The Best of Things
(RagLak, SwaSan) Fan Fiction Series
By Bubble
Chapter 31
Lakshya stood still like a rock that had furious waves washing over it. He didn't speak at all till Ragini finally tapered down, slumping on the floor, sobbing with her head on the bed. When she had finally quietened down, he went over and sat on the bed next to her. She waited for him to speak. He didn't.
She finally couldn't resist looking up.
He was looking wonderfully calm. "Ready to tell me the truth now?"
A look of utter fury crossed her face. She scrambled up, reached for her phone and searched for the number she wanted with unsteady hands. Lakshya got up and slid the phone quickly out of her hands.
"Lakshya!" she said, outraged.
"Whom are you calling? Your Daadi? So that she can rush over and support you? So that she can come over and tell you that what you've done, what you're doing is perfectly right?"
"Yes!" she hissed, "my Daadi, so that she can see how I'm treated!"
"Don't you think your Daadi has done enough damage in your life already, that you want to let her in again?" He asked with a bitter twist to his lips. "Do you think her upbringing of you was a small offence against you? If you knew what was good for you, you wouldn't let her shadow cross yours again, Ragini."
He held out her phone to her. "I don't want that woman in this house, in our lives, interfering between us. I'm requesting you to have the decency to keep this between us. I don't want you to phone her tonight. If you do..."
"If I do?!" she asked, taking the phone back, chest heaving in agitation.
"This marriage is over," he said flatly.
She recoiled in shock. "Do you have any idea what you're saying? So easily said... this marriage is over!! Are you going to hold that threat over me every time I don't listen to you?"
"No. But we come to crisis points at some junctions of our lives. Today, you've lied to me. And to save yourself from my questions, you are bringing in support in the form of a woman who has ruined you, and who will ruin us and everything that we want to build. I can take you on, take us forward to a life with... what was that we promised each other? ... a life with warmth, harmony, respect and mutual affection, wasn't it?"
She nodded, earnest now, and a little scared.
He continued, "I can take you there, if you're willing, and if you help me. But I can't take you AND your Daadi there. Drop her, drop her influence on your life, forget what she's taught you... and remember what you were like... we have some hope. Insist on bringing her in, we have none."
Her lips twisted. "Are you on a mahaan noble mission to redeem me, Lakshya? Save me from myself?" She was bitingly sarcastic.
He sighed, looking suddenly a little defeated. "I did dream of it, Ragini... but on days like this, I'm not that ambitious. My goal right now is more modest: ki tum kam se kam iss kaabil ho jao, ke mai tumhare saath zindagi bardasht kar sakoon!"
That caught her like a whiplash. He wanted her to be just about bearable, so that he could tolerate... no, suffer... a life with her! Tears stung.
He turned away, and went to the cupboard and reached for the bag that he had unpacked only yesterday. He quickly sorted a few things and put them in neatly. She watched him numbly.
"Yeh kya kar rahen hai aap?" she asked finally.
"I need to go," he answered, "Mera dum ghut raha hai."
She watched him for a few minutes. "How long will you be gone?"
He shook his head, "I don't know."
He slung his bag on his shoulder, grabbed his wallet and car keys and left, leaving the door swinging slightly.