||ManYa FF - Against all odds|| Epilogue Pg 45 Updated-12.10.15 - Page 14

Chapter 15

"Arey wah! Look who is here! The newly weds! Come on," Barfi miyaan side stepped the long line of women waiting their turn to get their clothes stitched to welcome Mantu and Amaya. "What are you doing at my shop so early in the day? I thought you'd go missing for a couple of days, you know.. Newly weds and all," Barfi miyaan teased Mantu. "No Barfi miyaan, there is nothing like that. Actually," Mantu reached into his pocket and handed Barfi miyaan his special paan as he said, "I am here to bring you your special paan and," he then reached into the bag he was carrying and brought out the saree Amaya had just bought, "Amaya needed to get a blouse stitched too. Its kind of urgent. Its for her pag phera today." "Arey Amaya bitiya, from now you have super fast, express check in and check out at Barfi miyaan's shop. After all, you are our Mantu's dulhania," Barfi miyaan said, smiling. "Thank you Barfi miyaan," Amaya smiled at the older man, "I would've stood in the line and waited my turn if it weren't so urgent." "No! No! No! Don't worry about any of that. I will have the latest fashion blouse ready for you in an hour," Barfi miyaan said smiling, revealing his paan stained teeth. "Okay. We'll be back in an hour," Mantu said as Mantu and Amaya left.

***

Their next stop was Rama's house. They found Rama at the shop, he seemed engrossed in studying though. "Rama," Mantu called out to get his attention. "Mantu! Amaya! What a pleasant surprise to see the both of you here. Do you need to buy more stuff?" Rama asked. "No.." Mantu looked at Amaya and Amaya took the cue to step in. "What jiju? Can I not come to see my only jijaji?" she teased. "Definitely saali saheba. Anytime. Come on in then," Rama said as he led them into the house. Amaya's eyes immediately started searching for Rachita. "She is not at home," Rama said, noting that Amaya was looking for Rachita. Mantu and Amaya turned to Rama. "She went to work. She said she needed a break from everything and needed to go to work. So.." Rama explained. "Ohhh.." Amaya said as she sat on the sofa. "Did you not go?" Mantu asked. Rama shook his head, "She needed a break from everything and everyone, including me." Though there was a smile on Rama's face as he said it, both Amaya and Mantu were aware of the fact that he was hurt deep down. Before either of them could say anything though, Sumitra walked into the room.

Sumitra glared at Amaya and Mantu when they both rose to greet her but said nothing as she walked away. When she'd left, Amaya asked Rama, "Jiju.. How is aunty.. I mean how has she been dealing with.. You know.. Has she accepted Rachi di into the family?" "I don't know and I don't care," was Rama's response. "But Rama, the way your mother behaves with Rachita surely affects her," Mantu chipped in. "Don't worry. She isn't ill-treating or taunting Rachita ji. In fact, she hasn't spoken a word to any of us since the wedding. And maybe its better that way," Rama replied.

"Jiju.. We actually came to tell you that Mom is having our pag phera ceremony today. I think she tried calling Rachi di but couldn't get through. So.." Amaya wanted to ask him if he could somehow convince Rachi di to come to the pag phera but left her question unfinished. "Amaya.. As much as I would love Rachita ji to go home for her pag phera, the frame of mind that she is in, I don't know. I can let her know when she gets back, but honestly, I can't make any promises.. Other than that I will try. And I think it would be wrong to force her into confronting Sneha aunty right now if she isn't ready for it," Rama explained. "Yes.. Yes.. But if you could just let her know.. I have a feeling that if she knows about it, she will surely come," Amaya said. Rama smiled and nodded his head. "We'll leave now then," Mantu said as he stood up. "Arey, have something to eat or drink before you go. Wait, let me get Shyamu to.." Rama started to say but Amaya interrupted him, "Jijaji.. We'll come by some other day and you had better treat us royally then. For now, I think we'll head out. We need to get ready to go for the pag phera too." Rama did not persist and saw them out.

***

"Amaya! How much more time are you going to take? Its already past noon. They must be waiting for you. Come on! Hurry up now!" Mantu called out to Amaya from the hall after having paced the length of it at least 20 times waiting for her to get ready.

"Yeah.. I know.. I.. Mantu?.." Amaya said rather hesitantly. "What is it?" he asked, "Ummm.. Actually.. Ummm.. Could you.. Could you come in for a minute please?" Amaya asked. Mantu shook his head as he headed towards the room. Since she had asked him to come in, he did not bother knocking and pushed the door open. "What.." Whatever he was about to say or ask died on his lips. He swallowed nervously as he felt his throat go dry. "I'm.. I'm.. Sorry.. I.. I'll stand outside," Mantu fumbled as he tore his gaze away from her and turned.

"No.. Stop.." Amaya bit down on her lower lip to contain her own embarrassment and fight the heated blush crawling up her skin. She was standing in just her blouse and skirt with nine yards of soft silk fabric falling off of her wherever she'd clumsily tried to wrap it around her and the rest of it pooled at her feet. She tried to gather up the fabric of her saree that was falling apart from all sides but it kept slipping. "I need help.." she said softly, the warmth on her skin pooling into her belly as she saw Mantu turn towards her.

Mantu told himself that he shouldn't look. It was wrong, she was struggling with her saree and it was wrong of him to look.. because.. because.. Well, technically, she was his wife and he was her husband, so it should be okay.. But it still wasn't. "I.." he had to clear his throat because his heart seemed lodged in his throat and he also had to think about what it was that he wanted to ask or say. That was difficult, because all he could hear was the thudding of his heart as it thumped in his ears in a frenzy. His gaze travelled, of its own volition, up from the cloud of silk pooled at her feet, up her delicate frame to the curve of her smooth waist, to the valley of her breasts where her mangalsutra lay snug, before resting on her face.

Amaya could barely breathe as she followed Mantu's gaze languorously travelling up her frame. For a second, she regretted having asked him to come in to help her. But then, when his gaze met hers, there was no mistaking those dark embers of love and desire that she saw in them and for the first time in her life, she no longer felt like a girl. She felt all woman. And she wasn't scared anymore. It was a weird fluttering of her heart that she couldn't peg down as nervousness, it was a pleasurable heat in her belly that did not frighten her. "I need help, please," she said again, a strange huskiness creeping into her voice that she did not recognize. She scooped her hair to one side and turned away from him.

Mantu was speechless as Amaya turned away from him. Barfi miyaan had definitely done this on purpose. The blouse was essentially backless and the only things holding it together were a mesh of criss-crossed doris that Amaya could not reach or tie. She would definitely need help. Every step that Mantu took towards Amaya made both their hearts beat harder and faster. When Mantu's finger grazed against the now heated skin of her back, Amaya drew in a sharp breath and held it. Mantu had to tear his gaze away from the smooth expanse of creamy skin exposed to his gaze as he reached for the doris and meticulously criss-crossed them to their right positions to tie them in place. Each time his fingers accidentally brushed against the bare skin of her back, he would hear her draw in a sharp breath and involuntarily he would draw in a breath too.

When he was done, he was about to turn her around but saw that her hair had gotten tangled in her mangalsutra. He leaned in just a little to extricate her hair and his warm breath danced across the sensitive skin at the nape of her neck. Beneath his fingertips, barely caressing her, he could feel the goosebumps erupting along her skin. She tilted her head giving him better access. He drew in a shaky breath, inhaling that heady scent that was hers. When he had freed her hair from between the tiny black beads of her mangalsutra, he could resist the temptation no more and placed a slow, open-mouthed kiss at the nape of her neck, his hands resting on her shoulders, lazily caressing their way down her arms. She shuddered in his arms in response and Mantu could have sworn that he died in that very moment.

He turned her towards him. Her eyes were closed, her face was flushed and her breathing was in ragged gasps. He lifted the edge of the saree that had slipped from her hands and tucked it into her skirt at her waist. His fingers traced lazy patterns along the contours of her waist as he tucked more of the saree into the skirt.

It was as if on every inch of hers that he touched, he was setting off a cascade of mini explosions. Amaya clenched her hands so tightly, her nails dug painfully into her palm but that was nothing compared to the overwhelmingly pleasurable ache that Mantu was arousing in her everywhere his fingers caressed her. If this continued long enough, she was going to die from the pleasure of it, she thought.

Mantu wrapped the length of the saree around her waist and placed it over her shoulder. He then came behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She was barely aware of the fact that he was pleating her saree up front as she felt herself melt into the solid expanse of his chest while he nuzzled that sensitive spot right at the crook of her neck. He tucked the pleats of the saree into her skirt but deliberately let his fingers graze against her belly button and Amaya called his name out in a shuddered gasp. Just the way she said his name brought a hundred fantasies to his mind. Would this be the way she said his name when they would finally be one? The pleading, the desperation, the desire in her voice tugged right at his heart, mind and soul and Mantu really really had to remind himself why he couldn't just make her his right then and there and forget about the rest of the world. He slowly let go of her and tugged the pallu of her saree into place before Amaya finally dared to open her eyes.

Neither of them could say anything, the haze of desire still shrouding them in a thick cloak. Mahadev, if she kept looking at him like that, with so much awakened, innocent desire flaming in the dark orbs of her eyes, he would surely forget the rest of the world and the promise he'd made that they wouldn't take their relationship to the next level till they'd won her family's approval. And he knew he would regret it if that happened. No, he would never regret making her his.. Ever. Mahadev knew just how badly he wanted to make her his. He would regret having not proven his worth before he did so. "We should leave now," he finally managed to tear his gaze away from her and headed towards the door.

On an impulse, Amaya caught hold of his hand. She wanted him - as fiercely, as deeply, as passionately as she loved him, she wanted him too. And looking at him, she knew he did too. She knew that if she were to ask him right now to make her his, he would and Mahadev knew just how much she wanted that to happen. But then, she also knew what his self-respect meant to him. And she couldn't take that from him. She shook her head slightly as she let go his hand and Mantu dragged his feet out of the room.

When she felt she could breathe again, she took in a long breath, hugged herself and closed her eyes. God! If she thought being in love with Mantu had been a sweet torture, being married to him was even worse. And she was loving every minute of it.

***

Rachita hadn't really been paying attention to where she was going when she got into the auto and asked the driver to take her to baas waali gali. Its only when the auto driver dropped her off at the door to the Mathur haveli that she remembered she didn't live there anymore, she didn't belong there anymore. She had raised her hand to knock at the door but she stopped herself just in time. She felt a part of her leave from within her body to knock at the door. Like she was having an out of body experience, she saw herself knocking on the door, her mom opening the door with that beautiful smile in place. She saw her image hug her mom, mom asking her about her day, her image telling mom that she was starving and mom saying she had made her favorite paneer pakode - all while Rachita stood outside the door crying. Except she did not know if those days would ever be back. She felt more lonely than she had ever been in her whole life. When Rohan had dumped her, when dad had died, she always had her family to fall back on. Her family had always been her safety net. Except, now she knew it wasn't her family anymore. Who could she go to? Where could she go? Rachita wiped away her tears and just as she turned to walk away, the door opened and Sneha appeared at the door.

***