AN: Another OS on Tejo and her situation. It started off as angst and then ended up becoming something else. No clue!
Enjoy!!!!
- Niki
RAIN
It was raining.
Tejo had always loved it; the way the drops would fall together in straight lines, toppling over one another pitter-pattering over the roofs and cemented pavements. It would give her an immense peace to realize that no matter what, the rain danced its own rhythm. It did not care if it fell on a paved road or soft dewy clay; it ran just the same.
And so, she had decided to do the same. To dance to her own rhythm, no matter the situation. She would always try to do the right thing and never falter; she had vowed to herself.
So, from a young age, Tejo Kaur Sandhu had become the rain. She would wash away all the troubles her family faced, bringing the freshness in their lives wiping away all the dirt and dust; also enriching their lives with new hopes and an immense amount of love. No matter what came, Tejo loved and gave.
She wondered when she had started to neglect herself while taking care of others. For all her tall claims she had forgotten to love and care for her own self. She had taken her strength and stability for granted and the result stood in front of her – in the bathroom with her sister in the arms of her husband.
She blinked. And blinked again.
The image would not go away. It seared through her mind, burning her retinas as her eyes took them in; looking at her in shock as if she had surprised them in their private dalliance. Or maybe she had. She wondered if it was right to think of her husband and her sister in that light. Maybe it was not, but nothing was right in her world.
Fateh had disengaged himself from Jasmine. He held out a hand to her, his face set in a mask of horror and shock as he looked at her.
“Tejo, listen to me! This is not –”
“Yes, Tejo. Don’t worry. Fateh is all yours. He loves me but I will go away from here. Then you both can stay happily,” Jasmine added her voice light and airy, as it always was.
Tejo blinked and slowly backed away.
Something was ringing in her years. A sharp sound that kept hammering her eardrums and playing a rhythm of its own. It was raining outside. Fateh was speaking again but the rain deafened her to anything else. She turned and backed out of the bathroom.
She did not know how she walked out of the house. She heard her family calling behind her but this time, she only registered the call of the rain.
She walked forth, her feet meeting the gravelly path and stepping into the kaccha road as she meandered towards the fields. The rain fell onto her, the droplets dripping over every inch as they swept away the trails of hot traitorous tears that may have fallen from her burning eyes. The wind was loud and evasive; meeting her from behind at times and also slamming onto her sides.
She closed her eyes and a deepening weariness filled in her. It seeped through her bones and lay on her insides. She was so tired and now a heaviness was encapsulating her.
She felt sleepy.
Her feet trudged on, pulling her unwilling body farther and farther away from them. There was no way she could stop. Moving gave her a purpose and if she stopped, they would reach her.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
A Jeep turned the corner rashly and she barely had any time to realize that she was on its path. She tried to move but it was as if her feet had grown roots and she stumbled headfast onto the road. The Jeep screeched to a halt inches away from her and she felt the panic recede. She blinked and her hands grappled at the soil, pushing it to pull her body up, as she slowly straightened and tried to stand.
Her feet sagged again and before she could fall, a hand snaked around her wrist and stopped her from falling again. Her eyes fell on his hands and dragged her head up to look at him. Her haziness slightly disappeared as she identified the person in front of her.
“What the hell, Tejo! Are you mad? What if it was someone else? You could have died,” Fateh Singh Virk roared, anger and frustration colouring his tones as he looked at his wife. She was staring at him with a dazed look in her eyes and blinked rapidly. Without a word, she shoved his hand away, removing herself from his grip. She took a step back and turned back on the path, slowly walking past the Jeep and back on the road.
“Tejo!” he exclaimed and dashed past the Jeep, planting himself firmly in front of her. “Listen to me, ok. Please. Goddamn it Tejo! Why aren’t you saying anything? Talk to me.” He reached out to her, his large hands wrapping themselves around her arms as he jerked her closer to him. She slowly touched his hand and removed his grip. Her eyes met his and they were blank, almost dead as they stared at him. Something gripped his heart and for the first time, he felt genuinely scared.
“Tejo,” he murmured softly, praying to every God he knew of, to make her respond to him. Apparently, his prayers brought fruit as she blinked and something sharpened in her eyes. Her lips parted and wet them with her tongue.
“I want to stay alone,” her voice rasped out and immediately her expression closed. She turned her back to him and began to walk again.
The rain soaked him to the bone now, speeding up as the wind increased in its ferocity. Fateh stared at her lithe svelte frame, as she walked away, and an irrational anger flit in his mind. She was all wet, the beautiful red saree sticking all over her tiny waist and flared hips. Something stuck in his throat as his eyes took her in and the frustration of the entire day seemed to pour right into his mind. He sprinted up to her and wrenched her towards him with a vicious tug on her arm. Imbalanced, she slammed onto him, her wet tresses, softly hitting his cheeks. He nearly moaned as the familiar smell of chocolates and coffee flitted up to his nostrils and his nerves calmed down.
“Tejo. It was all a plan by Chameli. Please understand. Please,” he begged her softly, trying to reach her. But it was as if his wife had gone beyond his reach as she remained locked inside the shell that he met every time he tried. “Tejo please talk to me.”
Silence met his words.
The headlights fell on them as a car stopped down the road. Fateh blinked in irritation as his brother jogged up to them.
“Fateh Veer,” Amrik called out as he reached them. “I heard about what happened, Fateh Veer. And I am on your side. You and Jasmine Bhabi are meant to be. We will convince everyone and you both can be together.”
Infuriation and a flinty rage seared through him. He had been exasperated with Amrik for a long time but right now he felt almost homicidal about his brother. He wanted to throttle him, strangle him with his bare hands and fling him away to some far-off mountain. But right now, his attention was required somewhere else.
“Tejo, don’t listen to him, ok. Please Tejo, trust me. I –”
His face scrunched up in a scowl, Amrik reached out and tugged at her hand, turning her to face him. “Will you stop guilt-tripping my brother? Stop coming in between Veer and Jasmine Bhabi,” he lashed out at her, his eyes fixated on her with anger and loathing swirling in them.
Tejo looked back at him and for the first time, her mind clicked into place.
He was right, wasn’t he? He had always been right.
She took a deep shuddering breath and reached out to hold his hand. He nearly froze at her action; his anger and frustration draining out of him; shock and surprise replacing them.
“Can you please give me a lift? I need to go somewhere. Please Amrik.”
Amrik swallowed and sent a terrified look to his brother who was staring at the scene with a shuttered look on his face. But then Amrik remembered what Jasmine had told him and he made his decision.
“Sure Tejo Ji, let’s go,” he offered, his tone much politer than it had been a few minutes ago. Tejo nodded to him and without a glance at her husband she walked to his car and sat inside it.
“Amrik you –” Fateh began but Amrik cut him across.
“Jasmine Bhabi is waiting for you Fateh Veer. Her family is furious. They are blaming her. Her marriage with Gippy broke too. Please go to her. She needs you.”
“To hell with Jasmine,” Fateh burst out at him and in the next second, dragged him towards himself with a tight grip on his collar. “You were with her in this, right? You always wanted Jasmine in Tejo’s place. You hate Tejo. This was your plan too,” he asked him gritting his teeth. Amrik avoided his eyes and wrenched himself out of the grip.
“You should go to Jasmine Bhabi Fateh Veer. That is your destiny. I will make sure Tejo Ji reaches home safely. And whatever you might think, I may not like Tejo Ji as your wife but I don’t hate her either. I just don’t like her. That does not mean that I will hurt her or something.” Saying so, he ran back towards his car.
Starting the ignition, he swerved out of the by-lane. Tejo sat beside him, her eyes shuttered and quiet.
There was a blistering silence amidst them, like a sore that refused to heal. He had never really been able to accept her as a family member; what with his brother’s heartbreak and his forced marriage. In fact, he had always tried his best to hurt her whenever possible; making sure to remind her that she was a replacement. She was in a position that rightfully belonged to her sister.
But today, when he saw her sitting all limp and silent, he could not bring himself to taunt her about it. Maybe she was actually hurt at witnessing his brother and Jasmine Bhabi together.
But it is all her fault, his mind argued. She knew Fateh Veer loved her sister. She should not have gotten attached to him. If she was suffering and in pain, it was all her fault and no one else’s.
He swerved into the highway when she first broke her silence.
“Take the right,” she whispered softly.
“Right? But the Virk Mansion is on the other side,” he countered suddenly troubled by her manner.
“I am not going there. Turn to the right.”
“Ok fine,” he agreed to take a right turn. “But you need to tell me where we are going. I can’t keep on abruptly changing lanes.”
Tejo was quiet for some time and then she took a deep breath. “You will like it. I am going to a divorce lawyer.”
The shock made him mistakenly put his foot on the accelerator and the car gave a vicious jerk as it propelled forward. He pressed his foot on the break as he tried to control the momentum and turned to look at her, his eyes wide.
“What?” he croaked. “Divorce? Now?”
“Why?” Tejo raised her eyes to him. “What’swrong with now? The sooner the better. You should be happy. After all, you are getting what you wanted. I am not going to be a burden on your brother or a roadblock for Jasmine. Everyone will get what they wanted. You should be happy.”
Amrik swallowed as he drove on. A certain sense of uneasiness lingered in him, setting root as he took in her words. That was what he wanted, right?
They came to a stop in front of a large white bungalow. Amrik knew this place. It belonged to Advocate Awasthi, one of the best Divorce Lawyers in town. His silent companion opened the door and got out, without a word. He had heard once, that the lawyer’s daughter and Tejo Ji were good friends. It was no wonder, that she came here.
“Tejo Ji,” Amrik called out as she was about to enter the gate. She turned to look back at him as he hastened to her. He came up to her and blinked, pursing his lips. The rain had stopped now but it still drizzled on, slightly. Without a word, he took off his jacket and handed it to her.
Tejo looked at the offered Jacket and glanced back at Amrik.
“Please take it,” Amrik began hesitatingly. “I promised to see you safely delivered and,” his eyes quickly flicked across her form and she stiffened. Her hand darted up and took his Jacket wrapping it around herself.
He backed away, slowly.
“I will wait here. You can go and talk. I will take you home….I mean Virk Mansion then,” he spoke with an awkward pause, avoiding her eyes.
Tejo gave a slow nod. “Thank You.”
Opening the gates, she stepped in to reach a new phase of her life.
Years later an older Amrik would look back on that day and wonder if things would have been different. Had he never helped out Jasmine in her plots, had Tejo Ji never left, had his brother never remarried Jasmine....
Things would have been completely different.
Amrik had changed over the years.
For someone who used to detest the very sound of rain, he had started to find a certain peace in them. He would spend hours looking at the rain, enjoying his solitude; now that none of his siblings had any time for him.
Mahi had never talked to him politely after that night. It was as if he had lost all respect in her eyes. She never came to him with her problems anymore. Nor did she look for him, in case she needed help.
Fateh Veer had probably changed for the worst. He had married the love of his life only to forever struggle with a sense of loneliness and weariness, that he seemed to carry inside himself. He would often falter and stop, looking beside him in expectation; only to realize that the person he was searching for, had left him years ago.
He moved on with Jasmine, but he never lived again. The slowly fading light in his eyes was enough, to tell the truth.
As for him, he never forgot the woman who he had been scared of at times, hated for months and orchestrated a hurt for her that probably broke her spirit. He never met her alone, again after that trip. In the next few days, the divorce was finalized despite the two families trying to stop it. She had been adamant about it and had fought tooth and nail for her freedom.
Within a month she had been free of her shackles and that very night she had disappeared from Moga.
He never saw her again. None of them did.
Except maybe Mahi. She had a lot of secrets nowadays.
Yet, even as years passed and all of them moved on, Amrik could never forget her from that night. Neither her silence nor her presence.
It was as if her broken strength had branded him somehow; forever marking him as the traitor that destroyed her life.
The guilt did not seem to affect Jasmine Bhabi.
But he, a bitter smile flit across his lips; he could never escape the rain.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
