Prequel
Their divorce petition had been filed on a no-fault basis, which was possible after living apart for a year. It would be another 6 months or so until it came through. After attempting to change Suhani's mind, and after a tumultuous discussion on why this had even happened, he had agreed to a no-contest divorce. She had left for a 6-month computer course in Australia, where Amit had set her up to stay with his relatives. Yuvraj had an idea of what was going on in her life, because he checked her FB page frequently; after a few weeks silence, she seemed to be having a good time, going out a LOT, smiling and laughing, no sign of any grief or regret. But she did that anyway, put on a smile so you rarely knew when she was hurt.
After she returned to India, they had run into each other occasionally. The first time he saw her again, she was at the mall with her sister. He felt his heart stop for a second, taking in the shining hair, the laughing eyes, the glow on her face...nothing was different, but he was looking at her differently. Sharad had nudged him and asked what he was staring at and made some inane comment about looking with the eyes of the heart instead of his conditioned mind. He brushed him off, but putting together his desolation after she had left, his still thinking of her and wanting her back, he knew he had to admit that Sharad had been right all along. He didn't speak to her that day, feeling unprepared and exposed.
The next time they met was at some party, where she had come with a guy, too old for her, if you asked him, 35 at least, but girls were saps for good looks. He could not avoid speaking to her that day, and she introduced him to her 'friend' Prateik, and he introduced her to his date, Lisha. He'd heard that she was working, had her own flat, and he hoped Prateik didn't spend too much time there. After the first few awkward minutes, he found to his surprise that they were able to talk and laugh as before.
Lisha was a nice girl, good looking in the conventional sense, sweet-natured, quiet. She was easy to be around, and he supposed he would marry her eventually--or he HAD so thought before he ran into his soon-to-be ex again. There was no spark with Lisha. There were no lows and no highs, and he had realised that, in the interests of fairness, he should just back away. But she--Suhani--seemed involved with Prateik, so where would that get him anyway? He made it clear to Lisha that they could stay friends, go out as friends, but nothing more was happening. He could almost hear Suhani laughing at him in the background.
He knew that he would have to speak to her, to let her know his feelings. Love was almost a tainted word for him, misused, misleading, causing havoc and unhappiness in his life. How was he to tell Suhani how he felt, what he wanted, ask her if they could move on, like she'd once said, but with each other?
What came next:
Lisha and he had come out for dinner, but the place was packed, and he was disinclined to wait. As they were leaving, they ran into Suhani and Prateik. She looked gorgeous in a red sari, actually wearing heels, which made him wonder if she was going to trip and fall.
"Yuvraj! Lisha! Early dinner? Heard this place is really good--is it? "
Lisha explained that they were leaving to go elsewhere. "No chance of seating unless you have reservations."
"We do; Prateik reserved a table for 4, but Di and Amit couldn't make it. Why don't you join us instead? Is that okay, Prateik?"
"No, it's not," Prateik wanted to say, "I have no desire to encourage your spending time with this Yuvraj, who seems a little too happy in your presence. " But good manners prevailed, and he said, "Of course, do join us."
Yuvraj almost felt sorry for Prateik; he obviously did not want this; really, Suhani could be so tactless!
The couples were seated so that each pair sat side by side, with Suhani and Yuvraj opposite one another. The talk was general and perfunctory for a while, then Suhani and Yuvraj got talking about the Birla's business, engrossed and unaware of Prateik's annoyance. As the music changed to a popular new song, Lisha exclaimed, "Oh I love this one, I want to dance!" Yuvraj didn't even hear her, as he and Su were now laughing about something.
"Not much of a boyfriend, this guy, certainly doesn't deserve Suhani or this lovely girl," Prateik thought. He rose from his chair and invited Lisha to dance, and Suhani glanced at them, smiling her approval.
They were alone. "I have to say something," thought Yuvraj. But does she feel anything for me...what if she loves this guy now? "
"Is this serious? " he asked, indicating Prateik.
She laughed, "I doubt it, Yuvraj, they've just met! Oh, you mean him and me? I suppose so, we've talked about getting married eventually ... you know, after the divorce comes through."
"So you love him?"
She looked at him steadily for a while, then said, "Why all these questions about what's nothing to do with you?"
"May..maybe it has s..something to do with me," he stuttered, embarrassed, shy, agonisingly hopeful, terribly scared.
The music changed again, to a song which made her light up with glee and jump up, saying, "I have to dance, I love this one!", almost like an echo of Lisha. As she stepped towards the dance floor, what he had anticipated happened--she tripped as her sari caught in her sandals, falling straight into his lap.
"Oops, sorry," she said, blushing a little. He could feel her heartbeat against his chest, and he held on as she tried to right herself, then got up, still holding her. She avoided looking at him as he stared at her.
"Let's dance, then," he said.
"You should dance with your partner," she replied primly, indicating Lisha, who had just returned to the table and was looking a little insulted. Prateik was glaring daggers.
"Dance with my partner?" he repeated, "But I am, Suhani. That's exactly what I'm doing."
What happened later...
There were no heavy declarations of love, no promises of the moon and stars, no grand (re)marriage ceremony. After they had both sorted out what each felt for the other, ended things with Lisha and Prateik, respectively, they made sure they weren't making a mistake, going back to the familiar, rather than because each felt the other was what they wanted. Suhani withdrew the divorce petition and moved back to Birla House, though she confided in Yuvraj that she really didn't like the place much.
His grandmother was furious at the turn of events and lambasted Yuvraj and tried to insult "you, girl!" again, but it was like water off a duck's back. The two smiled at each other while the old lady fumed away, and she eventually gave up and walked away in high dungeon. Within a month dadi had decided that she would move to America and stay in a condo in Florida where many of her friends lived.
Saurabh divorced Ragini and married a girl he'd been involved with for some time. She was a nice, friendly, hard-working girl, as unlike as Rags as could be. She and Suhani got on well, too. Menka was a bit lost after Rags left, but managed to become friendly with Abhi and Suhani, though her habit of causing trouble never entirely disappeared. With Rags gone, Menka had more time to spend with Anuj too, and they seemed to be getting on a little better.
So, did Suhani and Yuvraj live happily ever after? Of course...not. They fought, she annoyed him, he irritated her, she needled him, he insulted her. But it had all happened before. They already knew the worst, so the friction didn't seriously hurt them. It was all worth it when he looked at her with a special smile, when he occasionally complimented her, when his eyes seemed to ignite when he gazed at her. She didn't need to hear him tell her he loved her, she could see it. He felt cherished and content, happy.
"What a lot of time we wasted," he said once.
"YOU wasted, you mean," she replied.
"Oh well, you know, good things are worth waiting for," he told her. "And by 'good things', of course I mean me." Then he ran for his life as she chased after him.
Arjun
