Taking the escalator to the ground floor of that immense mall, with a hand strongly held by a stubborn lady on the front, highly revolted by the renown brand boutiques, infested in each and every floor, where even a pair of simple socket would cost a tooth!
Well, it wasn't because the man with her couldn't afford them! With his profession, with the amount of sum he had in his bank account, he could profit from all the sheer luxuries, but today they have commenced the day with a pact : IT WOULD GO BY HER MINDSET ! Being a reputed and respectable gentleman, he couldn't fail to his principles.
The ever first time, he was entering boutiques and shops, without cashing in whole the merchandise because he couldn't waste time to analyze each product on place!
He was amused by the tuitions she had given him so far on HOW TO SPEND MONEY WITH A LIMITED BUDGET? And that also on a single product by A.N.A.L.Y.Z.I.N.G it carefully as per Madam's wishes!
Once they reached the first floor, it was him who was handful of shopping bags!
"WAIT! I had bring you in that big mess to make you shop, not for me! Why am I store up with all the stuffs?" he flinched out anxious.
"Becuase you needed them more than me !" she retorted giggling to his childish nag.
"Well then Jodha, didn't I see you make a thrice U-turn to admire that turquoise lounge robe ?" he smirked after her dismayed face. "Did you actually like the robe?" he teased her at his guise, seeing her mum for a while.
Yes, mum for a short while!
"Oh please!" she cried out, in pretense.
"You surely must be mistaken! I told you that time, I will be going to WC. And by the way, even you know that I am prettiest NATURALLY!" tending him a victorious smile and not missing to stress on NATURALLY!
"Be it in a casual or random outfit, in a cleaning woman's uniform or even in a nun's robe ..." she went on to count them on fingers until a pat' on her right shoulder interrupted her in the middle of her calculus. She turned to that side and look up for the person but nevertheless she wasn't much bothered then to finish off her started repartee.
"And where were we ..." her chatter-box paused, stunned and speechless after that sight trespassed her vision.
That turquoise lounge robe was exhibited out in front of her marveled eyes as a wonder. She squirmed in all awe and exhilaration unaware of two startled pair of eyes wandering her face from far ! As by caressing the docile tissue, she saw the hanging cost label beneath the robe and screamed right on outraged : "DANG IT ! How was that 2550 rupees? Wasn't that on sale? Why did you buy this even after I forbid you to ! Wait me for while, I'll ..." she went on ready to pace toward the shop.
"No, you won't go bargain Jodha! It's on sale that's why it's 2550 otherwise it had be 4220! And by the way, why are you so troubled for me ? I removed the sum from your pay, don't worry!" he flatly dished that out to her. After listening to him, her mouth first shaped into 0' after learning the before sale price and next in bigger O' because he actually subtracted it from her salary, without her knowing and permission!
That's definitely one of Jalal's forte to which Jodha would always revere to! Coming up with right words on time, before she goes to commit a CATASTROPHE!
"How like when did you ought to do this to me ? How dare you consider my pays as a lotto raffle ? Do you know that I haven't yet sent the monthly sum to Benares for Bapu, Mummy, chohtis ..." she kept on chanting, much ruffled up, only to be cut off by Jalal in once : "I was just kidding !" he belied finally, rolling eyes in unbelief to the admonishing session he earned from a joke attempt !
"Then what was ...? How did you ...?" she couldn't look up to him, neither by face and her words, highly ashamed for her behavior ! On the moment, she just wished to go for a long phase of hibernation or run, hide her face behind a pillar.
"Either way, who was to say you had stop and listen me ?" he rendered a strong and justified pretext so she couldn't retort him back, as same as during a reunion, when he had lay out his hypothesis, no one, not even his adversaries had budge or stand a word against it.
"And now just go change yourself in that dress, I would like to take you somewhere?" he said handing her the cloth.
The curiosity took upon her that within a while, it swept in a go all her shame and timidity toward him:
"Why ? Where are we going ?" she exclaimed exhilarated.
"Just hurry up and come with me, you would know it !" he urged her.
There she rushed to a nearby cloakroom, through the hall, jumping like an over enthusiastic fowl in a yard, which made Jalal chuckle after her child like antics.
After few minutes, that lasted like long penible hours, sitting on the bench awaiting her, flipping page after page of a newspaper, there she arrived. Worth all the wait and anticipations, elegant as ever in that turquoise robe ! The thin floral ribbon to enhance her slim waist, the sultry teal blue of the turquoise color transposing impeccably over her fair skin complexion, the velvet collar encircling her neck, and the below tissue timidly covering her upper chest, to preserve her feminism yet unveiling a bit of her neck-line and the messy crown braid she did with her hair, letting a long curly lock descend her face in form of a cascade, there she was FLAWLESS !
With her bent jaw, lowered eyelids and those flickering lashes, dispersing in the glow of her cheeks, she was focused down on interlocking her both hands into each other, on which she was struggling all her nervosity, looking as pretty as a picture !
Jalal came out of the wonderment and went on to hold her hand suddenly that Jodha looked up to him surprised at his abrupt gesture !
"Come, follow me !" he dragged her till his car.
At the meantime, Suryabhan was trying to reach Jodha on her phone, but it always landed him upon her voicemail.
He was profoundly irritated that she wasn't taking his call, after numerous tries !
"Jodha, where are you ? Why aren't you taking my calls ? Should I come to seek you from Boss' house ?" he registered the 3rd message, highly preoccupied.
Meanwhile, Jalal had stop the car in the middle of a highway.
"Why did you stop the car all of sudden ?" frowned a worried Jodha, peeking through the window.
"We have arrived !" he smiled contently.
"Are you sure of that ? Why aren't they any road sign indicating that we reached ? And why are we in the middle of a public road ? Weren't you about to take me visit a beautiful landscape ? For example, a large and arched bridge like a rainbow or beside a weeping willow covering the entire sky or even ..." there only she realized that all this time, she was blabbering alone and he wasn't beside her.
"But this is the best of place for me !" he appeared through the other side window, startling her for a moment.
"Are you saying this is a beautiful place ?" she enquired confused.
"And very special for me !" he stated, even more bewildering her.
"Come out and see !" he invited her by unlocking the door.
"Well then it must have got a nice view otherwise ..."
What... what was she seeing ... ? Was that really her on that big advertisement board ? No ! It can't be her !
She went closer to analyze it, as she was best doing at !
Surprised, astonished, shocked, amazed, floored, bewildered, would this all words be enough to describe her sensation of the moment ? Closer she was coming, and more the truth she's trying to deny seemed true !
Her eyes stuck on flabbergasted on that grand panel.
"One year, one month, one day it has been since I talked to Tiffany and recommended her for that publicity in order to see her once. Finally I didn't see her and few days after she mysteriously became the lead model. Then I thought I would still stand a chance to see her but again due to an issue with the contract of the lead actress, she and me yet missed the opportunity to meet each other. Since longtime, I have been longing to meet that very special friend. But Tiffany didn't want to meet me.
That was only when I went on an outdoor trip that I got to meet her here." he narrated calmly.
She could barely look up to him, with much apprehension when he turned to her side.
"It was you who answered Ruqaiya's phone. It was you who contacted me back later. It was you who saved her yet refused to take the money. You were the one who said that helping others are as natural as going to toilet. It was you who told me that you came to Mumbai to live an exciting love story. All that, was in fact you !" he sighed.
"I had never believe that you would be the Tiffany so special. You have discovered long back that I am Steven isn't it ?" he spoke in a husky voice.
But since she was yet to come out from her stance, he had do his presentation first.
He formally gathered his two hands in front of him and took a bow : "Tiffany, Bonjour. I am Steven. We are finally meeting each other."
"Sorry. I am not a model." she mumbled teary-eyed.
"You are ! Otherwise who's that woman on the ad ?" he insisted.
"Why didn't you tell me that you're Tiffany ?" he inquired affectively.
"I am just a middle class woman, working as your maid. So I was afraid that I displease and disappoint ..." within she could finish her phrase, he had already surrendered her into his embrace. And joined his other arm over her back to solidify their fusion in each other.
She was on the verge of suffocation. But today, her heart could exhale without her nose, her mouth and her lungs. It was continuously beating to match up the other heart so that both could beat in synchro. But she was still in a stance ! All happened in a speed of light that she didn't even get time to acknowledge the whole thing ! A drop of tear that trespassed the thin tissue covering her shoulder acted like a *pinch*
"Do I sound disappointed right now ?" he hushed near her earlobe.
"Do you know at which extent I wished to hug you like that ?" running gently his fingers through her messy hair.
"The first time I wished to hug you like that was when I accused you of stealing money from my house. I even went to play the piano on stage with you but still I wasn't pardoned. You vehemently refused to come back work. I was truly desolated.
The second time I wished to hug you like that was when we were at President Tomar. You had suffer a lot for me and even got humiliated after they knew you weren't my wife. Yet you were apologizing again and again. You mean a lot to me.
The third time I wished to hug you like that was when Ruqaiya and me had to return Taiwan to marry. I forgot my ventolin but you knew that I was asthmatic in surface, so came to give me. I couldn't give up on you.
Today, finally I could tightly hug you as I wished to !" he breathed out merrily, leaning his nose over her earlobe.
"Tiffany, tell Steven, who is the person you love most ? Who is the man you love with all your heart ? Are your happiest memories really with Suryabhan ?" he asked mellowly, releasing her from the hug.
Her whole face was smudged with tears.
He cupped it in his hand, caressing throughly her cheeks with his thumbs.
"My most blissful memory is when my Dad used to teach me how to play 'Twinkle, Twinkle' on piano in childhood. The second time I resented such bliss, was now !" he disclosed to her, overwhelmed by the past souvenirs and current emotion.
"I had always fear the projection of an eventual marriage and had thought it was due to my mom's influence. But today only I realized that was because I haven't met that someone whom I would love with all my heart till now." he confessed.
"So ..." he stuttered.
"So would you like to ..."
Her phone rang, it was Suryabhan. She hanged up within seeing his name on screen.
"I had like what ?" she inquired thoughtless.
"Would you like to become my wife ?"
A taming silence had engulfed every sound for a moment, before she replied :
"But I am still on my furlough na ?"
"Yes, but each furlough had to end someday ?" he attempted to reassure her.
"But in my case, I don't think it would ever end !" she cried out helplessly.
"Then I would wait till it finishes someday, for your reply. No matter how long, I would wait !" he vowed to her.
She nodded profusely in happiness, overwhelmed by his love for her.
The two lovers entwined one last time in each other's arms before departing away.
... And who knows, the furlough may finish someday and they would have a HAPPY END ...
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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