Abhigya FF: WOH HUMSAFAR THA last ch pg 76dt 9.4.16 - Page 19

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abhigya are getting closer

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yehh...yeh...Update fast rose di...Very good news...Will make my day for sure...Loved the 10th chapter...FULL OF ABHIGYA...wow...lovely yaar...Update soon di...Thanks for the PM...😊😃

Chapter 11

Pragya made herself comfortable on the hard and strong branch of the tree. Swaying her legs to and fro she grabbed one branch firmly to maintain her balance and with her other hand plucked a hanging raw mango. She didn't remember when was the last time she'd climbed up a tree and spent her evening sitting on it. Glancing over the other trees of this huge garden she noticed how they were beginning to turn colors of red, orange and yellow, colors of autumn. Her attention shifted towards the sky, she saw pigeons flying overhead desperately searching for food to feed their young ones. She took a huge bite of the green mango, the sharp sour juice that burst out of it sat on her tongue briefly before cascading down her throat. The raw mango hit her taste buds really hard and she relished every bite that she was chewing. The craving to have something pungent subsided slowly.

The sweet fragrance of roses and jasmines wafted upon the moist air of the evening, she inhaled the fresh air and leaned her head against the tree trunk and opened her eyes, ears, heart and mind to really embrace life and the magnificence of nature. Sometime later her gaze fell on the nearby road where a mother was holding her toddler in her arms. She narrowed her eyes and saw love dancing out of the mother's eyes as she caressed her baby. Automatically pragya's hand went down to her belly, she too was carrying a life inside her, a part of her was breathing and growing inside her. She bit her lower lip on glancing at the mother and child once again, their bond seemed strong filled with only affection and trust.

Her eyes glistened on remembering her own relationship with her mother, she was so close to her, almost like her shadow she'd accompany her wherever she went. For pragya her mother was the best one could ever have. She looked down at the hand that was resting on her stomach and wondered what kind of a relationship she shared with her own child, for starters she wasn't sure whether she could call the child her own. Technically she'd already cut herself off from the baby by accepting the deal but then that didn't change the truth that she was the real mother and she too cared for this new life otherwise why would she listen to each and every instruction of shalini. Agreed she was being paid for it and she was supposed to obey her but at the same time she too felt responsible for the child and followed everything as it was for the betterment of the child.

No matter how much she tried to convince herself that all this was just a contract and she shouldn't get emotionally involved because in the long run it would only hurt and pain her still the motherly instincts couldn't stop affecting her whenever she witnessed a mother and a child. Be it was in the temple and now here. It wasn't easy to carry this out practically without letting the heart get involved. Willingly or unwillingly, knowingly or unknowingly the chord between her and the baby had struck the day she'd gotten pregnant, however what effect it would bring on her life only time would tell.

Lost in her thoughts she heard someone screaming her name, she looked down and found a hysterical shalini standing. Surprised would be an understatement, shalini was more than shocked to see pragya sitting on a tree. Pragya was silly, stubborn and childish, accepted but what was wrong with her? had she lost her mind completely? She was two months pregnant and what was she doing sitting up on that tree?

" pragya ..why are you up there?" shalini yelled at her.

Irritated with the kind of emotions, feelings and thoughts that were running in her mind and on which she had no control, she snapped back," can't you see..i'm eating a mango."

Shalini wished to pull her hair after hearing pragya's reply. " what was the need to climb up a tree for that? What if you slipped and something happened to you?" she meant to the baby.

" relax di. I have been climbing trees since childhood ."

"but you're not a child anymore ..you're going to be mother. Have you forgotten that?" shalini said loud and clear, how could she be so irresponsible and callous?

pragya rolled her eyes, she knew she was pregnant in fact sitting here she was dwelling on that topic before shalini came and broke her train of thoughts.

" you just come down and then I'll see you." Shalini said through clenched teeth, her anger was reaching new heights with every passing second.

pragya didn't like to be scolded especially when she felt she was not at fault, she knew what she was doing and would never even think of risking the baby then why was this shalini glaring at her? she lifted her hips slightly and moved her upper body forward giving an impression that she would jump off the tree.

" are you crazy ? you'll jump from there?" shalini asked in a state of shock, her heart was in her mouth when she saw pragya moving like that. Though pragya had absolute no intention of jumping off, she wasn't that insane, she was only shifting her weight to come down slowly and safely.

" di, if you keep scolding me like this then I'll surely jump." She threatened her.

" okay fine I won't say a word, just get down carefully." Shalini was almost pleading her with folded hands. pragya's eyes had a glint of naughtiness as she thought what if she actually jumped off? The expressions on shalini's face would be priceless. Just the silly thought of doing so amused pragyya and she moved her face to the other side to suppress her smile. Pressing her lips hard she looked around and found a pair of dark black eyes staring at her.

He was standing with hands slipped inside his pockets in the balcony watching this whole drama. In fact pragya had caught his attention the moment she had climbed the tree. To be honest even he had gotten worried seeing her sit like that and had wanted to get her down. But when he saw her relishing that mango he had gotten lost in the peace and contentment that had spread across her face. He'd watched carefully how her expressions had changed from happiness to confusion and finally to distress as she kept her hand on her stomach. She wasn't an irresponsible or careless mother, on the contrary after the night they had spent together she'd always come across as a very sensitive and sentimental person. Someone who understood and felt pain better than others because she herself had gone through a lot. Even though she portrayed herself as strong and thick skinned yet deep down she was an extremely emotional woman, this much he was quite sure of her.

The grin that pragya was trying to hide vanished immediately as her eyes locked with his. She gulped the lump in her throat, maybe he too thought of her like shalini, foolish and imprudent. She bit her lower lip in disappointment and shook her head.

He let out a thin smile seeing her doing so, he knew she was simply teasing shalini, she would never harm the baby. Seeing him smile she lowered her head in relief and carefully came down the tree.

Shalini took a deep breath seeing her come down safely, though her lips were sealed but her eyes were throwing daggers at pragya. Before she could give pragya a piece of her mind she walked off from there after saying,"it's time for me to take my vitamins ." Stomping her foot shalini followed her behind.

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It was late in the evening, pragya was sitting on the bed with her knees drawn up, her head leaned on the head rest as she recalled the way shalini had reprimanded her sometime back. She didn't like not just her words but the fact that shalini didn't trust her with the baby. She had no reason to risk the life of the child, if shalini thought that she was doing all this for money which she was then she was intelligent enough to know that she'd get those ten lacs only after delivering the baby so till then she'd definitely take utmost care of the baby and even otherwise she was nurturing the child in her womb why would she even think of behaving recklessly with the child?

" pragya take this sari and get ready." Shalini placed a beautiful green embroidered sari on the bed. pragya turned her head away, ignoring what shalini had said.

" don't waste time, we're going out for a party."

pragya's eyes danced in excitement on hearing the word party, ever since she'd come here she'd hardly gone out. Her visits were mainly confined to temples and hospitals.

" what party?" she asked casually attempting to hide the excitement in her tone.

" today we're celebrating my baba's 60^th birthday."

" I'm don't wish to be part of such a boring party." She began acting pricey. Shalini glared at her seeing her behave stubborn again, however under no circumstances she'd leave her alone at home.

" what will you here all alone ? come with us you'll feel nice." After witnessing her antics in the evening shalini had made up her mind to keep an eye on her all the time. She was too risky to be left on her own. The word 'us' stirred pragya's mind, that meant even he would be attending the party! She turned to look at shalini and agreed as if she was doing a favor on her by saying," alright if you insist but I don't like the color of this sari." Shalini nodded a yes and said she'd send another sari for her soon.

Wearing a royal blue sari with minimal make up and hair kept open she descended down the stairs. Arnav in his trademark black suit was waiting for both the women in the hall. Unwillingly his eyes stayed on the person who was standing before him and couldn't help but admire that simple innocent beauty. Heat and color rose to her cheeks turning them into deep shade of pink seeing him look at her like that. Otherwise a very bold lady but under his gaze she always somehow turned coy. Shalini's heels furiously striking the hard stairs as she stepped down made him drop his eyes and without wasting a minute he grabbed the car keys and barged out.

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pragya entered the huge farmhouse belonging to shekhawat through the large well lit up black gates. It was single storey contemporary farm house. The exterior was loud with bright red tiles on the roof and white washed walls with several windows. She was walking slowly behind abhi and shalini exploring this huge estate. Shekhawat dressed in a gaudy purple suit welcomed the couple with open arms. Abhi bent down to touch his feet but he didn't allow and hugged him instead. pragya saw the kind of respect that abhi gave him, he definitely treated shekhawat quite highly.

Shalini wished her dad with wide grin and he ushered both of them into the hall where the party was in full swing. abhi turned slightly that's when shekhawat's gaze fell on pragya. She stepped forward and wished him cheerfully," happy birthday". Shekhawat looked at her from top to bottom then gave her a stiff nod, she was clearly not welcomed here, but did she care? No.

The whole dining hall was tastefully decorated, champagne and expensive wines poured like water and light music played in the background. Soon abhi and shalini got engaged in meeting other guests, it was mainly shalini who was coaxing him to converse with others, if given a choice he would've enjoyed a quiet drink in a corner.

pragya continued with her exploration, this place was nothing compared to RM which was silent and deserted, this house was buzzing with activities and people around. There was a time when the silence of RM used to disturb and bother her but now after spending some months there the same silence soothed and relaxed her.

Looking out of the window she saw beautiful dancing fountains , the house appealed to the eyes but the simplicity and tranquility of RM touched the soul.

She was too engrossed in her thoughts to notice that a pair hungry of eyes were following her each and every move till she collided with the owner of those eyes. Pragya shot an irritated glare to the person who'd not only bumped into her but had also spilled his drink on her.

" Can't you see? Blind or what?" she snapped at the man in black trousers an extra tight maroon shirt whose buttons threatened to pop out any moment.

" eyes tend to waver on spotting such a beauty." He replied shamelessly with a sly smile playing on his lips. It didn't take pragya a second to comprehend his disgusting intentions. She hated not only his constipated look but all his lustful eyes that were gazing at her chest which had got wet because of his spilled drink.

She parted her lips to lash out at him but before that felt a hand on her shoulder. Shalini stood behind with a dinner plate for her.

" hello shalini ji." He greeted her with a wide grin.

" oh Nikhil ..good to see you." shalini was slightly surprised to see nikhil in the party he was the son of an upcoming politician, maybe because of political reasons her father must've invited him.

Nikhil was an infamous rich and spoilt brat. pragya still fuming from within took the plate and began eating to divert her mind however she couldn't do that as nikhil was tonight hell bent on annoying her. With hands in pockets he circled around both the ladies particularly eyeing on pragya and smirked while saying," didn't know that dancers were also invited to entertain us."

pragya dropped the spoon and glared at him while shalini narrowed her eyes and wondered how did he know that pragya was a bar dancer? Did he know only this much or more?

" nikhil..stay in your limits." supriya warned him in a firm tone.

" for this cheap night girl you're asking me to stay in my limits?" high on his drinks he felt insulted.

" does this woman who shamelessly dances around for money, deserve to be part of our respectable society ?" he humiliated pragya further which was more than she could handle so she stepped forward and gave him a tight resounding slap across his face before abusing him," you ass hole, I'll show you who deserves what."

Falling on the floor nikhil held his cheek which had been hit so hard and looked around, now all the guests had stopped what they were doing to watch this live drama unfold. Shalini curled her fingers in a fist seeing pragya create a scene in front of so many rich and influential people. What was the need to slap him openly? Couldn't she control her temper? After all this was not for the first time she'd been insulted, surely she must've faced similar humiliations before, she should have been used to all this by now.

Shalini tugged her arm and told her to leave from here, both of them were turning around to go when nikhil seething in anger stood up trying to balance himself only to lash back," you who*e how dare you hit me?"

pragya's ears shot up and she looked over her shoulder, shalini continued to pull her out, she succeeded in controlling pragya but not somebody else who grabbed nikhil's collar and punched him hard.

Shalini held her head, she didn't know how to stop her husband who was beating the hell out of nikhil. She glanced at her father who too seemed furious seeing the way his son in law was tarnishing his image in public. A bruised and heavily bleeding nikhil folded his hands before abhi ," you're thrashing me for a bar dancer?" abhi pulled him up by holding his collars one more time and barked," this so called bar dancer stays in MY house."

He repeated the disgusting adjectives that nikhil had used for pragya and continued to reply while looking at shalini," and she's MY responsibility ..you rubbish one more word against her and I swear I'll kill you."

Shalini saw blood rising to his eyes, he meant every single word that he said and she feared that in his anger he might blurt out the truth that pragya was pregnant with his child, she left pragya's arm and ran to stop him. Surely pragya had been forced upon him by his wife but the fact couldn't be changed that even though she entered his life without his consent however now she was an integral part of it maybe for sometime but as long as she was he wouldn't let anybody disrespect her.

In this whole chaos the person because of whom all this had happened stood in a corner gaping at the man who was fighting for her honor. She definitely didn't expect him to stand up for her and too in public. She was hoping maybe shalini would like before but she was wrong, she was attempting to cover up the matter by taking her away, she didn't have the guts to acknowledge her in public but she didn't blame shalini, it was not an easy thing to do but what he did shocked her to the core.

He not only defended her but also openly accepted that a bar girl and prostitute stayed in the house of a respectable man like him. Astounded by his outburst she silently walked out of the hall to stroll in the garden.

Maybe today it was destined to spend most of her time out in the open. She sat on the grass and began plucking it ruthlessly, sometime ago she was so looking forward to attend this party but that creep ruined her moment. He must've spotted her in a bar otherwise how did he know what she did to earn a living, here posing himself as a saint whereas he must've behaved cheaply when visited the bar. Places like brothels and bars come into existence and flourished because of these so called reputed men. She crumbled the dry grass in her hand before throwing it away.

Suddenly she felt some movement beside her, she turned her neck and found abhi sitting next to her. She shifted on her spot and turned back again, what was he doing here?

" why taking out your anger on this grass?" he questioned calmly. Without replying she stood up to leave when he held her wrist and pulled her down, a shiver ran through her body.

" sit." he ordered. She kneeled down and sat again wondering what was wrong with him today? Why was he behaving so weirdly? He brought his other hand from behind that was holding a plate for her and kept it in front of her.

" eat." he said looking at the food, her surprised gaze shifted from the plate to his face, he brought dinner for her? how thoughtful of him! Tonight he was surprising her every second. She dropped her eyes and picked up a spoonful of rice. Taking it in her mouth it struck her and she asked him," you ate?" he nodded a yes, she knew how much he must've eaten, not more than 3-4 spoons. He kept on looking at her as she ate silently with her head lowered, she felt his gaze on herself and asked him slowly," you're not joining the party ?" it was strange that after handing her over the plate he was still sitting here. He shook his head in negation and replied," I hate this noise ."

She nodded her head in agreement and added," hmm you prefer being alone." His eyes stilled on her face when he heard her words, she'd spoken the truth, she'd always seen him alone then why was he staring at her as if she'd said something wrong.

" pragya nobody likes to be alone ... sometimes you're alone even in a crowd ..and sometimes you have just one person beside you who eliminates all your loneliness ."

She narrowed her eyes and wondered, what did he mean, that he was alone not out of choice but because he didn't have anybody to pull him out of his loneliness. Till now she'd believed that he enjoyed wallowing in his loneliness, shalini was definitely distant with him but he too never made an attempt to erase that distance, at least she'd never seen him make any effort from his side.

" at times silence speaks and conveys more than actual words." He continued turning his eyes away from her and stared into the darkness. She'd never seen him speak so much, his silence communicated with others although nobody understood it ever but she managed to somehow, however tonight he was voicing his thoughts and his words were deep and philosophical, the pain and honesty in them touched her heart.

" I never you could talk so much."

With his arms resting on his folded knees he smirked without turning towards her, she was right, even he didn't know why tonight he let his guard down before her. Maybe her honest, open and non judgmental attitude was beginning to grow on him, maybe he was getting comfortable around her. Whatever it was it didn't feel wrong.

There was pin drop silence he glanced at her, she was deeply engrossed in gazing at the sky above.

" searching for something ?"

" shooting star..they say while gazing at a shooting star if you wish for something it comes." There was an innocent gleam in her eyes as she told him.

" you believe in all this?" he asked in surprise.

" haan"

" so you got what you wished for ?"

she paused to think over his question, maybe till now she hadn't got what she'd desired otherwise her life would have been completely different but still there was no harm in wishing and hoping, was it? even if it required craning your neck for a long time.

After what seemed eons she finally spotted a shooting star and pointed her finger towards it.

" SAHAB ..see shooting star ..hurry , make a wish." She squealed in excitement.

" I don't believe in such stories ." As expected he rejected her idea, all this was too stupid and childish for him. Letting out a frustrated sigh she quickly covered his eyes with her right hand and her own with her left hand.

" uff ho ..wish something ." till then she murmured a quick wish in her mind, ' may sahab soon find true love in his life.'

He looked at her from the corner of his eye, her lips fluttered to make a wish, she was really innocent and angelic, he smiled and closed his eyes wishing,' may her wish come true .' Removing her hands she gave him a wide and satisfied smile.

He stood up on his feet and said," shall we get going ?" she nodded a yes and replied," but di is inside." he took out his cellphone and called up shalini," I'm in the parking lot..aa jao...yeah she's with me.". They both began walking towards the car .

The road that they were walking on was quite uneven, thrusting his hands in the pockets he kicked the small stone that came his way, for a moment pragya lost her balance and was about to stumble when he saved her by holding her shoulders. She let out a soft cry," aah." And clutched her stomach. He asked worriedly," it's hurting ?" his hand was about to press the hand that was holding her belly but stopped in the middle. Curling his fingers he moved his hand back, She gulped and replied slowly," no..i'm fine now."

The sudden jerk had triggered a pain in her belly. For the first time she saw concern flicker in his eyes, not for herself but for the baby that she was carrying. Till now he'd been reluctant to accept and express his emotions towards the baby. Why tonight his hidden and unexpressed feelings were coming out in the open he didn't know, he definitely felt for the baby, after all he/she was his own flesh and blood, for years like shalini he too craved to hold his child in his hands, he too had dreams of having a family but still the circumstances under which this child came into existence, disturbed him.

abhi went to the driving seat when shalini came out of the party and an elated pragya sat behind them. The evening though didn't start out well but definitely ended on a happy note. She still couldn't believe that the man who loathed the sight of her, who had left no opportunity to insult her and throw her out of his room if possible even out of his life had brought dinner for her, opened his heart out to her and now had begun to accept his child, it was awesome, in fact too good to be true! A smile lingered on her lips when she recalled how he'd backed her and protected her honor quite like the hero in 'maine pyar kiya' who had saved the heroine from the clutches of that monster when she was getting molested and had even fought for her, just like him. In the movie the couple had eventually fallen in love with each other, would the same happen between them too? Would their relationship (if there was any) change? Would their feelings grow deeper and intense? She questioned herself and glanced at him through the rear view mirror, his eyes caught hers, seeking solace and she blushed for the second time in the evening.

She dropped her gaze and slapped herself mentally, this was no fairy tale, all these things come true only in stories and movies, real life is completely different.

She kicked herself for thinking like that. Leaning her head against the window she closed her eyes and cleared her overworking mind, she reminded herself not to lose focus, some things were not meant to happen, all feelings didn't culminate into love, everyone was not fortunate to experience this emotion. Love was not meant for her, the sooner she understood and accepted the better it was for her.

Thanks for reading

Rose