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Writer's Note: Hey fellas! back with scene 2. I got some PMs that I should increase the font size of the chapters as it is difficult to read it.. so here you go, bigger font! (does that mean more comments? 😛)
So after an action packed chapter, we are here. Enjoy.
CHAPTER 10 Scene 2
[Inside Arnav's Car]
Arnav gets into his car, the vein in his forehead still thudding with the outburst of his anger. He tries to slow his breath trying to calm himself down. When that doesn't work, he starts counting to 10 backwards. He reaches only six in the countdown. He grasps the steering wheel tightly, trying to channel his anger into the innocent car. Despite whatever he tries, he is still not able to get rid of the picture of Khushi from his mind, whispering "nafrat karte hain hum aapse" her words dripping with venom.
His jaw hardens. He snaps his seat belt into place and turns on the ignition. Slowly, he pulls the car out of the driveway. nafrat karte hain hum aapse... He speeds away towards the city. Thoughts start circling in his mind. A voice says to him, Woh nafrat kyun nahin karegi mujhse? Main shaadi se uth ke chala gaya tha. Suddenly another not-so-kind voice speaks up in his mind. Haan to? Uske baad usse maafi bhi to maangi thi. Par usne kya kiya? Apni ring wapis kar di. Sab kuch khatam kar ke chali gai. His breathing slows down as memories of the last few days start flashing in his head.
He slams his foot on the break, bringing his car to a screeching halt. Whenever we met after the wedding broke, we ended up fighting and arguing. We ended up more hurt than before. He slowly bows down, his forehead resting on the steering wheel, taking slow deliberate breaths. He wasn't Arnav Singh Raizada anymore; he had become the mere shadow of that man. He had become soft and weak. He had become involved... no... too involved.
After a long silent moment, he raises his head, his red eyes brimming with angry tears. Bas bahut hua! Aaj ke baad se main kabhi khud ko itna weak nahin hone dunga. I will not allow anyone to affect me this way. He decides to himself resolutely.
[Gupta House, Khushi's room]
Khushi is taking off the jewellery she had worn that night. She carefully takes off her earrings, her bangles and ties up her hair in a braid. Suddenly her eyes fall on her bare arm. There are still faint marks where Arnav had gripped her tightly. She touches the skin and winces slightly. This is all she ever got from him: Pain. Shaadi toot ne ke baad se hum jab bhi mile, hum dono sirf jhagde, sirf dukhi hue. Khushi closes her eyes sadly.
She can't believe she had that conversation with him just an hour ago. Did he really say all that? He promised that she won't be a part of his life and he won't be a part of hers. After months of being together, after promising each other to be by their side forever, after expressing love and faith in each other, does it all come down to this?
Her gaze falls on the faded skin of her ring finger. She gently touches it, remembering each millimetre of the ring's design. She urges the memory to disappear away from her mind. She looks up and around her room. The walls seem to be closing in. The silence around her scares her for a moment. "Khushi tu bilkul akeli hai," she murmurs to herself, and her eyes threaten to start tearing up again.
Then her eyes fall on the idol of Devi Maiyya sitting on her table, gazing serenely at her. Khushi sits still for a moment, gazing right back. Just a mere look and something starts burning inside her. A fire, a resoluteness, a decision that gives her strength. "Hum akele nahin hain! Jab tak Devi Maiyya hamare saath hain, hum akele ho hi nahin sakte," she says out loud, wiping off every memory of the night that was troubling her. "Bas bahut hua! Aaj ke baad se kisi ko bhi humare aankhon mein ek bhi aansu lane nahin denge Devi Maiyya, aapki kasam," she says to the idol in a determined voice.
[Aakash's House]
They say women are more tenacious then men; they can go on enduring pain and keep strengthening themselves in the process. It's been some time since everything became normal for Payal. She had managed to hide her feelings of sadness behind her serene eyes and calm exterior. She had invested a lot of time thinking about the truth that Garima shared with her daughters the night Khushi's wedding broke; she thought of all the consequent events that occurred in an alarming rate; her getting ousted from Shantivan; finding the support of Aakash at a crucial juncture of their marital lives; the happiness at learning Babuji could be well again; the rebonding with Khushi while gathering finances. So much had happened in a rush!
She thinks back to the happy carefree times when it was all smiles and laughter. When did everything become so contorted? And more importantly, will anything be alright ever again? A profound sense of melancholy grips Payal's heart, fuelled by her inadequacies to do anything more than she had already done. She couldn't make things right in Khushi's life and that helplessness makes her more upset than anything else.
Lost in her thoughts, she doesn't notice Aakash slip inside the room and quietly observing her since some time. She suddenly feels his comforting arms enveloping her in a warm embrace. A tear flows down her cheek.
Smiling, Payal turns around and hugs her husband. "Hum Khushi ke saath Lucknow ja rahe hain. Bauji hospital mein admit hone wale hain," she continues.
Aakash withdraws from the hug and looks at her in surprise. He had not been a part of this plan. "Par, ghar mein to shradh ki pooja bhi hai iss week. NK bhai ne to tickets bhi karwa li hain," he cries out. Payal caresses his face lovingly.
"Humein nahin lagta, ki uss pooja mein humara aana theek hoga Aakash," she says calmly, her eyes looking sad despite of the smile on her lips. "Dadi ji ko achha nahin lagega," she whispers.
Aakash looks affronted. "Tum meri patni ho Payal! Kisi ka koi haq nahin banta hai tumse gussa hone ka," he exclaims in anger. "Theek hai agar tum nahin jaogi, to main bhi nahin jaunga!" he says decidedly. Payal shakes her head in amusement.
"Aakash, ye shradh pooja aapke parivar ke do sadasyon ke liye rakhi gai hai. Woh koi padosi, ya dost nahin the. Woh aapke sage the, aapke khud ke. Agar aap pooja mein nahin jayenge, to unka anaadar hoga. Isiliye humse waada kariye, ki aap pooja ke liye jayenge."
Aakash looks up at his wife. He feels so incredibly lucky to have a woman of conviction, of morals, of strength being his better half. And yet, she had to endure so much in such a short span of time. And endure she did, albeit with a smile on her serene face always. Slowly he nods as a reply to her request.
"Main ye bhi waada karta hun ki ek din sab kuch theek ho jayega, Payal," he tries to enfuse his words with as much of conviction as he can. Payal gives him a long silent look absorbing his words, before sinking into his arms again.
"Hum jaante hain, Aakash," she murmurs.
[Next morning, AR Designs Office]
"Agar designs approve nahin hue the, to phir inko production ko kyun diya?" Arnav yells loudly. The creative team sitting around him, jump in their seats. They have never seen Arnav so angry.
"Sorry Sir, woh-" the woman on his right mumbles but is cut short by Arnav's glare.
"Main tumhari sorry sunne ke liye yahan nahin khada hun. Understood? I need results. Jo designs finalise hue the, I need those in production RIGHT NOW!" he shouts the last two words again making people jump. Arnav walks out of the meeting room, utterly disgusted.
Aman meets him in the corridor and walks next to him. "Sir, Mr. Mehra ne call kiya tha about our outlet in his mall. Woh keh rahe the ki hamara outlet unke space ki specifications se tally nahin karta hai. So we'll need to figure out something."
"No! We will not figure out anything. I want my outlet with those specifications only. Agar unko manzoor nahin hai then I don't want AR designs opening a store in his bloody mall," Arnav seethes. Aman looks taken aback. He looks down at his file.
"But Sir, we have been negotiating with him for over a year! Aur unka mall to prime location par ban raha hai. I think-"
"Aman, tumhe sochne ke liye paise nahin diye jaate. Maine kaha na, I don't want any more discussions with Mr. Mehra. Tell him to take it or leave it." Arnav says dismissively as he reaches his cabin and sits down heavily into his chair.
Irritation reigns each and every inch of his body. He has had bad days before, but today had been a disaster since the moment he stepped inside his office. The fashion shoot was in turmoil, the publishing house for the calendar had changed its bids over night, his main model was threatening to pull out and the opening of his store in the new mall was in jeopardy; it'd been a nightmare of a day so far. And the most frustrating thing about all this mess was that, Arnav Singh Raizada wasn't his usual calm, composed and ruthless self; he was just all over the place in a helpless bid to bring things to control.
Aman quietly walks in and closes the door behind him. He sits down in front of Arnav, still not uttering anything. He observes his boss taking deep breaths trying to calm down himself. Aman is worried; he has never seen Arnav lose his patience with regards to business decisions. Arnav always studied and evaluated deals, judged what could bring his company the maximum profits; he discussed, debated, analysed every angle involved before making a concrete decision. And so, when Aman was seeing his boss make decisions born out of anger, he had every reason to be worried.
"Sir?" he whispers tentatively. Arnav doesn't stir. Aman lets out a sigh and places the file pertaining to Mr. Mehra on the table for his boss's perusal and slowly walks towards the door.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you. That was out of line." Arnav's calm voice makes Aman stop at the door and look back at him with a look of surprise. In all his years of working for this hard-nosed businessman, never had he been at the receiving end of an apology from him.
"It's alright Sir," is all Aman can reply.
"Tell Mr. Mehra, we'll have a discussion about the store specifications and get back to him." Arnav says composedly. Aman nods in affirmation and then walks out.
Arnav stares out of the window of his cabin. It has started. The one thing he had always been careful about was to keep his professional life and his personal life separate and never to let one dictate the terms on the other. He did business with his mind, not his heart as all shrewd businessmen did. And he didn't mind being called cold in his dealings because that how he preffered his life. But now, his anger with his personal life was spilling over to his professional space and a feeling of suffocation was gripping him. It has started.
[Next morning, Railway station]
Khushi and Payal are sitting in the train compartment on the side berth. They both have a packet of groundnuts. Khushi cracks open one with gutso and passes the nuts to Payal. They both look relaxed and are looking forward to returning to Lucknow after an entire year.
Lucknow, the place where it all began.
CHAPTER 10 Scene 2
[Inside Arnav's Car]
Arnav gets into his car, the vein in his forehead still thudding with the outburst of his anger. He tries to slow his breath trying to calm himself down. When that doesn't work, he starts counting to 10 backwards. He reaches only six in the countdown. He grasps the steering wheel tightly, trying to channel his anger into the innocent car. Despite whatever he tries, he is still not able to get rid of the picture of Khushi from his mind, whispering "I hate you" her words dripping with venom.
His jaw hardens. He snaps his seat belt into place and turns on the ignition. Slowly, he pulls the car out of the driveway. I hate you...He speeds away towards the city. Thoughts start circling in his mind. A voice says to him, Why wouldn't she hate me? I got up halfway through our wedding and left. Suddenly another not-so-kind voice speaks up in his mind. So what? You apologized afterwards too. And what did she do? She returned her ring. She ended everything and walked away. His breathing slows down as memories of the last few days start flashing in his head.
He slams his foot on the break, bringing his car to a screeching halt.Whenever we met after the wedding broke, we ended up fighting and arguing. We ended up more hurt than before. He slowly bows down, his forehead resting on the steering wheel, taking slow deliberate breaths. He wasn't Arnav Singh Raizada anymore; he had become the mere shadow of that man. He had become soft and weak. He had become involved... no... too involved.
After a long silent moment, he raises his head, his red eyes brimming with angry tears. That's enough! From today onwards, I'll not allow myself to become so weak. I will not allow anyone to affect me this way. He decides to himself resolutely.
[Gupta House, Khushi's room]
Khushi is taking off the jewellery she had worn that night. She carefully takes off her earrings, her bangles and ties up her hair in a braid. Suddenly her eyes fall on her bare arm. There are still faint marks where Arnav had gripped her tightly. She touches the skin and winces slightly. This is all she ever got from him: Pain. Ever since our wedding broke, whenever we met all we have done is fight, argue and be sad. Khushi closes her eyes sadly.
She can't believe she had that conversation with him just an hour ago. Did he really say all that? He promised that she won't be a part of his life and he won't be a part of hers. After months of being together, after promising each other to be by their side forever, after expressing love and faith in each other, does it all come down to this?
Her gaze falls on the faded skin of her ring finger. She gently touches it, remembering each millimetre of the ring's design. She urges the memory to disappear away from her mind. She looks up and around her room. The walls seem to be closing in. The silence around her scares her for a moment. "Khushi you're alone," she murmurs to herself, and her eyes threaten to start tearing up again.
Then her eyes fall on the idol of Devi Maiyya sitting on her table, gazing serenely at her. Khushi sits still for a moment, gazing right back. Just a mere look and something starts burning inside her. A fire, a resoluteness, a decision that gives her strength. "I'm not alone! Till the time Devi Maiyya is with me, I can not be alone," she says out loud, wiping off every memory of the night that was troubling her. "It's enough! From today onwards, I'll not let anyone bring tears to my eyes, Devi Maiyya, I swear on you," she says to the idol in a determined voice.
[Aakash's House]
They say women are more tenacious then men; they can go on enduring pain and keep strengthening themselves in the process. It's been some time since everything became normal for Payal. She had managed to hide her feelings of sadness behind her serene eyes and calm exterior. She had invested a lot of time thinking about the truth that Garima shared with her daughters the night Khushi's wedding broke; she thought of all the consequent events that occurred in an alarming rate; her getting ousted from Shantivan; finding the support of Aakash at a crucial juncture of their marital lives; the happiness at learning Babuji could be well again; the rebonding with Khushi while gathering finances. So much had happened in a rush!
She thinks back to the happy carefree times when it was all smiles and laughter. When did everything become so contorted? And more importantly, will anything be alright ever again? A profound sense of melancholy gripped Payal's heart, fuelled by her inadequacies to do anything more than she had already done. She couldn't make things right in Khushi's life and that helplessness made her more upset than anything else.
Lost in her thoughts, she doesn't notice Aakash slip inside the room and quietly observing her since some time. She suddenly feels his comforting arms enveloping her in a warm embrace. A tear flows down her cheek.
Smiling, Payal turns around and hugs her husband. "I'm going to Lucknow with Khushi. Bauji is about to be admitted in the hospital," she continues.
Aakash withdraws from the hug and looks at her in surprise. He had not been a part of this plan. "But there is a shradh pooja at home this week. NK Bhai has taken the tickets already," he cries out. Payal caresses his face lovingly.
"I don't think, I should sit for that pooja, Aakash," she says calmly, her eyes looking sad despite of the smile on her lips. "Dadiji won't like it," she whispers.
Aakash looks affronted. "You are my wife Payal! Nobody has a right to be angry with you," he exclaims in anger. "Fine, if you won't go, I won't go either!" he says decidedly. Payal shakes her head in amusement.
"Aakash, this shradh pooja has been kept in the memory of two of your family members. They weren't your neighbours or friends. They were your own. If you don't go for the pooja, it will be highly disrespectful to them. so, promise me, that you will go for the pooja."
Aakash looks up at his wife. He feels so incredibly lucky to have a woman of conviction, of morals, of strength being his better half. And yet, she had to endure so much in such a short span of time. And endure she did, albeit with a smile on her serene face always. Slowly he nods as a reply to her request.
"I also promise this to you that everything will be alright one day, Payal," he tries to enfuse his words with as much of conviction as he can. Payal gives him a long silent look absorbing his words, before sinking into his arms again.
"I know, Aakash," she murmurs.
[Next morning, AR Designs Office]
"If the designs weren't approved why were they forwarded to production in the first place?" Arnav yells loudly. The creative team sitting around him, jump in their seats. They have never seen Arnav so angry.
"Sorry Sir, I-" the woman on his right mumbles but is cut short by Arnav's glare.
"I'm not standing here to listen to your apologies. Understood? I need results. The designs that were finalized, I need those in production RIGHT NOW!" he shouts the last two words again making people jump. Arnav walks out of the meeting room, utterly disgusted.
Aman meets him in the corridor and walks next to him. "Sir, Mr. Mehra had called about our outlet in his mall. He was mentioning that our outlet doesn't tally the specifications needed for their mall. So we'll need to figure out something."
"No! We will not figure out anything. I want my outlet with those specifications only. If they don't agree then I don't want AR designs opening a store in his bloody mall," Arnav seethes. Aman looks taken aback. He looks down at his file.
"But Sir, we have been negotiating with him for over a year! And his mall is situated in a prime location. I think-"
"Aman, you're not being paid to think. I told you, I don't want any more discussions with Mr. Mehra. Tell him to take it or leave it." Arnav says dismissively as he reaches his cabin and sits down heavily into his chair.
Irritation reigns each and every inch of his body. He has had bad days before, but today had been a disaster since the moment he stepped inside his office. The fashion shoot was in turmoil, the publishing house for the calendar had changed its bids over night, his main model was threatening to pull out and the opening of his store in the new mall was in jeopardy; it'd been a nightmare of a day so far. And the most frustrating thing about all this mess was that, Arnav Singh Raizada wasn't his usual calm, composed and ruthless self; he was just all over the place in a helpless bid to bring things to control.
Aman quietly walks in and closes the door behind him. He sits down in front of Arnav, still not uttering anything. He observes his boss taking deep breaths trying to calm down himself. Aman is worried; he has never seen Arnav lose his patience with regards to business decisions. Arnav always studied and evaluated deals, judged what could bring his company the maximum profits; he discussed, debated, analysed every angle involved before making a concrete decision. And so, when Aman was seeing his boss make decisions born out of anger, he had every reason to be worried.
"Sir?" he whispers tentatively. Arnav doesn't stir. Aman lets out a sigh and places the file pertaining to Mr. Mehra on the table for his boss's perusal and slowly walks towards the door.
"I'm sorry I yelled at you. That was out of line." Arnav's calm voice makes Aman stop at the door and look back at him with a look of surprise. In all his years of working for this hard-nosed businessman, never had he been at the receiving end of an apology from him.
"It's alright Sir," is all Aman can reply.
"Tell Mr. Mehra, we'll have a discussion about the store specifications and get back to him." Arnav says composedly. Aman nods in affirmation and then walks out.
Arnav stares out of the window of his cabin. It has started. The one thing he had always been careful about was to keep his professional life and his personal life separate and never to let one dictate the terms on the other. He did business with his mind, not his heart as all shrewd businessmen did. And he didn't mind being called cold in his dealings because that how he preffered his life. But now, his anger with his personal life was spilling over to his professional space and a feeling of suffocation was gripping him. It has started.
[Next morning, Railway station]
Khushi and Payal are sitting in the train compartment on the side berth. They both have a packet of groundnuts. Khushi cracks open one with gutso and passes the nuts to Payal. They both look relaxed and are looking forward to returning to Lucknow after an entire year.
Lucknow, the place where it all began.
NEXT CHAPTER (click)
Edited by smitzy - 12 years ago
Cricket
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