"Yeh loh Bela; apni Sargi lo. Mahir ke liye na sahi, apni Yuvi ke liye to vrat rakhogi na," Sumi said, putting emphasis on 'apni Yuvi'.
The bitterness with which she spoke didn't escape Bela's ears. And why not so? She did such a thing itself that anyone who loves Mahir would despise her; except the man hinself. After all, no one, but him knew that whatever she had said and done was to protect Mahir and keep their plan in motion. By hook or by crook, she had to bring out the reality of the 'Fake Yuvi' as Mahir put it across, even it meant her real identity was at stake. Anything for Mahir, she reassured herself as she held onto the tears which were threatening to flow out her eyes on hearing Sumi Ma talking to her like that.
From the corner of her right eye, she could see Vikrant, in Yuvi's form walking towards them. She rolled her eyes at that knowing very well he would again do something wrong.
As he neared them, Yuvi pulled his mom's cheek much to Sumi's irritation. Not that she didn't love Yuvi, but she petty much disliked all those who hurt Mahir even a single bit. Mahir was the son who kept her on pedestal, who was her balm when Andy would hurt her by going to Paulo. He was the source of her happiness, serenity, peace and calmness and above all, he was the son who was gifted with the power to be good to anyone. Sumi would often ponder over the differences between her two sons. How could two brothers, having the same parents be so different from each other. Yuvi was the carbon copy of his dad, minus his dislike for their family business. And Mahir, well, true to his name, he was the epitome of greatness.
How could Bela even do this to him? She knew Bela was a good girl, but she never thought she loved Yuvi that much that she would choose Yuvi over Mahir. No one could be foolish enough to choose Yuvi over Mahir, she thought to herself. Maybe she really loved Yuvi. No wonder, despite staying with Mahir for so many months, nothing progressed in their marriage and with Yuvi's comeback, here were they all now; preparing for Yuvi and Bela's wedding following her divorce with Mahir. Not that she held any grudge against Bela. After all, she was the one who coerced her into marrying Mahir. Yet, she couldn't help but feel bitter as she thought of the pain Mahir must be going through.
"That's like my sweet Mom," Yuvi said as he pulled her cheeks again and kissed her before moving towards Bela.
"Baby, tum apne Yuvi ke liye vrat rakho gi. I just knew it," he said with a grin. "Chalo, main tumhe apne haathon se khilaata hoon. Come into my room," he added.
At this point, Sumi couldn't bear to hear him any longer. Without saying a word, she sighed and walked to her room. Disgusting. The current scenario in her house reminded her of the scene 25 years back when for the first time in her then 6 years of "marital bliss", she kept waiting for Andy to feed her her sargi while he was busy with Paulo.
When they heard the door click, Bela came out of Vikrant's hold while he took his true form.
"Ruhi, aaj main bhi tumhare liye vrat rakhoonga," he said.
"Dekho Vikrant, I agree ke main Mahir se nafrat karti hoon. Lekin maine tumhe pehle bhi batayi, ab main tumhare liye woh sab feel nahi karti jaise pehle kiya karti thi," she said calmly. She could sense him burning. Burn snake, jal ke mar jaa, she thought to herself.
"Lekin Ruhu, hamara 100 saal pura..." He tried to continue but she cut him.
"Guzar chuka. 100 saal puraana pyar guzar chuka Vikrant. Hamari woh 100 saal puraana pyaar, kitaab ka woh panna hai joh main dobara parhna nahi chahti. Yeh baat tum jitni jaldi samjho, mere liye aur khaas kar tumhaare liye acha hoga," she said with irritation.
"Ruhi yeh tum...ek minute ek minute... Kahin uss Mahir ne tumhe phir se apni vash mein to nahi kiya, meethe meethe bol bolke," he asked rather sceptically. "Kahin tum ne phir se toh apna iraada nahi badla, apni dushman ko maarne ki, uss...uss Mahir Sehgal ko maarne ki."
Bela was certain her blood was boiling at that time. Yet she remained calm, composed herself before replying. Vashikaran toh main tumpe karoongi Vikrant. Mujhse dhoka tumhe bahut bhaari paregi, she thought to herself.
"Aisa nahi hai Vikrant. Maine apna iraada nahi badla. Meri dushman ka anth toh tay hai. Usse toh main maarke hi dam lungi. Mohabbat ke naam pe usne mujhe itna bara dhoka diya, mere feelings ke saath khelwaar ki, poori duniya ko mere saamne bura bana diya, usse toh main chorne se rahi," she said grittingly as her eyes changed to the yellow color, reflecting her anger and Vikrant smiled inwardly, happy to know that she still held hatred against Mahir, the poor innocent. Sorry Mahir, lekin mere Naagraj banne mein tum ek kaanta ho. Issiliye tumhari jaan ki qurbani mere liye bahut hi zyaada important hai.
"Ab please, mera rasta choro, mujhe bahut neend arahi hai," she said flatly and moved towards her room, the sargi still in her hands leaving behind a quite furious Vikrant. And then he thought wickedly, Ruhi ko Vikraant ke liye vrat nahi rakhna, lekin sab ke saamne Bela ko Yuvi ke liye vrat rakhna hi hoga. Woh sargi khaaye ya na khaaye, vrat rakhe ya na rakhe, who gives a damn. Mujhe toh bas Maahir ka chehra dekhna hai jab sab ke saamne Yuvraaj apne haathon se Bela ko paani pilaayegi, he told himself before letting out his trademark laughter.
"Goodnight Babes", Vikrant said from behind as he took Yuvi's form and went into his room equally.
As she sat in the darkness of her room, Bela kept replaying the last few days in her mind. Her mom coming in her dreams, warning her against her enemies, Vikrant manipulating her, her mom telling her of Vikrant's and Vishakha's betrayal and above all Mahir's continuous support to her and blind trust in her. She felt bad as he thought of Mahir's words the previous day; itna toh main tumhe jaan hi chuka hoon Bela, ke tum mujhe kabhi jhoot nahi bologi. But she was lying, she still is lying to him. He was yet to know her true self. At times she wondered what would be Mahir's reaction once he got to know of her real self. Would he still support her as he says he would always do or would he hate her? And what if he knew she was somewhat responsible for killing his brother as well.
Oh God! Such a mess. Yeh sab tumhari wajah se huwa hai Vikrant. Tumhari wajah se maine kitne logon ko maara yh soch kar ke unhone tumhe maara hai. I admit, mere saath bhi unhone theek nahi kiya lekin...ahhh, she was suddenly so frustrated and angry on herself. She clenched the bedsheets tightly and closed her eyes firmly. She could see Yuvi proposing to her in front of everyone, Maan's sullen face, his backlash on her later in their room, Sumi's questioning eyes, Anu's corpse, Vishaka constantly asking her to kill Mahir, Vikrant's manipulation, everything was playing in her mind and all of a sudden she opened her eyes, those yellow eyes which were burning with anger. She hissed, being true to her real self as anger took over her. She had to get into her true form and escape for a while. And that was what she planned on doing when she heard a noise by her window.
Iss waqt kaun ho sakta hai? She thought to herself. Aghori Baba ne toh koyi zikar nahi kiya tha usse milne ki aur Vikrant ko woh bas milke aayi thi. Mahir bhi poore sham se mooh phoolake apne kamre mein baithe huwe hai. Ever since Bela and Yuvi's marriage started making buzz, his mood became a rather foul one. No amount of cajoling and reassurance from her side that it was all a sham to bring out the reality of the fake Yuvi, was enough to get Mahir to his cheering self. I was so right, she thought to herself. Main Mahir ko sirf hurt karti hoon; physically, emotionally and mentally.
And then she was brought to reality when she again heard a sound.
On the tip of her toes, she walked towards the window taking the vase which was on the table beside her bed, in her head, ready to attack whosoever was trying to sneak inside, when she saw the person's left hand trying to get a grip. And then she knew who it was.
"Mahirji," she said softly as she held out her hands so that he could get a better grip as he climbed.
Once she helped her inside, Maan asked her: " How did you know?"
"Know what?"
"That main tha bahar. I mean kitne confidently kahi Mahirji' aur apna haath diya. Koyi aur hota toh?"
"Koyi aur hota toh yeh hota aur uska sarr," she said as she showed her the vase which she still held. They looked at each other and broke into laughter. "Waise, I had noticed your watch, that's why I knew it was you", she said a while later and they were both taken to that day when she insisted on his watch strap being properly tied.
"Mujhe laga tha ke aap mujhse roothe the, toh phir yahan kaise," she suddenly asked him.
"Maine kaha tha na, hamare rishte mein main khood lead leta hoon. Toh whether I am feeling bad or not, I can't keep myself away from you", he said with the intent of teasing her but he saw her growing tensed.
All of a sudden, her smile had vanished and anger surfaced on her face.
"Bela what happened?"
"I'm sorry Mahirji. Aapko itna kuch sehna par raha hai lekin yeh sab uss Yuvi ki wajah se hai. Usse toh main choroongi nahi, jee karta hai ke abhi ke abhi yeh vase loon aur uss ke sar pe phor doon", she said bitterly and raised the vase in air with the intent of breaking it had Mahir not intervened.
He took the vase from her, placed in down and hugged her.
"Shaanth gadhadhaari bheem, shaanth," he said and they were reminded of their fake fight the previous day. That did the trick and he could hear her laughing.
"Mahirji, mujhe acha lag raha hai," she said.
"What?" he asked.
"Being here, with you, like this, remember shower mein you had said," she reminded her.
"Mujhe bhi yahan acha lagta hai Bela, tumhare saath", he replied back softening her hair.
After a while, they broke apart and she asked him again why he had come like this to meet her.
"Areh yaar, uss Yuvi ki wajah se. I mean just imagine, Mahir Sehgal, climbing the pipe to meet his lawfully wedded wife, when he could have him wife all for himself in his room," he added teasingly.
"Lawfully wedded wife?" Bela queried. "Hamara toh divorce huwa hai, hai na?" she played along.
"Main nahi manta uss divorce ko. Mere liye toh tum ab bhi meri aurat ho", he said with a wink, "I mean my wife. And to answer your question. I'm here at this time because it's your first Karwa Chawth. Sargi khilaana toh banta hai yaar,"
She could feel the tears brimming. "lekin Mahirji, Sumi maa, I mean sab log..."
"Oh c'mon Bela, what matters is what we think of each other, what we feel for each other. And I know you wanted to fast for me. Until and unless you changed your mind and wish to fast for Yuvi now, I mean fake Yuvi, " he teased her.
"Mahirj please. It's not like that. You know this."
"Kya Bela! Main mazaaq kar raha tha. I was kidding yaar. Ab jaldi se yahan aao," he motioned as he sat on the bed. "You need to finish off everything present on the plates. Main nahi chahta ke kamzoori ki wajah se tum bimaar par jaao kal," he told her.
And this was the Mahir she knew and loved. Always caring for her, no matter the situation. She could only hope he would continue caring for her and support her after knowing her real identity. Do not spoil the moment Bela, she chided herself.
She sat on the bed and munched on the apple slice he fed her before saying:
"Sargi aap ke haathon se kha rahi hoon Mahirji. Vrat toroongi bhi aapke hi haathon se, yaad rakhiyega."
"You wish is my command, Mrs Sehgal," he replied giving her his trademark smile.
*********************************
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
CID
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