From the Author's desk: Here you go, my lovely readers! the next part- I know its festival time, most of you would be in vacation mood, travelling and all.. But be good to me.. and do leave atleast short comments though I adore al little more than 'amazing or nice update' I am grateful for those words too..
Happy reading!
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Part 54
"What? Come again?" Shyam getting distracted from the task of browsing the file.
"you heard it right" Sid told him
"But why?"
"even Kushi's devimaiya wouldnt know what is running inside his mind" Sid's reply oozed with his frustration
"Did you talk to him? I dont understand why he would say that even after knowing about the Will "
"I think thats exactly why he is opposing the very idea now... You were right.. the man is made of 95% ego"
"When are you starting from there?"
"We are taking the evening flight"
"Ok, talk to him before that... try to find out why he is-"
Sid interjected Shyam
"you want me to talk to him? even after Kushi told me to stay away from this?"
"What? she asked you to stay away from this?"
"yes"
"Ok.. Now I get it.. they have fought... and he is showing his anger in this..He will succumb soon.. leave that"
"Are you sure?"
"I know him.. I know them.." Shyam told and Sid could sense him smiling from miles away.
"ok then"
"Hey Sid, I got some clues about some potential informer of Rana..."
"Oh really? thats a great break" Sid told as he heard a lot of honks from the other end of the line
"Oh.. hey sid, I will talk later, the traffic is cleared, I have to get going" Shyam cut the call before Sid could answer.
****
The celebrations at RM was over by the time Arnav came back from one of his get away drives that he took to calm down his nerves. When he returned back, he found the family was relaxing after the celebrations, engrosed in the wedding plans that had made both the families happy. He noticed that Kushi was not there, though Arush was in his own way getting the attention of all those surrounding him.
"He is a charming kid" Buaji was flustered as she played with him.
"He is exactly chotey's look alike isnt he" Anjali said to no one in particular
"hmm... chotey's chote packetwa" Mami commented and everyone seemed to agree
"We should then ask Kushi if he troubles her at night then.. Chotey was a grumpy baby at night... he would cry for hours for no reason..." Nani informed them
"Nannav and troubling at night? hmm.. seems that he hasnt really grown out of the habit...Kushiji would agree" NK joked as the family laughed
"What the"
It was then they noticed Arnav and asked him to join them. He simply shrugged it off with a lame excuse of work.
He saw that neither Lavanya nor Sid was present too.
He went up and found Kushi was not there at their room too.
"Maybe enjoying with her friends..As if I care..." Arnav muttered "If she wants to act aloof, I shall too.. two shall play the game" he told himself as he switched on the TV.
****
Lavanya and Sid were in their room packing things when Lavanya took out a white bag.
"Reminde me Sid, I need to give this to Kushi before we leave" she commented
"What is it?"
"her stuff- her diary, letters, Arush snaps, Albums, baby videos..When I packed all her dresses, I couldnt accomodate this in her bag, I put it in mine"
"Alright"
"Hey what did Shyam say? you spoke to him right?"
"yeah.. he was in the middle of a traffic jam, we couldnt speak much.. he also thinks they will be fine by themselves."
"hmm"
"May be I should call him back.. He was saying about some clues" Sid said as he dialed his friend's number
"I am not able to reach him" He said a minute later, putting his mobile aside.
****
Arnav was watching a football match when he heard tinkling sound of Kushi's Payal in his garden. A few seconds later, he saw Kushi coming in from the garden.
"you are back?" Kushi asked him in an almost friendly tone. This was something that annoyed him beyong comprehension, she sometimes acted as if nothing was wrong between them.
"Where were you?" he barked at her, unexpected to himself even, "Having good time with your friends?"
"No, I was at the garden" she spoke calmly. He looked at her turning away from the TV, She was clutching a little spade and the garden scisscor in her hand.
"I didnt know you had employed a gardener?" She asked casually. Arnav was a little amused.. of all the things in the world...
"Why does it matter to you so much?"
"I thought you preferred to look after the plants yourself."
"Oh. I didnt know people still bother about my likes or preferences or opinions" The reply came cold and distant.
Arnav was expecting either a silent treatment from her or an outburst, but her response too him by surprise.
"Ofcourse we do... you know they have named the baby Keya... Its a nice name isnt it?"
Her tact to change the topic immediately only angered him further. Doesnt she realise yet that he is angry with her and for what? Why does she behave as if nothing happened? He was about to give her a much ruder reply when he noticed the gardener.
"Bhabhiji, I have treated the affected plants with pesticide. Is there anything else to do?"
"Thats it Balkeji, thanks" Kushi handed over the instruments to the gardener and the gardener gave Arnav a respectful half salute before he went down.
Arnav understood Kushi's incoherent topics of discussion. He went back to his match, let her decide to speak first, he decided.
"Arnavji, I need to speak to you" Kushi's voice was very low, Arnav would have missed it if he had not been expecting her to speak.
He kept his gaze at the TV.
"Should I wait until the match gets over?" she asked him when she saw that he didnt respond. He now looked at her, and raised his eyebrows
"Is it about the wedding plans preponement" He didnt bother to hide the sarcasm in it
"No" came back a reply from Kushi
"So you dont want to prepone the wedding?"
"I dont want to talk about it now"
"Oh.. I forgot.. you didnt want to marry me in the first place isnt it?" Arnav asked her cynically "you only wanted to renew the wedding contract... for how long did you plan to renew it Kushi?"
"I dont know.. you are the expert in contracts and stuff" Kushi replied back with vindictive sarcasm, that Arnav looked at her dumbstruck. A familiar feeling of guilty regret filled him.
"so thats why you wanted to renew it.. to give back to me what I did to you?" he asked her, feeling more fearful than being angry
"Are you serious?" kushi asked him with disbelief "do you even know me Arnav?"
"you were the one who told everyone that we dont have to marry again.. you were the one who brought up contract now...What do you expect me to think?" Arnav told striving hard to control his temper
"I told I dont want to go through a wedding because I know you are not comfortable with those ceremonies.. besides, For me we are married and there is no significance in getting married again- Its all going to be the same. I still wear the mangalsutra and sindoor, the only two things which formed a part of our wedding two and half years before.. The situation which pushed us into it or the papers which defined its expiry date hold very little significance." Kushi told him a little fiercefully
"Kushi, I didnt mean to- "Arnav started with a little penitently but Kushi interjected
"No, dont give me excuses Arnav, I know why you told this.. you wanted to hurt me because you are angry and you are hurt.. and I thank god that you didnt choose to hurt me withs more cruel than this...Thank god you did have sense not to tell me that I wanted to renew the wedding contract becasue you think I am a gold digger...you have accused me of being one... in the past.. havent you?" Kushi got up from the bed from where she had been sitting next to him, Arnav got up too
"In was past Kushi- Past is already gone, Now dont try this Kushi... I have apologised to you for that and lot more that I did, we have discused this again and again in the past...what is the need to bring it all up?" Arnav told her with a calmness which surprised him even, He was feeling helpless with the feeling of uneasy onus for his actions
"because I am a human too and No, I dont hold any grudges against you... I understand your anger... I only wish you understood me too"
"What the...Dammit Kushi.. You know I am angry.. and still you decide to remain this insensitive and behave as if nothing happened? and now you instigate me and watch while I try to give in to my temper... Why do you do this Kushi?" He closed in their distance, grabbing her arms and pushing her up the nearest wall
"leave me,you are rough handling me" Kushi told him but he ignored it
"First you decide to leave and then you dont talk to me for two years and then end up at my door one fine morning and say we have a kid.. and then deny me any explanations.. How do you think any sane person would react to this? "
"I didnt deny you any explanations, I was only waiting for an opportunity to talk..."
"Ok this is an opportunity enough.. talk now!" He said releasing her and standing a step back.
" talk what? When Shyam and Sid told you the reason behind it, I thought it explained enough"
"It didnt.. and it was never enough" Arnav told her "Shyam told that Rana was not very particular about killing me- where was I in danger? I refuse to accept it"
Neither spoke for sometime, they were only looking into eachother's eyes for sometime, before Kushi lowered her gaze first.
"Yes, You are right. Your life was not in imminent danger" Kushi spoke out, and the way she started to speak agreeing to his view suprised him
"but it was only because you were not aware of the Will. Also at that stage they couldnt keep me out of the secretanymore becasue Rana had started targeting me and it was either or choice for me- decide to go back to you- Int hat case, they have to decide to break the secret early to you as well and tell you about everything- which in turn would bring you into the game- whether you liked it or not and put your life at risk- or keep myself away and put my life at risk. I chose the second one"
"Ku-"
"I am sure you would have done the same too if you were in my situation- and ofcourse, I didnt know I was pregnant, Sid had told me it would only be for little over a month, I was first taken to meet your Dadi and GayathriMaa and thats where I met Shyam too, the moment I saw him, I was scared that everyone had fooled me, but then I learnt it was otherwise."
"It was only there I found out that I was pregnant, I didnt know what to do. I had chosen to put myself at risk, but inadvertantly, I had chosen you over my baby- I was struck between my duty as a wife and a mother. It was then, Dadi pointed out that I dont have to choose between my baby and my husband, I can stay out of circulation until Shyam could sort out some legalities. If I contacted you by any means- phone, mails- anything, Rana's party would know- because you would react, they would know that you were still game- it was all they could do at that time-not knowing who was giving information to Rana, was to keep you safe by not bringing you into the picture.
It was not the wealth or title that drived these people or your dadi- it was the urge to keep you safe that pushed them to ask me to stay hidden. For them, more than wealth, you were important and they wanted to stop Rana- the only way Rana would be stopped is when he would be checkmated against his plans- only when his plans backfired. Shyam was moving his pawns towards that and one way of doing it was stealth play-to trap Rana without even Rana realising that he was being defeated- they requested me to keep quiet about the baby- No hints were to be thrown"
"Even though I agreed to this plan for the safety of the baby, everytime I called someone in the family, I was easily spotted by Rana, no one managed to find how his men did it...and we were careful not to give you a clue too, as you were being watched- I was warned not to even give out a clue as then, I would not only put myself and the baby but you in danger too...Those were the worst times- when I had put not only me but the team also in immenent danger, but still they were very generous to accomodate my faults. When I called Di on her wedding day, I made it so obcious that I had to be moved out of bangalore and Sid took us to Mumbai. Later when I heard Nani was sick, I couldnt stop myself, I wanted to see her , I made a ruksas that the team planned something, Sid drove me to Pune so that we both can board a flight from there- , they decided not to take direct flight from mumbai to avoid unnecessary traces. It was also decided I can watch her from far and come back"
"Were you here that time.. you actually came here?"
"No... The plan got cancelled, immediately after the call, Rana's men caught up with us and we had to drop the plan but then I called her up and was satisfied that she would be ok- that time too, we were chased by Rana's men- Sid had a tough time to save my skin He literally threw himself to those men to save me and our unborn kid- After that I decided to lie low, I was feeling guilty . I felt as if I was paying poorly for the unconditional selflessness these men were showing to our family"
Arnav took sometime for what she told to sink in, and she grew silent too, as she rested her head against the wall, from where she hadnt moved, and was unconciously playing with her dupatta.
"Alright" Arnav broke the silence "but didnt you even have the desire to speak to me all those times you called Kushi?"
"You only think... with others, I atleast had the poise to talk to the point and hang up, I can never do that to you, I was scared that my resolve would break, with only a
question from you, I was scared that I would loose control and my voice would decieve the pretense to whoever who was tapping on the lines that everything was over between us. If I had spoken to you, There was no point in me taking this decision to keep you safe- isnt it? Shyam had given an impresssion to Rana that I moved away from you becasue I was scared for my life- So this way, my touch with the family but you was justified."
"But still"
"But still, my raging pregnancy harmones would crave for you, I found out some stupid ways to listen to your voice, I dont want to admit what were those and make a fool of myself now"
"No I wouldnt think of you like that" He whispered softly, "I would love to know"
She looked into his eyes again, to see tenderness in them. She remembered it had been a long time since she saw that in his eyes. Oh how much she missed this.
"only if you promise not to make fun of me... I shall tell you..."
"I cant promise that.. I miss teasing you"
"I miss that too"
Arnav looked amused for a while
Raging pregnancy harmones..." he repeated with a pause after each word "Do you even realise how much you made me miss Kushi?" he couldn't help but keep his irateness out of his tone
"I do.. I felt so too... But I always convinced myself with- there is always a next time isnt it... if we manage to come out of this mess, I mean"
"A next time?" Arnav asked his wife, looking dazed
"I - I never meant to sound like that.. I was only- hmm.." Kushi spoke out hastely, a pink raising on her cheeks steadily, which made Arnav more amused. If it had not been a situation like this, he sighed to himself - Only Kushi can do this, he thought to himself- talk about something as serious as being in danger of losing her life and the next minute talk about her fantasies of having another child with him- so innocently and with her eyes full of love.
"For heaven's sake Kushi- Arush is my first child! There can never be another first child"
"I know.. I have never felt so guilty ever in life, with a situation like what I was in.. the well being of both my men was my first priority..."
Something about Kushi referring to Arnav as her man, sounded so good to Arnav, He realised that kushi hadnt been so vocal about how she felt for him before she left him two years back. He checked himself in time, from smiling at her
"and what stopped you from letting me know after the baby was born?"
Kushi sighed before she started to say something when Sid rushed into their bedroom, with Lavanya close on his heels. Arnav almost shouted at him for not showing the basic decency of knocking the door but Sid was not in a mood for a friendly chat, his face looked very serious and to an extent there was panic etched in his face and Lavanya was pale with fear.
Sid snatched the remote from Arnav's bed and hurriedly switched on one of the news channels
"The Bomb blast happened at around 12.30 near a secluded bus stop, Live report from our reporter from the spot coming in right now" A lady in her mid twenties was announcing on the screen
Arnav couldnt get the connection, even though the news was disturbing, it was not the way to barge into his private space and switch on the TV.
"What the" Arnav called out his usual phrase
"Shut up" Sid bit back
"How dare you-" but before Arnav could even complete the sentence, news flashing against the screen and the live report from the reporter made Arnav cut his sentence and stare at the screen.
To be continued...
Edited by abavi - 12 years ago
Mannat Har Khushi Paane Ki
Cricket
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