Hello friends!
This is my first attempt on GHKPM forum. I am nervous about the content but hoping that it will be worth your time.
P.S. Flashback in Italics
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Is it easy?
Life moves on and you must keep moving with it.
Pakhi and Virat were grown up adults who have heard the saying too many times. But why was it that only one of the two was able to move ahead in their life while the other was left behind with nothing in her hands?
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Virat watched a smile slowly spread across her face as she read through the paper.
“Virat! Hum iss baar Andamans jaa rahe hai?” Sai asked impatiently.
“Ticket mei toh yahi likha hai… Padhna nahi ata kya?” He asked playfully.
“Eeeee!” She jumped and threw her arms around him, “Thank you so much, Virat! Aap ne meri yeh wish bhi poori kar di!! Aap world ke best husband ho!!”
“Kyuki mujhe world ki best Baiko mili hai ani tine majha abhimaan kela aahe!” Virat hugged her back, “Congratulations Sai, tumne apne college mei top karke apna aur apne Abbha ka sapna pura kiya hai. Mai sab ko garv se kahunga ki mai Dr. Sai Joshi ka pati hoon.”
“Tsk tsk! ACP Chavan, its Dr. Sai Joshi Chavan.”
“Jao jaake packing shuru kar lo… Humare paas sirf teen din hai.”
“Kya?! Aur shopping? Mere paas beach wear nahi hai, Virat!! Mujhe shopping ka time chahiye…” Sai pouted.
“Toh kal chali jana…” Sai smiled again and kept the tickets back into the drawer, “Aur suno…”
“Haa?”
“Woh jo Karishma ne tumhe anniversary gift diya tha… Woh bhi pack kar lena” Virat said naughtily and watched her eyes go wide in alarm.
“Virat!”
“Arrey, itne pyaar se diya tha usne, use toh karo…” Virat teased.
“Usne pyaar se diya tha ya apke mann mei fantasies jaag rahi hai, huh?” Sai narrowed her eyes accusingly.
Her husband jerked her closer and let his hands trace her curves, “Agar mai kahu ki fantasies jaag rahi hai toh?”
“Virat!” Her cheeks flushed red, “Woh nighty bohot choti hai…”
“Toh tumhe konsa sab ke samne pehna padega?” He playfully tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and whispered huskily, “Akele mei pehna hai… Mere samne… Room mei…”
“ACP Virat Chavan, koi apni zimmedari se aisi baatein karta hai kya?” Sai teased.
“Sai…” He whined, “Saari zindagi mujhe yeh sunna padega kya?”
She giggled, “Bilkul sunna padega! Koi zimmedari nibhana apse seekhe. Kitne pyaar se nibhate hai aap apni zimmedariyaan, apna farz…”
“Abhi dikhata hoon ki kaise nibhata hoon…” Before his wife could escape his arms, Virat quickly pushed her on the bed and trapped her under his weight.
Whichever words of protests were about to escape her mouth died down when his lips made contact with the sensitive spot at the base of her neck making her shiver with desire.
The conversation long forgotten, they wildly pulled their clothes off and drowned in the abyss of pleasure.
Life with this woman is constant roller-coaster ride, thought Virat, ever exciting and never stationary for long. Always moving forward.
It was so easy to move on.
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Pakhi had tiring day owing to her job and the household chores she carried out through the day, but sleep seemed to be miles away from her. Karishma was the last person to leave the kitchen while she boiled water for a cup of green tea before retiring to her room.
“Itni raat ko tum kya bane lagi?” She turned around and faced the man who seemed to be on her mind too often.
“Sai ke graduation ke party mei dinner bohot heavy ho gaya tha na, toh socha green tea piloon. Aap loge?” She asked despite knowing the answer.
“Nahi. Room mei jug khali tha, mai bas vahi bharne aya hoon.” Samrat moved away.
“Mujhe bol dete, mai leke -” Her words were left incomplete because her husband walked out paying no heed to her.
Could she even call him her husband?
Samrat returned home nearly two years ago. Turns out, he was never MIA. He had taken up charge at the border for a secret surveillance operation to get away from her. However, the time and distance spent without her wasn’t enough to forget the betrayal she had given him.
Within a week of his return, the entire Chavan clan had sensed the tension between Samrat, Virat and their beloved daughter-in-law Patralekha. One of those days, Samrat’s anger erupted with the family bearing witness to the showdown when he accused Virat for having an affair with her before they got married and insinuated that they were still continuing to remain unfaithful to Sai and him.
To say that she was embarrassed was an understatement. Samrat continued to vent his anger and expressed his sympathy towards Sai, who appeared to be unmoved by the turn of events.
Virat had been quick to deny those allegations and wasted no time before explaining the truth. For the first time, the Chavans had identified the look of fear on Virat Chavan’s face when Sai had wordlessly departed to her room.
Nobody knows what happened behind those closed doors, however the couple seemed to be normal after maintaining a day of indifferent behaviour. But nothing seemed to be normal between Samrat and Patralekha and everyone knew that.
Pakhi stood in the balcony clutching onto the steaming cup and stared blankly into the darkness of the night.
It resembled her life.
Dark and empty with silence of the uncertainty weighing heavy on her every relationship with the family.
The thought brought back the faint memory of a conversation she shared with Ashwini Mami at this very spot after Samrat left for another posting away from Nagpur soon after returning home from his MIA stint. Away from her.
***
“Hum intezaar karte reh jaate hai ki kismet koi ishara degi, aur issi intezaar mei saari umar beet jati hai.”
“Ashwini Mami, apko kuch chahiye tha?”
“Mere bete ki Khushi chahiye,” Mami responded cooly, “De sakti ho?”
“Virat toh khush hi hai, Mami. Mai aur kya du use?”
“Virat ki nahi, Samrat ki baat kar rahi hu, Patralekha.”
Pakhi gulped down her anxiety and decided to remain silence.
“Tumhari bechaini ko mujhse behtar koi nahi samajh sakta, Patralekha.” Ashwini took a seat on the sofa and patted on the space next to her, inviting Pakhi to sit with her.
“Pata hai, yeh balcony aur aasman gavah hai iss baat ka ki Ninad aur mere rishte mei utna hi andhera hai jitna andhera iss raat ke aasman mei hai. Iss balcony mei baith ke naa jane kitni raatein maine aansu baha ke kati hai.”
“Aap yeh sab mujhe kyu bata rahi hai, Mami? Aapki Bahu ko pata chalega toh use bura lagega.”
“Meri Bahu itni khokli nahi hai,” Ashwini reminded her, “Aur yeh mai tumhe issi liye bata rahi hoon kyu ki Sai kabhi nahi samjhegi ki Pati ka saath na milne ka dard kya hota hai. Bappa ne uski kismet mei Virat ka saath likha hai, woh kabhi akeli nahi padegi.”
It pinched to face the truth.
Sai would never know what it means to be casted aside by her husband. A part of her was grateful because Pakhi knew how painful it could be to live a lonely life despite being surrounded by people.
But the other part was envious.
Sai had what she wanted all along. The man she loved, the romance she wanted, the supportive mother-in-law and most importantly the security of knowing that she was never going to be alone.
“I am not here to prepare you to face a life full of misery and humiliation, Patralekha.” Gentle hands wiped those tears away from her cheek, “Main tumhe apni galtiya batane aayi hoon taki tum unhe naa dohrao. Fix your marriage before it is too late. Maine apni saari zindagi iss umeed mei guzar di ki ek din mera Rishta sambhal jayega. Lekin kuch karne ke bajaye mai Bappa ke ishare ka intezar karti reh gayi ki agar unki marzi hogi toh sab thik ho jayega...”
***
Pakhi started sobbing uncontrollably, “Then why is it so difficult for me? How does he get to have a second chance when I am denied to have the same!? How does he get to be happy when all I get is tear stained pillows?”
Wiping her tears away, she stormed towards Virat’s room to demand answers. How could she fix things with Samrat when she was still unable get over her mad love for his brother? She knew she was being unfair, petulant and ignorant but he said they were going to remain friends, right?
Pakhi had every right to question her friend. Staring at the closed door, she took a deep breathe to gather her wits.
And just before her fingers could knock on the door, her ears heard a noise that broke her resolve along with her already broken heart.
And when the noise was heard again, she knew unmistakably, it was a feminine moan belonging the wife of the friend she wanted to confront. And she was no kid to wonder why those sounds came through the closed bedroom door of a married couple.
With fresh tears rolling down her face, Patralekha Samrat Salunkhe walked into her bedroom only to see her husband asleep on the sofa.
A thought crossed her mind.
Was she the one being unfair to herself and her marriage?
Am I the one living in the world of delusions?
Was it that easy to move on?
--THE END--
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