Sweater Weather
It had been a year since Shravan came back. A year since that party. A year since that game of revenge. A lot had changed. A lot had happened. And yet , they were even further away from each other than they were at that point , 10 steps behind the 'back to the square one'. No wait , make that a 100.
And now , they were married. Sumo had always dreamed of this day. Always dreamed of the big fat traditional Indian wedding , with more colours than her room had the capacity to accommodate , flowers , beautiful sarees and lehengas , tinkling bangles and jhumkas , mehendi , haldi , dancing and food. Lots and lots of food. All of his favourite dishes. Them wearing colour coordinated outfits. In her head , it was always him. Over the years , her tastes had changed , she had wanted different things for her wedding as years passed by. Except for one constant. Him . And the menu - which was also for him. And now that she had exactly what she had dreamed of for a decade , she got it in exchange of a nightmare. Not love.
She thought back to the day she was supposed to get married to Aditya , and the thought of what had followed still made her want to scratch her skin off , still spread shivers of disgust and shame through the very core of her being , still made her want to empty her guts out. And then she remembered. How Shravan had broken the door , and then the events that had followed , both Aditya and Shravan disheveled and bruised , Aditya more than Shravan. She still remembered that warmth that had rushed through her body as she hugged him , hanging onto him for life , sobbing her heart out. She remembered the look Shravan had given her , softened eyes pleading her to stop crying , the helplessness pooling in his eyes , and then the fierce anger at Aditya that had replaced the softness for her.
He had almost killed him , as she stood there, rooted to the ground , his coat securely wrapped around her.
"Haath kaise lagaya Sumo ko ?"
His words kept ringing in her ears. She didn't realize when everyone started screaming at him to stop , panicking , at his uncontrollable fury. She didn't realize when they were separated by Lalaji and Ramnath , Aditya was dragged away by his mother before he made an even bigger scene throwing curses at Sumo and Shravan , or worse , got killed.
Manju mami had been shocked , like everyone around her. A few tears had escaped her eyes too , but she was also the first one to recover , the first one to realize what this would mean to the society , how it would tarnish the family's image forever. As the realization sunk in , she let out a loud cry , "Heyy bhagwan ! Ye sab kya ho gaya , bechari Suman , iski toh kismat hi phooti hai. Pata nahi , iske maa baap ne kya kya gunah kiye the jiski saza ab yeh bhugat rahi hai.."
She was going to continue with her rant, and it would become crueler with every word she uttered , but stopped when Nanu had given her the look. Ofcourse , what would have stopped anyone else only made her pause. For a mere second before she continued again. "Who will marry this girl now ? Already she is an orphan , and now this. No one is going to marry you Suman. He was going to be your husband anyway , what was the need for all this drama ?"
That was it. Nanu looked like someone had slapped him , Shravan looked downright furious and disgusted at her words.And Suman felt nothing. She felt as if her heart had stopped. She could not breathe. She could not believe her ears , her eyes. She felt her blood pounding in her ears, Mamiji's words ringing in her ears , her dead parent's insult pricking her heart , cutting her deep , like never before. Ramnath uncle tried to calm Nanu down , telling him they would find the best guy for Suman but Nanu was not taking any of the false encouragement. And when everyone was done deciding what was to be done with the unfortunate lady in question , Mamaji lost his patience and commanded Mamiji to get to her room . She was just about to leave muttering incoherently , " I will marry Suman" ,Shravan spoke up . Eyes red-rimmed and face set in determination , he repeated , "I will marry Suman. She will be my wife. No one will ever dare call her an orphan again." He said giving Mami a pointed look.Ramnath uncle was shocked. Nanu looked relieved. And happy. Everyone else just looked hopeful.
Nanu came up to her , made her sit on the sit on the sofa , and cupped her face , " I am so sorry Suman. I was about to get you married to that man , I am so so sorry. The last time I pressurized you , but this time , only whatever you wish will happen."
"Is this what you want Nanu ? Will this make you happy ?"
He nodded , " I agree. I will marry Shravan."
She looked up at him , he was looking at her, intense eyes , face set in stone.
Everything after that was a blur.
She knew Shravan had married her out of pity , but it was more to her than that. It was her dream come true , in a very twisted way.
It had been a week since that day. They were cordial with each other , hyper aware of each other , yet they didn't get around to talking about what was to be done. Where to now ? They slept together on the same bed at the extreme ends , woke up , went to work , came back , had dinner with the family and then went up to their room , went up to the air charged with awkwardness and electricity.
He kept his distance from her , she had noticed the guilty look he would give her , and the look of longing in his eyes when he thought she wasn't paying any attention to him. But why ? Why did he have to look so damn guilty ? She was done waiting for him to come up to her. She was going to go to him. As soon as he came back from work. Today , they would talk. She tightend her shawl around her as the cold breeze hit her. February. Sweater weather. Her favourite time of the year.She heard his car pull up and a small smile came upon her face as she waited in anticipation , a bundle of nerves.
"Hi. How was your day ?" She asked him , giving him a bright smile. Shravan looked taken aback , she was smiling at him, that beautiful smile of hers and he was speechless for a moment.
"It was good. What did you do today ?" He asked slowly , unsure of what was going on.
"Oh nothing much , I arranged the cupboard , and cleaned up the room a bit. You are so messy , Shravan"
His eyes moved to the cupboard, she had finally taken her clothes out of the suitcases and arranged them next to his. She had also neatly arranged his books and the rest of his things.
He could not believe his ears. "You did not go to PCT ?"
"Oh I am not going to go for a week , I just got married , I deserve a break." She smiled at him.
"What has gotten into her today ? What is she doing ?" He muttered , not realizing she had heard him.
"Oh , I am just talking to my husband." He looked down in embarrassment and then looked up at her. She took his hands in hers and asked , "What are we doing ? We are married now. We can't live like this forever."
And then that guilty look was back in his eyes. How was he going to tell her ? But he had to. He refused to look at her. "You have no idea what I have done"
"You saved me from a nightmare"
"I was the one who pushed you into it in the first place"
Her eyes widened and her forehead creased in confusion. What was he talking about ?
She looked up at him , he took her hands in his , "I am so sorry. I didn't know he would do that. I was just so" He paused and looked at her , and continued. Told her everything , how he had walked up to Aditya and told him all those things.
Suman looked disappointed. "I didn't expect that from you" , her voice cracked and eyes teared up.
"I was really jealous and then when Nirmala Ahuja asked me to stay away from her son , she said I was standing in the way of her son's happiness , her son ," he let out a sacrcastic laugh, "who am I then Sumo ? I could not control my anger and I didn't even realize what I had done until it was too late. I am so very sorry." A tear escaped his eyes and fell on their conjoined hands.
Her heart broke for him. Yes , she was angry and disappointed , but his pain was far more than hers. And now that she was with him , she didn't want him living life sad and disappointed , feeling lonely and lost. No , she would set things straight.
"So you married me out of guilt"
"NO!" Shravan said immediately , "I am angry at myself for what I did , I can't forgive myself , but I did not marry you of guilt. Or pity. I married you because I wanted to."
She let out a sigh , relieved.
"I don't want you feeling guilty anymore. I want you to forgive yourself. And move on. With me. However this may have happened , I am glad I got married to you."
"Friends ?" She offered him a handshake and a bright smile.
"Spouses ?" He asked back and opened his arms for a hug , unsure of himself.
She fell into his arms , hugging him tight and whispered "Spouses for life"
They both smiled, feeling light and happy. Truly happy. After a long time.
The last sweater weather had brought Shravan back in her life after ten long years , and this time , it had brought them to each other , to spend the rest of their lives together.
Please leave your comments. Also , I swear this was supposed to be short considering it was my first time writing. But when I started writing ,I could not stop myself hehe. I feel like I accomplished something in life now that i wrote something for ShraMan 😳
3 More OSes lined up , just have a rough idea. Need to work on them. One every Friday , hopefully !😃
So , I finally learnt how to post links to the other parts ! 😳
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
