FF : Start Of Something Good ~ Ch.10 Pg.117 08/06 - Page 42

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Harshitha's Writings

Chapter 6

Yet another day had arrived. Another monotonous day, where she had to keep up a loving farce. Oh, she loved her family, alright? After all, she behaved in that silly, oh-I-need-someone-to-keep-me-on-my-own-two-feet way, did she not? Just for their sake. She put on all the accessories that she was expected to wear, and filled sindoor on the parting of her hair. Standing up, she smiled that silly smile which she had perfected over all these years, and everybody bought it without a hint of that smile being superficial. Whereas inwardly she gave a cold, all-knowing smirk. She felt bad really, that her family thought her to be a person who she would not even dream to be. Guilty even, that she was hoodwinking her family since years, and would carry it forward for who knew how many years more. An image of that one person, in front of whom she could be her own self, flashed in her mind. How life would be easier if she could be like that all the time. But after losing the daughter of the house, the Singh Raizadas had turned extra protective and the only available person to focus their protectiveness on was her! Unfortunately!

But it hardly mattered anymore. She felt happy about this exhausting process of living a lie too, truth be told. When her mother had decided to take that drastic step and end her life, it was like a perpetual eclipse had descended on the Raizada mansion. If her family could rise out of that gloom, just to take care of her, she would be perfectly happy to pretend as if she needed that protection. Especially her brother's. Her baby brother. Her brittle smile changed into an endearing one. How he had changed in front of her eyes. From a proverbial, ever-annoying younger brother to that angry young man, who refused to give the world a second thought, but when it came to her, he would do anything. And finally him falling in love with Khushi. Her smile widened, feeling happy for him.

The door to her room burst open and the source of her daily entertainment walked in. She noticed through the mirror that he was worried about something. Oh, what would her life be, if not for this clown that she had married? Even he thought that she was as naive as she presented herself to be. Hah! Like hell, she was naive! Grinning to herself, Anjali Singh Raizada - yes, she would always remain that - stuck a concerned expression on her face and hobbled to her husband who sat at the foot of their bed. "Kya baat hai, Shyamji? You seem worried." His expression cleared, as he smiled at her in that nauseatingly patronizing way - the same smile which always made her cringe mentally. He had a found a way to make that smile seem more and more disgustingly sweet, apparently, she thought.

"Ek case ka maamla hai, meri pyaari Rani Sahiba. Aap ko samajh nahi aayega..." Shyam spelled out, as if she was a toddler. She rolled on the floor, laughing - inwardly, of course! On the surface, however, she gave an indulgent smile, telling him how proud she was of him. Her voice was practically dribbling with sarcasm, and he still did not realize her feelings behind those words. Was he that dumb? Or was she that great an actor. Both! Her mind sneered. Her mind wandered to that person, who was the only one who knew her for what she was. She was busy thinking of all the emotions that would pass on his rather expressive face, even though he had managed to hide those emotions from the world. She was brought out of her reverie when Anjali heard her husband talk about her Chotay. "Ji? Kya?" She asked, wanting to know what Shyam was saying about her brother, already feeling a little defensive, the mother hen that she was, when it came to her Chotay.

Shyam misunderstood her "Kya" to be an exclamation at what he had just said, and explained further, "Wahi tho, Rani Saahiba. Hum bhi Saale Saahib se yahi keh rahe the. Ki shaadi se pehle, aisa karna theek nahi hoga! Lekin woh tehre Arnav Singh Raizada. Humaare baath woh kahaan maanenge? Aap hi unhe samjhaaiye ki Khushiji se, shaadi se pehle, door hi rahein." Anjali's face gained a frown. Shyam was behaving as if her brother and Khushi had slept together before their marriage. And even if they had, why should he be having any problem with that?! This was the man who had made her a pass, even before their marriage, after all. And now, all of a sudden, his moral compass pointed straight to north?! Something was fishy. She usually ignored her dud of a husband, but now her hackles were raised, making her doubt his intentions behind this speech about virtue.

"Jaise aap kahein, Shyamji." Anjali smiled and answered in her fake submissive voice. And when he had smiled that filthy saccharine smile of his, and had left, she decided to call that person. In any case, he was the only person whom she could trust as he was the only one who knew what she was today. The phone rang once. Just once, and he had answered. Anjali got straight to business as she asked, "Aman... what do you know about the creature that is my husband?"

*****

So not fair! Khushi thought as she slumped onto a chair next to where Arnav usually sat and pouted. She had gone to the kitchen, hoping to help her Jiji and tease her about her first nuptial night! But alas, not only was she kicked out of that room, taking away from her, any chance to tease her sister, but she was also teased, saying that her chance to cook in the Raizada kitchen would come. Her phone beeped in her hand, and she turned her attention to it. Her whole self started to soar when she saw that it was a text message from him. She blushed remembering what he had done to her last night. Moreover, what she had done to him! Her boldness came to her when the sun was down, it seemed. His text was a simple question.

"What's wrong?"

Perplexed at this sudden question, she showed it in her reply: "??"

"You were pouting!"

She turned to see him sitting in the living room, pretending to read that day's business paper - but not quite so, if he had seen her pouting. She wanted to tease her darling husband, and since the conversation was not vocally, her confidence returned, as she replied,

"Oh, you know. It's the usual. My husband refuses to acknowledge his wife in front of the world. The world thinks that we're unmarried and it makes me think last night as illicit! ;)"

"You? And involved in anything illicit? Right!"

"What do you mean?! Haven't I already shown you that I am no innocent?!!"

Arnav Singh Raizada could not be blamed if he were handed over such opportunities and was expected to not rise up to the occasion. Playing his cards exactly the right way, he sent his riposte, "You are my angel. Pure and innocent. You may think otherwise, but you're only fooling yourself."

Khushi's heart skipped a beat when she was called Arnav's angel. But the latter part of his text message made her frown. She had to prove it to her husband -again- that she was not innocent! Oh, she knew all about the mind games that her Arnav played, okay? And that was the fun part, Khushi smiled her impish smile. Knowing he had intentionally made her do things his way, and still doing it!

"We'll see about that tonight, Mr. Raizada!"Khushi replied, and saw that all the Raizadas were milling around the table, and a harried looking Payal, carrying a few hundred dishes, and her smug looking mother-in-law, Manorama walked out of the kitchen. Arnav sat next to Khushi, who was avoiding his eyes, as if her life depended on it. "Oh, we shall see, Mrs. Raizada" Arnav drawled, starting an inferno inside Khushi.

*****

Aman sat surprised as he listened to his friend from the police department. Shyam had been involved in many petty crimes. But he and his friend could make out a pattern in it, and also a common reason behind it. It was women. The motive behind any of his crime was always a woman. He had cleverly changed places and fooled four women like that. Luckily he knew Anjali could take care of herself, or else he would have to be very worried. "Achcha yaar, thanks." His friend said that there were no thanks necessary and asked how he knew Shyam. Aman gave a sheepish smile, indicating that he would not be answering that question. "Yaar, chodna.. Tu bata.. Bhabhi kaisi hai?" he added to that smile, making his friend shake his head and answer his question. After another cup of coffee, they decided to leave and the cop added, "Agar kuch aur help chaahiye, tho you know you have me..."

Aman smiled gratefully, "I know Kishore, thanks..." Kishore was his friend when Aman had been staying out of India. And now his friend was in the country, tight-lipped about some case of his. He had always been a tech geek, and when Aman had asked to find information about Shyam Manohar Jha, he had easily looked into all the records and come up with a dossier within no time.

Waving him off, Aman left for his apartment, near to AR. He was taking out his key from the back pocket when he saw that the door was already open. Knowing who was inside, with a blink of the eye, he entered into professional mode and entered to see Anjali sitting on the couch, as if she belonged there, and sipping coffee. Without raising her eyes from the laptop that she was peering into, she questioned, "You design clothes too, Aman? I would never even guess." Aman felt a frisson of irritation pass through his mind. This woman was limits! When Anjali raised her head, his face showed none of that irritation, or at least he hoped so, for the same woman had an uncanny knack of seeing through him. "I guess we have that in common, then, ma'am." Aman countered, looking point blank and had the pleasure of seeing the smug smile erase from her face. He could not, for the love of his life, imagine why she hid her talents from the world. "I like it when you call me ma'am, Aman. It kind of gives me a sense of power over you. Or is it a false impression that you intend to give me, while in actuality, the opposite is the truth?" Anjali's grin had not only returned, but it had turned into a lascivious one. Oh, how he would love to erase that smile off her face, and in what ways! Hah! Aman thought, but pretended to ignore her jibe, and explained everything that he had learned from his friend, while Anjali heard with that concentrating frown on her face, which he realized that Arnav had too. He finally stated, "Shyam could be dangerous, ma'am."

Anjali stood up from her seat, took her wallet and phone from the table, and walked with as less limp as possible. "Careful, Aman. Or else I might think that you actually care about me." Were her parting words.

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So many new things. So many... bombs!!

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