Thread 2-Celebration of Fates:RagNa FF, Part-44,Page-100, 21/02 - Page 32

PART-32

Early morning the next day, doorbell of the Jadhav household rang. The little commotion downstairs their building and outside their apartment had already told Kamla that it was something or someone important. Though she already knew who it was; she half-smiled to herself, it was Raghav. Her eyes met Pakhya's, before they both turned to see a nervous yet excited Kalpi. Both of them could see that Kalpi was eager to meet Raghav, yet was hesitant because of the circumstances under which their engagement was announced.

"Main dekhta hoon Aai" (I will go and check Aai) said Pakhya. But he stopped when Kamla's hand pressed his shoulder. "Tu ruk jaa Pakhya, ye darwaaza toh mai hi kholungi" (You leave it Pakhya, this door will be opened by me only) she said, before turning to look towards a nervous Kalpi once.

****************************************************

Flipping the keys of his car in his index finger, Raghav stood outside the front door of Jadhavs' apartment. It wasn't too long before he had arrived here, yet he was already feeling the irritation rise within him. "So nosy!" he thought while shaking his head, looking at the little built-up of morning crowd around him.

If he was honest with himself it was not just the group of overtly curious neighbours who were bothering him. It was something else too; it was about his Kamla Maa. Since the time of the newspaper incident, he had little chance of talking properly with Kamla Maa. Though the day before when he had come here to inform Kalpi about the newspaper incident, he had informed Kamla also about the same. But their interaction was limited to the tears and worry in his Kamla Maa's eyes; the resulting guilt in his own heart; and then his efforts to assure Kamla that he will set everything right. "Please trust me Kamla Maa. I will not let any trouble befall Kalpi. I will protect her, till my last breath. I, I love her Kamla Maa" he'd told Kamla confessing his true feelings for Kalpi for the first time before anyone.

He was grateful though that he'd sent a tearful and a guilty Kalpi like himself, to her room then. This issue of broken trust and worry was between a teacher and a student; between a mother-like-figure and a man who'd always treated that woman at par with his own mother. Besides, he was not yet ready to tell Kalpi about it, not after what he had decided was best for them both, more specifically for Kalpana.

Unable to look into Kamla's eyes, Raghav had bowed down his head in shame, as Kamla sat shedding tears in disbelief. He was on his knees, sitting in front of Kamla, his hands on her knees as he tried to win back some of the old trust. It was then that he'd felt one of Kamla's shaking hands on his head, blessing him. Surprised, he'd looked up, "I always trusted you Raghav my son. I always trusted you, yet I am a daughter's mother also. You must know for a single mother how hard it is to fight with society for the sake of her children. I just do not want my Kalpi to get hurt; I cannot see anyone pointing out fingers at her. I have always seen you as my son-in-law Raghav. I always knew how much you both love each other. But this is not what I had envisioned ever" saying so Kamla had broken down.

Surprised and stifling a gulp, Raghav had let some of his own tears flow. Shaking from within, he had managed to hold Kamla's hand in assurance. "I understand Kamla Maa; and I am sorry. This is not Kalpi's fault; and I promise that I will bring back Kalpi's dignity, I promise" he'd told Kamla. Kamla had looked at Raghav without saying a word for another one minute or two, before nodding her head in a yes. "I believe you Raghav; and I know only you can bring back Kalpi's happiness" she'd assured Raghav.

But that was the end of the conversation between them the day before. Even when he had dropped Kalpi to her doorstep, he had not talked to Kamla. It was in the morning that Gauri had told him about Kamla's invitation to Raghav at breakfast. He had immediately understood that it was about time, his Kamla Maa and he had a little talk in peace. So, here he was standing and shaking at the doorsteps of a lady he respected the most, like his own mother Gauri. Praying that his Kamla Maa forgives him, Raghav took a deep breath now just when Kamla opened the door.

Raghav's breaths hitched as he took in Kamla's stern face. "Come in" she said and Raghav wordlessly followed her inside. When Kamla's back was to him, he quickly scanned the room and beyond trying to see any sign of Kalpi. He could not help himself. Just then Kamla turned and he became attentive. She kept looking unblinkingly at Raghav, giving no sign whatsoever what was going on in her brain.

"I forgive you" she said suddenly. Raghav's eyes widened and he gasped. "You forgave me?" he asked more in shock. Kamla smiled and held Raghav's hand, "Yes beta, I forgive you. I was and still am not very happy with the way these things took turn. But you gave my Kalpi's dignity back, you gave her smile back. And I know you were and you are the best person whom I can still trust when it comes to protecting Kalpi. I accept you as my son-in-law Raghav. Officially welcome to the family" she said and affectionately caressed his head.

A wide smile spread on his face and he bowed down to touch Kamla's feet. "Thank You Kamla Maa" he said, before Pakhya joined in the moment. "This is not fair, future-Jijaji" he said teasing Raghav. "You two are celebrating alone, me and Kalpi also want to join" Pakhya said and dragged in a shyly smiling Kalpi inside the living room. He gave a brotherly hug to Raghav; before draping his both arms over Kalpi and Raghav's shoulders. "I am very happy today Aai, my sister got the best match in the world" he told Kamla, while Kalpi and Raghav exchanged fleeting glances.

"Yes Pakhya, I know" Kamla replied and the four people had a group hug, before Kamla broke it. "Okay, that's enough of tears. Now is the time of celebrations and I want to start it by feeding my favourite student and future son-in-law with my own hands" she said and holding Raghav's hands took him to the dining room; making way to his first meal as the future son-in-law of the house.

****************************************************

Kalpi kept looking Raghav's way from the corner of her eyes; she could sense some difference in his body language. He seemed stiff and his face was stern, hiding away any and every thought crossing his mind. "What happened?" she wondered, looking at him again. "Raghav?" she asked and saw a slight movement of his fingers on the steering wheel of car.

He relaxed and looked towards Kalpi; his eyes were soft for her. But he sighed and said, "It's nothing Kalpi. It's just work, too much work" he mumbled, looking away from her again. Howsoever he attempted hard to hide his true emotions and thoughts from Kalpi, he knew that he was going to have a tough time. For the umpteenth time that morning, Raghav wished that he'd not forgotten his shades at home. At least his eyes would have remained hidden then, raising the walls around him somewhat higher. He did not want Kalpi to see through him, "Not now; and maybe not ever" he fought back a few tears.

As far as he was concerned, he did not deserve Kalpana. In fact he had never deserved a pure, innocent and beautiful girl like Kalpi. But his overwhelming desire to protect Kalpi always, always had the better of him. Whenever he had attempted to remain away from her, this desire to protect her had overpowered any other thought or feeling he had for Kalpi. Even when he thought that they both hated each other, that they both would never see eye to eye; or when long-long ago, his ego had not let him enjoy Kalpana's smart mind, this wish to protect Kalpi had always come in-between.

Maybe he was just too much habituated of protecting her; or maybe both their mothers' commands had a young Raghav's mind conditioned too well. "Or maybe I do not want to accept that Kalpi was the only girl ever for Raghav Singhania. That only Kalpana Jadhav would ever be able to match Raghav Singhania in every respect" he sighed unconsciously and Kalpi noted it. But he recovered soon; he did not want Kalpi to know anything now.

Neither the fact how much he loved her, and that he will always be her protector; nor the thoughts making him berserk since the day before. Kalpi would only see what he wants her to see. "Yes that is the plan" he thought to himself, confident and sure now that it is all for a good cause; that it will surely work.

True that he had and still was giving a lot of thought to his decision. He wondered if Kalpi would realize one day that it was not easy for him; it never could be. To let go of your life is never easy after all, but then he wanted his life to be happy always. But as fate would have it, it would be one of the toughest tests of his life to not allow Kalpi to know, how much she affects him. Like right now, when his fiancee had been looking at him unblinkingly since past almost two minutes. Her beautiful gaze on his face made him restless, coaxing him to kiss Kalpi's eyes softly and embrace her. His hold on the steering wheel tightened as they took a left turn, only a few meters away from their studio now.

"What?" he asked instead turning his face briefly to Kalpi; his eyes soft but face stern, voice still carrying a hint of care for her. "You seem to be different" she said softly surprising Raghav.

Looking away and clearing his throat first, Raghav looked towards Kalpi again. He did not reply, instead just held Kalpi's hand and squeezed it before pressing his lips gently to her hand. They'd reached the studio by then, but Raghav showed no signs of leaving the car. Sighing he rested his head briefly back on the headrest before looking back at Kalpi again. "We caught the culprit, who'd leaked our...our photo" he let out finally, after a silence of few seconds.

Kalpi's eyes widened, "Who is it Raghav?" her eyes carrying a mixture of anger and hurt. "Damn it, it is so difficult" Raghav thought, knowing at this moment "his honeybee" needs him. There is no way he would betray that trust she had in him, he would give the support to her always. Whether visibly or discreetly, but always for sure. Wordlessly, he stretched his arms and Kalpi immediately leaned her body towards Raghav. His arms draped around Kalpi's shoulders to support her, and he placed a soft kiss on the side of her head.

"It is one of the servants in the Singhania Mansion. He was bribed a hefty amount by one of the online media portals to give some masala coverage on one of the most popular on-screen Jodis. But he has been punished, shown his true place now. You don't need to worry yourself over him now" Raghav told Kalpi, caressing her hair. "What?" Kalpi asked in shock still in Raghav's arms, "but why would he betray you?"

"Apparently he is into the habit of drugs and he needed money for that. Seems a big security lapse is there. So I fired my security head also" Raghav answered bitterly. "She does not need to know about the rest of my actions" Raghav thought, but Kalpi wasn't about to keep silent. "Raghav?" she asked softly.

"Hmm?" he replied lazily, softly caressing Kalpi's shoulders, fighting his own inner battle for allowing his arms to leave Kalpana. "What else did you do? With that servant and that site?" she asked and Raghav pressed his lips. "That man is in jail now; and that media site is facing a defamation case with a claim of damages amounting to a few crores" Raghav supplied to Kalpi in a low voice, without revealing the exact amount and heard Kalpi gasp. Breaking the hug she watched Raghav with widened eyes. Touching his cheek she asked, "You did all this for me?"

She waited for an answer from Raghav again, but once again she was met with silence. "Her Raghav" kept looking at her without uttering a single word. Then he spoke, "We're getting late, let's go" he said, getting out of the car. "What?" Kalpi looked after Raghav in utter disbelief thinking, "There is definitely something wrong with him. I need to find out soon."

Raghav waited for Kalpi to join him before going inside hand in hand with her. "I am sorry Kalpi. I cannot tell you, I don't want to tell you that I care for you" he thought.

****************************************************

It was late night and Raghav was at home now; it was a tough day for him. "I almost lost it, how could I! I need to have some more control over myself, over my emotions" he thought remembering the instance of that morning. "But it is so difficult to not give her the comfort she needs, when I need to. Yet, I cannot repeat this mistake again, and I will not. Kalpi deserves someone better than me, she deserves happiness. Whenever my name gets attached with her life too closely, I end up hurting her; even if without my knowledge. Maybe it is in my fate that whenever I try to come closer to her, something happens which affects my honeybee's life"; "No, I cannot let that happen. I cannot let my fate affect or influence my honeybee's fate in a hurtful way again. She is so pure and beautiful; she does not deserve such pains. Eight years ago when I tried to change our relation; when I tried to come closer to her, I was the reason behind the pain she felt. Had I not been a part of our life, who knows maybe Nisha would not have been so jealous of Kalpi? Who knows what more venomous thoughts she was harbouring. And now, once again when we were about to cross that line of distance Kalpi was the one to get hurt again. This time also because of me; I would not let those beautiful eyes cry because of me. I would not let the unhappiness in my fate rub on her fate" Raghav thought helplessly, wiping the unchecked tears on his cheeks.

Inside his room, he could let go of that control, and show his most vulnerable side to the walls of his room. After all these walls were his biggest support for the duration of eight years, he could safely rely on them. Here, he could make himself understand one more thing, "My own selfish desires to see and feel Kalpana always by my side have made Kalpi unhappy always. My own selfish desires have always overpowered Kalpana's happiness. I cannot afford to be and I would not be selfish yet again; I will choose Kalpana's happiness this time. Maybe the happiness which Kalpi will get without me one day will be long-lasting in a true sense." Maybe one day "his honeybee" will get over him, or worse, "Maybe she will forget me?" he asked himself, unable to bear just the thought of it.

"No, this time I will be stronger" he decided and wiped his tears with determination. "Tomorrow I will tell Kalpi about the operative and other important part of my decision. At the first good opportunity, I will let Kalpi know that we will break this engagement after about ten months. That much period is enough for the people to not be suspicious over it" he thought.

Note: Be ready for role reversal, Kalpi flirting with Raghav and manofying him. ☺️

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction using characters from the show "Ek Mutthi Aasmaan" on "Zee TV". The characters are owned by creators and owners of the show.