Part 17 - Trial by fire
"Welcome to my home, Anjali. Suraj, Suraj beta, come on over. Dekho kaun aaya hai! Anjali...This is the little terror of this house - Suraj", Karan said as he introduced Anjali to Suraj. "And this is Sonal ji and Narayan ji - They take care of Suraj and me and are the closest we have to family. Sonal ji, Narayan ji, This is Anjali - Mere friend Arnav ki behen."
"Namaste", Anjali said shyly. She was to go for her 36th week doctor visit when Karan had come up to talk to Arnav. He offered to take her to the doctor and drop her back in lieu of her usual security guards and Anjali had acquiesced. En route, Karan, who felt that Anjali was looking sad, decided to provide a diversion to her thoughts and brought her over to his home.
"Aapki pet kyon itna bada hai? Kya aapne wahaan football lakha hai?", Suraj lisped.
Anjali started laughing. She sat down on the Diwan drawing Suraj over to sit by her and said..."Nahi beta, yahaan pe ek nanha sa baby hai...Thode hi din mein aap usko dekh sakhenge.", she explained.
Suraj reached his hand out to touch her tummy disbelievingly. Karan made a motion as though to protest ...but Anjali overrode him and let Suraj touch her belly...The look of wonderment on Suraj's face was inexplicable. "sach mein yahaan baby hai?", he asked.
"Bilkul sach", Anjali smiled.
"Baby ka naam kya hai?", he asked.
"Hamne abhi thak bahut socha , per kuch jama nahi.", Anjali explained.
"Aunty, Aunty ...kya mein baby ka naam rakhoon? mere dost Bunty ne uske behen ka naam rakha...", Suraj begged.
"Suraj beta, jaake aunty ke liye juice le aao, apni pasand ka...", Karan asked darting a look at Sonal ji who distracted and led Suraj away as Anjali looked up awkwardly. She had fallen in love with this beautiful child and wished that if she had a son, he should be like Suraj.
"I am sorry. Suraj...", Karan began.
"Oh no, no, dont apologize. Suraj is just a child ...I loved his enthusiasm. You have raised him well. I am sorry ...Chotey told me about your wife..It must be very hard getting through every day...But you are very lucky to have a beautiful and happy child such as Suraj - He is a credit to your and your wife's love.", Anjali said haltingly.
"It is okay..After a while, you stop being angry with God and fate and hold on to the happy memories. It is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. ", Karan responded. They were both silent for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Karan was wondering what Mythili would have said if she had met Anjali. They would have become thick friends he felt...Both had an infectious enthusiasm ...Anjali's might have been dampened by the events of the past few months...But Karan could see that a normal Anjali would be very fun-loving, just like Mythili, his talkative wife. He stopped himself short...Why am I comparing Anjali to Mythili he thought.
Where did all such nice, decent guys disappear when I was single and ready to settle down - Each time, I drew the worst card of the whole pack, Anjali thought disgusted at her own judging ability twice in a row - Once when she was 18 and she was about to get married and the tragedy of her parents' deaths struck which had her first groom running in the opposite direction and the second time with a creep called Shyam.
Suraj came around with a small tray and 2 tiny glasses followed by Sonal ji who had two taller glasses of lemonade and some snacks. She served Karan and Anjali those tall glasses. Suraj took one of the tiny glasses and handed it to Anjali and said..."Baby ke liye..Aap pila di jiye usse". Anjali smiled, gave Suraj a hug and drank from the little glass. Suraj looked at her with hurt eyes..."woh aap ke liye nahi, baby ke liye tha..", his lips quivered and he looked like he was about to burst into tears. Anjali pulled him over and explained to him calmly how baby drank and ate everything she ate. Suraj was consoled and continued asking questions.."When you eat and drink, doesnt it fall on baby's head?" ..Anjali was surprised how a 4 year old had such advanced thinking and privately thought that he must be a chip of his investigative dad's block.
Karan walked away to a far corner of the room to attend to a call and paced up and down talking. He kept glancing at Anjali and saw how taken she was with Suraj - The two had formed a mutual admiration society , he decided. His son, who never gave him a moment's peace when he was at home, was now completely ignoring him. Every time he turned away from looking at Anjali, coincidentally, Anjali looked up and saw him pacing. She admired his loose-limbed walk, the way the jeans fit him, his broad shoulders, tapering waist, fit body, the way his hair curled about over his forehead, the slightly long curl at the back. It was not fair that there could be so much perfection in one frame, she thought. She gasped and drew her thoughts in...As though she had called out to him, Karan turned and caught her eyes, caught the faint blush on her cheeks and felt like a drowning man. With great difficulty, he managed a casual smile and turned his back continuing to talk on the phone.
I wish, I just wish I could see that face just once more, Anjali thought as she semi-dreamt, semi-remembered Karan's face in the falling darkness. Shyam had not returned after he left her to pick up dinner at around 6:30. Anjali slowly awakened to some scraping noise in the darkness. The flat seemed to be unfurnished with just few basic pieces of furniture and, thankfully, a fan. She heard a small sound again and twisted her head to look in the direction of the sound, at the window. What she saw made her feel she must be hallucinating. She blinked to clear her head. May be she was still in dreamland, she thought. The face that had haunted her dreams was now looking at her through the window even as he kept his fingers to his lips in a shushing sign.
*****
Arnav and a couple of Karan's men made their way from the farmhouse to where Karan had asked them to meet. He badly wanted to talk to Khushi and find out how she was doing - She must be very worried as would everyone else at Shantivan he thought as he dialed Akash's number. He spoke to him tersely and conveyed the confidential news that they may have identified where Anjali and Shyam were holed up. He then asked to speak to Khushi.
Khushi took the phone. "Hello Arnav ji...Di mil gayi?", were her first trembling words. Arnav hoped that this incident would help Khushi get out of her emotionless state and explained to her what they had found so far. "Hum praarthana karenge...Di ko kuch nahi hoga. Devi maiyya unki raksha karengi. Arnav ji aap...", she faltered. "Kya Khushi?", Arnav asked. "..Kya aapne dawaai kha liya, kuch khaana kha liya?", Khushi tremulously asked.
Arnav recalled how in early April, tiny buds formed on the trees outside Hawes Hall at Harvard. Tiny but sure of their survival, sure of the sunlight to come, withstanding the late winter winds that threatened to blow them away - those buds were survivors, harbingers of hope. He felt something similar bloom in his heart when he heard Khushi inquiring about his health. Despite everything that had happened, she still cared. He felt a burst of joy go through his body as he reached down into his wallet pocket to retrieve the mangalsutra and look at it. This was the same mangalsutra that Khushi had left behind on his office desk on that fateful day a few weeks ago. She had not wanted to touch it in all these days. It had pained and hurt Arnav to see both Khushi and Anjali di at Shaantivan without their respective mangalsutras...One of them the victim because she was not trusted and the other a victim too, because she had trusted too much.
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Edited by vishkhush - 13 years ago
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