AR FanFic~ You're my Solace. (Chapter 7, FIRST INSTALLEMT: Pg20) - Page 13

Riddhima unlocked the pale brown door, and stepped in apprehensively. Peering inside the house, she beheld a sparsely populated living area, and fairly small too. Stepping inside, and leaving the door ajar, Riddhima looked around the house, which was supposed to be her Di's and Jeeju's, with confusion hovering over her head like a group of flies over a piece of sweet.

The drawing room had one unkempt sofa, a centre piled up with files and newspapers, a kitchen cabinet converted in a bookshelf and a television hooked to the wall. It looked more like a bachelor pad than a guest house. Riddhima's nose scrunched in confusion as she had almost resolved that she had ended up at the wrong place.

But then, midst the files, she spotted something familiar. She quickly pulled it out from the array of papers, and what she was now holding was an old photograph of Atul and Anjali from their wedding day. Looking back at the files, she noticed they belonged to Sanjeevani, and could not also locate Atul's signatures.

Hundreds of absurd questions filled her mind. Why were Atul and Anjali staying here? How could her Di, a person of immaculate taste live in such a bizarre house? Was this a makeshift apartment while some work was in progress at theirs? If so, why had this been never mentioned to her? And even if they needed a temporary place, why not he parents' house instead of this place?

Before Riddhima could react at her thought process, she heard the door bang open, and was shocked to see Armaan and Rahul barge into the house, both panting and sweating.

"What's going on, Rahul? Tum dono yahaan?" she asked, any kind of sense betraying her.

"Riddhima", Rahul said, urgency heavy in his voice. He could still cover up the whole fiasco somehow. "I will get the files, tum neeche jaao."

Riddhima sensed that something is definitely amiss. "Since when did Di and Jeeju shift here?" she questioned, ignoring his request. "Yeh ghar kam, guest house zyada lag raha hai."

Both Rahul and Armaan simply stood mum, Armaan staring at the floor and Rahul looking everywhere but at Riddhima. "Guys, I am asking something", Riddhima said, now tensed.

"Riddhima, ghar chalo. We will talk there, okay?" Rahul said, desperately trying to avoid the direction in which the conversation was heading. He looked at Armaan, expecting some verbal support, but he remained rooted on his spot, not uttering a word.

Armaan did not know what to do or say. He had confidently drove till here, hell bent on saving Riddhima and his friends from any unwanted drama, but now when he saw Riddhima in the house, so close from the devastating truth, his mind stopped working. One, he did not feel it was his place to talk. And two, he could not meet Riddhima's eye. A weird sort of guilt took over him, a strange fear that this may hurt Riddhima so much and he won't be able to do anything for her.

"You are scaring me, Rahul", Riddhima whispered, worry and fear taking over. She eyed Armaan, and seeing his head hanging in an eerie sense of shame, it felt stranger. Clutching the photograph tighter in her hand, she looked around the house, looked around the emptiness. And before Rahul could stop her, she hurriedly walked to one of the two rooms. Opening it, a bout of dust flew at her face and she coughed. Inside was pitch black, it smelt dirt, and she quickly closed the door. Then, Riddhima headed to the other room, and stepped in to find a black oak bed, a built in cupboard and a plastic table and chair- again adorned with stacks of files and books, belonging to Atul, here and there. She flew open the cupboard, and saw shirts and trousers, all men's' attire, stacked untidily. On the lowermost rack, she spotted Atul's black suitcase.

Riddhima dropped to her knees, the puzzle now making a little sense to her. She slowly lifted up the lid of the suitcase, and saw inside what she least was hoping to find. Atul and Anjali's wedding picture, framed in an elaborate golden set, which had been her gift to the duo in their first anniversary, lay in there, the glass of the photo frame no more intact. Under that was Atul's black diary and a square red box, which Riddhima did not need to open, as she knew it contained the cufflinks Anjali had gifted to him on the wedding night.

Rahul witnessed this moment of revelation from the doorway. Armaan, strangely to Rahul, had excused himself and had gone downstairs. Rahul had no grey matter left right now to be spared for thinking about Armaan's angle. He was too immersed the anxiety of the impending doom.

"Riddhima", he whispered, and touched her shoulder. She turned back, her eyes filled with tears. A similar Riddhima had sat helplessly in front of him years back, with eyes filled with tears of pain in the very same way. Seeing his friend break once again, Rahul felt terrible. He bent down, knelt next to Riddhima, and engulfed her in a hug.

As soon as Riddhima felt Rahul's arms go around her, and his hands stroking her head, she knew her fears were confirmed. At first, shock appalled her. Her arms hung loosely, as reality betrayed her. How was this even remotely possible? Had Atul and Anjali really separated, and she had no clue about it? Or was this a bad dream?

But Rahul's voice brought her back. "I'm sorry Ridzi, I am sorry", he sobbed. Pain took over from the shock, and Riddhima broke down in Rahul's arms. She kept repeating between her bitter sobs, "Please tell me it's not true." But in even in such a state, every part of her knew that this was it, the bitter and harsh reality. Like every other her story, her sister's story was ruined too.

After a few minutes, when the friends had silently cried and comforted each other, Riddhima pulled out. Tears had stopped, her eyes now dry and swollen. Her voice cracked as she asked Rahul, "Why? Hua kya? Tell me everything."

Rahul hesitated. He did not think it was appropriate for Riddhima to get to listen to things from Rahul. She should get a first-hand account from Anjali herself. "Ridzi, I think you should talk to Anje about this. I shouldn't be telling you", he said, slowly and carefully, lest Riddhima would demand an answer from him hysterically. But to his surprise, Riddhima nodded in agreement and understanding.

"Since when", she asked next, while getting up from the floor and straightening her lehnga.

"Umm", Rahul said, following suit. "About seven to eight months."

Riddhima gave no reaction to that, as if she never heard it. But she did hear it, and felt a part of her renaissance being walked over upon. Anjali Gupta, who shared with her even the purchase of a mere bottle of nail paint, had hid from her a broken marriage? Had Riddhima lost out much in the past years? Had she distanced herself so much from everyone, while running away from her past?

"And how bad is it?" she asked Rahul, after a little silence lingered. "Divorced yet?" Riddhima asked, both her and Rahul cringing at the word, not only because it was a terrible thing to think of, but also because they knew the horrific memories that one word would bring back for Riddhima. And so, Rahul was shocked at the ease with which she used that word. One thing he realized, that maybe pain had broken Riddhima, but it had certainly strengthened her and made her a stronger person.

"Not yet, but they're heading for it", Rahul answered, and Riddhima nodded lightly.

"Okay, then let's go home. I need to have a talk." With that, Riddhima walked off, leaving behind an uncertain Rahul. He could not understand Riddhima's reaction as he had expected it to be more violent. But the calm and sorted reaction was a pleasant surprise. Maybe that they say is right, bad things in life always come along with a life lesson, and they finally leave behind a better person.

Downstairs, as Armaan saw a fairly stable and calm Riddhima walk to Rahul's car, he too was taken aback. From the tension which had been created, and from any normal deduction of a girl's reaction at news as such, this was unexpected. He was expecting a hysterical Riddhima, being unsuccessfully tamed by Rahul, coming down the stairs.

As Rahul came to him, telling him to head back alone as he will accompany Riddhima, Armaan couldn't help but ask, "She looks fairly okay, doesn't she? It's surprising that she is taking it this well, isn't it?"

Rahul smiled at Armaan voicing his thoughts. He said, "Armaan, that woman has endured too much in her life to be shaken by anything soon."

With that, Rahul left. And even after their car sped off, Armaan stood there, musing over Rahul's words. There was little curiosity as to know what had happened with Riddhima, but more of an ache in throat, imagining her to have endured so much pain in her life. Armaan said, wondering that had he been a part of Riddhima's life back then, he would have surely made it better for her.

***

Riddhima changed into her night clothes and went out to seat on the bean couch in her balcony, with a hot mug of coffee. She had returned back to a quite tensed environment at home, but she had soon set it at ease. She had quietly walked up to her room, stating that she would talk to Anjali tomorrow, and till then, she does not want to talk about this with anyone.

In fact, the irony was that a myriad of questions plagued her mind, but currently she had nothing to say to anyone. Because all those unanswered questions could be answered only by Anjali. And to demand an answer to them from anyone else would be unfair to her.

Initially she did want to ask why they didn't tell her about this. But she already knew why. How would have Anjali told her when they hardly communicated? And after returning back, she would have taken it as her responsibility to make Riddhima happy and at ease, hence not telling her anything.

As Riddhima sat there, mulling over things, she was composed and thoughtful. She hadn't reacted to his piece of news in a complete way yet, as she wasn't aware of more than half the things. She was yet to hear the story, yet to be hit hard by the ugliness of the situation.

As Shashank said to Padma that night, this was simply the calmness one sees before the storm.

***

Atul woke up with a blasting head ache. He was still lying naked in the bed when the head ache could no longer let him sleep. He got up and sat, leaning to the bed post, and started to massage his temples. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and cringed at the sunlight that shot at them. Looking around with a squint, he saw Anjali's room, then he looked down at himself, and then it all came back. "Damn", he cursed, and looked around for his jeans. Finding them, Atul quickly wore his jeans and sat at the corner of the bed, his head in his hands.

He stiffened as he heard Anjali came in the room. She kept a glass of water and medicine on the table, and sat down on the sofa. Atul smelt her scent, fresh shampoo, vanilla body odour. He clenched his fists, as Anjali said. "Dawa kha lo Atul, you will feel better."

Without looking up at her, Atul gulped down the medicine. But as he was doing so, he caught a glimpse of her from the corner of the eye. Her wet hair was tied up in a bun and she had worn a V necked blue frock. His eyes didn't miss the red back on her nape, and Atul flushed as memories of last night came back to him.

"I'm sorry", he blurted out. "It won't happen again."

"I am not sorry", Anjali said confidently. After waking up, she had resolved to not let go of this chance, and clutch this little ray of hope and bring back Atul. "I am not sorry at all, Atul." She got up, and placed her hand on Atul's shoulder.

He shrugged it away. "Anjali, please. I was drunk, and I am sorry for that. This was not supposed to happen, okay? Don't read too much into it."

Anjali was not to give up so soon. She sat beside him, taking his hands in hers. She looked at his face, but he turned away. She spoke anyway. "You said you miss me Atul, you said you need me. And people say the true things when they are drunk. I miss you too Atul, I need you too. It's okay."

Atul flinched at her words. It was anything but okay. He pulled away his hands and got up furiously. But Anjali was hell bent this time. She went up to him and held his arm. "If not for anything, give me one more chance for your own sake, Atul. I love you. And so do you. You deserve this."

"But you don't deserve any of it!" Atul shouted, turning back and holding her by the arm. "Yes, I miss you, I need you and I love you. It's true, but it's not right. The only thing you deserve from me is hatred, but I do not even have that to give you. I have nothing to give you Anjali, nothing. No forgiveness, no second chances, no love and no hatred. We're done, is that clear?" And not even waiting for a reaction, Atul picked up his kurta and stormed off to the bathroom.

Anjali fell back on the bed, too stunned to reply. His words echoed in her mind, and she did not even realize when Atul left the room and headed off back to his place.

***

Anjali was in the kitchen, warming milk, and contemplating over the last night and today's morning events, when Padma came in.

"Anjali", she said, stroking her head.

"Haan Ma?" she asked, pouring the milk a flask. "Ridzi nahi aayi breakfast ke liye?"

"She is waiting for you in the balcony", Padma said, and Anjali eyed her questioningly. She then narrated to her daughter what had transpired last night, leaving Anjali in shock, anger and worry.

"How will I face her, Ma? Main kya kahungi Ridzi se? Mujhse nahi hoga, tell her I don't want to talk to her", Anjali said, panicking.

"Shh, shh", Padma said, telling her daughter to calm down. "Beta, behen hai who tumhari. You have to face her someday, why not today? Mujhe bhi batane mein darri thin a tum? Thappad bhi khaayi thi? Apne toh gussa karti hi hain. Till when will you run away? Ab jaao, and talk to her."

Anjali nodded, and took a deep breath. Giving her mother a hug, she walked upstairs to Riddhima's room.

Padma eyed her daughter emotionally. She had been furious too when she had found out about this, and hadn't interacted with Anjali for about a month. Padma recalled how her daughter was all alone, with no one by her side. But then, she deserved it. Anjali had always been a spoilt brat, a rash, impulsive and headstrong girl. She had the habit of taking things like love and trust for granted. But this experience had matured her, and she had learnt her lesson. Padma knew that it was nearly impossible for Atul and Anjali to mend things, at least at the present scenario. But she also knew that Atul loved his daughter like no one else, and as a mother, she hoped for the day to come when that love compels him to forgive Anjali and she gets a second chance in her marriage.

Padma sighed, wondering what bad omen had crossed her daughters' life that they both are being tested time and again by the play of destiny.

***

"Say something, Riddhima", Anjali said, her voice shaking with shame and fear.

Her sister had gone into stunned silence when Anjali had told her about the reason of her Atul's break up, and rightly so. But her silence was tormenting, and it would be better if she would shout at her rather than inflicting upon her the silent treatment.

Riddhima, on the other hand, could hardly believe her hears.

I slept with Aniket.

These words echoed in her ears, and whatever Anjali said before and after that was Latin and French. It all came down to one single face: Anjali cheated on Atul. Why, how, and now that she regretted every moment of it- it fell on deaf ears. Riddhima lost all sense of reason, and anger and disgust took over her. Her sister was a cheat; she cheated on that man who loved him with all his mind and heart.

As hot tears of anger ran down her cheeks, Riddhima's hand involuntarily flew across Anjali's face as she slapped her hard, expressing every inch of her feeling which no words of hatred could.

Anjali sank in the sofa, crying to herself. She had no retort, nothing to say in her defence. She had failed herself as a woman, as a wife, as a daughter, as a friend, and today, after being slapped by her younger sister, for whom she was the perfect ideal, she had failed herself as a sister too.

"Disgusting", Riddhima whispered, and fell on her knees as her legs gave away. "How could you, Di? You were the person I used to look up to. Your strength, your personality, you were my..." Riddhima trailed off, breaking into a fresh bout of tears. "He loves you so much Di, so much. Do you realize how lucky you are to have someone like Atul in your life? Sach toh yeh hai Di, ki aapne kabhi Atul ki value nahi ki. You were always so lost and immersed in yourself, you took his love for granted. You don't deserve him, or his love, or his forgiveness."

Riddhima spoke with such passionate anger that Anjali could not help but answer back. "Bas Riddhima, I know I am at fault but..." But she couldn't bring herself to say anything. She just looked in her sister's eyes, begging and pleading for support and forgiveness. "I am sorry Riddhima. Mujhe Atul saza de chukka hai, and trust me, I regret it. Riddhima, please, I need you to help me, to understand me, to forgive me..."

But Anjali was cut short by Riddhima's angry spat. "Never, never can I forgive you for this. Agar aapko Jeeju bhi maaf kar de na, even then I won't forgive you." Riddhima got up, and walked up to the window. "I had loved someone unconditionally too, and he had in the very same way insulted my love and trust for him. Di, you can't even imagine what it feels like to be betrayed. I can, because I have been betrayed, not once but twice. Maine ek baar forgive kar ke dekha, and I regret it. Iss baar, I won't forgive. I hate you as much as I hate that man, Di." Riddhima stated, bitterness dripping out of her voice. "I am ashamed to have you as my sister."

Anjali winced at Riddhima's harsh words as Riddhima walked out of the room, leaving behind a broken Anjali, helplessly crying at the fact that how she had ruined her own world by her very own bare hands.

TO BE CONTINUED...Stay Tuned.