevent pragya from being kidnapped touched her somewhere. All his emotions were loud and clear, not for a moment did he hesitate in hiding them from his wife. Well it said a lot about his character. He was honest and upfront about what he felt and this was not plain simple concern for the woman who was carrying his baby.

It was love!

laxmi sighed heavily, pragya and abhi loved each other, in fact deeply loved one another...but was it enough?

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It was getting dark, sun was setting in the backdrop, the road was long and deserted. But his mind was full of pragya, once again she was in danger because of him. What a heavy price she was paying to enter his life. And this time she was not suffering alone, even his child was at risk. What if something happened to them? His heart pounded loudly inside his chest. What kind of a man and father was he, he couldn't safeguard his love and unborn baby? He was beginning to hate himself for not being there for them when they needed him the most.

He took a deep breath, all this negativity had to be brushed aside for now, he had to rescue them at any cost. He pulled up the jeep a kilometer before the destination. He was aware that raj's men would be dying to attack him and would surround him as soon as they saw him in the jeep so he parked it in the jungle and hopped out to cover the remaining distance on foot.

It was completely dark when abhi reached the shabby looking house occupied by raj. The only light to be seen was coming from the bulbs that were spread across the long corridor. Three men with guns were pacing up and down the secluded corridor. abhi walked carefully yet swiftly towards the house. He stood with his back to the wall and peered at the men guarding the area. When one of them came near the spot he was hiding, he came from behind, covered the man's mouth with one hand and with the other one twisted his neck. The man dead, dropped down, abhi took his gun, slipped it in his waist pocket and grabbed the knife that the dead man was carrying. In a slow motion he attacked every guard and slit their throats before they could make any noise.

Taking out the gun he looked around and peeked through all the windows of the rooms along the corridor.

His face contorted with disappointment as pragya was nowhere to be found. He pushed open the ajar windows too but his eyes failed to find who they were searching. His right hand held the gun firmly while his left hand pushed the next window...it didn't open, probably it was locked from inside. He strained his ears against the door to hear any kind of movement coming from the room. But there wasn't any, perhaps she wasn't in that room, his mind suggested and he approached the next room. However he halted midway, his sixth sense alerted him...she was probably behind the doors of that previous room. He pushed the door slightly, it was locked too. His heart was not letting him move ahead without checking this room. This time he slammed the door harder. He knew he was making noise that would draw attention but he didn't care. He pointed the gun at the door and shot. The bullet pierced through the lock and it opened. He pushed aside the doors and what he saw inside brought his heart to his mouth.

pragya was tied to a chair and her face was covered with a piece of cloth. She was safe! He closed his eyes and threw his head back as a wave of relief swept his body. Fresh tears pooled her eyes when she met his intense gaze. He was here...her life was here. He scrunched his face seeing her in this miserable state and at once started untying her after depositing the gun in his pocket. He freed her and removed the piece of cloth from her mouth. He parted his lips to ask if she was fine but before he could do that, raj and his men barged inside and grabbed him.

" SAHAB." She screamed.

" PRAGYA!" He yelled back

Raj held pragya by her arm and pointed the gun at her temple, he wrinkled his face in confusion on hearing him call her pragya'. If he wasn't wrong his wife was some shalini? Raj yelled at his men," you morons who have you kidnapped ?"

"boss, she was the one who looked pregnant so we brought her here."

Raj wanted to kick their a*s, had there been more than one pregnant woman, they would have picked up all of them? He twisted pragya's arm in anger and she winced in pain, making abhi growl," Raj, leave her or else I swear I'll kill you. "

A number of questions started running in raj's mind, if she was not abhi's wife then why had he come over to rescue her, why had he risked his life for a stranger? Was his devil mind thinking right? His eyes gleamed in malice as he put two and two together. All the pieces of the puzzle were now fitting in perfectly.

" the great, Abhishekh Mehra having an extra marital affair ?" He cocked his brow and sniggered, he gazed at abhi who was looking back at him furiously.

Abhi's expressions said it all, so he was indeed thinking right, another woman was carrying his child and all this was being hidden from the people of ratnagiri. He laughed heartily wondering how would those people react on knowing this shocking truth.

" all this is none of your damn business ... tell me why did you call me here ?" abhi said through clenched teeth. The desperation in his tone was pleasing raj and he signaled one of his men, who took out some legal documents.

" I want my land back."

" after bringing down your shopping complex I'll set up my factory of drugs ."

Abhi twisted his face, his eyes blazed in anger, how could he even think of opening a drug making factory in his hometown , he wouldn't let him play with their lives .

" sign it!" raj ordered.

abhi shook his head in negation, he wouldn't sign on those papers. raj curled his lips and pressed the gun against pragya's temple before saying," then she'll have to die." abhi's eyes travelled from pragya to raj, he attempted to free himself from the men who were holding him and warned," don't you dare."

raj gave him a sly smile and said," I don't have all day..sign the papers or be prepared to take her dead body home." He gripped the gun harder.

Abhi's face twisted, if he wished to take away pragya safely from here then he had to agree to him. pragya saw his expressions changing, he was willing to bow down for her and risk the lives of several people.

" no sahab don't sign."

raj slapped her hard on hearing her stop him from signing.

" RAJ." abhi yelled and stepped closer to him. His men were finding it hard to keep this roaring tiger in control.

raj wrinkled his face and said with dead serious expression," next time I won't hit her but shoot her."

He had no other option but to sign, otherwise they wouldn't set them free. Moreover these documents were meaningless, once he was out of here then he would see how dare raj set up a factory in ratnagiri...he still ruled ratnagiri.

" I'm ready to sign."

raj smirked and asked his man to free abhi's right hand.

"no please ." pragya couldn't bear to see him helpless and given in to the demand. Raaj grabbed and covered her mouth with his hand before she succeeded in changing abhi's mind. Holding the pen he lifted his lashes, their eyes met, she was pleading him not to go ahead but he had to, she and the child were far more precious to him. He dropped his gaze and signed the documents. As soon as he did so, he was once again held captive and he struggled to set himself free.

" now let us go." He roared, he'd done what he'd been asked to do. Raj tilted his head slightly and sneered, "I'm not a fool to let you go alive." Now he aimed the gun at him . He had waited for this opportunity for a long time, now he would not make any mistake.

pragya's eyes turned wide in horror, fear seized her and constricted her chest. How could this monster kill him, he had got what he wanted, then now why was he after his life? She saw him pulling the trigger, abhi struggled hard.

No, this could not happen, she dug her teeth into the hand that covered her mouth. raj winced on removing his hand and just then she stomped hard on his foot. He lost his balance and the gun slipped from his hand. This was just what abhi needed, with all his force he pushed back the men that were holding him, grabbed the gun and started shooting them one after the other. He rarely missed any target and this time was no exception. Taking out another gun from his waist pocket, he was now shooting with both his hands left, right and centre. Within a minute all the men lay down dead.

pragya pressed her palms against her ears as gun shots filled the room.

Abhi scrunched his nose , dropped the gun that was now empty and aimed the other one at raj who was lying injured with a bullet hit thigh on the floor. His next bullet was aimed to pierce through raj's heart but missed and instead hit his shoulder when abhi's gaze fell on pragya who felt nauseated at the sight of dead bodies and pools of blood splashed all across. Her eyes grew heavy and her knees were about to give way when abhi rushed to her side and gripped her around the waist to keep her from falling down.

She lay unconscious in his arms as he lifted her in one swift move. The coast was clear, signed documents now lay tattered and soaked in blood, raj passed out and his men were dead. Without wasting a second abhi carried pragya out of that house and walked in the jungle to get back to his jeep.

Apparently it was pitch dark and he couldn't find the way out. All directions seemed similar and familiar. They were lost in the jungle. He found a lake nearby and thought of getting some water for her. He placed her carefully on the grass and leaned her back against a tree trunk. She'd grown pale and exhausted. He wondered how the baby was doing and rested his hand on her belly, a moment later he felt it move and exhaled deeply. Making a cone out of a big lotus leaf he brought some water in it. He kneeled down and slowly poured it on her mouth. She parted her lips on her own and gulped some inside her throat. His face cringed on seeing the corner of her lip bleed...what had she gotten into, all because of him? He touched her bleeding lips with his thumb, she flinched and opened her tired eyes.

She blinked slowly. The look of pain in his eyes was so overwhelming that it tore her heart apart. He turned his head and looked the other way. Standing on his feet, his hand slipped into his pocket to retrieve his cell phone, he needed to inform shalini that they were safe. But as luck would have been, his cell phone wasn't working, it ran out of battery. Shaking his head he said bitterly," unfortunately we're lost in this jungle ..you may not want and like but we'll have to spend the night here."

He turned his back to her, his hands found home in his pockets once again and he clenched his jaws, he knew lately how much she loathed being around him. His presence once comforted her but now it only irked her and tonight they were helpless, as much as he didn't wish to discomfort her but they had no other choice. They had to be together in this jungle!

She gulped as her throat went dry and glanced at his stiff back that was facing her. She recalled how badly and brutally she had crushed his heart and the feelings that resided in that heart...only for her. He was so tormented that now he didn't to wish to see and talk to her, tears welled up in her eyes. He was the only one in this whole world who loved her and she had broken him down. She stood up and walked behind him, he heard her footsteps on dry leaves, she was standing right behind him but he didn't turn. She gazed at his back briefly before slowly sliding her arms under his underarms and tightly clasped his shoulders from behind. Her face buried into his back and tears streamed down her cheeks through closed eyes, wetting his shirt. He creased his face on hearing her soft sobs. She leaned against him and tugged the lapels of his shirt in her curled fingers. He pressed his lips hard and squeezed his eyes shut.

" I love you ...i love you so much." There she, said it all, bared her heart and soul to him.

Thanks for reading

Rose