AR sesn 2 FF -kshitij ki aur- gulmohar pg 67 - Page 32

Originally posted by: krithikas

Don't worry Sami.we 'll wait for your Awesome update .😃

@sami..thats tooooooo bad.its like killing us with suspense...😆

Anmol stood on the estate lawn and looked at the house one last time , in early morning sun shine it looked like a jewel in backdrop of lush forest ,he smiled and remembered what he had accomplished here .

Sab kuch theek hai na sir? Estate Manager asked

Haan sab theek hai aur aap please take good care of my magical castle

Castle sir he chuckled..

Haan ,here I got what I was looking for.

Manager looked at the portrait Anmol was holding close to his chest, Anmol followed his gaze and smiled lovingly .haan kuch apne saath le chala hoon

Bahut kuch chod diya tha raaste mein, but when I Turned back I saw everything was same, waiting for me to embrace it one more time,

Soon Anmol was flying in the chopper; he looked down and felt as if his magical castle was weaving a fairy spell on him, a spell of happiness, of new hope.

Main waapis aaonga aagle saal ya phir shayd us se agle saal , ya phir aane wali basant mein;

But ..but I won't be alone.won't be alone that is my promise

Chirpy chatter of her daughter was enough to warm Ragini's heart, it was breaking that wall slowly, and its warmth was melting that ice away at a very slow speed. But she could not deny the anticipation that was building inside her from last few days was just because of her daughter, her own heart was singing a tune so different from what she intended it to sing;in fact she wanted her heart to stay calm; collected but no it had its own flight.and every day it flew away to the Mighty Himalayas; to that castle of magic and found its destiny under the moonlit stars..Her own guiding light;every night she woke up to that soft lingering kiss on her hand, to sudden pull on her waist,to those passionate breaths;to those lingering eyes and unspoken promises.She tossed and turned in her bed trying to catch glimpse of that figure in dark; source of her agitation but woke up with start.without seeing his face; but his eyes were always always visible..Showing her destiny in them, calling her to come and drown in them

She was stirring the Kadhai paneer when suddenly she stilled; she looked around and realized she had made all his favorite dishes ,there was his fav daal ,kheer. Pullaw and special Russian Salad; even his favorite pineapple was cut in special design; her cheeks flushed she held her hands to those rozy cheeks in attempt to calm her fluttering heartbeat.

Mummy Papa aane wale hain came excited Tammy and khsuhi ran after her as well, please mumma mujhe ready kar do ..she was relieved with this diversion and next one hour passed in excited chatter of the girls

Girls ran downstairs while she stopped to fix her messed up bedroom, same one which she had cleaned 20 times since her arrival from vacation.

Suddenly she stilled and turned back,she felt as some one whispered her name so close to her ear Ragini main aagaya hoon tum kahaan ho.she turned and ran downstairs barefeet,her payal singing ..

Suddenly the house was before him,its tall trees were same,yet house seemed sad ;may be its walls missed me he felt .they both got out and started to walk towards the door ,suddenly he felt sun was shining more brightly and breeze had become more musical and door opened and some one rushed into his arms,he held her up in his arms swinging her in air and said You missed me princess

Papa I missed you..I missed u too beta.

He kissed Khushi and saw Alekh and Sakshi standing outside too ,gunni came and swung in his arms ,her eyes glistening in tears she managed Welcome back chachu .and added softly ab sab theek ho jayega na;he patted her head and nodded ,his throat suddenly ful of unshed tears.

He saw that 2 people who were missing from welcome party were two women he loved with so much depth ..

Ragini main aa gaya hoon kahaan ho tum;he uttered those words silently and steped inside and saw her holding jhaadoo with her saree tucked in and bare feet; standing on base of stairs ;breathing heavily and their eyes met;and something shifted in his heart..that look gave him glimpse of a vulnerable woman under that exterior ,he saw shutter coming over her face and steeled himself into same composed look to match hers and moved forward.

Kaisee ho Ragini

Jo theek hoon safar kaisa raha

Thek tha

Again silence stretched in room

Aap fresh ho jayeeye bahut late ho gaya hai chai ke liye so seedha khane ka karoon ya chai laun ..she burst into speech to cover her turmoiled appearance.

Main fresh ho loon aap log khana kha lijiye,maine flight mein le liya tha..

Papa we were waiting

Of course I know beta but please I am so tired I promise tomorrow is Sunday and we will spend whole day together

Yeyyyyyyyy came excited reply .

Ragini felt crushed ,she moved forward to catch his bag from her,he held it back ;and said nahi aap jhaadoo rakh dijiye pehle main upar rakh ke aata hoon..

He looked at her and she understood he was asking her if he should go back to their old bedroom or guestroom.

She shifted uncomfortably,not meeting his eyes and said Wo maine aapke kapde nikaal diye hain ; wo aap chod gaye they na aapna blue night suit.

She flushed guiltily and Anmol kept looking at her with amusement in his eyes, as if asking her where u got my night suit from?

Wo yahin reh gaya tha she added un necessarily.

He smiled a little and went upstairs leaving Ragini standing by the stairs.

Despite gloomy welcome, a hope had surged inside him and he pushed the door open to his room and released the breath he was holding unconsciously.

Everything seemed to be same, yet it looked so diffrent.He had spent many lonely nights here...this used to be his real life beyond the facade he and Ragini had played for many years........The same sofa where he had endured nights of longing and anguish mixed with guilt of being alive. He looked at the bed and saw his dress neatly folded out for him, welcoming him silently, yet his feet seemed to have been cemented in the floor, he was unable to move them.He dropped his suitcase on floor and held on to his bag and moved forward towards the window to look outside; the world seem to be same;twilight had made sky mysterious and birds were flocking back towards their homes

he removed himself from the curtains and looked at her.
was that disappointment in her eyes he thought, his gaze narrowed trying to judge her expressions

her face had faint flush and she seemd agitated .

Good he thought.....May be little bit of ice around Your heart is melting..

He looked at her with a question in his looks ; she gestured towards the tray on table

pani wahi rehne do main baad mein pee loonga

ji theek hai

She had seen him entangled in those curtains and it had brought back so many memories, memories of those unconscious touches, memories of that wedding night that never happened,she wanted to go to him and get entangled too'why was her heart betraying her like this,she masked the look in her eyes and said..

main khane ka dekhti hoon and she fled from room.

he smiled cynically ..whats new in this he shrugged,as if trying to make himself feel better .

He left the bag on the bed and picked up night suit and went to washroom.

God it felt good he thought, warm shower helped to decipate some tension from his knotted muscles. After a long shower he came out and

Finally he felt fresh and free. He decided to check his emails, he lay leaning on the bed, it felt so good, the bed had her fragrance .he closed his eyes for a second to daydream, in his dream Ragini always looked at him with same eyes...same eyes that welcomed him today; not masked with her struggle, the eyes giving him glimpse into her soul;he smiled and rested his forehead on his arm for a second..

Ragini felt adrenalin rush through her body..she stood outside the closed door of her bedroom, trying to catch her breath..why am I acting like a teenager, she chided herself, take a grip lady ,he came back so both you and him can make your daughter happy, so don't start hoping for yourself.

But what is the harm..Came a soft voice from her heart

Mama khaanaa... came a shout from below

She put the food on table and looked at everything he had made for him, how calmly he refused the food..she felt angry..angry at him, angry at herself..And angry at fate

Ragini plate aaraam se rakho toot jayegi ;even vasu looked amused.

Arey beta khana fridge mein rakh dena wo kal kha lega..papaji teased..

Nahi papaji main khana upar le jaungi aap khaiye....

And papaji's chuckle made her even more furious, yet she plastered smile on her face.

So what if Anmol had declined dinner, I would make him eat she thought...suddenly furious with him once again; she put the food in a thali and went to bring him some food as well,

she opened the door and stopped for a second, there he was sprawled on bed ,fast asleep with one arm tucked under his head, his laptop was sitting idle in front of him

She put lap top away and brought a blanket to cover him, when suddenly he turned and trapped her pallu under his arm

She bent down to pull her pallu out gradually and painfully slow..............taking care not to wake him in process. She leaned forward inhaling his sweet masculine smell mixed with hint of his aftershave and soap...he used my feminine soap she smiled....suddenly pleased and moved closer to him and studied his face, he looked so relaxed and young and so breathtakingly beautiful...god how could one be so perfect she sighed, he turned in his sleep a bit and she woke up from her dream realizing she was even more trapped, suddenly unable to trust her hands and heart she pulled at the pallu restlessly and she found herself staring into his deep pools of nectar.he looked confused in his sleep not fully awake..

Wo mera pallu she stammered, he looked down and moved to side without saying anything and turned to other side and closed his eyes..

Wo khana she managed

Nahi fridge mein rakh do he mumbled..

His even breathing told her he was asleep...she felt bad at being angry with him, he was after all a human, he must have woken up so early she thought;and then brought a soft blanket and covered him carefully, he snuggled into the blanket and sighed in his sleep .

She sat there and looked at him for few minutes, the sight was doing strange things to her, and she felt moved touched

Finally she got up and brought food into kitchen and tucked everything away, house was quiet and kids had gone to sleep as well. she felt proud of her little daughter who knew Papa needed rest and had gone to bed without even bothering her.

She kissed the girls and went to her room and tried to see how could she fit in the bed, Anmol was still sprawled in oblique way...finally she looked at his sofa and lay there, trying to be comfortable in it .

Uff she thought and turned off the light'

Anmol woke up with a start, where was he? And suddenly remembered he was back and realized He had not left any space for ragini to lie down .He saw her huddled on his sofa and thought to wake her up and ask her to sleep on bed.He got up and then sat down again with twinkle in his eye and looked once again at sleeping Ragini and smiled..

Kabhi kabhi dose milna chahiye and went back to sleep.

Ragini woke up to sore back and foul mood, she kept mumbling to herself and saw her bed was neatly arranged and Anmol was nowhere in sight.

She went downstairs; it was still dark outside, she looked at clock it was mere 6 o clock.

Who left kitchen light open she thought and went to turn it off

And sight that met her eyes brought smile on her face, all her anger melting away..

There he was enjoying kheer, she looked at empty dishes and lifted her eyebrow..

He looked up and smiled too

Wo raat ko dinner nahi khaya na

She laughed and nodded folding her hands in mock anger..

Haan adrak wali

She looked outside, birds were singing and sky was turning to deep blue and orange..

Sun would be out soon..

He came to stand behind her, placing both hands on window sill, engulfing her in his arms, not touching yet so close..