Chapter 11
"You? What are you doing here?" She asked as she opened the door. It was past 11 pm.
"Can I at least get in?" RK asked. She stepped aside to let him pass and closed the door.
"Well..." she was frowning, RK could see, and he knew why.
"Why are you frowning at me Trish? It's not the first time I came here."
"Hmph. You fought with her, didn't you? She has been sulking all day and has been cooped up in her room all evening. Wouldn't even talk to me! The whole day people were congratulating her but instead of being happy she looked lost. I know you did something." Trishna was going ballistic at RK.
"Umm...sorry? Can I please go and apologize to my girlfriend now." RK said with a sheepish look.
"Yes please" Trishna gave him a small smile and went to her room.
Madhu heard a knock at her room and yelled. "Go away Trish, I don't want to eat!" But the knock was persistent. Irritated at Trishna, she walked up to the door and opened it.
"I told you..." she started, but Trishna wasn't there. Nobody was there, in fact, except a big teddy bear which said sorry. She picked it up and stepped outside.
"Trish.." she was about to call out when she saw RK hiding his face behind a bouquet of flowers.
"Rishabh" Her first instinct was of happiness and she wanted to hug him, then she remembered she was mad at him. "Why are you here?" she questioned, but he just forwarded the bouquet to her and held his ear with his other hand. He looked so cute, Madhu couldn't help but smile.
"I am sorry" he said in such a cute voice that Madhu's heart melted. Even though she tried to keep a stern look, RK knew he had gotten through to her and grinned.
"Now can you forgive your stupid boyfriend and give him a hug please." RK said and Madhu couldn't resist. All her anger seemed so trivial all of a sudden. The second she found himself in his arms, she forgot all the pain she had been in and why she had been crying since yesterday. It was like RK had some magic wand!
After a minute or so, she broke the hug and looked at him. He was wearing work wear and his luggage was lying in the living room.
"I came straight from the airport." RK said, answering the question in Madhu's mind. They both walked inside Madhu's room, she switched on the lights and RK sat on the bed.
"Can I get you something?" Madhu asked.
"Water" he replied. As Madhu went out, he looked around the room. Madhu had clearly been crying alone in the dark - Trishna's words and the tear stains on Madhu's cheeks were proof enough for that. RK felt really guilty. He knew he had been responsible for making Madhu feel so crappy when she should have been happy.
When Madhu came back, he made her sit on the bed and knelt down in front of her.
"I am really sorry Madhu. I behaved like an idiot with you yesterday. I was tired and drunk, but that's still no excuse. I know you were worried for me, I should have checked my phone. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I am an idiot, but I am really proud of you for your promotion. You truly deserve it because you're sooo awesome."
A few tears spilled through Madhu's eyes but she didn't care. RK's words touched her heart. She leapt forward and kissed RK on his lips before he could say any more. She didn't need any more apologies, she just needed her Rishu. RK kissed her back and soon, they were lying on top of each other on the bed, passionately making out. Madhu threw RK's shirt away and bit him on his neck. RK was equally wild and was soon kissing her all over, as if to heal her for all the hurt he had caused. All the pent up frustrations seemed to melt away as they hungrily devoured each other. As they eventually slept away snuggled in each other's arms, it seemed at least on the surface that the physical proximity was erasing the emotional distances that had come between RK and Madhu.
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"Wakey wakey honey bunch" RK kissed Madhu to wake her up the next morning.
"Let me sleep Rishu...I am so tired" she sleepily said without opening her eyes and tightened her hold on him, hiding her face in his chest.
Rk smiled and then pulled her apart slightly "Nope, Ms Business Development. Get up and get dressed quickly. We are going out!"
"Whyyy? I don't want to go anywhere. It's Saturday and Rishu is here." She dreamily said and refused to let RK go. RK looked at her innocent angelic smile and his heart leapt. This was what he fell in love with. His Madhu - so beautiful, so loving, so pure. Why had he let her drift away from himself? He was going to make up to her for this. He bent and kissed her on the forehead, then shook her and made her sit up anyway.
"As beautiful as you look my sleeping beauty, get up now. We are going to celebrate your promotion the way it should be celebrated. Get up, I will fix some breakfast while you shower."
"I don't want to celebrate. I just want to be with you Rishu." Madhu said, opening her eyes.
"So who said we are celebrating with anyone else? It's just you and me, but we are going to celebrate. Now get up, we are making a trip."
"A trip?" Madhu was now excited and grinning. "Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise. Now get up!"
Less than an hour later, they were both in a car. RK was driving, but Madhu was beaming with excitement. "Tell me now at least?"
"Okay, we are going to Neemrana, and we're staying the night." Neemrana was a beautiful mountain resort a couple of hours outside Delhi. Something about the way RK said the night sent a shiver of electricity through Madhu. They had been together over six months now, and while they had fairly intense making out sessions, they had never gone beyond that, although God knows the thought had crossed Madhu's mind more than once. The number of times she had imagined RK being naked was...Well, the truth was, being with him, in his arms...it felt so perfect. But was she willing to take their relationship to the next level? Were they ready?
RK looked at her and read the confused expressions on her face.
"Don't worry, we wouldn't do anything you don't want to. I understand.." he touched Madhu's cheek lightly as the car stopped at a red light.
"No...it's not that." She paused, then looked into RK's eyes and said. "I am yours Rishu, only yours."
Rishabh saw the depth of the emotion in Madhu's eyes. It was divine. He had never imagined someone could love him like this. How did he get someone like Madhu? Did he really deserve her and this much love? The traffic light had turned green and the honking cars from behind broke his thought stream.
Throughout the drive RK wondered about the question. He now knew Madhu enough to know she was not the kind of girl who took a physical relationship lightly. And the way she had said those words, Rishabh knew that she was giving everything she had to the relationship. There was the part of him that wanted to take her and all the passion she had. That part which was always aroused and wildly awakened every time he held Madhu in his arms or went near her. God, she was beautiful, and he was insanely attracted to her. But a part of him stopped him. That part questioned him if he was ready to commit himself to this relationship the way Madhu already had. Was he worthy? Was he willing? That part was - to be honest - intimidated by the magnitude of what it really meant. That part scared him, because it reminded him that this was his first relationship, that life was long and uncertain, that he didn't know what he should be doing, whether he was right for Madhu, and whether he would be able to live upto her expectations. No, he wasn't ready. The thought of the kind of commitment someone like Madhu needed...it scared him. All he was ready to do at this point, was make amends for how he behaved over the phone day before, and to make the present a wonderful loving moment.
RK and Madhu had a wonderful time at Neemrana. The place was beautiful and the time they spent together was truly memorable for both of them. They talked, ate, went sight-seeing and at night slept exhausted in each others' arms, resisting the urge to be physically intimate. It was a perfect day, and by the time they got back home on Sunday afternoon, Madhu felt like her world had been rebuilt again to perfection and RK was firmly at the center of her universe again.
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Somewhere up there though, Destiny laughed, because it wasn't ready to be so kind to Madhu yet and loved complicating her life, or so she thought.
Monday morning started off well enough. She was welcomed warmly in her new office and her new role. She met her new colleagues, some of whom she already knew and spent the morning getting to know everyone in her team and her new responsibilities.
Mr Sinha, her new boss, had called her in the room after lunch.
"Ms Malik, please come in. Here, meet Vikram, he coordinates project delivery across branches for our region. He knows our capacity, timelines etc best. You would be working quite closely with him for your new projects."
Madhu looked at Vikram - a good-looking man, probably a few years older than her, with a great smile. Though nothing compared to her Rishabh, she thought inwardly.
"Welcome Ms Malik." He extended her hand. Madhu shook his hand and smiled back.
"Thank you. Nice to meet you. Please call me Madhubala"
Mr Sinha said "Great, Vikram, why don't you fill her in?"
Madhu instantly liked Vikram. He was smart, intelligent, funny, helpful and as she discovered over the course of the day, quite capable. Everyone liked him and regarded him as a rockstar.
When Madhu got home at the evening, she realized she hadn't called home and told them about her promotion. Even though she didn't expect anyone to be happy for her, she felt she should at last call them and tell them about her new office address. Maybe, someday, they would need it...
"Hello ma" Madhu said as she dialed her mother's number and she picked up.
"Who's this?"
"Ma Madhu" She didn't have my number on her phone, Madhu thought to herself? In any case, how many children did she have, other than herself and Dipali. And something told Madhu that she definitely had Dipali's number.
"Ohh. Madhu."
"How are you Ma?"
"We are fine! By the way, the next instalment of your loan is due. The letter came yesterday." Madhu had taken an education loan to fund her education. Even though her parents were comfortable, it was somehow the only way she could continue her post-graduation. While she had been paying the loan off, she still had to take her father's signature as a guarantor, otherwise she couldn't get the large amount, and with great difficulty she had managed to convince him to sign. The letters still went to her home, which was her permanent address on record.
"I will pay it off Ma, don't worry about the letter. Umm... I just wanted to tell you...I got promoted, so I moved to corporate office."
"Hmm ok. Send your daddy your new address for emergency records."
"Okay." Madhu wondered what to say next. She hadn't expected her mother to be happy, but such a cold response shattered her anyway. She was her real mother, for heavens' sake. Why was she so cold to her? And it was not like she was incapable of loving. She loved and pampered Dipali a lot, who was her step-sister.
"By the way Madhu, now that you called, Dipali is getting married on 19th. So come home if you can."
"This 19th?!" Madhu was shocked. It was 2 weeks away! Her younger sister was getting married, and this was how she was being told.
"Yeah. We are all quite busy preparing for it."
"Why didn't anyone tell me? Who is she marrying?"
"Sikander Bhatia. He's from a really rich family and Dipali loves him. Ok listen I got to go now. Bye."
Padmini Malik hung up the phone, while a startled Madhu slumped on her chair. Her sister was getting married. Why wasn't she involved? Why was she not a part of her own family? Why didn't she deserve their love? A flood of tears invaded Madhu and took her back to her childhood. Her real father had died before she was born, and Padmini had married Shamsher Malik when Madhu was about one. Dipali was their daughter. For all intents and purposes, Madhu regarded only Shamsher as her Daddy and loved him to bits. But for some reason, her own mother never liked her and had never seemed to love her as much as Dipali. She in fact kept Shamsher and Dipali away from Madhu as well. As a kid Madhu did not know that she wasn't Shamsher's daughter. She only knew that she was a bad girl who was being punished for some reason, and constantly fought for affection that her sister easily got. She also loved Dipali and was quite protective of her, and while they were friends when they were both toddlers, over time they drifted apart and Dipali did not seem to care for Madhu. Madhu constantly worked hard for her parents' affection and approval. She studied all the time, hoping that by getting good grades her parents would love her just like other kids' parents did and buy her gifts just like they bought Dipali. Sometimes Daddy let her have things that Dipali did not want or like, but even those he had to hide from her mother's eye.
She was 11 when she learnt the truth, when she over-heard a conversation between her parents. Madhu's real father, Balraj, had died in an accident when he was trying to drive really fast and get to the hospital where Padmini was admitted at the time of Madhu's birth. Padmini didn't want children so early in their marriage, but he really loved Madhu and wanted to hold his daughter as soon as possible. That haste had killed him, and in Padmini's eyes, it was Madhu's fault. Madhu had taken away the man she loved so dearly, and so she refused to see her newborn daughter. Her in-laws made her marry Shamsher Malik, and while his love had displaced Balraj's place in Padmini's life, her anger had still not gone away, 25 years later.
Madhu was shattered when she got to know the truth, when she heard the words "I hate her" from her own mother. Wasn't it a parent's - especially a mother's - role to keep their child safe, love them despite everything and be their trusted savior? Madhu's rejection from her own mother and subsequently her father and sister made her withdraw into her shell over time. None of them were cruel to her, but she felt close to no one. She felt like an outside. If she did not belong in her own family, if her own parents did not want her, then where did she belong?
She had hardly any friends as a child, and as she grew up, she had no faith in love. Love was painful, love only hurt. It had hurt her mother and it had hurt her every day of her life when she had struggled and did everything she could to find love. The truth was, the more her family pushed her away, the more she wanted their acceptance, their approval and their love. She didn't get it, she couldn't ask for it, so she just gave more and more, until it broke her, hoping that one day they would return some back.
Over time, Madhu had buried herself in her books and in her own private world. She wanted to study and her mother didn't want to spend any savings on her, but her father agreed to guarantee her loan. She tried to be friends with Dipali, but Dipali had grown to be a beautiful, popular college diva, exactly the opposite of Madhu, and found no interest in Madhu. But Madhu still tried, she still had hope. That hope was alive somewhere in her heart even today, but hearing her mother on the phone today, sent her back to being 11 years' old again. Once again, she found herself an unwanted outsider in her own family, and that feeling killed her.
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After an hour or so, Madhu had recovered somewhat. The tears stopped, but she was still in a world of pain. She wanted to talk to Rishabh, to get some comfort and reassurance from his love. She wondered if it was okay for her to call him. She remembered what he had told her once...
"I just want you to know that you can share your joys and your problems with me. It's your right. And it's my right too."
...and then she thought about the weekend that they had just spent at Neemrana. She felt closer to him than ever, and decided to call him. But before she could dial, RK called her.
"Hi honey."
"Hey, I was just going to call you. How are you?"
"Call me. Why?"
"Umm...I wanted to talk. My sister, Dipali, is getting married in a couple of weeks."
"Dipali...isn't she your younger sister?" RK tried to remember what Madhu had said about Dipali. Somehow, Madhu hadn't spoken much about her family ever. She had briefly mentioned she had a younger sister, but RK struggled to remember any more details.
"Yeah. Couple of years."
"Okay. In two weeks, you said? How did it get fixed on such short notice?"
"Umm..I don't know. I called Ma to tell her about my promotion today, and she told me."
"Told you meaning what? Dipali is your real sister right..."
"Yes...I mean..." Madhu paused, struggling with words. What should she tell RK? What would he think of her if he knew? No, RK was her life. He had the right to know everything about Madhu.
"Umm...she's my mother's daughter, but she's my step sister...My biological father...passed away before I was born." Madhu said softly. Her voice was extremely sad and RK knew she was softly crying.
"I am sorry Madhu. I didn't know." RK said after a pause. He didn't know what to say. What do you say when someone tells you something like that?? He couldn't even hug her over the phone.
There was a moment's silence, and then there was frantic knocking on RK's hotel room door.
"Give me a second Madhu. Someone's at the door. I will call you back." RK said and hung up and walked to the door, to find Maya standing there with her head badly bleeding. She was staying in the room next door to RK.
"Oh God what happened?" RK asked her.
"I slipped in the bathroom and hurt myself." She was almost in tears and clearly in a lot of pain.
"Oh God, I think you need stitches. Come, let's wash it and then take you to a doctor."
Half an hour later, Madhu got a text from RK "Maya hurt her head. At clinic, getting stitches. Will call you when back."
Four hours later, Madhu finally slept off. RK hadn't called back.
Destiny was amused.
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