The clock struck 6:45 pm. 'fifteen minutes to go', her mind told her. She couldn't help herself but sigh. Her sigh disturbed his sleep. She held his left arm to calm him down. The lines of worry on his forehead immediately disappeared.
'Such a kid he is', she thought while smiling.
It was her daily routine; she would spare fifteen minutes of her sleep just to get a glimpse of her sleeping baby. For the whole world, he was Veeranshu Singhania but for her, he was her baby. Bani Sharma's baby. She was known as Mrs. Bani Jay Mathur. Her entitlement to SHARMA was long gone and since last three years, she was Bani Jay Mathur. Then Veeranshu Singhania came in her life. Veeranshu Singhania, a famous hotelier, a hot and charming bachelor who fell for Bani the moment he saw her. Just a glimpse of her and he knew, she was his destiny. For him, she was his sweetheart, Bani Sharma and not Bani Jay Mathur.
Bani was an orphan and the Sharma's adopted her. It was Durga Sharma, Bani's foster grandmother who brought her from the streets of Kolkata. Durga Sharma's son, Aravind Sharma and Priya Sharma never liked Bani much. For them, Bani was a liability. When Bani met Jay, they both fell in love and got married but after one year, things changed. Jay's junior got promoted to a much higher position which he thought he should deserve. Since then, he drowned himself into alcohol and blamed Bani for his misery. He vented out his anger on Bani, berated her, abused her every evening and the next morning, he cursed himself. He blamed alcohol for his misdeeds and promised Bani to never commit that mistake but he did. Every single day. Bani never opposed him because Jay played his cards well.
Bani always supported him and never blamed him for his misdeeds. She always thought that her Jay will come back to her but she was wrong. Jay would never feel sorry. He enjoyed Bani's miserable state. For two years, he maintained his façade and then, one day when Bani had enough of his wrong doings, she ran into Veer's arms.
The alarm rang again at 7 pm and this time, Veer opened his eyes. His eyes witnessed his universe, Bani. She was smiling while caressing his hairs. He woke up from her lap and looked at her.
"Sweetheart, you know every day I wake up at this time to see your smiling face but this pains me also. Why you have to go Bani. This separation, I cannot tolerate."
"Veer, we had this conversation right. We are just like two parallel tracks; we can never be together."
"Bani, we are each other's destiny. The stars have conspired against us. We are meant to be together."
Bani knew there was no point in arguing with Veer so she just smiled at him and said," Veer, we are getting late. "
Veer sighed and nodded. "I will drop you."
This was their regular routine. Bani worked as a baker in a bakery shop and she used to leave the store exactly at 5 pm. From 5 to 7, Bani used to stay with Veer.
Veer would stay in his Ford Mustang waiting for her and she used to meet him with a pastry for him every day. For the two hours, they were Bani and Veer, detached from the worldly entitlements, away from everyone with each other. They talked endlessly. Veer used to take her for some long drives and Bani liked it, a lot. After 6:00 pm, Veer would sleep on her lap and she would caress his hairs. At 6:45, she would wake up and admire her Adonis. All this started when Bani was asked to bake a cake for Tapish's birthday, Tapish Singhania, Veer's elder brother whom he loved the most. Veer himself had come to take the cake and there he saw Bani. Veer never touched her without her permission but he managed to kiss her soul. He touched her soul, kissed it and then owned it.
Veer dropped Bani near her house and bid her goodbye. He looked at her retreating figure and smiled. He clearly remembered the day Bani ran into his arms. Bani never showed her affection but her eyes said it all. Veer chased her for good four months even after knowing she is married but Bani never said anything to him. Her eyes always searched for him but she kept mum until one day, she called him crying in the middle of night.
"Come outside my house please", she managed to whisper. Veer ran like a mad man for his love. His heart pained looking at her like that. Her eyes held sadness, pain, anger. Bani's lip was bruised and her head had a wound which turned purple black. Veer was standing two steps away from him. She took two steps forward and hugged him. She clutched his jacket tightly and let her tears flow. Hesitantly, he placed his arms on her back and caressed her. That day, Bani realized that she loves him, indeed she does.
Five months passed and Veer Bani continued meeting each other. Two hours which they spent which each other was enough to keep them happy. Bani knew that Veer wanted to marry her but she was worried for Veer's family, whether they would accept a married woman as their daughter-in-law? According to her, she was a broken bird with chopped wings. She thought that Jay rescued her from the ill-treatment of her foster parents but instead, he made her life a hell. That day was no less. Jay again tried to abuse her but this time, it was different.
Just when Bani reached her home, she was greeted by a slap.
She held her right cheek and looked at Jay accusingly.
"Jaan, where were you?"
Bani shivered listening the endearment from Jay's mouth. That word, which made her happy once was now the reason of her fear. She looked at the clock hung on the wall. It was 8:00 pm. She was late today due to traffic, Veer was also worried for her but she assured him that nothing would go wrong but here, everything was wrong.
"Jay, the traffic was there. I am sorry."
"Jaan, don't be sorry. I was worried for you. Well, you look beautiful, heavenly sent."
Jay tried touching her lips but Bani moved away.
"I am tired Jay. Please."
Jay arched his eyebrows. His Bani never opposed him but since few months, she was staying away from him, whenever he tried coming near to her, she would stop him or make some excuses. He moved towards her and sniffed her neck.
"I could smell a man's touch on you. What are you doing behind my back Jaan?"
Bani looked at him with shock written on her face. This was not the Jay she loved.
"Such a worthless person you are. You are nothing but an orphan. I took pity on you and married you so that you can fulfill my needs, and you are cheating me behind my back. Who is the man, where he touched you? You slept with him? That pig."
Bani couldn't think anything and then she slapped him.
"Not a word Jay Mathur. Not a word against my Veer."
"Oh! So, you admit you were cheating me, such an ungrateful woman you are. Tell me now, what have you done with him and how many times?"
Bani smirked.
"Don't give me that smirk Bani."
"Or what else, what you will do. Slap me? Beat me? Abuse me? Let me tell you Jay, you don't own me. You want to know what I did with Veer; I will tell you. I bare my heart to him. I gave him my soul; he didn't even kiss me but he loves me and will love me forever."
Bani took her bag and opened the main door of the house.
"Where you are going Bani? To that Veer of yours? Remember nothing lasts forever."
Bani turned back at Jay.
"Yes, you are right. Nothing lasts forever. So, you and me are no more. Veer and I, it is destiny."
With that, Bani moved out of her house. And for the first time in three years, she felt like a free bird. Her mind immediately moved towards Veer.
"I must call him", she mumbled.
She went towards the street of her house while dialing Veer's number.
"Hello Veer."
Her steps halted as she saw Veer stood in front of her with his Ford.
"You are here."
Bani managed to speak. It was the same place where she left him twenty minutes ago.
"I always wait here Bani for half an hour. I knew that one day, you would come here and we will go together into our beautiful world, so I wait for you. Everyday. And today, you are here."
Bani ran into Veer's arms and hugged him tight.
"Take me Veer, take me to your world. I don't want to stay here; I want to be Bani's Veer. Just take me."
"Yeah! Bani. I will. We both will go to our beautiful world."
Bani broke the hug and held his hands while looking at him.
"I love you Veer."
Veer's mind was halted. Bani confessed her love to him.
He managed to speak," I can't live without you Bani. I love you."
With that, they hugged each other. Tears flowing from there eyes. That night, Bani took a leap of faith and Veer got his love. That night, Jay lost the most precious gem of his life."
WORD COUNT:- 1562 WORDS.
Another one shot on VANI. This was on my mind since many days and hence, it is here. Do tell me the reviews. Please like and comment about this one shot.
Also, if you have any requests for one shots(specifically for VANI), feel free to say. I will definitely write.
Thank You
Isha.
Anupamaa
CID
