Part 22
It had been two days since she came back and she was back to work. It was a pleasant change after the painful weekend for her. It had not been easy to deal with the thoughts of arjun that haunted her every second. At school she could involve herself and forget everything for few moments. The pain that mrs. Mittal and Simran Misha had caused was less when compared to the pain of not seeing or talking to him. He had not called after that and she did not expect him to. But she was having conversations with him in her own mind answering any possible question he might ask. She wanted to be prepared when he comes. It was not going to be easy.
Bua had spoken to her, and realized she is deeply hurt and is back to where she was before. She had thought Arjun's arrival in her life has changed arohi, but now she looked even more determined to be alone in her life. It was not a good sign.
Arjun was not good either, he had to stay back for another meeting sessions next week and he hated doing it, jignesh was not back and he could not ask his dad to handle it either. He could feel the pain in arohi's voice and sense that something was really troubling her. If he could he could go into her mind and read what is in there. He was sure that once he goes in front of her, she will tell it all, that is why she escaped before he came home that day. His phone rang, he saw the number 'oh not again' he thought and let it ring, it was the mittals, for some reason natasha's mom has been calling him atleast twice a day to check if he came home, ate, wanted to eat, or just to ask how rudra and kumud were. His phone rang again, it was Raashi. 'where are you' he asked her, 'funny right , you don't know where I am' she complained, 'sorry din call you for couple of days, are u still at ur inlaws?' 'no I came home, why aren't you here yet, why is arohi back?' 'did you see her' 'no but daadi told that arohi's bua called and that she had come back' 'yeah she went back' 'and you' 'I am here in Bombay, or else I would be in front of you no?' 'why are you getting irritated, why are you still there did dad ask you to stay back?' 'no, I wanted to' 'leaving arohi here? that doesnot sound like you' 'yeah not my choice too' ' tell me whatever happened' 'nothing happened or to put it like this I don't know what happened' 'did you both fight' 'no' 'then' 'how do I know? You women, do you ever give proper explanation for anything' 'oh now the blame is on us all? Like you guys can read us completely' 'yeah atleast we don't hide things in our minds and torture the opposite person' 'if guys have the will to know you can find out without women telling, but do men ever try' 'yeah we try but in vain because there is no slim chance of getting through what you think' 'why is this suddenly man woman issue?' 'I don't know you are the one who started with so many what why when questions' 'right trying to be good is also not appreciated' 'well then don't try, I am not in a mood to appreciate' 'well then you don't tell, I will talk to arohi' 'when?' his voice changed quickly 'why do you want to know?' 'don't irritate me raashi, when are you going to talk to her?' 'I don't have my schedule exactly, will check with my PA and give you exact time' 'got it, you too are as vexed as I am' 'right , sorry' 'when you talk to her find out if she is allright, how she is doing? Is she eating properly, last time I talked her voice was very weak. Ask about guddi too. And talk to her nicely and see if she is feeling better than before, don't ask any reasons okay' 'reasons for what' 'allright she left without telling me, now are you happy' 'you mean she left Bombay without telling you? Why? ' 'oh my god, that is what I have been telling I DON'T KNOW' 'goddd, everyone wants to yell at me' raashi said in sudden low voice 'sorry sorry , raashi listen I am very sorry, I am just really confused' 'then go talk to her, by sitting and thinking you wont find out' 'that is what I was going to do, if you talk to her, don't ask anything about it , but make sure she is allright' 'when are you coming back' 'in a day or two' 'okay, call her in between' 'no, I dont want to hear her sad voice over phone like that. you tell are you allright? sorry I yelled at you' 'I am, I was also stressed out, now daadi is making something to make me feel better' she said with a brought in cheerfulness 'okay, bye, love you' he told his sis before ending the call. Even though it was a semi quarrel conversation with his sister, arjun felt so much better after talking to raashi.
Arohi was surprised to see raashi at her house in the evening. Raashi could tell by the eyes of arohi that she had been crying, 'what a pleasant surprise' she said as raashi came in, 'how are you ?' raashi asked guddi and patiently heard what all guddi had to say. After 5 min she turned to arohi again 'have I been away for too long or is it true that you appear to have gone down quite a lot' 'nothing like that, you are seeing me after a week or so, how can I go down within a week?' 'you never know, sometimes it takes just a day to loose everything' arohi was silent 'arohi, how are you, you really don't look good, you look stressed' arohi knew what exactly was bothering her, she was missing arjun ever second and that felt terrible and that is probably reflecting on her face too , she must put up a happy face from tomorrow she thought. 'see I spoke to arjun, he asked me to check on you , and also told me not to tell or ask you anything, but he forgot he was talking to me, now please tell me did he do or say anything to hurt you?' 'arjun? No , not in even in my dreams' raashi did not miss the pride in her tone when arohi said that 'then?' 'raashi sometimes you just get a feeling that things will not work out, don't you' 'yes' 'I too felt the same way' 'and did you tell this to him' 'when I realized it , I was not in a position to tell him, and I have decided to tell him the same' 'what about him?' 'he will come around it is just matter of time' 'you don't know arjun then' arohi could not say anything 'when he comes, you better have a valid answer because he is not going to buy this, neither did I' 'anyways I came to see if you are okay, arjun asked me to make sure you are, and I see you are not so allright, take care of yourself, think again this is not child's play , this is lives of two people' arohi felt a lump 'is he here?''no, he is still in Bombay, knowing him he should have come back right behind you but work has stopped him' arohi gave a faint smile , he would have if she did not call and tell him that there was no we, that time he said its not over, later probably he thought there was no point in coming 'how did he sound? Is he okay? I don't want him to be sad. don't tell him I asked though, and can you me a favour? tell him I am all better and happy that will make him also happy, please raashi' she said like a little girl but with a choking voice. Raashi held arohi's hand and squeezed it 'arohi you really don't know arjun then, do you think if I tell you are happy he will believe me? Tell him yourself and see when he comes' she paused and said 'we all love you so much, you know that right' arohi nodded, that she knew and that is why she wanted to be away, so that no payal mittlas or simran mishras talked any nonsense about them. She was no less, guddi was not going to be a liability but she did not want the tag that she trapped them and used their goodness.
Even at school her collegues had been noticing for past two days that Arohi was lost in thoughts most of the time. What bothered her most was there was no communication from arjun. This is what she wanted and when it was happening she was not liking it. He could atleast send a blank text or just a hi, or an email. Ya if he did what will you do? That she was not ready to think of, she just wanted to hear his voice. They both used raashi to find out how each other is, even when they knew exactly how they were. With this thought tears would roll down her eyes, and she would wipe them quickly before anyone could see. The kids would see, but they could not express what they felt on seeing her tears, their faces would go sad for a moment until arohi gave them back a big smile. A heart to heart connection with the kids was just mesmerizing to her. She never thought it would be so difficult. He had surrounded her whole life within a short time with so much force that she was not able to think beyond his existence. She even made up her mind once to call him and say that she loves him. Not that he doesn't know, he knows but she wanted to tell, then what would happen, all that payal and simran said would come back to haunt her, and she was left miserable again.
How much ever she tried to cheer up atleast for the sake of guddi she was not able to. Guddi noticed this change in arohi too. She tried to put extra effort to cheer arohi up, by not making less fuss about things, getting ready on time, whatever was possible for her. Even when arohi appreciated her there was a pain still visible in her eyes. That evening while coming home she noticed guddi had started to talk less and sit silently waiting for arohi to say something. She felt bad, she wanted to show she was allright. Once they came home she made guddi's favourite dish, sat down with her to do some activities, made her play with colours. The training she took at art therapy workshop was to be yet put into effect at school. She needed to work on it. For about an hour or two she kept herself very busy, but one part of her mind was scared to be alone and by herself again after a while, which meant being flooded by Arjun's thoughts.
At around dinner time, she heard the doorbell. She assumed it was either sanchit or bua, no one else would come to her house at that time. She opened and froze as she saw Arjun standing there right in front of her. 'you forgot to put the light on outside' he said coming in. she closed the door as a habit and just stared at him.
'how are you ?' he asked her. she was still silent , she would have spoken if she could bring her voice out, but it was choked and she did not want him to hear it. 'I am here to give back something that belongs to you' he said tossing a packet on the couch. He definitely was not in a pleasant mood. She could see it was the same dress he had gifted her, she just gulped. He had another bag in his hand. Guddi came out since she was hungry, she hit her forehead and asked arohi as how long it will take to serve her. She saw arjun then and gave a wide smile, arjun smiled back shook his hand and handed her the gift he had for her. She opened her mouth and eyes wide as a gesture of surprise and happiness and tried to see what is inside. Arohi took it away keeping it to the side 'you dint have to' she managed to say 'I will give her dinner and '' 'I am hungry too' said arjun walking inside without waiting for her. 'she likes to keep us waiting, doesn't she?' he said to guddi letting her take his hand and lead to the table. Guddi clapped that they had a guest, she took another plate from the shelf and placed it next to hers. Arohi's place was opposite to guddi's. Without even looking at arohi , he sat next to guddi and started serving her and himself. He paused and then served in arohi's plate and started eating. Arohi was scared of his silence. She could not even start eating. He had not shaved, atleast not today, he had not taken care of himself properly, she thought, she felt he has gone down by few kilos in just few days. 'you are not eating well? You have not been taking care of urself' she asked him 'does that bother you? What did you expect? And I see you haven't either' 'arjun I ..' arjun ignored her and started talking to guddi. She liked the extra attention and let him cut her rotis and keep morsels ready to eat, 'don't do that, she will ask me to do everyday then' arohi tried to stop arjun 'so what if you cant , I will do it for her everyday, there is no harm in doing at least this much ' you want me to feed you also, because you are not even eating' arohi glared at him and picked at her food. This time arjun really reached to her plate and did the same he did with guddi's food and pushed it back to her, she had to push down the lump in her throat by drinking water. They continued to eat with only guddi talking. Arjun tried to understand everything she said, she repeated until he got what she said. She did not spare a second and had to be constantly reminded to eat. She took arjun's presence as an advantage and demanded cookie in between, when arjun reached to give one 'arjun what are you trying to do, do you want to spoil her by treating her like this?' 'no arohi, question is will you give me a chance to pamper her?' she had to be silent again.
She was glad that dinner was over. But does that mean he will leave, she did not want him to. Guddi went into her room beaming with her new gift. 'I will make her bed and'' arohi tried to go behind her, 'you are not going anywhere without answering my questions' arjun stopped her by the arm. 'what is it tell me . what is bothering you. Because I don't remember saying anything to you or doing something to hurt you, or did I?' she nodded a no . 'speak arohi, I don't have the patience to understand your gestures' 'no' she said. 'then, why did you do that to me, did you not know that was going to hurt me?' 'it hurt me too arjun, you have no idea how much' 'I think I know' his voice softened, 'I am sorry, I can see that has made you miserable too, but why are you doing this to yourself and me, for no reason' 'there is a reason' 'then tell me what it is , then we will solve it' she did not speak again 'is it about guddi? Do you think I or my family will not like her? if that is so then you are wrong, because we are not the type of people who do that' 'I know' 'then, you think you may not be able to run the school like you do now? then also you are wrong because till now you are doing it by yourself , from now on you will have me as support' 'no arjun that is not the reason, I know you will support me' 'then what is it arohi? I already decided to stay here and not in Bombay , so you don't have to leave this place' she took this as an excuse now 'this place? You mean this town right? What about this house, my parents house, should I leave this? Then what will happen to it, I cant let it out, I have lived here all my life, this house has a big role to play in guddi's life, she cant adjust anywhere else, I cant leaver her here, so what is the solution tell me? If I marry you I will have to leave this house and come with you. This will not work arjun' 'you think I am a fool to believe this? This is a trivial issue you could have spoken about it, nobody runs away for such small problems. There is something else and you are not telling me and about living in or leaving this house, I will tell you the solution I can come and live here with you, we will have two homes, guddi doesn't have to leave the place of comfort and at the same time she will be provided with equally comfortable place in our house and heart' arohi did not know what to say back, he was willing to come and live here and she had no doubt that in arjun's house guddi will be treated well. She fought back her tears 'you dont know guddi so well and ...' 'I will if you allow me to know her, how much did you know about raashi until you spent some time with her in bombay?' she knew he was right, she changed the subject again 'it is all true and works in theory arjun, practically it wont, I have my limitations , I wont be able to give full attention to my new life, neither can I leave guddi behind, I cannot bear if anyone says even a small thing about guddi, I cannot take that risk, I fell in love with you , I don't have control over that, but I can control how my life can be, I want it to be like this. And you deserve better' 'don't you tell me what I deserve and don't deserve' his voice was back to being rough and irritated 'you have no control over yourself, that is why you are not able to think properly' 'and who will say anything to guddi, let them dare, I am there to pull their tongue out. and you think this is a risk?' he raised his voice 'no I meant not in that way, risk as in cant let people say that I used your goodness and'.' She realized she was about to tell her encouter with payal and simran and stopped. 'people? Which people? Who said something like that? Did someone say something to you? Is that why you left?' seeing arohi avoid looking at him he confirmed his own doubts 'someone did say something right?' 'arohi look at me, why are you hurting yourself, you know we both cannot live without each other now, then how come some petty issues come in the way of our future' 'it is not petty issue arjun, it is very important to me, and I know what I am doing, this is good for both of us, and if you value me even a bit dont ask me anymore questions' she said firmly. He paused and looked at her, he did not know she was this adamant it didnot bother him, what bothered him was she was bottling up things and not letting them out was not good for her, there was no point in persuading her she was going to stick to her point. 'you wont tell me? You want to keep it to yourself and hurt me and you? Fine, if you cant tell if anyone said anything to change your decision so quickly then I will find out myself' 'you are not going to do anything like that arjun, it is nobody's fault, it is my own decision' 'foolish decision' he said mildly.
He then took her face in his hands and wiped the tears that were about to fall down. He kissed her on the lips lightly and lingered a few seconds like that. Arohi could not pull back, she needed it, she wanted to be held tight, but then that will only make her resolve weak. She moved her face away 'goodbye arjun' , she said trying to smile 'don't smile like that arohi and expect me to leave you, because this smile is going to make my will stronger' he then took out a small box from his pocket 'you know this I bought the day you left, I am keeping this close to me since then so that when you change your mind I dont have to waste even a second' she just stared at him with disbelief, she knew a box like that usually holds a ring 'so think twice before smiling at me next time, because next time you give this kind of smile to me I am not going to waste even a second in making you mine' 'take care' he said taking her hand and kissing it. putting the box in his pocket he walked to the door, he showed her the packet, 'this was my first gift to you, and I bought it with lot of love and with dreams about my future, even tough you have decided otherwise, I will appreciate if you accept it and wear it, just to remember me by atleast' he walked out without looking back.
'I will remember you only if I forget you, which is not going to happen' she whispered and let the tears flow down freely. Guudi came out of her room hearing the noise of the door , she asked if arjun left, arohi nodded, guddi felt he was going to come back, she sat there on the chair saying she will wait since she wanted to show him her new play set, 'he wont come back' arohi said slowly 'it is just us now'.
Anupamaa
Seher Hone Ko Hai
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
