Raghav was feeling content today... he had extracted his revenge on Saree ka dukaan, humiliated her just like his amma and sister had been. It was a perfect tit for tat, executed flawlessly. He was drinking, he was happy.
He... was happy, wasn't he? That proud little feeling he got in his chest everytime he defeated an enemy... that feeling was why he enjoyed defeating them in the first place! But this time, for some reason... the feeling wasn't coming to him. He wondered what was wrong. Was it because he wasn't celebrating enough?
"Pfft... obviously." He muttered. "Champagne ke bina bhi koi celebration hota hai?"
He made his way over, opened a bottle from his vintage collection and poured himself a glass. He swirled it over, remembering how he had done the same thing while waiting for her to read through the papers... the papers that were to bring about her doom. The first step of his carefully laid out plan.
He remembered her face when he had made the deal to her. He had buttered her up smoothly, made her let down her guard with his praises and compliments. He could see that face even now... she seemed so genuinely happy, like a child being offered candy. Her confidence seemed to have taken a boost, and he'd told her as much.
The glowing face in front of him suddenly got replaced by an ashen one. It belonged to the same woman, but this one just had her world crash down on her... by the same man whose compliments had made her smile mere hours ago. That smile was no longer on her face, instead her eyes were shedding tears. Her calm composure was gone, replaced by a frantic desperation. She could see the storm now, threatening to destroy everything in her life, and she was fighting with all her strength to try and stop it. She cried and wept and begged to be heard by her family, but in vain. At one point, her eyes stopped pleading and turned to him, cold.
She had realised. She was fighting a losing battle. A mouse caught in the claws of the eagle, sharp and merciless. There was no way she could save herself.
He had left then, telling himself his job was done. He didn't have to stand there and face those hateful eyes of hers. He felt an urgency to get away from them, from her, from the silent accusations she was throwing his way.
She was right, of course. He was an eagle, a hunter on a mission, and he had planned every step to destroy his prey. It was proper revenge for the pain and humiliation his family had to go through. He had no regrets about it.
"But then, main khush kyun nahi hai!" he shouted in frustration, throwing away his glass. It had been bothering him all the way back home from Deshmukh Niwas. He did NOT feel happy. He did NOT feel satisfied. He did NOT enjoy her look of defeat. And he sure as hell did NOT feel like celebrating. He did everything perfectly... then why did nothing feel right?
"Ugh, main so jaata hai. Acche se neend ayega to dimaag bhi track pe aa jayega karke."
A few minutes later, Raghav realised that even sleep was eluding him tonight. All he could see were flashes of her. Her stepping into his house, throwing him attitude, lecturing him, challenging him, taunting him. She always walked around like she owned the place, her head held high, a spark in her eyes.
Her eyes. He always stopped at her eyes. They spoke in a language of their own, revealing everything that she kept hidden inside — her fears, her pain, her embarrassment, nervousness, hesitation. He could read them clear as day, and he loved to. They were beautiful eyes, the best feature of her stupid face. Whenever she opened her garbage can of a mouth to spew some nonsense, it was her eyes he looked at. They always gave him the true message, much clearer and quicker than her words did.
And today... her eyes conveyed disappointment. Hurt. Pain. Disbelief. And a cold, silent fury. She had been played by him, his shrewdness taking advantage of her naivety yet again. She was about to lose everything she cared about, and it had all been orchestrated by him.
His own eyes flew open in frustration. He sat up, tossing away his covers and punching the bed. "Tera problem kya hai Saree ka dukaan? Kabhi bhi mereko chain se jeene nahi deta tum! Tumne kiya tha na ye badle ka shuruaat? Mere behen ke saath wo sab tune kiya tha! All I did was end the game.. bola tha na tumko? Ab sab kuch khatam! Tum apne raaste aur main apne raaste! Phir kaiko phir se pareshaan karne aa gaya tum?"
He could still see her in front of him, piercing him with those damned eyes.
Temper rising, he roared, "Saree ka dukaan, sunai nahi deta? JAO YAHAAN SE!" He grabbed a pillow and threw it at her with all his force — it bounced off and hit a nearby vase, shattering it. "Maine." Another pillow. "Kaha." Another. "JAO!" He finished off by throwing his alarm clock.
The commotion reached the ears of Farhad, who immediately came rushing up to see what the matter was. The room was a concerning sight to behold. The mirror was shattered, there were vases and antiques lying broken on the floor, along with several pillows and an alarm clock that had somehow started ringing. Anna's own bed was in a mess too. It looked like a storm had passed through here.
Farhad had been utterly disappointed with his Anna today. He respected Pallavi ji a lot, and to see the way Anna wrecked up her life... it had been painful to watch, even more painful to be a part of. He would defend his Anna to the gates of hell, but for the first time, he was strongly against his actions. Anna never made any innocent suffer, it was a strict rule he followed. He couldn't believe he'd broken his own rule, that too with Pallavi ji! One glance at her would let anyone know about her sense of dignity. How could his Anna — the man who saw through people in minutes — not have seen it? Farhad was too ashamed to even meet her eyes today. While coming upstairs, he was fully prepared to give a cold shoulder to his Anna, letting him know how wrong his actions were.
But looking at the room now, and the anguished look on Anna's face... he realised maybe the man already knew. Farhad smiled a little. Thank god... he wasn't really good at the cold shoulder treatment. He picked up the still-ringing alarm clock and silenced it, placing it on the bedside table again. "Anna?" he called softly.
He didn't respond. He looked like a lunatic, his eyes red and watery, his hair unruly, his clothes all crumpled up. At the moment, he looked like a street gunda rather than a don.
Farhad shook his shoulders. "Anna?" he called again, louder this time. The man finally registered his presence, looking up at him.
"Farhad, main... pagal ho jayega Farhad. Wo mereko pagal kar dega." He sounded crazed yet tired at the same time.
"Anna, hua kya hai?"
"Wo mujhe akela hi nahi chodti Farhad! Maine kya galat kiya tu bol... usne mera behen ka tamasha banaya, maine uska tamasha bana diya. Galat kya kiya maine?"
There it was, Farhad realised. The storm that had wrecked the room. It was right there, visible on his Anna's face. He held his shoulders. "Anna, unki chodiye. Aapko kya lagta hai? Aapne sahi kiya ya galat?"
"Maine to sahi—" He stopped, unable to continue, and looked away. 'Maine to sahi hi kiya, Farhad', he had been about to say. But somehow, the words didn't sound true enough. "Samajh nahi aaraha Farhad. Kuch samajh nahi aaraha..." he voiced quietly.
"To samajhne ki koshish kariye anna. Aapko samajhna hi hoga. Kyunki samajhne ke baad hi aap kuch sahi kar payenge..."
Raghav looked up again. His best friend usually gave him more concrete answers than that.
Iss baar aapko khud hi samajhna hoga Anna. "Goodnight anna. Main kisiko bhejta hoon ye sab sametne ke liye. Aap bhi taiyaar ho jaiye... aapko bhi bohot kuch sametna hai." Saying this, he left the room, closing the door behind him.
--X--
Ok, my first OS on this forum! 😛 Waise main likhna to kuch aur hi chahti thi, ban kuch aur hi gaya 🤪 Let me know how it was!
Cricket
