"Arre Nausheen, I was just about to come looking for you. It's almost dinner time na. Come, have a seat." Alvira affectionately invited her friend to the dinner table. It was the day after the party. A reasonably uneventful one which would be concluded with the dinner if all goes well. "Where is Arzoo?"
Zara answered, "She'll come in a bit aunty. Daadi and Myra are coming tomorrow na so she is cleaning up some stuff." Alvira nodded in understanding. Zara hesitantly continued. "Aunty, please don't misunderstand but appi and I were thinking that..that probably this weekend we should go and look for a house. Probably somewhere nearby so that it would be easy for her also to commute to the office and it will be convenient for me and Myra's college too."
"Why beta? You have any problem staying here?" Zara bit her lower lip while Kurti apa and Anam exchanged an eye roll. Haven't they been listening to the same chant for a while now? These people only say they want to move out. They never do, Anam muttered in low tones. Alvira glared at her.
"It's nothing like that aunty. But the outhouse doesn't have a kitchen and it's awkward to come here for every meal. You are all very loving aunty," she hastily added. "Please don't think otherwise. But.." She swallowed the rest of her sentence as she saw Sahir and Zaki entering the hall. "Hello sir. Hello Zaki."
Sahir nodded and Zaki gave a small wave before asking, "Jahaara?"
"Aaah..see..I told you there would be no point in going to the outhouse. These people will be lurking here only." Farah walked into the hall as if she owned it and Sarfaraz was right behind her. Sahir and Zaki exchanged a look but otherwise remained silent.
Nausheen got up swiftly. "You? Why are you here Farah?"
"I knew it. I just knew you would say that. I had asked you the same thing when you had come to our house a few weeks back. Remember? But then you were busy begging my husband for money to hear my question I guess. Ya Khuda I've never met a more shameless woman in my entire life!"
Zara, face pale, turned to her ammi. "Ammi? What's she saying?"
Nausheen bowed her head in shame. Farah smirked. "Arre what will she tell? I will give that information. Your ammi took money from my husband. She said it is to pay some college fees for her daughter or some such nonsense."
"What's going on here?" Arzoo's furious voice made everyone look in her direction. But she had her eyes only on Farah. And they were spitting fire. "Why are you here? And if you have any issues with any of us, come to the outhouse. This is not the place to create a scene."
Farah's grin turned evil. "Why? It's OK for you to bed-hop between the brothers but we should not come to ask our money back from the woman who took them?"
Arzoo paled and swallowed down the crude insult. Her glance took in her ammi's down-bent head. But berating her mother in front of Farah and her husband would only give them more weapons. "If she has taken it then I will return it. Now get out."
"Oye, it is not some small amount that I'm talking about here. She took five lakhs. And I want it back. Right NOW."
Arzoo came and stood in front of Farah. "I said. Get. Out. Allah knows if you can create a scene then so can I, Mrs Farah Sarfaraz Sheikh. I said I will repay and I WILL repay. Now out. Or I will drag you and throw you out of this house."
Sarfaraz pushed away Farah. "Badtameez ladki! How dare you talk to my wife like that!" He raised his hand.
No one knew how it happened. One second he had been ready to deliver a backhanded blow to Arzoo and in the next Zaki had pulled Arzoo behind him and Sahir was facing Sarfaraz, his face coldly furious. Both brothers shielding Arzoo with their bodies making it impossible for the man to even see Arzoo. Sarfaraz had known Sahir long enough to recognize that look. He took a hesitant step back, bumping into Farah.
"S-Step aside please. This is our family matter and I suggest you d-don't i-in-interfere." Sahir did not reply. Merely took another step towards Sarfaraz which made him fall back another step, forcing Farah to move aside. "L-look here Sahir saab..we just came h-here to.."
"You remember what I told you that day? What will happen if you cause even one moment of grief to Arzoo? Remember? You are that desperate to see the not-so-nice side of Sahir Azim Chaudhary? Fine. I'll indulge you."
Sahir Azim Chaudhary badtameezi pe aagaya na toh tumhare bhagne keliye duniye mein jagah kam padegi.
Stark fear crept into Sarfaraz's eyes. Zaki looked pensive. Sahir bhai warned Sarfaraz before? Arzoo just looked stunned. Was this what he had meant when he said she won't be troubled again? Did he threaten Sarfaraz? Why? How? Questions tumbled one over the other in her mind.
"By tomorrow, you will be out of your job. No one in the fashion industry would even think of taking you into their company. No one in this city would even dream of acknowledging you as his friend. To whomever you owe money to will be at your doorstep demanding repayment."
"Y-you can't do that. And I need my money back. The money that is owed to me."
"Children are entitled to the money from their father. It's his responsibility."
Zaki folded his hands, his demeanor supremely confident. "And don't even think of police and law. They would laugh and kick you out."
Farah clapped, the sound loud in the sudden stillness of the room. "Waah Arzoo! Waah! I must congratulate you on this. You have enslaved both the brothers very efficiently."
"Farah enough!" Sarfaraz wasn't looking at his wife. He was afraid to move his gaze away from Sahir. From the flush darkening his face and the fury leaping fires from his eyes. His wife was going to be the death of him if she didn't shut up.
"Enough? I barely got started. This girl has got good talent. I mean it's not easy to keep two men satisfied. And no wonder that cab driver had been all over her. She must have practically screaming for more of it.." The rest of her words were swallowed as she saw Sarfaraz literally dangling in the air, feet thrashing, Sahir's fingers around his neck tightening every nanosecond. "What are you doing? Leave my husband alone!"
Sahir didn't even appear to be hearing the hysterical screaming of Farah, his eyes locked on Sarfaraz's petrified ones. "Sahir, enough. Stop," Alvira beseeched. "Sahir beta, please don't do this," Nausheen cried. "Bhai, leave him. He's not worth it bhai," Zaki tried to reason.
"Sir, leave him." Arzoo's slightly scared voice reached out to him through the haze of fury. "Sir, listen to me. Leave him."
With a rough growl, he threw Sarfaraz to the ground who started sputtering and coughing. "Take your wife and get out. You come anywhere in this vicinity again, you'll end up praying for your death to come."
Farah helped Sarfaraz up and both turned to leave. Farah turned back one last time. "You can shut us up Sahir saab. Who will stop the rest of the world? Go out there and listen to what they are saying about her. The female who is sleeping with both the brothers. Khuda rehem kare.. Better to remain childless than.." Sarfaraz this time covered her mouth and dragged her away from the house.
****
"I don't care what you have to do to get it done. Just do it. I want the name Sarfaraz to be wiped out of the fashion industry." Sahir barked the order before cutting the call and throwing the phone aside.
"Bhai, I need to talk to you," Zaki came into Sahir's room and from the look on his face, he had heard Sahir's side of the conversation with whomever he had been talking to over the phone. Somehow, it didn't surprise him this time. His smile turned wry. Talk about star-crossed lovers.
"Everyone left?" Sahir stood by the pool and stared into the water, as if tempted to just leap in and hide in the water. Maybe that would shut out Farah's voice saying those things about his Arzoo.
"Ji. They didn't have any dinner though. I just sent Arif to the outhouse with some light snacks." Sahir nodded. "Bhai, I want to marry Arzoo."
That got Sahir's attention, alright! He whirled to face his brother. "NO."
"No?" Zaki raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean no? You heard what that woman had been mouthing. And you know she is going to make sure every Tom, Dick and Harry gets her version of this whole bloody mess!"
"She wouldn't DARE!" He would kill her without an ounce of regret. Farah being a woman had been the only thing that had stopped him from choking the life out of her back there. He had to make do with Sarfaraz. But if she opened her mouth again..
"Bhai, think. I don't want to insinuate or point fingers at anyone but without someone from our house telling her, there was no way Farah would have known all that. And whoever that is, you and I both know that they won't stop at this. If not Farah, then they will use someone else. You know about her ammi's health issues. She has two younger sisters. Knowingly or unknowingly, I'm the reason she is in this situation.."
"So you're what Zaki? Going to sacrifice your bachelorhood?" Sahir tried to sound sarcastic but even he could hear the suppressed anger and jealousy. The mere thought of Arzoo..his Arzoo with Zaki..his brother..NO!
"I love her bhai. I know you probably still don't believe it but I do love her. It would be no sacrifice." He smiled sadly. "You don't need to remind me. I know that she doesn't love me. Has never loved me, probably never would. Her heart probably would always belong to the one person who would never accept it. But none of these things matter now. Saving her reputation matters." And he looked straight at his brother as he continued, "And it's not as if you are going to offer yourself, right? She needs a protector right now and I will be that for her." And he walked away.
"Zaki..Zaki listen to me!" Sahir's shout went unheeded. Arzoo..Zaki! Arzoo with Zaki! "NO!" His fist connected with the table, rattling the contents on it.
Yeh humara wada hain..khudse, aapse aur Allah se..ki aapse aur aap hi se mohabbat karenge!
She loved him. HIM. Sahir Azim Chaudhary. Not Zaki. So why can't HE marry her? Yearning to hear those words again smothers him. Can he have it all? Can he let go and love her like he wanted to? He could tell her. Everything. She would understand. She loved him. She still does, he was sure. He could ask her to marry him. She would be his wife. His partner. He had already given her his broken, scarred heart long back. If she is his wife he could..
Duniya paison se chalta hain Sahir. Everything is for sale. Everything has a price tag. This love that you speak of? It looks and sounds great in the world of books. But reality? Reality is money.
Zeenat's words on that long ago day came back to him, stopping him in his tracks. He had made those words the philosophy of his life for the past seven years. Now after breaking her heart and smashing her trust would Arzoo believe him? Was he willing to take that chance? No. She wouldn't believe him. Would think he was after another challenge or deal.
I love her bhai. It's not as if you are going to offer yourself, right? She needs a protector right now and I will be that for her.
"NO! NOWAY! NO!"
He didn't have to go searching for her. He knew where she would be. At her place. At their place. Outside. Sitting on those steps. Sure enough there she was. Her face hidden between her folded arms and bent knees. The slight quiver of her shoulders indicating her silent misery. That defeated posture was like a blow to his midsection. He swallowed and stepped closer to her. "Suno?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8qlG7mf9Hk
Arzoo was jerked out of her desolated thoughts at that deep tone. She hastily wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her dress before looking up. A fleeting look of anguish darkened his eyes. Wordlessly he came and sat beside her on the steps. His eyes tracing her delicate profile.
Khamoshiyan aawaaz hain Tum sun'ne to aao kabhi
Chhukar tumhe khill jaayengi Ghar inko bulaao kabhi
Beqarar hain baat karne ko Kehne do inko zaraa..
Khamoshiyan.. teri meri khamoshiyan
Khamoshiyan.. lipti hui khamoshiyan
The faint traces of tears in her eye, smeared mascara trailing over her cheek..he fumbled into his trouser pocket and extended his handkerchief to her. After a slight hesitation, she took it to scrub her cheeks and dab her eyes before fisting it in her hand until her knuckles turned white. He made no attempt to break the silence. A temporary reprieve it was and he was determined to squeeze out every drop from it.
Kya uss gali mein kabhi tera jaana hua
Jahaan se zamaane ko guzre zamaana hua
Mera samay toh wahin pe hai thehra hua
Bataaun tumhe kya mere sath kya kya hua
"Thank you for what you did tonight sir but I don't want you to fight my battles for me. And he is not my abbu. My ammi.." She bit her lip and changed the sentence. "I'll repay his money. I don't want to be indebted to him."
He swallowed his sigh. "That's what I came to talk to you about. There's a way out of this mess. You can throw his money back on his face and sever all hold he has on you and your family."
Despite her resolution, she asked, "How?"
"Marry me."
She looked like he had slapped her across her face. He slid his gaze away from hers. Well, what did he expect? That her cheeks would turn all pink like on that day and with eyes brimming with dreams and happiness, she would hug him and say yes? "Marry me and all your problems will be solved."
"D-did you..did you have another challenge with your brother sir? Is that why you are saying all this? Did you have a bet that despite what happened before, you can still make me dance to your tune? Fool me again? Do I really look that dumb to you?" Anger, hurt, pain. Plainly written in her eyes for him to see.
"Arzoo.." Then it was as if he had slammed himself against a wall, he jerked, ran a rough hand over his face and started again. "Listen, whatever has happened, has happened. That chapter is closed. Now move on. What I'm offering now is a simple solution to all your problems. I am offering you a business deal. Your reputation, Sarfaraz and his money, your ammi and her health, your sisters and their future, everything will fall into place with this marriage."
Her laugh had a hysterical edge to it. "Another deal. And this time you want to sign a deal with a professional gold digger. You're one brave person Mr Sahir Azim Chaudhary."
He snapped at that. She actually felt him snap. In the next moment he got up and pulled her up along with him until both stood face to face, his fingers gently digging into her arms, inexorably pulling her closer. Closer still. Until all she could see were his eyes. Those deep black pools full of desolation and agony. "I said leave the past alone. Think with your brain. Not your heart. This love that you are ruing over? It looks good in books. Get out of your bookish fairy tales and face the reality. Reality is money. You need money for anything and everything. You need money if you want to get rid of your useless father. To give a good treatment for your mother. To give a good future for your sisters. And I am offering you that money. Take it."
She pushed him away and turned her back on him. She couldn't think when he looked at her like that. "What would you get out of this business deal? Other than the kick of making me your second wife?"
His face looked like a layer of cement had been poured onto it. "Your reputation is at stake because of what I did. If your name gets smeared all over, so does my family name and that of Saiyyara. I can't afford that. This marriage will put an end to all the speculations."
"So it's for Saiyyara. Again."
"Everything I do is for Saiyyara." The layer of cement solidified until his face looked like it had been turned to stone. Only his eyes remained - two black pools of misery.
She whirled back, looking at him with a mixture of disgust..and..curiosity. "You want me to become your second wife for Saiyyara." Her eyes once again turned probing. It was like the more he tried to hide, the more she probed.
"It's for your benefit too."
"You want me to turn myself into another Farah in order to secure my family."
"I promise you that there is no Nausheen in this scenario and I am no Sarfaraz."
"Children? D-do you have any children with your w-wife?"
Fury washed through his face and blasted through his eyes. "I said, I'm no Sarfaraz. If I had kids, they would be living with me. Sahir Azim Chaudhary never deserts what's his."
"What happened to your wife? Where is she?"
He paused as if choosing his words. "You never need to worry on that score. If you even have an ounce of belief that I had nothing to do with the cab incident then accept this for a fact." He took a step back. "Think it over." He touched his forehead with his finger. "With this." Then touched his heart. "Not this."
Khamoshiyan ek saaz hai Tum dhun koi laao zaraa
Khamoshiyan alfaaz hain Kabhi aa gunguna le zara
Beqarar hain baat karne ko Kehne do inko zaraa.. haa..
Khamoshiyan.. teri meri khamoshiyan
Khamoshiyan.. lipti hui khamoshiyan
"Will you at least answer one question with complete honesty and no prevarication?" Sahir, who had turned to walk away, halted at her words and nodded. "Do you really think I'm a gold digger? That I..I was acting when.."
"No." And he disappeared into the night. Neither saw Zaki standing in the shadows with his heart in pieces yet a small smile playing on his lips. He had come to talk to his Jahaara. To tell her that he would be there for her. They could relocate to another place and start over. He would give her his name but remain as her friend until she felt comfortable enough to trust him again. But his brother had bet him to it. Hadn't he guessed as much? Yes. Hadn't a part of him known that Sahir bhai would preempt him one way or the other? Yes. Yet he did it. He didn't stop to wonder why. Just turned and walked away.
****
"Appi? You're still here?" Zara came searching for Arzoo and found her sitting in the same place where Sahir had left her a few minutes back. "Come inside appi. Have something to eat." Arzoo shook her head, her thoughts miles away. "What happened Appi? Worried about ammi? I made her eat something and gave her the meds. She is asleep now. She'll be better tomorrow."
Arzoo looked at her younger sister, who in a spam of a few days had matured emotionally. Who had become her friend and confidante. "Zara, I-I'm stuck."
"Why? What happened? Want to tell me? Maybe I can help?" And listened in silence as Arzoo told her everything, leaving nothing out. By the end of it, both sisters had their arms around each other, drawing strength from one another.
"I don't think like you do but you know something? When we got thrown out of our house in Lucknow, appi..it was a scary experience. We didn't have anywhere to go. We didn't know what to do. I swore that day that I will make sure I wouldn't see a day like that ever again in my life no matter what I have to do. Sahir sir is right in his own way. This world doesn't care about feelings and emotions. Money rules it. People who don't have that are treated as nothing." She looked at her sister. "You do feel something for him, don't you? Despite everything?"
Arzoo nodded, her head dropping down on her knees. "But Zara..second wife?"
"Do you know anything about his wife?"
Arzoo shook her head. "She is definitely not living with him for at least the last five six years. We have not seen him with her or anyone else for that matter during all the time we were here. And neither apparently the employees of Saiyyara. Allah knows Zara, forget her name, no one there even knows he's married. No photographs, no pictures, no one in the house even talks about her." And whatever the issue had been, he has remained alone. That was actually reassuring to her in a twisted way. That he was not..that he was not like Sarfaraz. Or Zaki.
"Appi, I think you should say yes. I'm not forcing you. See where this will take you. Yes, this will solve all our problems too and that is tempting." she paused before adding, "I really like him appi. And he does feel something for you. No one does what he did all these days if he didn't feel anything."
The flutter of wings and the next moment Asharfi landed on Arzoo's shoulder. "Tell me Asharfi, what do I do?"
Yeh phoolon ki rani..baharon ki mallika..tera muskurana gazab hogaya..
Zara giggled. "Who is teaching Asharfi all these songs? She keeps singing a new one every day." Arzoo bit her lip.
****
"Hello, Mr Sahir?"
"Yes Dr Khurana?" For the first time there was no fear or fury as he took the call. He was ready for Zeenat to open her eyes. He wanted her to open her eyes.
"Mr Sahir, I think we're losing her."
"W-what? What do you mean you're losing her?"
"We suspect that she is going into renal shut down. Her blood pressure is dropping and her respiratory rate is also not good."
"No. NO! You can't lose her. Do something. Anything. She should NOT die Dr Khurana. Not now. NOT NOW."
"Mr Sahir calm down please. We're doing everything that we can. We had dropped the idea of taking her to US because she had been showing strong signs of improvement. And now it is not safe to move her from here. Dr Andrews is in India right now. I'm trying to contact him."
"Then call him. I don't care how much it costs. I want her alive."
"We'll do our best. But..not everything is in our hands Mr Sahir. I'll keep you posted."
The line went dead and all he could hear was Zeenat's jeering laughter. Soon it filled the whole room. With a low growl that resembled that of a caged tiger, he swiped his hand over his writing table, toppling the contents loudly all over the floor. Next moment, the chair hit the wall, breaking a picture frame. The flower vases flew in the air before crash landing near the pool with the flowers strewn all over. He growled again as he raised his fists to smash against the mirror.
"Sahir!"
Silence descended. And he saw Arzoo standing in front of him. Wide, scared, eyes on a pale face with trembling lips. The worry in them reaching out to him and returning his sanity like nothing else could. Slowly his hands dropped back to his sides, his fists loosened as his eyes lost their wild look and clung to hers. Arzoo moved slowly, as one would while trying not to spook a wild beast. Slowly she bent and picked up his book of poetry and the feather pen from the floor and carefully replaced them back on the table.
With her back turned to him, she started talking. "I just came to give you my answer. I'm bound by my circumstances. So yes, I will marry you. I..agree t-to be your s-second w-wife."
"Arzoo.." He had never felt so helpless before. But he wanted to say something..anything to reassure her.
But she shook her head. "I accept that I'm going to be your second wife. That this is just another business deal for you. You don't have to soften the blow for me now. Please let me know if you have any papers that I would need to sign. Khudahafiz."
Khamoshiyan.. teri meri khamoshiyan
Khamoshiyan.. lipti hui khamoshiyan
He could do nothing but stand there and watch her leave the room. Loving her. Hurting for her. She could do nothing but walk out of the room. Loving him. Hurting for him.
Edited by Suvika. - 10 years ago
Tum Se Tum Tak
Ganesh Kartikeya
