--
As Aarti sat in her room, she thought. She thought long and hard about what she wanted to do. She wasn't sure yet... all she knew was that she had to bring this baby into the world and she had to give her child a father's name. Otherwise, it would be impossible for her child to live happily in this house. She continued to think about it until Palak started to cry.
Aarti changed Palak's clothes and fed her milk until Palak went to sleep again. She was about to close the door and take a nap beside Palak when her phone rang. One look at the caller ID made her heart sink. It was Prashant.
"P - Prashant?" Aarti said with a heavy heart.
"Aarti where are you?" he asked. "Where have you been all this time? Why haven't you called me? Aarti you don't know how worried I've been! Come back, please!"
Aarti blinked back tears and squeezed her pillow with one hand. "Prashant," Aarti whispered, "I can't come back now."
"Why not? I promise we'll get married. Aarti, please come back," he said.
"I can't, please understand Prashant!"
"Why not Aarti?"
Aarti squeezed her eyes shut as she said the next words.
"I hate you Prashant."
"I'm sorry Aarti. I won't let you go next time, I promise we'll sort things out for good."
"Prashant, I hate you. I d - don't love you anymore. We aren't together, we'll never be together. Move on... I'm never coming back," she whispered through tears. "I - I'm sorry."
"Aarti... what are you talking about?"
"I - I told you," she said, struggling to breathe all of a sudden, "I - I hate you!"
"Aarti please don't say that! I promise I'll make it up to you, I won't give you a chance to complain again."
"Prashant, I can't! I told you, I h - hate you, Prashant please understand. Please... I can't ever come back now," she said, sobbing.
"You can't hate me Aarti. You don't hate me. Please don't do this!"
"Prashant," she cried, "Please! Don't say that. I - I'm hanging up now. I really am sorry."
"Aarti wait --"
She hung up before he could finish his sentence.
She turned around and saw Yash. His face was emotionless. He didn't say a word. Instead, he left the room.
Yash's face darkened as soon as he left his room. He was already in a bad mood due to his conversation with Mansi. How did she know? What if she told Aarti? What would Aarti think of him? He knew he shouldn't care because those were not feelings of the present, but he couldn't help it. He just did not want Aarti to find out what Mansi knew. He had to practically beg Mansi not to tell Aarti, and even after all that she didn't sound like she would keep it from her.
Now it was his turn to speak to Prashant. After all these years, Prashant still had the guts to hurt Aarti like that? He had wanted to speak to Prashant ever since he found out about Aarti and Prashant's divorce, but Arpita had stopped him, telling him that Aarti had her own life and Yash couldn't always interfere.
--
"Arpita," Yash said angrily, "I can't believe him. This is silly. How long will he go around breaking Aarti's heart?"
"Yashu, calm down," Arpita replied soothingly, "It's good we found Aarti and brought her in, I'm sure she came to Mumbai only for Prashant, but Yashu, she's a grown woman. You don't need to stress out over her life."
"But Arpita... I have to talk to Prashant. This is not right!"
"No Yashu. Listen to me, let Aarti handle Prashant. For how much longer will you interfere in their life?"
"But that good for nothing twat won't do anything, he'll leave her hanging. I know it!"
"Yashu," Arpita sighed, "Tell me the truth, do you still have feelings for Aarti?"
"No," Yash said quickly, "I only love you."
"I know you love me Yashu, I don't have a doubt about that, but you can openly tell me if you feel something for her. I won't get mad."
"Arpita, there's nobody else I think about. Only you!"
"Then why do you care about her so much?"
"Humanity."
Arpita sighed.
"Whatever you say."
"But Prashant --"
"Yashu, you say you don't care about Aarti, yet you're dying to talk to the person who broke her heart."
"Because of humanity."
Arpita exhaled noisily. "Yashu! That isn't humanity!"
Yash suddenly smirked naughtily and circled his arms around her waist.
"Forget others, let's worry about us," he whispered in her ear.
"Yashuuu!" Arpita moaned, "Not right now... Palak's kicking and it's hard for me to even stand!"
"Fine," Yash said, folding his arms. "Palak will get it from me when she comes out."
"Don't say that about my Palak! If you do anything to my baby, I won't ever talk to you."
"I'm kidding!"
--
Yash snapped back to the present. There was no way that he was going to sit back today. Not after he heard that pain in her voice... he had to go and meet Prashant, and he was going to meet him right now.
Yash dialed his number and told him to meet him at the park. As soon as Yash reached the park, he glared at Prashant.
"You broke Aarti's heart again. I told you not to didn't I? Don't forget, the only reason you and Aarti got back together was because I let it happen. I'm married to her now, she's my wife. Don't try contacting her again, you've broke her too many times. When she talks about you, you'll never be able to see a smile on her face, it's always tears! You know why? Because you kept breaking her heart. I warned you, and now it's too late. Never contact her again."
Then he turned around and walked away without looking back.
--
As he roamed the streets of Mumbai, Yash's mind wandered to Aarti. All Yash ever did was hurt her, and here he was telling Prashant to stay away from her because Prashant had hurt her. What a hypocrite he was. He lost Arpita to fate, not to Aarti. He knew that deep down, but he didn't know why he threw all his anger on Aarti. Why did he hurt her so much? Why did he tie her into this relationship when it was not her responsibility? At least she had been happy with Prashant. Why didn't he let her go? Why did he constantly blame Aarti for killing Arpita, when it was an accident? Was it because he needed to blame someone, and she was an easy target, or was it because he was blaming her for other things in the past. Was he really angry at her over Arpita? And where were his memories of Arpita? Why was it so easy to forget Arpita when Aarti was in front of him? Was this his love?
Yash got furious. Why was he letting Arpita escape his mind, and that too, so soon after she left. He was in love with Arpita, and he knew that for sure, but as soon as Aarti came in front of him, Arpita vanished completely from his thoughts. Was Arpita right? Did he really have feelings for Aarti? Did Arpita know this all along and still accepted him? What a jerk he was. He probably never let Arpita feel loved.
--
Why was it easy to forget Prashant when she was standing in front of Yash? When he wasn't there, it was so easy to love Prashant, so easy to cry about him. And here she was, unsure of what she was really crying for. She loved Prashant, she really did, but why did she forget about him when Yash was in front of her? Why did Yash's presence erase any thoughts of her first love? When Yash wasn't there, she felt the biggest pain in her heart, but suddenly, when Yash was there, the pain she felt for Prashant would slowly fade. Why was that?
"Aarti," Yash said from the doorway, interrupting her thoughts.
Aarti looked up and was shocked to see that he looked drunk. He stumbled inside the room. Aarti got off the bed and closed the door behind him.
"Yash, why did you drink so much?" she asked him, concerned.
"Aarti... I forgot her. I forgot Arpita."
Aarti didn't know what to say. She sat him down on the bed and took off his shoes.
"Come on Yash, go to sleep."
"No Aarti... it's your fault," he said. "I forgot Arpita because of you. How could you?"
She suddenly felt her eyes start to tear up, and she didn't know why she apologized. "I'm sorry."
"No Aarti. You're not sorry. You can't be sorry... I'm sorry Aarti, I'm sorry."
"Yash why would you be sorry? You've drank a lot, you don't know what you're saying. Come on, go to sleep."
"No... not until you forgive me," he whispered, "I hurt you a lot."
"Okay Yash, I forgive you. Now you may sleep."
He closed his eyes as she took Palak and exited the room, not wanting Palak to sleep on the same bed as her drunken father.
"Vidhi," Aarti said, knocking on her door.
"Aarti?" Vidhi asked, opening the door right away. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes... I was wondering if you could take care of Palak for the night. Yash is not in the right state of mind right now, so I don't think the environment is suitable for her. It's just one night. I'm so sorry for bothering you --"
"No need to explain yourself or apologize Aarti, I'll take care of her."
"Thanks!" Aarti said, relieved, "Here's Palak's bottle and some diapers. If you need anything, then please let me know. Good night!"
Vidhi smiled and took Palak and her belongings from Aarti.
Aarti turned around and walked back into her room. Yash was sitting on his bed, wide awake.
"Aarti..." he said.
She ignored him and went to the bathroom to take a shower, expecting him to be asleep by the time she came out of the bathroom. But he was wide awake.
"Aarti..." Yash said again, looking at her with lustful eyes.
"Yash," Aarti said, going closer to him. "Sleep."
"No Aarti," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her close to him. "I'm not going to sleep."
"Yash, let go of me."
"No Aarti. I think you want me just as much as I want you."
Aarti closed her eyes and felt her body react to his touch. Was this right? She remembered Mansi's words and her baby. She wouldn't back away. Not now, not when her destiny was giving her a chance itself, not when Yash himself was giving her this chance... not when her body wanted to get closer to Yash.
She stopped struggling as he pulled her on top of him on the bed. He tucked her wet hair behind her ear and leaned forward to kiss her.
Strangely, she didn't smell even the slightest hint of alcohol.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
Bade Achhe Lagte Hain
