Chapter Forty-Three – Day One
Before heading to bed, I made sure to clean up the mess RK had made because of me. I wasn't surprised we hadn't heard him considering the commotion downstairs. As soon as I finished cleaning his room, I heard the commotion downstairs diminish. I was sure Adi had just ended the party that ended with a disastrous night just as the last time. The Kundra mansion was not a good place for when it came down to parties.
I picked up the last piece of paper on the ground and opened RK's desk drawer to put it inside. The paper slipped out of my hand as I saw a picture in front of my eyes. I noticed our ring…the ring that he had proposed to me with laying on top of the picture.
---
He grabbed me by the arms and I noticed the tears in his eyes. I had just come back from seeing my father being arrested for the crime he had commit.
"HE DID IT."
At the time, I had not believed that my father could do such a thing.
"That's not true RK…"
"HE DID THIS MADHU!"
"NO RK! NO!"
I felt his grip on my arms tightening as he caused me pain for the first time. I grimaced and stared up at him as I saw a fire behind his eyes. I had never seen him so angry before.
"Your father will pay Madhu. HE'LL PAY FOR WHAT HE D…"
"SHUT UP! STOP!"
I pulled free from his arms and stared at him, shocked at his appearance. I looked down at my hand and the ring, which shined on it. I saw his eyes on me as I took the ring off my finger. I took a hold of his hand and placed the ring in his hand.
"Not until you learn to trust me and my family RK."
And with that I ran. I ran as far and as fast as I could.
---
I instantly began to tear up as I slowly picked up the picture and ring, and held them up in front of me. I felt my heart shatter as I remembered it being the last picture we took together before everything that had happened. I noticed a tear fall onto the picture, onto RK's face, and I felt an instinct to go check on him. I wiped away the tear and placed the picture back in his desk. I kept the ring in my hand and I turned, wanting to leave, but stopped myself. The last thing I needed was for Adi to see me going to check on RK. He hadn't questioned me about the love mark, which made it obvious he knew who had made it. I couldn't hurt Adi anymore. I sighed and decided to go to bed while holding the ring in my hand.
I awoke to the sound of knocking at the door. I instantly sat up as I remembered that I was in RK's room. All I could do was hope that it wasn't RK as I spoke.
"Come in…"
The door opened slowly and I sighed in relief as Neha walked into the room.
"Sir left a letter for you this morning. He asked me to give it to you."
"Okay, thanks Neha. Can you place it on that desk? I'll read it in a bit."
"Yes ma'am."
I watched as she placed the letter on the desk and then I got out of bed to freshen up.
As soon as I was finished freshening up, I stepped out of the bathroom and was surprised to see RK leaning against his desk with the letter in his hands. I stormed up to him and snatched the letter out of his hands.
"So much for privacy."
"Privacy? He's my brother and you're my to-be sister-in-law. We're all family here."
I knew he was rubbing it in my face; the fact that I was going to be his sister-in-law. I noticed a smirk cross his face, which angered me. I began rolling up the letter when I noticed his ring on my finger. I quickly hid my hands behind my back nonchalantly, as an odd expression crossed his face.
"How was my bed?"
"Huh?"
"You heard me. How was my bed?"
"Comfortable?"
"That's it? It didn't bring back memo…"
"Shut up RK. You're the last person I would think of. My fiance is and will be the only person on my mind from now on."
"Yeah, we'll see about that."
He annoyed me. So much that I couldn't even stare at his face anymore. I needed fresh air as I felt my face flushing read while he stared into my eyes. I quickly turned and ran out of his room. They had no need to worry about me running away anymore, so I knew they wouldn't mind me going outside. I ran down the stairs and straight through the doors. As I stepped outside, I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath of the fresh air. As I opened my eyes, I remembered the letter in my hands. I opened up the letter, worried about what it said because RK had read it.
Dear Madhu,
Today's only day one without you and I miss you already. I thought I'd leave you a letter on the first day, just to remind you that there are only six days remaining to our wedding. You'll be receiving letters everyday until the wedding. I hope you're just as excited as I am. I'd call you but I don't have time for personal phone calls during my business trip. I miss you. I love you.
Yours, Aditya
I folded the letter back up and stepped further out into the front yard. RK hadn't read much. It didn't have anything he didn't know in it…not that we were hiding anything from him. I don't know why I got so worked up upon seeing him with the letter. Was it because I worried he'd be hurt?
As I got lost in my thoughts, I heard him speak from behind me.
"Six days eh?"
I slowly turned to see him standing behind me with his hands in his pockets.
"Yes. Six days."
"You didn't bother telling me?"
"I found out last night myself."
"Oh? Do you even love him or are you doing this to get back at me?"
I loved him…as a friend. Was I really doing all this to get back at RK? Or was I doing it because I cared for Adi and couldn't hurt him? I didn't have an answer to his question so I silently turned my back towards him, avoiding his eyes as I lied.
"I love him."
"Oh really?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
Before I could turn to stare at him, I felt him yank at my arm and spin me around himself. I bumped into his chest and looked up at him as he stared down at me with a passionate look. I felt his hand running down my arm, sending a chill down my spine as I closed my eyes. In that moment, I forgot everything. I felt his hand take a hold of mine.
"Then what's this?"
My eyes shot open to see his ring on my finger. I froze as my eyes went wide. How was I supposed to answer him? I was the one who had given him his ring back years ago…and here I was wearing it once again.
"That…I…"
He took a hold of both my hands and looked down at me as I tried to think of an answer unsuccessfully.
"You still love me."
I lowered my eyes as I lied again.
"No…"
"You said so yourself last night."
"I was…I was caught up in the moment…"
"Look up at me."
I didn't listen to his command.
"Madhu, look up at me."
I shook my head no but wasn't surprised when he placed his finger under my chin and brought my face up to stare into his eyes. My eyes flickered as I attempted to maintain eye contact. I felt him trying to read me through my eyes and looked away again. I heard him chuckle as he let me go and I turned back to see him smirking.
"You never stopped loving me. You never will. You're getting yourself into a big mess Madhubala Malik. You should cancel the wedding."
"Don't tell me what to do. It's my life."
He grabbed me by the arm again and pulled me close. He stared down at me with a look full of anger as he spoke sternly
"You're messing with my brother's life."
I was. I was toying with his brother's life. How could I marry him after knowing I didn't love him? How?
"Fine!"
I pulled free from his grip as I continued.
"You're right! I do love you. And I always will. But I love Adi too. I may not love him as much as I should but I will someday. Someday we'll be happy together."
"That day will never come, future…bhabhiji."
He took a hold of my hand and pulled his ring off my finger. Then he turned around and walked away, leaving me there, confused, upset, and angry.
Anupamaa
Veer Hanuman
Parineeti
