Chapter 29
Scratching the surface of the paper with her red pen to correct the mistakes on her student's essay, Sonali rubbed her eyes with one hand as she fought back a yawn. The cup of strong coffee on the desk called to her as she read the first paragraph of the essay. She glanced up when she heard the noise that signaled the front door to the school had been opened. She never liked having to wake up earlier than usual to grade papers, but she loved her job too much to ever complain.
She went back to grading the papers in front of her and didn't even look up when the door to the office opened. "Morning, Nupur," she said distractedly as she crossed out a misspelled word.
"Ah, lass, you know that's not my name," Vikram's voice said from the doorway, his deep voice startling Sonali from her work.
She smiled widely at him and jumped up from behind the desk to run straight into his open arms. She realized how sappy and completely, sentimentally foolish she must have looked, but she frankly didn't care once she had his strong arms wrapped around her, his overwhelming, musky scent making her giddy with joy.
"What are you doing here?" she asked into his chest. "I thought you wouldn't be back for another two weeks!"
"The New Delhi Tour was cancelled," he explained, pulling her back slightly and capturing her chin between his fingers. "I've missed you terribly, Sonali. Don't I get a kiss, then?"
She grabbed his face between her hands and kissed him soundly, knocking the breath out of the both of them. She drew back, laughing slightly as she threw her arms around his neck in a cheerful hug. "Why was the tour cancelled? Not that I'm complaining."
He leaned against the desk and dragged her over to stand between his legs as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Well, we played and defeated Punjab and UP, and we were supposed to play Chennai, but they withdrew themselves from the tournament once they realized that the Madhya Pradesh team and the Calcutta team were droppin' out due to some political things they have goin' on there."
"Well, thank goodness for stubborn politicians," she smiled. "How long are you staying here?"
"The season is over, lass," he said with a grin. "We have a summer leave until the first of August."
"That's only a month!" she said with wide eyes. "Then you go back on tour?"
He shook his head and ran his finger down her nose to her lips. "August is when our seasonal trainin' begins."
"So, that means you won't be travelling?" she asked hopefully.
"Not for a long while," he replied, "and that's if we even win the qualifying games in December."
"Oh, you'll win, Vicky. You always win," she said with a cheeky smile. "Now, you have three weeks of kissing to make up for. Let's get started."
He laughed and obliged her, bringing her closer to him as he tasted her over and over.
"You can't kiss Miss Sonali! Kissing is yucky!" Harshad said from below them.
"Yeah! You can't kiss at school!" Neev agreed, standing next to his best friend and staring up at the couple.
Sonali stepped back from Vikram's grasp and laughed nervously at the two boys and then at Nupur who was standing in the doorway with a smirk she could have only picked up from her husband. "Good morning."
"Oh, it certainly is a good morning," Nupur said, taking off her cloak and setting it on a chair. "Boys, why don't you go ahead into the classroom and set out the parchment for art time."
"Race you!" Neev yelled, and in less than a second, the boys had sped out of the room, giggling as they ran.
"I'm so sorry, Nupur, honestly," Sonali said with a hint of a blush.
"What are you apologizing for? Those boys aren't supposed to be in this office anyway. They are suspiciously quiet and very stealthy to get in here without you two noticing," Nupur replied as she picked up a folder and pen from the desk before walking back to the door. "I'll lock the door on my way out."
Sonali watched Nupur leave the room and then heard the click of the lock. She turned back to Vikram and smiled. "Don't I have the greatest job?"
"You're talkin' to someone who plays their favourite sport for a livin', lass," he said, grinning. "But if I ever injure myself, I'll be lookin' for a position here."
"Oh! Don't put ideas into my head! How awesome would it be if you and I worked here together? You could be the physical education director and I could, of course, keep my job as teacher and then we can sneak away during recess and make out in the supply closet…"
Vikram kissed her, mostly because she had started to babble and kissing her was the fastest way to get her to stop. Also, because he wanted to.
Mayank ran a hand through his hair as he sat back and surveyed his latest design. It had taken nearly five days for him to get everything just right, but he finally had exactly what he had started out to accomplish. His company had been asked to plan a new park that would cater to the community and that would be located in Worli. Mayank had taken the job as it was his role to take on the harder assignments as boss.
He rolled up the large sheet of parchment and sent the prints to his second-in-command who would review the design and then correct any mistakes. Psh… as if I make mistakes. But I did...with Nupur. By not telling her everything. The truth. But that night – what does that mean? Has she let bygones be bygones? Yet, she didn't say anything in the morning. And since then it's been all...normal. Has it gone back to normal? There's definite love...I can feel it – but is it too soon for her? Oh what the hell, I'll never understand what's going through that woman's head anyway.
He was just about to grab his things and leave for the day when Chitra walked into his office.
"What brings you here, CJ?" Mayank asked, standing up and greeting his friend.
CJ smiled and took a seat in front of Mayank's desk. "Just visiting, mate. It's been ages since I've seen you, and we have to catch up in your custody case."
"Why was I hoping that this would just be a social visit?" Mayank grimaced.
"We'll have plenty of time for those once we work out everything with you Annie and Neev," CJ explained. "Now, how's everything at home?"
"Everything's going well," Mayank said honestly. "School ended two weeks ago, but now Neev has summer day camp at school. It's basically the same thing they were doing during the school year, except now they just do more centres and recess."
"Centres?" CJ asked with a smile. "Never mind, you can explain later. How is your wife?"
"She has a name," Mayank said, "and Nupur is great."
CJ shook her head. "Sorry, mate, it's still just really hard to come to terms with it all. But if you still love her, then that's all that matters, right?"
"Yes," Mayank replied simply. "I do love her."
It was the first time he had said it out aloud, honestly, to sometime during the course of their marriage; every other time he had said it was to give the illusion for their fake marriage. He smiled secretly and went back to paying attention to what CJ was saying.
CJ chuckled at the tender words and patted her chin thoughtfully. "How's Neev?"
"Constantly up to no good," Mayank said with a smile. "I think some snot-nosed punk at school taught him the mirror game where he repeats everything you say. I ended up shushing him and sent him to his room to teach him a lesson."
"That's a great game," CJ grinned. "Did you ever try it on someone?"
"That would be completely uncharacteristic," Mayank replied with a laugh.
"So, how are the inspections going?"
"They're ok, I guess. Our DMP isn't very threatening, but she tries. We had an inspection a few days ago, and she came when we were putting Neev to bed, so she ended up interviewing Nupur and me. It was interesting."
"Interesting? Please, elaborate," CJ said as she crossed her legs, drumming her fingers on Mayank's desk.
"She asked us things like what we do in our free time, and our views on punishment. We had separate interviews, but when she was finished with Nupur, I think she just wanted to go home and cry. My wife tends to be very defensive about her parenting skills. She's like a mother hen."
"Yes, well, I got my interview last night. As Neev's godmother, I supposedly have an opinion in which parent Neev is better off with. Rest assured that I waxed poetic on the many flawless qualities you have."
"Good to know," Mayank said with a wry smile. "I just can't wait until these interviews and inspections come to an end. They leave me so stressed."
"I do have good news," CJ went on. "I stayed late one night at the Ministry and went into your files regarding the custody case. Usually, no one but your DMP can have access to them, so I had to bend the rules a bit."
"You wouldn't be CJ if you didn't," Mayank replied.
"So, I checked out what was going on with Annie's visits and her reports aren't as great as yours."
"Really?"
"Yep. Apparently, her DMP doesn't like Annie's attitude and thinks her husband is a vain, smug man," CJ said with a small laugh. "Sounds a bit like you, mate."
"You're hilarious, CJ," Mayank replied dryly. "So you think that I'll end up with Neev?"
"There is really no doubt about it. You've always been the better parent, which is surprising as hell, let me tell you, but nonetheless, I'm more than sure that you'll never have to worry about that hag and gold-digging husband again.
_________________________________________________________________________
Nupur tentatively reached the doorstep and finally took a breath to knock the front door to Sharma manor. It was a Saturday afternoon, the second Saturday of her fourth month married to Mayank.
She really had no idea what had pushed her to come here and do what she was about to do, but she really had no one else to turn to…She couldn't just sit idly by and twiddle her thumbs as her emotions drove her crazy, as her husband went each day not knowing what was ripping her apart.
She smile when Kaki opened the door. She looked even more frail and waif-like, but looked extremely happy. Nupur couldn't find any fault in that, much to her chagrin, so she asked the small woman if Shilpa was home.
"Oh yes, my mistress is home!" Kaki squeaked. "Follow me, young mistress."
Nupur stepped into the grand foyer of the manor and followed the scurrying maid up the stairs. She was led into the drawing room where Shilpa sat at a desk, writing quickly on a piece of paper.
"Mistress Shilpa, a guest for you," Kaki announced and then quickly left the room.
Shilpa looked up from her leter and smiled brightly at her daughter-in-law. "Nupur, what a pleasant surprise! Please, come in and sit."
Nupur sat down on the couch while Shilpa rolled up the paper she was writing on and sat down nect to her. "Now, beta, tell me, how are you?"
"I'm fine Maa, and you?" she asked with a small smile.
"I'm wonderful darling. I just finished writing a letter to an old friend of mine from school who I haven't spoken to in years, but enough about me. How is everything at home? Are you and Mayank still getting along?"
"Yes, I'd say we are. We still argue over little, stupid things, but that's expected," Nupur said slowly. "I actually came here to talk to you about something. Um, I really had no one else to talk about this to."
"Well, you can talk to me about anything, beta."
"I really don't know how to say this, but…"she sighed. "I know I told you a few weeks ago that, er, Mayank and I slept together."
Shilpa nodded and gestured for Nupur to go on.
God this is awkward; she's his mother for pity's sake.
"You mentioned something about how difficult it can be to separate my emotions from my desires. I didn't think it would happen, I thought I had more control over my feeling…"
"But, you fell in love," Shilpa sighed. Finally. Now for the final straw of the plan and your job is done Shilpa.
Nupur looked down at her hands and nodded silently.
"I'm assuming you haven't told him about these resurfacing feelings," Shilpa guessed.
"No, I haven't, and I don't think…I don't think I can," Nupur said with a sniff. "What is he doesn't feel the same? Although I don't think that's the case, the way he behaves…but forget that – what if…oh lord, I wouldn't be able to handle the pain of knowing he only wanted me around to help raise Neev. And there's the whole history between us which screams at me that this is all wrong and…I'm just so scared."
"Oh, what a bunch of rubbish," Shilpa scolded. "You'll never know anything unless you gather your courage and say something to him. You were a very strong woman once Nupur. What happened? I've met men with more nerve than this, and they are truly the biggest cowards out there."
"Really?"
"Of course! The profession I was in was completely male-dominated – absolute weaklings the lot of them! I'd had to deal with all of their silly tantrums and petty insecurities. Plus, I single-handedly raised the Ice-Man, Mayank Sharma. I should get a bloody award, parade, and trophy for bravery."
Nupur had never heard Shilpa use a single derogatory word in all the time she'd known her, so she couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, I suppose you should."
"Let's get back to you. Now, you are afraid that if you tell Mayank your feelings, that he will not return them? You're afraid of rejection?"
"It's not…not just that. It's the fact that we've gone through so much before, so many misunderstandings, so much pain and hatred, and now things are normalizing. If I tell him now and he doesn't reciprocate my feelings, or changes his mind or something, then I still have to live with him for two and a half months. Do you understand how awkward that would be? I'd be crushed and still have to live with him."
"Hmm, that does pose a problem," Shilpa said thoughtfully, tapping a manicured finger against her lips. "In all actuality, Nupur, I don't think you should really worry so much about that happening. I've had a feeling for quite some time that my son has finally opened his eyes and realized he still loves you. And I have a feeling you know that too."
"Yes, but…it's just a hunch, Maa," Nupur said with a small sigh. "I just…I don't know how it happened, but I've let go of everything. I mean, when he came back to Mumbai, everytime I saw him, I saw the man who had hurt me beyond imagination, the man I had loathed for five years. Now, when I look at him, I just see the man…I see the man I still love."
"Have you never taken a chance? I know you have! You took a chance in marrying Mayank; you took a chance by agreeing to help him raise his son. You went against your earlier hatred of him to help him out when he needed it the most. In my honest opinion darling, I don't see how he couldn't have denied his true feelings for you. You make him a better man and you make him happier than I've ever seen him. You brought back the boisterous and blissful young boy in him that I thought I would never see again. I thank you for that, Nupur. I thank you dearly."
"Maa, I…I didn't…"
"Oh, don't go denying it, darling. You yourself have told me how the two of you fight less these days and that his temper has been under control for the time being. I don't want to tell you how to live your life and I don't want to push you into anything you don't want to do, but I would like nothing better than to have you brought into this family permanently."
Nupur was actually stunned to silence with those words.
"You're a marvellous mother to my grandson and an equally incredible wife to my son. I adore you Nupur, I've always had. I always wanted a little girl to spoil and love just as much I did my son. You've come to be that little girl I was never able to have...oh, look at me getting all misty-eyed and utterly emotional like a soap queen, please forgive me."
Shilpa was nearly knocked back with the force of Nupur's hug. She held the girl in her arms for a moment, smiling through her silly tears.
Nupur finally pulled away, a large smile lighting up her face. "I'm going to tell him. I'm going to tell him how I feel and if he doesn't feel the same, then I'm going to do everything I can to make him see that we're right for each other. I can't imagine living a life without him… I can never go back to my lonely flat without him and Neev to look after. I just can't do that, and I don't care how long it takes me, but damn it, I'm going to fight for it."
"There's the girl I've come to cherish! I just knew you had that bravery hidden somewhere temporarily. If anyone can butt heads with my son at the tender age of twenty and live to see the next day, then they can't be anything but immensely courageous."
"Oh Maa, you do know how to make me blush," Nupur said with a light-hearted laugh. She exhaled a pent-up breath and smiled again. "I think I'll do something special tomorrow, you know, and then I'll tell him."
"Would you like me to watch Neev tomorrow?"
"That would be wonderful. I'll bring him over after we've had dinner, and do you thing he could spend the night? He's been asking to sleep over at the manor since the last time he was here."
"Of course he can. Bhaiyya spoils him to pieces, in case you didn't know. That's the secret to why he always wants to be over here," Shilpa said with a sly grin.
"Oh? And it has nothing to do with the fact that Dadi gives him many, many sweets?"
Shilpa's smile grew and she shrugged casually. "Dadi chooses to refrain from commenting."
After a cup of tea and several hours of talking, Nupur finally left the manor, her heart feeling light and her step with an extra bounce as she made her way back to the flat. She unlocked the front door and stepped into the dark entryway, closing the door behind her. It was almost nine in the evening and she made as little noise as possible as she walked into the living room.
The television was on; one of the movies Uday and Benji had bought for Neev was playing. It featured the big, singing dinosaur, Barney, that Mayank loathed, so the two men had immediately bought it, promising to buy more in the future. Nupur stepped up to the couch and felt her lips twitch into a smile as she found Mayank and Neev curled up on the couch, sleeping.
They looked remarkably alike when they slept, innocence written across their faces. Too bad those two innocent looks were incredibly deceiving. She turned off the television and went back to the couch where she gently lifted Neev away from his father's hold, accidentally waking Mayank in the process.
He blinked up at her and gave her a small smile as he got up and followed her to put Neev in his bed.
When they reached their bedroom, Nupur sat at the dressing table, her heart practically singing with excitement for what she was planning to do the following morning. Mayank lay back on the bed with his legs dangling over the edge, his hands behind his head, watching her.
"How did your errands go?" he asked.
She ran a brush through her hair and winced when the bristles encountered a knot the size of tumbleweed. "They went well. I got a lot done. How was your day with Neev?"
"Tiring," he said with a small laugh. "I've forgotten how much energy that kid has."
"That's because you haven't dealt with him on your own in so long," she said, smiling.
He snorted and closed his eyes. Slowly, he fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. Nupur continued idly brushing her hair, watching him drift into his unperturbed slumber. She thought a bit about how she was going to do it, her imagination running wild. After any futile attempts of coming up with a strategy, she decided to just go to sleep as well.
_________________________________________________________________________
Neev watched from his seat on the couch as his mummy went out onto the balcony. She loved to go out there and enjoy the view from their place on the second floor. She was looking very, very pretty today. She was always pretty, but today she was smiling a lot and that made her very, very pretty. His daddy had gone riding the bike as he usually did on Sunday mornings. One day, Neev would get to go with his daddy to ride a bike. That day couldn't come fast enough.
He saw Nupur wave at him from her place on the balcony where she was watering the flowers that grew there. He waved back and smiled at her. Rosie sitting next to him, waved as well. That dinosaur could do anything.
Neev heard the front door open and close prompting him to stand on the couch and face the front hall to see who had come in.
"Hi, Daddy!" he said, taking a jump on the couch.
Mayank propped his helmet up against the couch and came around to sit next to his son. His hair was dark with perspiration, and his shirt was sticking to him in places. Neev jumped on him anyway and proceeded to hug him. "You're all wet, Daddy!"
"Because I'm sweaty," Mayank laughed, "and now you're getting all sweaty. Mummy is going to be upset if you have to take another bath."
"Mummy looks very, very pretty today," Neev mentioned, diverting the conversation from anything bath-related. One bath a day was enough for heaven's sake!
Mayank nodded and looked over his shoulder to see Nupur out on the balcony. "Did she tell you that you're going to spend the night with Dadi tonight?"
"Yes! It's going to be so much fun!"
"Ok, mate, I'm going to go take a shower. If I don't, your mum will put me in time-out for getting the couch all sweaty."
Neev laughed at that. "You're silly! Mummy doesn't put you in time-out, because you're a growmup!"
"Ah, Neev, you're getting too smart for me," Mayank replied, placing a kiss on his son's head.
Neev leaned back on the couch as he watched his daddy leave the living room. He was just about to go and ask his mummy to put the dinosaur movie on the television when he noticed the keys of the bike propped up on the couch, forgotten by his daddy to be put away.
His quickly checked to make sure his mummy couldn't see him staring at them. If she caught him staring, she might notice it and take it away… and then he wouldn't be able to ride the bike!
He pretended to play with Rosie, his peripheral vision focused on the shiny tint of the keys peeking over the top of the couch.
"Nupur!" Mayank's muffled voice sounded from the bedroom.
Nupur walked back into the living room and looked at Neev. "Did your father just call for me?"
Neev nodded quickly and hoped she didn't see the keys on the couch. He smiled slightly as she hurried off down the hall and into the master bedroom.
He couldn't believe his luck! The keys were so close and there were absolutely no adults around to tell him he couldn't touch it. What was so bad about touching it? It wouldn't even hurt him, and it was so shiny! Plus, he had observed his father many, many times, remembering everything that needed to be done to start the bike.
He glanced down the hallway and saw the door to the master bedroom still closed. He jumped off of the couch and ran to the lift lobby, taking the lift down to the basement. There it was. It was even more beautiful than he remembered.
Would anyone really know if he just took one little seat on the bike and turned the keys? Nobody would ever find out… Inserting the key into the bike, he grabbed the brake handle of the bike and smiled wider as the vibration rushed through his arm.
The vibrations tickled him, but his laughs abruptly came to a halt when he felt the ground moving with him. His eyes widened as he realized that the bike was slowly moving at full speed forward, taking him with it. Maybe if he pushed down on the side handle, then it would stop moving. Nope. Didn't work. He wasn't strong enough to direct it to go back down. Daddy was going to be very mad!
His breathing and heartbeat quickened as the bike started moving forward, towards the sidewalk.
Usually, he wasn't allowed to be on the balcony and he never did like going out there, but the glass door had been left open when Nupur had suddenly left. The bike was getting closer and closer to the sidewalk and Neev gripped the handle harder, his eyes filling with tears as he realized he was going to be in very big trouble.
The bike was suddenly on the balcony and slowly moving over the railing, out into the open air. Neev gripped the handle even harder until his knuckles were completely white.
He didn't expect the sudden gust of wind, and he didn't expect the bike handle to start slipping out from under him and overturn. He screamed for his daddy, and before he knew it, he was falling…
"Did you call my name?" Nupur asked as she walked into the bedroom.
Mayank's head popped out from behind the bathroom door. "There's no shampoo."
She went to the linen closet and grabbed an extra bottle of shampoo, handing it to him when he stuck a dripping a hand out. "So, did you have fun riding today?" she asked as she began to tidy up the bathroom.
"Same as usual," came his slightly muffled reply.
She picked up his dirty clothes from the floor and went into the bedroom to put them in the laundry basket. Sometimes, she felt like she was mother to two boys instead of one. She started folding the clean laundry she had placed in the room earlier, wanting to get everything out of the way before tonight, when she would finally tell him that she still loved him.
Mayank walked into the bedroom a moment later wearing a white-button down shirt and khaki pants. He had just looped the last button through the hole in his shirt when they both heard the scream. They looked at each other, worry evident in their eyes and then ran out of the room, following the source of the scream.
In one terrifying moment, Mayank saw the empty living room, the missing keys, the open door to the lobby. He bit back the rising bile in his throat as he and Nupur ran out down to the basement.
They saw the bike overturned and scratched badly, and with heavy hearts they a few metres away from the vehicle, already afraid of what they would see.
They knew what to expect, but nothing could adequately prepare them to see Mayank's only son sprawled out on the concrete sidewalk, eyes closed and blood staining the ground around him.
Edited by archieeps - 15 years ago
Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah
Tum Se Tum Tak
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
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