FF Paragon Update-chapter 14

Chapter 2

Madhubala sat on her bed staring at the wall in front of her. She wanted to be left alone, she did not want to hear her mother crying for her or her Didu feeling her pain. Pain… she did not feel it at all. She did not feel anything. She was waiting for the pain to begin but there was nothing but emptiness inside her.

She knew he could be cruel and ruthless if he wanted to be but not with her. She was his 'biwi', she was sure there was some misunderstanding and he would come through the door any minute and smirk at her and tell her he was joking, teasing her, testing her. Of course he didn't mean to insult her. He did all the drama because he wanted to marry her in front of the whole world, with pomp and glory. He wanted the whole world to participate in their happiness. He wanted their families to be there, to witness their love. Yes it had to be that.

Madhu got up from bed and headed towards the door. RK's car must be coming through the gate anytime now. Ma and Didu hurried after her but before she could step out the evening's memories splashed over her like cold water. She remembered how he pushed her off him when she reminded him that he loved her, how he came to drop her off at the chawl and talked about her one sided love, how he did not care that the bangles representing their love and togetherness broke into pieces.

"You are not worth being RK's and you cannot be of any use to me"

Madhubala collapsed on the floor. Then came the pain, unbearable, intolerable pain. Every single word that he had uttered and every hateful expression engraved itself in her mind

000

He was trying to breathe but it was getting difficult. He was sweating, his pulses were racing. The grass was too tall hindering his vision, he was frantically moving it out of his way and it was all over his face and its thick and sharp blades bruising his arms. His feet were getting tired, his heels were hurting but he was running and he knew he had to keep running. The silhouette in black was after him and was going to harm him if he did not make it to the open fields. He was almost there ….

Rishab opened his eyes. For a second he could not comprehend where he was then felt his pulses calm down when he took in the familiar surroundings. He was could still feel his heart racing giving away to an uneasy feeling seeping through his skin. He turned to his bedside table, it was 4 in the morning, he gulped down his bottle of water. He saw the pillows lying on the floor and that's when the events of the last evening flooded his mind. He knew sleep would not come now so he went and stood near the enormous window near his bed. He stared outside at the scene. It was still dark but he could see some people scrambling around going about their business. This was Mumbai, a city that never sleeps. He was still feeling uneasy, once more he took in the sight of the strewn pillows on the floor. He unplugged his cell phone, ignored the missed messages and went straight to the contacts list. He saw Madhu's number on his screen and pressed the delete button. He had deleted Madhubala out of his life forever.

000

Chapter 3

The lopsided grin, the dimpled cheek, the tousled hair as she did his 'champi'

The unbridled laughter and the holding of hands as the old song played on the radio.

The projector playing 'Mr India' and the invisible hand feeding him dalia

The hug after she suggested that they place Papa's rocking chair in the sitting room

It was all a lie It was all a lie It was all a lie

She kept telling herself over and over again. She would not cry she had promised herself. She did not cry when Malik came back from his outdoor shoot more hurt than angry at the state Madhu was in. At the state he had put her in. He gave her an all engulfing hug that only a father could.

She held back her tears when Roma threatened to kill RK and set him on fire. She was touched by her love. Selfless love, the kind of love Madhu always knew, was always surrounded with.

Only Ma knew how much she was hurting, her soul was bare to her Ma.

Ma, who understood what her daughter was going through because she had gone through something similar and had vowed she would never let her daughters suffer the way she did. Little did she know that wolves came in all shapes and sizes. Some who touted guns and took lives for fun and some who smiled and crushed your soul.

She had killed one but the other she hoped would suffer worse.

000

"Rishu!!!" Radha said shaking her head and leaving his room. She had spent a large part of the morning talking to her son, trying to put some sense into his head but alas she had failed.

She was exhausted. He was very stubborn she always knew that, he had not talked to her and ignored her for the past fifteen years but now she had gotten her son back. She did not want to loose him but she did not want to loose the girl who was responsible for bringing her Rishu to her.

She had overlooked his arrogance contributing it to the fact that he had achieved so much in so little a time. But she did not know that he could be so foolish as to reject true love and a girl like Madhu. It broke her heart to see her son like this and she could not help but think of Padmini's curses. She hoped her son would come to his senses soon and that he was not destined to be alone all his life. A shudder ran through her at the thought and she prayed to God to help her Rishu.

RK was on his laptop playing a new game he had just downloaded. He needed to distract himself. His film had just wrapped up and the post production would take a couple of months. He would be required to meet the Publicity Designer after that and his new movie will not be starting before six months.

He picked up his phone and pressed a button

"Bittuji, book a vacation for me, I want to leave as soon as possible."

"Where do you want to go Chief? So ticket for two people?" squeaked Bittuji. Chief was not in good mood today, maybe Bhabhiji was giving him a hard time he smiled to himself.

" If I have to give you all the details then why have I hired you and I said I, so of course one ticket " RK barked his orders and pressed the off button.

He turned around and came face to face with the photograph on his wall. There was Madhu smiling at him. He remembered how she had climbed on the ladder to hang it and he had caught her from falling off it. She felt soft and smelled of lavender and roses. Her eyes had become wide, he had never seen more beautiful eyes before. Her eyes that spoke volumes and he had vowed that tears would never touch them.

"Crying is my birthright, you can't take that away from me"

"Patil" he screamed to the cowering boy "Take this picture down right now".

He had to get out of this character. Playing Madhubala's loving husband was getting to him. He needed the vacation right now.

000

Chapter 4

Bittuji was sipping tea sitting on the small couch. Madhubala was standing in the kitchen making dinner.

"So how is Ma?" she asked while washing the lentils.

"Aunty ji is fine" said Bittuji slowly "How is your job going Bhabhiji?"

"Fine in fact there is a bridal makeup I have to do today so I don't have to be there before 4O'clock. I am glad you came now or I would not have been able to meet you." She said with a faint smile.

Bittuji looked up from his tea, Madhu was getting the spices out of the cupboard to put in the lentils. He had been unable to meet her eyes, embarrassed by the events that took place a month ago. He felt guilty that he could not guess what his chief was up to. Like everyone else he knew that RK could be arrogant but he did not think he could be cruel too. Many a times he had defended his boss because he knew how generous and open hearted he could be. He was shocked to learn the truth, he did not think the chief had it in him to fake emotions so consistently for weeks on end and fool everyone. He thought he was RK's closest confidant and there was not one secret he did not know about him but this he did not know. They seemed so much in love, many times he had interrupted their private moments. He could not believe RK was acting all along.

If he himself was having such a hard time getting over it he could only imagine what Bhabhiji must be going through. He was disappointed in his Chief that he had put his ego before everything or was he using his ego as a shield….

He was glad though that Madhu was looking much better than the last time he had seen her. Sure the signs of distress were still there. The bright smile was gone and so was the enthusiasm and the breathless school girl way of talking. But she looked far better than when Bittuji had seen her two days after the 'incident'. He remembered her sitting on the side of the bed. She was like a statue, he assumed she would be crying her eyes out but she was eerily calm and her eyes looked as if somebody had extinguished them forever.

"So Bittuji, how is your work going…..?" Asked Madhu, interrupting his thoughts and immediately biting her lips. Work meant RK and that was the last thing she wanted to talk about. She had already had an episode in the morning when Malik had offered her some laddos. She could not help but think about the time when she had called RK sweet. The laddoo had tasted bitter after that.

"Actually I came to tell you that I have left my current job and I am joining a new one" Bittuji replied, "It's in a Publicist's office"

"Really? If that's what makes you happy" she tried to smile but failed.

Bittuji looked sharply at her then sighed to himself. Madhu was indeed the female version of RK, the same determined look and stubbornness minus the enormous ego. She had all the qualities of his boss, actually ex boss, right now she was down but he knew she had the ability to rise like a phoenix from the ashes and leave everything behind. Just like RK had done with his past.

When he had informed RK about his decision to leave and take up another career he had expected fireworks. It was on the eve of RK's departure and he was stuffing his passport and tickets in his hand bag, he had simply said "Really Bittuji? If that's what makes you happy" turned around and left.

000