Abhigya FF: WOH HUMSAFAR THA last ch pg 76dt 9.4.16 - Page 8

Chapter 5

Pragya observed as how after that night he avoided her, in fact since then they never came face to face. She still remembered his pain, his discomfort and his reluctance in agreeing to what his wife desired.

She respected his feelings, didn't wish to hurt him more therefore she too made an attempt to not come before his eyes. She got up late, till then he'd be out for his meetings so there was no chance of him seeing her and at night although she'd watch him from behind the pillar, drinking in the bar but she'd never let him feel her presence. The few days that she'd spent in MM made her realize a lot of things about Abhi and shalini, especially after she'd slept with him.

There was an undercurrent of tension in their marriage, though they never fought or argued like any other couple but they also didn't behave like a normal couple. Ripples were bound to get created in their relationship after the massive showdown they had that evening, however pragya was of the opinion that things would eventually settle down between them but the way the events actually turned out left her surprised.

There was a disconcerting silence in their relationship, which she didn't question or discuss with shalini believing that she was an outsider who had no right to interfere in their marriage, still living under the same roof with both of them, these negative and hostile vibes disturbed her and her mind would involuntarily wander towards them and him in particular.

Today was Sunday, therefore no work and no meetings, in other words it was tough for her not to bump into him after all she couldn't spend the entire day in her room thus ever so slowly she came down the stairs. The two of them were sitting on the dining table for breakfast, as usual words were hardly being exchanged.

Pragya recalled the last encounter she had with him on the table a few days back, a giggle escaped her lips thinking the way she'd flirted with him and he'd looked so furious and innocent at the same time.

He noticed pragya approaching them from the corner of his eye, he shut his eyes firmly and continued pressing his throbbing temples with his fingers. Since morning he was having a splitting headache. She observed his stiff form, she knew he disliked her being around but this time she couldn't help it, she was craving to have her morning tea. Trying not to annoy him, she pulled out a chair, slightly far away from him and sat on it with her legs crossed. He heard the creaking sound of the chair and pursed his lips while turning his head to the other side.

Shalini after buttering the toast placed it on his plate making him open his eyes, she smiled at pragya and asked," tea?".

Pragya smiled back and nodded her head before replying," yes a little strong ." shalini was amused hearing her whereas abhi who hadn't had anything last night bit into his toast hoping that it would relive him of his pain. Shalini passed the tea cup to pragya, she took a noisy sip to which abhi scrunched his nose, his head was already hurting and now her sipping style was only making it worse.

Shalini shot a quick glare at her, which she understood immediately and took a soft sip next time. Pragya was never used to this quiet atmosphere, this whole silence and on top of that his pressing his temples was bothering her to no extent. She couldn't understand why was he not doing anything about it? Why was shalini not giving him a pain killer to relieve him off this head ache? If it was hurting him so much then why was he enduring it?

" di ..give sahib some lemon juice." she suggested. Abhi stopped chewing and shalini looked at her in confusion.

" lemon juice helps in getting rid of hangover. Perhaps last night he had too much. Or else go and throw up. Trust me you'll feel better." She added remembering how she used to make lime juice every morning for his drunkard father.

Shalini gaped at her bluntness and her choice of words, shalini's eyes shifted to abhi who was shaking his head thinking that this girl would never let him rest in peace, her concern instead of appeasing , cringed him.

Dismissing her suggestion he ordered," one black coffee ..strong."

" abhi I saw a piece of land for the shopping complex ..it's quite close to our factory." Shalini said while pouring hot coffee for him.

" shopping ...what?" pragya made a face asking her. Her unnecessary intervention or should he say opening of mouth was now irritating him which didn't go unnoticed by shalini who replied in soft yet firm words," shopping complex is like a mall where there are quite a few shops to buy different items." Her stern tone clearly indicated pragya now to shut up.

"the location is top class..however..some people have illegally occupied it." She completed herself and waited to know his reaction. He sipped on to the coffee silently pondering over the proposal, with every sip his muscles relaxed a bit.

" but through our means we can get them vacate that land." She said after seeing him not reply for so long.

" there will be unnecessary blood shed. Better find another site." He was getting tired of indulging into violence and that too for such petty issues.

This whole conversation was boring pragya to death, moreover her empty stomach was now grumbling louder than before. She picked up an apple from the fruit basket and had just opened her mouth wide to bite into it when shalini pushed a sharp knife in her direction suggesting her to cut it instead of biting it. Pragya held the knife and murmured softly," sophisticated rich people. Huh."

" I'm telling you that location is not worth missing ..it's perfect for the shopping complex ..just think abhi, how much this project will benefit the people of ratnagiri."

Abhi nodded his head slightly hearing her point of view, shalini had an intelligent mind and an innate business sense which he was aware of, the only difference between the two of them was that she followed her mind while he preferred to listen to his heart.

" and so what if some hurdles need to be removed ultimately in the long run the locals will be benefitted ." She said shrugging her shoulders when suddenly she heard pragya hiss in pain.

She'd cut her thumb while listening to shalini, it shocked her to see how easy it was for shalini to suggest killing somebody even if it would benefit people at large.

Abhi turned towards pragya immediately on hearing her gasp, the cut was small but deep, how careless she was he thought. She took her thumb in her mouth to stop it from bleeding, she glanced at him who was watching her intently suck her thumb. A flicker of distress in his eyes for her didn't go unseen by her.

" so as I was saying you at least have a talk with the guys who have illegally occupied that site." Shalini said in an attempt to bring his attention back to the important topic that they were discussing.

" I know what I have to do. You just stay out of this." He replied through greeted teeth, at least in business matters he didn't like to be told what to do, he was capable of handling his ventures on his own.

Shalini took a deep breath on seeing him fold back the napkin and leave the table with his coffee mug, good at least now he would think about the proposal and do something about it for sure. She gave pragya a tight smile who was looking back at her with furrowed brows, what kind of a woman was she, pragya thought, one moment she was grinning sweetly at her whereas the next moment she was glaring at her and coming up with such a gruesome idea of eliminating people who dared to cross her path.

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Pragya got off the bed and stretched her lazy body after taking a nap post lunch which was delicious to the core. She could still taste the spinach mixed with that ever so soft cottage cheese in her mouth. The days spent here till date were really comfortable and out of this world, she wasn't sure how long they would last hence was enjoying every moment of them.

Without bothering to stifle her yawn she walked out of her room in the corridor and crossed shalini's room, it was empty, she turned her head and looked to her left, the light of the study was on, he must be engrossed in some of his file, she thought then climbed down the stairs and gazed around the huge hall. A maid was coming out of the kitchen, pragya stopped her and asked her about shalini.

" bhabhi has gone out ..should I get you something ?" the maid replied. Pragya nodded a no, there was a time when she used to work herself as a house maid and today she had servants at her beck and call, she smiled inwardly and decided to stroll in the garden.

She was about to step out of the house when her gaze fell on the huge idol of lord ganesha which was placed at the end of the hall. She'd often heard the ringing of bells and shalini chanting some shlokas in the mornings but was never asked to be part of the prayers. Just like every piece of furniture placed in this house all the members living here even if they were only a handful, were also recluse, lifeless and silent, not to forget the idol of bappa which too seemed to be watching mutely what all happened in this house.

The intoxicating scents of jasmine, lavender and roses drifted through the air as she breezed along the lush green garden. She enjoyed the colors and patterns that emerged in the changing light. There was a row of guava and mango trees. A fleeting smile spread across her lips as she remembered her childhood, the hours she spent sitting on such trees and the evenings that went by playing hide and seek around them. With a mischievous glint in her eyes she picked up a small stone and aimed at the hanging guavas, she frowned when she missed hitting the guava, maybe she was out of practice. Not the one to give up so easily she picked another stone, shut her left eye and concentrated hard before throwing the stone. She clapped her hands in excitement when the guavas fell down, picking one up she rubbed it with end of her sari, sat on a wooden swing then dug her teeth hard into it while watching the sun set in.

After some time she saw shalini coming back and walking in her direction with her shopping bags. Pragya rolled her eyes seeing her carry so many bags. Shalini placed them on the swing and began showing pragya what all she'd bought.

" di so many saris?" pragya asked surprised. There were almost half a dozen saris of different colors, fabrics and patterns. Shalini took a purple banarsi sari and placed it on her shoulder before replying casually," hmm..i couldn't stop myself ...just look at these colors and designs."

Pragya shook her head in agreement, yeah all the saris were indeed pretty, must've been hard for her to let go any.

" you spent almost the whole day in this shopping." pragyaa said while examining the fabric of one of the saris.

" as it's sitting at home I had nothing much to do. So it was a good way to pass time."

pragya cocked an eye brow thinking, wow what a way to spend time by splurging the hard earned money of your husband, oh that reminded her of something and she asked," sahab..what did you get for him?"

shalini gave her a twisted smile and answered," abhi is happy with his limited wardrobe ..moreover our choices don't match..hee prefers to shop on his own."

Pragya concluded that They were indeed a very strange couple with both being poles apart. Shalini picked up a bag that she'd kept it on the grass and took out a simple pink cotton sari. She tossed it on to pragyaa's lap and said," this is for you."

It kind of surprised pragya that she'd not bothered to get anything for her husband but remembered to buy something for her however the way she'd thrown it on her face definitely didn't go down well with pragya. Agreed that she was here to carry out a deal with shalini but that didn't mean she had the right to treat her as her servant, pragya never accepted charity and would never compromise on her self respect.

" I already have many outfits of this color. Di you give it to someone else." pragya said keeping the sari aside making it clear that she didn't want it.

Shalini narrowed her eyes and thought, even though everyday pragya was wearing her discarded saris but today she was showing her attitude..huh.

Abhi was opening the door of his car when pragya spotted him and whispered ,'sahab'. Shalini turned around following pragya's gaze, abhi stopped for a minute to inform her," tonight I'll be late." Shalini nodded her head and began keeping the saris back in the packets.

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Shalini after having her last morsel went up to her to sleep, pragya watched her retreating back and fidgeted with her glass bangles making some sound in otherwise quiet hall. She paced up and down just to kill her time, she wasn't used to of going off to bed so early for obvious reasons. Her gaze moved around the empty dining table and empty hall, there was so much of emptiness in this place which was quite depressing, although her own life was no better but then she had nobody to call her own whereas over here even though both of them projected an image of a happily married couple still they were so distant from each other. They hardly got to see each other during the week days and today despite being Sunday both having no work still had no time for each other, when he was here alone, she left and when she came back he left her..weird..they were together but miles away leading their separate lives and the most astonishing part was that neither of them cared, as if they had zero level of expectations from each other..what kind of a marriage was this?

No matter how much she tried to mind her own business but with having nothing to do and just these two along with some servants roaming around here day in day out, she couldn't control herself from thinking about them.

The entrance door banged shut bringing her out of her thoughts, she saw his swaying form coming in, she hid behind a pillar when he crossed the hallway to approach the bar. Already drunk, abhi opened the whiskey bottle to pour in more, the weird sweet/foul tasting liquid burned and soothed his throat at the same time. This was how he spent his nights, drinking to the point till his head dropped then falling asleep on the nearby recliner. With each glass of drink that he gulped down he hoped that the images of that incident would become hazy, the pain in his heart would lessen but nothing of that sort ever happened. He continued to live under the shadows and miseries of that night.

"sahab. Don't punish yourself." He heard someone say, he opened his drowsy eyes wide and adjusted them to focus on the figure that was slowly coming towards him.

Pragya halted her feet at a safe distance from him. She didn't know why but it disturbed her to see him punishing himself for something that he'd done unwillingly. He stared right back at the person because of whom he was suffering.

" just out of my sight. OUT." he growled, flaring his nostrils.

" Stop blaming yourself for that night. You weren't at fault." She said without getting perturbed by his outburst.

He tilted his head slightly and glared at her, wondering how dare she say that he wasn't at fault when he knew clearly he'd disgraced his marriage. How dare she say that he shouldn't punish himself when he deserved to be punished for taking advantage of her. Tightening his grip around the glass he was holding he considered himself no less than any filthy animal who had slept with her before.

"sahab..you're not a bad husband and di is very fortunate to have you as a life partner." She truly believed what she said, he was indeed a wonderful husband when compared to her step father, her ex husband and all the men who she'd ever come across.

He smirked at her face, yeah he was a very nice husband, a husband who had broken all the marital vows by sharing a bed with a stranger and his wife was lucky to have a life partner like him.

" I'm surprised that in one night you've known so much about me." he blurted after emptying the glass that he'd filled.

Here he was blaming and torturing himself for wronging her and she without blinking an eye gave him a clean character certificate when she very well knew what he'd done with her. Instead of loathing him she was sympathizing with him?

" you don't need a lifetime to know someone. Sometimes just a moment is more than enough." As per her that night they had shared a few close moments where she realized how guilty he was for his act? How desperately he wanted to hold on to his marriage even if deep down he knew that he was losing it. That night was totally different from the nights that she'd spent with other men, those moments were devoid of lust and hunger instead were filled with sorrow and regret.

In her eyes he had done nothing wrong, whatever happened didn't happen out of will but out of compulsion. He did something which his mind body and soul were not allowing still he went ahead and hurt himself just to protect his wife from getting hurt. She turned around to leave but before that said something that hit him right across his heart.

"You're a nice man."

Why was she hell bent on proving him innocent? When he wanted to hate himself, curse himself then why were her words forcing him to feel different? When he couldn't dare to see himself in the mirror then how could she see something that was not there in him?

He saw her walking up the stairs, she turned her head and smiled at him. A smile that reached her eyes, a smile that he didn't reciprocate but a smile that was trying slowly to lift a heavy burden off his heart.

Thanks for reading

Rose