PART I
The clock struck eight and Rano was feeling the minute pangs of hunger that was enhanced by the aroma of breakfast sizzling crisply on the stove in the kitchen. Quickly, she folded Alok's clothes that he had haphazardly strewn in their bedroom half an hour ago before leaving for work. Then she made her way down towards the kitchen where she knew Rajini and Disha would be quickly preparing breakfast for the leftover stragglers that hadn't gone to work yet. Rano smiled gently. Those two were as hardworking as ever. Just as she reached the final rung of the stairs and was about to enter the living room, a tall figure zoomed through the doorway with large strides and had already reached the center of the courtyard before she called out.
"Arre, Ishaan?" Rano watched her son stop abruptly in the middle of his tracks and turn to look back at her. "Ji, Ma?" he asked softly and inquiringly.
Rano walked towards him. "Ishaan beta, where are you off to in such a hurry? Did you even eat breakfast yet?"
"Yes, mom, I already ate breakfast. I just needed to get to work early today as there are important matters that needed to be take care of at the office."
"Oh, is that so?" Rano asked. Ishaan nodded, smiling slightly. "Alright then you can go. Be safe when you travel, okay? And oh! Has Suhana woken up yet?"
All of a sudden, the smallest bit of smile on Ishaan's face vanished instantly at the name of his wife. Rano's brows furrowed subtly at this slight change in behavior and noted with a bit apprehension that he also averted his gaze and his jaws slackened significantly. Silence reigned for a moment between the two of them before he finally answered in a bit of tight, controlled manner. "No, ma…..she's still sleeping. We came home from the party late last night so she's a bit tired and will wake up a little later. Please don't let anyone disturb her and let her get her rest."
Rano stared. She could feel something was amiss. "What's wrong, Ishaan?" she asked with worry etched clearly on her face. "Why do you look like that? Has something happened between you and Suhana?"
Ishaan heaved a small sigh. "No ma…nothing happened. I am just feeling very tired having slept late and woken up too early. That's all. I must leave now too." With that, he gave a reassuring smile and a pat on her shoulder before leaving. Rano stood there gazing at her son's retreating back, uncertain of whether she should call out to him again and make sure if he was truly alright or just remain there. She finally decided on the latter and returned to her original route. She passed through the living room which was left empty (presumably by those who already left for work) and was about to enter the kitchen to cheerfully greet Rajini and Disha when Disha's resonating words stopped her cold in her tracks.
"Di, I can't tolerate that Suhana anymore," said Disha in an upset tone. "Ishaan was obviously hurting because of her last night. Didn't you see it?"
Rajini sighed. "Disha, it's not like it was Suhana's fault. Her coworkers wanted to dance with her so she danced with them. That's all. It's not like she's not allowed to dance with other people."
"That's not my point, Di. My point is that Ishaan was obviously looking uncomfortable at her dancing freely with other men while he was told to hold on to her purse. And then when it was time to cut the cake, our dear Madame Suhana was shouting, "Bring me my pati dev! Where's my pati dev! I can't cut the cake without my pati dev!" When Ishaan moved forward to join her, she pulled her on-screen husband next to her to cut the cake. Can you imagine how humiliated Ishaan must have felt seeing that? Does Suhana not even have an inkling of what she has done?? And then just this morning I came to find out from Ilesh that they arrived home at one in the morning and it was only when they were on their way home did Suhana realize that none of us were around at the party. Can you believe how absurd this is?"
Rajini frowned. "You're right. Suhana shouldn't have done that. But what can be done about this? Ishaan hasn't said anything about it so it's not like we can say something as well. At this point, it's Suhana who should understand how to conduct herself at this point."
Disha crossed her arms. "I don't care, Di," she replied coldly. "At the rate Suhana is going, she will never understand her place in life. She thinks that she can do whatever she wants but it's—"
Suddenly, Disha trailed off. Rajini crinkled her eyebrows in confusion and asked, "It's what? You just suddenly stopped talking…."
Disha looked past Rajini. "Chachiji…." She said softly. Rajini abruptly turned around and came face to face with a shocked looking Rano standing at the near the frame of the kitchen doorway. Quickly, she straightened her slouching posture that had been leaning against the centerpiece in the kitchen and stuttered, "Ch-chachiji….w-when did you arrive? Did you need something?"
Rano stood staring at the two women for a moment in silence before uttering her reply in a calm, composed manner, "No, I just came to help with breakfast and to clean up the kitchen."
Rajini broke out into a nervous quick smile while Disha looked down. "Oh, um, it's perfectly alright, Chachiji," said Rajini in a forced cheerful tone. "Disha and I can handle it fine. We'll do it ourselves. You can take a rest."
"Is that so?" asked Rano. Rajini nodded hesitently. "Alright then, I will be attending to other matters in the house then. I'll leave you two to handle this."
With that, Rano left without another word and Rajini heaved a sigh of relief, returning to her slouching posture again. "I don't think Chachiji heard us," she voiced her thoughts out loud. "Or else she would have instantaneously burst into tears."
"I don't know about that," replied Disha doubtfully while casting a glance back at the doorway to make sure there wasn't anyone else there to listen in. "But you may be right."
"Hmmm," said Rajini quietly. "Anyways, you get ready for work and I'll clean up here. Let's just not dwell on it too much. Or else we won't get our other work done just pondering around in here."
Disha nodded in compliance and the two quickly bustled about in silence with their work. Little did they know that the matter would not simply just end there but come to revisit them sooner than they thought.
To be continued…..
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