One shot ( inspired by niki's FF :p , don't ask for logic and all ... :p )
"Just one more day , 12 more hours .. before she goes back to her family , her Manav's home " thought Archana .
She couldn't believe it was all happening , it was eight months since that fateful day, eight months had passed since she had stepped into the deshmukh's house as a bride, only to leave it again to return back to her parents.
In these months , she had seen enough of manav's goodness to know he couldn't have possibly done all the things he had been accused of , cheating her , maligning her and frequenting brothels . .
A month ago when archu confided on the phone that she was tired of trying to convince her family , tired of waiting for evidence , and that she was coming back to him , Manav said confidently " Just a few more days, I will come to your house and unmask Ajit in front of your family , I promise "
She looked around her and smiled . The NGO she worked for had sent her to this orphanage (a couple of days ago ) on the outskirts of Mumbai to spread some Christmas cheer .
She laughed as she saw the kids trying to climb on Scotch , the huge St.Bernard which belonged to one of her friends at the NGO .
She hadn't been able to wipe that goofy smile off her face ever since her vinod dada called her the previous day . Manav did what he had promised her .. he landed at her place with all the evidence exonerating him of every thing .. " . After all the drama , shouting , threats and accusations from both sides , the Lokhandes on one side and Deshmukh men on the other , Manav asked for archu , to take her home , only to be told that she was not in Mumbai and would be back on 26th , after Christmas .
Archu felt disappointed that she wasn't there .
"He must have expected to leave the house taking me along with him " , she thought wistfully .
Her first instinct was to rush back home immediately , but she really couldn't leave till Christmas was over , especially since they had been planning for days to make this day special for the kids .
"Archoo , archoo .." . Archana turned back to look . Swati , her team mate and one of her best friends at the NGO was calling her ..
"OMG , everything is going haywire , santa is not here , reindeers are not here .. no sleigh ,no presents , .. urghhh !!! " said Swati in a frustrated tone .
" Huh ? santa ? reindeers? " archu asked , puzzled .
"Dharmesh !!! kal hi toh ham sab ne discuss kiya .. you were dreaming or what ?"
Dharmesh was swati's cousin , though he wasn't a part of the NGO , he volunteered to play santa .
Archana hadn't met him yet .. Apparently he had dressed up as santa lots of times in the past.. so Swati said he is a good choice since he had a lot of experience saying "Ho Ho Ho 'Merry Christmas ' "
"Oh , yeah , yeah , I remember '" Archu replied sheepishly ..
"But what were you saying about reindeers .."
Swati looked at her curiously , "I meant , the horses , with the carriage of presents and dharmu riding '. Whats up with you ? You have been acting weird since yesterday .. and now .. Asking lame questions .. considering it was your idea in the first place .. "
"Oh yeah sorry , no , nothing I am fine .. "
Swati was not convinced " Oh ok then , I will check up on the tree , and make sure there is enough space for presents .. If they come , that is . Dharmu aur baaki sab ka koi ata pata nahi hai '. Aye .. get off the tree !!!! " she screamed ..
"Relax swati , he will come soon .." said shruti , calming her down .
"Oh when , after Christmas is over ?.. its nearing 8 o clock already .. " .
Archu said , "Well , we probably shouldn't have come up with such a complicated idea .. horses , carriage and what not .. dharmesh and the others are probably stuck somewhere .. but I am sure he is going to come any mom-"
"Santaaa !!! Santaaa!!!" "Horse!!!" ..they heard shouts of kids '
Swati , archu and the rest of their colleagues rushed out to the road ..and there they could see ..
Santa riding majestically on a two horse-drawn carriage '
"Ho , ho , ho merry Christmas !!!! " said santa ' as he got down .. and almost lost balance as the kids crowded around him '
"whats happened to santa's voice .. sore throat ?" commented shruti ..
Archu laughed .. "Come on , lets get the gifts out of the carriage .. and put them under the tree .."
Shruti said " Yeah , lets get to work , swati , come on "
Swati said "umm .. you guys go ahead .. I have to make a call .. will join you guys in a moment .."
All the kids started talking at once .."
" mujhe ghode mein baithna hai .. " '
"woh bag mein kya hai ?"
"mujhe bhi godh mein uthaaoo .."
Archu , shruti and the rest finished taking the presents , and went away , leaving santa at the mercy of the kids '
After the excitement of the kids subsided a bit .. they went back inside .
After a few minutes , the kids gathered around the christmas tree to open their presents , with the help of the NGO volunteers ..
As archu was rummaging through the gifts , her eyes caught one which was different compared to the other . It was really small and flimsy . She tore open the gift , and saw that it was a Mahabaleshwar tourism brochure .
She flipped over the pages and drew a sharp breath when she saw certain sections of text marked with a brown sketch ..
"yeh brochure toh manav aur maine .. " ' Archu suddenly got up and frantically started searching the building .
Suddenly the lights went out . A hand firmly gripped archu's and pulled her into a room as she gasped .
Archu adjusted her sight to the darkness and tried to see the person in front of him , who still hadn't let go of her hand .
She touched his face , as she slowly ran her her fingers over his cheeks and chin . She felt irritated when all she could feel was his long beard . She gently moved her fingers over his lips and started removing his beard . She then moved her hand over his forehead , thinking "It has been so long since I have ruffled his hair .." .. only to feel a cap . She removed it , this time less patiently . đ
Manav said .. "Archana .. " , and before he could complete his sentence , Archu moved forward to hug him tightly , only to be "bounced back" by his huge tummy '
"uff" she said in irritation , as she proceeded to untuck his shirt to remove the pillows underneath .
"Wait , wait .. main khud nikaalta hoon " Manav said , embarrassed .
"My my archu , I thought you would get scared when I pulled you inside " Manav said a few second later , when he was back in his normal avatar of faded shirt and jeans ..
"Looks like you almost expected it .. " he said , teasingly , as he was buttoning up his shirt .
Archu moved closer to him , put her head on his bare chest , and whispered "Hmmm" .
She closed her eyes , and snuggled up in his strong protective arms which were wrapped around her .
After what seemed like a few minutes , Manav held her shoulders and looked at her. He gently pulled her closer and closer towards himself till she could feel his breath brushing against her lips.
Manav moved back slightly ' and cupped her cheeks and chin in his palms .
Archu smiled slightly , as manav bent forward , to kiss her . She responded .
It was magical .. The softness of her lips , made him feel nervous , yet protective about about her .
He gulped slightly , and silently made a promise to himself , " I am always going to preserve the smile on her lips ".
The warmth of his lips felt new , yet comforting . Her insides melted as he caressed her lips .
Neither of them wanted to stop .
Manav slowly turned his face and lowered his head down . He planted a light kiss on her neck .
She involuntarily jerked her head a bit , feeling tickled .
She closed her eyes as he bent down to kiss her on the forehead and ran his fingers through her hair .
He came closer and whispered in her ear " I love you ".
"I love you too .." she said her voice cracking , and hugged him tightly , never wanting to let him go away from her ever again .
Suddenly the lights came on .
They could hear Swati screaming from far , " Oh , I knew it! ' that santa is not dharmu , dharmu is still on the way .. this guy is an imposter , he must be a thief .. come to steal something .. oh , god what has this world come to ? People don't even spare orphanages these days !!! Somebody call the police !!!" .
Archu turned towards manav , and burst out laughing , looking at the mortified expression on his face !
Anupamaa
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