Fourteen months... It had been more than a year, since she was there. She had left, gone somewhere unreachable, which did not exist, at least not for him. She had taken a part of the Raizadas, a part which left a huge void behind-A void which could not be filled, despite the many attempts which had been made to restore the peace and happiness of the household.
Somehow, this punishment seemed fitting for him. The pain of separation reminded him of the hard time he'd given her. Often, he would look back into those months of bliss, filled with her infectious laughter, care-free attitude, and her presence. How could anyone ' and he meant anyone- be there and not feel the magic, the charisma, emanating from her?
As the days slid into weeks and then into months, and still there was no sign of her, he began to worry. Often, he would stare off into space, wondering about her. Thinking, at least, was one thing which he could do without a lot of effort... Ever since Khushi Kumari Gupta Singh Raizada had left Shantivan, everything came at a cost. He could no longer work effortlessly, not without being reminded of her. He was no longer the ruthless business tycoon he had once prided himself on. All he could do was helplessly gaze at the stars twinkling in the sky, desperately willing her to come.
Where are you Khushi? Will you ever be able to forgive me? Will you ever come back here, give me a chance to redeem myself?
These were some of the questions he would ask of the starry sky, every night. It gave him a sense of peace, of righteousness, to know that he still cared for her.
Anjali Raizada, previously Anjali Jha, had a bad marriage. Not only her marriage was bad, but her past, too. Somehow, she felt that it was she who was responsible for the whole scenario. Not only was she responsible for her ex-husband's perfidy, she also was the sole cause of the disappearance of Khushi. She only had herself to blame. When Shyam had stepped in between Arnav and Khushi (or had it been she who had stepped between Shyam and Khushi??) she was the root of the problems... Arnav might never have destroyed Khushi's life, if not for her happiness. Yes, she only had herself to blame.
And that was the reason, for which after a period of twelve months, she had taken to seeing an important and well named psychiatric specialist. She had no real use of seeing a shrink, she had argued with Arnav, but had been outvoted by Nani and Arnav. They had shouted her down, saying that they knew it was all for the best. They felt that recent events had taken a toll on her, and she could do with some professional help.
However, Anjali cheated. In the shrink's office, she would remain mum; let him do the questioning, and no answering from her part. It was her way of showing her stubbornness that she didn't care for this goody-two-shoes person.
(The actual story begins now...)
Dr. Veer pushed open the glass doors of his office, sighing as he felt a wonderful feeling of relief upon entering the cool room. He adjusted his glasses and walked on to the Reception.
"Doctor, you have a patient waiting." The receptionist informed.
"Oh, no. Who is the poor soul?" He asked, knowing he was late for the appointment.
"Ms. Raizada", the receptionist replied.
Dr. Veer was shocked. Never before had Ms. Raizada been on time. Well, it was a day of firsts, he thought wryly. He had been late for the first time and here she was already waiting! What irony.
He strolled towards his cabin, and shut the door behind him. He saw Ms. Raizada sitting on the plush sofa, looking disinterestedly at a magazine.
"Good morning, Ms. Raizada. I take it you are well?" He asked cheerfully, seating himself behind his desk and looking at her.
"Doctor." She acknowledged politely.
He examined her for a while before smiling, and then began with the questions.
"So... will you be a bit more persuadable today, Ms. Raizada? It's a hot day and I could be bothered easily." He could barely contain the chuckle threatening to explode at her befuddlement.
"Oh, yes, Doctor... Actually, I feel as if... As if I have been ungrateful enough... Because it's my brother who has been arranging all this and it might- it might not look good if I continue doing this..." Anjali said feebly.
"I see." He raised an eyebrow. "We should start from your thoughts on today, then."
"Actually, Doctor... I feel as if today's somewhat an extraordinary day. Maybe strange. I have this feeling since morning, you know. I have not been able to shake it off."
"Like the feeling when you know today's the day?"
"Exactly. But the day for what, I really have no idea. Unless..." Anjali trailed off into silence, her eyes far away.
"Unless...?" Dr. Veer prodded.
"Unless my Bhabi is coming back." Anjali finished, a sad kind of longing coming in her eyes, making her look aged.
Dr. Veer examined Anjali's face and expressions critically for some time before scribbling some remarks in his notepad.
"Well... would you like to enlighten me, Ms. Raizada? Under what circumstances your Bhabi took leave?" He asked, probing for information, keen to come to the bottom of things.
"To make things clear, Doctor, it wasn't really Khushiji who took leave. I suppose I forced her to leave."
Dr. Veer looked too confused to ask anything, so Anjali continued, sighing.
"It all started with Khushi's engagement to my ex, I suppose. We were kept in the dark about it. Poor Khushi, she had no idea that the filthy b****** was already married to me. When she found out, she broke her engagement at once. Around that time, Shyam took to cornering her at our home, irritating the hell out of her, trying to get close to her, like the slimy cockroach he is. That was how Arnav found him the day he was to propose Khushi. And that was where things began to go downhill." Anjali nodded impressively, fingering the glass of water present in front of her.
Dr. Veer watched her with his scrutinising gaze, looking for hidden emotions, trying to guess the outcome of the story.
"Arnav gave her no chance at all to explain herself, and instead forced her to be tied to him by a contract marriage, which was to last for six months. You see, they both felt that they were doing their part in protecting my marital relationship, which went wasted, because that as*h*** simply married me for money. Arnav thought that by making Khushi his officially, Shyam would back off.
How wrong he was. And one day, after Arnav got home safe and sound after being kidnapped, the truth came out. I could not take it. It took a toll on me, I admit. I fainted. And when I woke up, poor Khushiji had already left. She had to pay for the consequences. As for Shyam... we never saw him again, nor heard of him, until the divorce papers came."
At this point, Anjali's voice began to quiver, and small teardrops made their way down her cheeks, falling into her lap. Tip, tip, tip. It was like turning on a tap. Dr. Veer pushed the box of tissues towards her. That was one good thing about a shrink's office; tissue boxes upon every surface, because the patients were bound to cry at any place and at any time. When she had dabbed her eyes with tissues, and was not gulping, Dr. Veer opened his mouth to speak, and was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Come in," He said, raising his voice.
In walked a woman, around her twenties, he guessed. Crow-black hair was piled up on her head, and she was wearing a long, pastel coloured gown that swept the floor. But that was not what caught his attention. She was clutching her left wrist, which was crimson. Blood was pouring out.
At that moment, Anjali turned to face the new visitor, and felt the air whoosh out of her lungs. Because the subject of her conversation was standing before her, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Khushiji!" She spluttered. And then she saw what she was holding. "What happened to your arm? Oh, my God!"
Khushi hardly noticed her injury as she saw the person she had least expected to see in this good-for-nothing shrink's cabin. No words came out of her mouth, but dizziness engulfed her, and she welcomed the dark with open arms, because she just had no strength left to face the horrors of her past again...
Music Corner
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