OS:Rashi's Valentine

Rashi hummed to herself as she gathered the fruit from the kitchen laid it in the tray and melted the chocolate in a ban Marie.  Today was Valentine's Day and she was executing the perfect surprise for Jigar.   Last year she had gifted him a gold bracelet but this year she was at a loss.  And then an idea came into her head.  She would feed him cut fruit covered in chocolate in the privacy of their room.   She jumped up and down with excitement. 

"Jigarji will love this surprise," she said happily.  She had already sent her mother in law with kagdi to get that gawar.  Hopefully, mummy will work her magic on them and create some friction between them.  She picked up her phone and dialled Jigar's number.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Jigarji." She wittered, "Do you know what today is?  I have a surprise for you.  Can you come home now?"

"I can't come home now," he replied.  "I have at least one more client to see and a report that needs to be done."

"Can't you pass that on to Ahemjiju.  Please come home now.  Please."  She insisted.  Jigar smiled.  He glanced at the clock and stood up.  He was sure Ahem would not mind meeting his client and he could always finish the report later.

"OK.  I will be home soon."  He cleared his desk and went to speak to Ahem.  Not wanting to give the real reason for him going home he made his excuses to both Ahem and his father and took his leave.

Rashi had taken all the items to the bedroom.  She had just taken up the melted chocolate when Jigar arrived.  He called out to her.  She came out onto the hallway and called down to him.

"Jigarji.  Up here." She called.

"Rashi!" he called up as he climbed the stairs.  "What are you playing at?"  He entered the room and stopped.  Rashi had put a lot of thought and had decorated the room.  And now she was sat on the bed peeling some fruit.  She looked up and smiled at him.  Putting down the fruit she ran up to him and held him by the hands and led him further into the room.

"Jigarji," she continued excitedly, "How do you like the room?  Doesn't it look great?"  Jigar smiled and then thought back with a pang at the last time the room had been decorated.  That fateful day when he had finally realised that he had been taken for a fool.  He brushed those thoughts aside and allowed Rashi to take his jacket, phone and watch and put them away.  She then came back to him and continued talking nonstop.  He smiled at her and thought, "Shut up Rashi.  You are talking too much," but did not voice his thoughts.

He joined her on the bed as she continued cutting the fruit. 

"What are you going to do with that?" he asked as if he didn't know.  

"Jigarji." She said in exasperation. "I am going to cut up these fruits into small bits and then we will dip them in the melted chocolate and feed them to each other."  Jigar leaned back on the bed and put his hands behind his head and watched as she continued to cut the fruit into smaller pieces.  "If she cuts that any smaller then we may as well drop the fruit in the chocolate and eat it." But Rashi was so engrossed at what she was doing and talking nervously that she was in a world of her own. "You know," she continued on her own, "I have it all planned out." She wriggled happily  "I am going to make up to you first, then to mummyji and daddyji and before you know it I will have dragged you all to my side and then the day will come when we can kick Kakiji and her family out of here and I shall rule the ''.." She stopped.  She had blabbered too much.

Jigar sat up.  Totally aghast by what she had just said.  He leapt to the other side of the bed and stood up.  "What did you say?"  He said through clenched teeth.  "Did I hear you right?  You are planning to split the family and throw out kaki?"  Rashi looked up to see  Jigar's face as black as thunder.  Then it slowly hit her that she had spoken aloud her thoughts.  She immediately stood up.

"Jigarji.  No you have it wrong.  You misunderstood.  That is not what I said." She blabbered.

"What exactly did you mean, Rashi?"  He looked at her with narrowed eyes. "What have I got wrong?"  His anger at her was palpable and with each growing minute it was getting worse. 

"Jigarji.  I just meant that I making things up to you, mummyji and daddyji.  I just want to do what is right."  His mind whirled back to the last time he stood in this very room, decorated and heady with the scent of petals and closed his eyes against the hurt that he was feeling.  He could not believe that he was standing here again in almost the same situation.  There was an uneasy silence in the room.  So quiet that he was sure that Rashi heard the exact moment that his heart broke into a thousand pieces.   Rashi's mind raced as she thought of a way to wriggle out of this situation.  He opened his eyes and she immediately saw the ice in them and shivered.

"Rashi?  We were here only a few short months ago.  Have you not learnt anything from the past? No," He pointed his finger at her angrily, "don't answer that.  I bet that the moment that you re-entered this house you have been thinking of ways to upset what we have here."  He turned his back to her.  Rashi stepped forward.  If there was a time to be honest with him it was now with the hope of salvaging what little relationship she could hold onto. She put her hand on his shoulder and he turned round.  She saw tears in his eyes and felt a pang of guilt.

"No Jigarji.  You have got it wrong.  I have been trying my best.  But all everyone thinks of is that Gopi gawar.  Next to her I am nothing.  Kaki is always making comparisons.  Everything I do is wrong in her eyes," she pouted and looked down.  His silence gave her the courage to continue. "Jigarji when I came back into the house I tried time and time again to make things right between us.  I wanted to make a place in your heart for me and when you gifted me the kangans on my birthday I knew that you had forgiven me and accepted me." 

"Those kangans were not brought by me.  I only gave them to you because Bhai and Bhabhi asked me to give them to you."  Rashi's mouth dropped open.  He continued.  "If it had been up to me.  I would not have given you anything, Rashi.  You don't deserve it.   You are selfish, selfabsorbed and conceited.   I hadn't forgiven you.  I was close to but now I do not think I can.  You have a habit of abusing the very people who care for you, but you don't care.  As long as you are at the top, that's all that matters. But deceiving me is one thing.  You are intent to deceive my mother, my father.  For what?" He had tears in his eyes.  He grabbed her by the arms and shook her angrily.  "My mother is the sweetest person I know.  I adore her.  She has a good relationship with Kaki that has carried on for years and you just came into this house yesterday and want to tear them apart?  Are you for real?"  He threw her away from him and turned placing his hands over his face.  His shoulders shook and he cried unashamedly.  After a while he walked over to the chair and looked at her.  "I think you need to clean this room now," he said coldly.  Rashi nodded sadly and picked up the bowl of fruit and gave it one last try.  She would not give up.

"Jigarji?  At least let us have some of this fruit. It would be a shame to leave it." She injected a bit of sweetness in her voice.

"Rashi.  Leave it.  I can't handle you being here in this house let alone this room.  You made a fool of me once before and you've made a fool of me again.  But no more.  Pack your things and leave for your mother's house."  Rashi gasped.   She would have to go back.  She couldn't believe it.  There was no way she would go back.  She would need to be extra sweet and make Jigar forgive her.  He's forgiven her once.  He'd do it again.  But for now she needed to turn on the waterworks and make him change his mind about sending her home. 

"Jigarji?  Please don't send me home.  I want to stay here."  Tears coursed down her cheeks.

"You will go home.  I no longer want to see you here.  In fact this has just nailed the final nail in the coffin.  After today, you and I are finished."

"No!" screamed Rashi and ran to him. She was losing everything.  Then looked on in horror as the knife she was holding sank into Jigar's side.  She pulled it out and looked at the growing stain of red marking Jigar's white shirt.  Jigar sank to the floor.  The burning pain in his side consuming his thoughts.  He looked up at Rashi and she slowly went out of focus.

"Rashi?" he uttered and closed his eyes.