RajPreet TS: Wings of Flight Part 3A on pg 6 11th Aug - Page 3

Mohini lurked in the shadows hiding behind a tree and eyed the ceremony with undiluted hate. Amba had managed to defeat her yet again and this time she had ensured Mohini had lost everything. But the foolish woman that she was, thought Mohini scathingly Amba didn't realise that the one who had nothing to lose had nothing to fear. Mohini looked back to the moment where all of this had begun. Jai - the man she had loved with all of her heart only to lose him to Amba who probably never loved him back but Jai had loved her enough to die for her. Even Harjeet held a torch for her though he refused to admit it. What was it about this woman that every other man had his eyes only for her she wondered bitterly.

The Pawaniyas and Bajwas had only been a pawn in her game. She had added fuel to this age old rivalry by killing Raman that had provoked Harjeet to kill Simran. She had no intent of killing Raman. He had only been collateral damage. She had no particular interest in Harjeet either, except that he would be her tool to destroy Amba but Amba had cleverly turned the tables on her by exposing her using Raj, the wedding planner or should she call him Raj Bajwa? Killing Amrit and that cripple had been an impulsive move but she felt no remorse over their death. Amrit and her son had to die for her Nihal to become the Shah of the Bajwas but instead of Raj it was his friend who had died in that accident. Little had she known that the crippled helpless boy had grown into a young, strong lad who had managed to fool not just her but the whole of Gaguwal into believing he was an ordinary wedding planner whereas in reality he was the true heir of the Bajwas. Her son had revealed the secret to her before breathing his last while Harjeet still mourned over his youngest son's death. Harjeet Bajwa would pay for Nihal's death and this time she would not even give him the chance to grieve. He would never get to know that he had shed tears over a boy who was never his child, neither would he get to know that his real son would be killed under his very nose. As for Amba, she had a better plan for her.

Soon the celebration would turn into a mourning she vowed savagely.

*********

Raj went about his norm supervising the arrangements and barking out instructions to the decorators and caterers. Work helped him shift his mind off the turbulent thoughts that were raging a storm within him. But he did not have the luxury to mourn and he never had. Not when his Raman veerji was killed and not now, when he had lost his mother. And Aslam! A friend who had paid dearly with his life to protect his identity. Aslam's death would forever remain a blotch on his soul, for his friend had died his death. He could not fathom when things had taken such an ugly turn but he was living it right then. Neither could he scream foul nor pretend that none of it had happened. He had set foot in Gaguwal with the hope of exposing Mohini and reuniting his estranged parents. He did bring Mohini to justice but not before she had destroyed everything he held dear. He would never be able to forgive his father for bringing Mohini into their lives and tearing their family apart. There was nothing left in Gaguwal for now now. Nothing except for...

He shook himself mentally, accepting that he had nurtured a futile hope for all this while. His love would remain unrequited forever and maybe that's how things were meant to be. Once the wedding was over, he would leave Gaguwal but his heart would remain here forever with his soniyo - his Preet.

"Raj..."

The voice was a mere whisper but he would have recognized it from any corner of the world. He closed his eyes to stem the sudden rush of emotions it evoked. He would trade anything in the world to forget the memory of it. At least he would be spared the pangs of a broken heart.

He feigned ignorance looking pointedly away, pretending to be engrossed in his work.

"Raj we need to talk."

When he did not respond yet again, he felt a faint pressure on his arm and the next moment he found himself being dragged away to a corner but he made no move to protest. A while later he was standing in the store room facing a stern looking Mannu Pawaniya.

"Raj, I am trying to talk to you since morning but you are avoiding me," she accused him.

"I am but a mere servant in this house Shahji. You should not concern yourself with the likes of me," he replied throwing as much venom as he could into his words.

"Stop calling me that Raj," she retorted tersely taken aback by the bitterness in his voice.

"What should I call you then? You killed my Preet the day you made your choice and by doing that you also killed Mannu who was my best friend. For me, you are just the Shah of Pawaniyas. You revel in the feeling of this power, don't you? You get to control how others should live their life, taking away their choices, just like you snatched my Preet's," he lashed out not meaning any of the words he had just said but he wanted to hurt her, so that she could see the pain she had inflicted on him by deserting him for her mother.

Mannu recoiled like she had been slapped hard. She tried to fathom the reason behind his harsh words and concluded that it was his grief doing all the talking.

"Yaara I know you are hurt..." she began.

"Why do you care?" he cut her with a sharp look. "How does it matter to you?" he asked bridging the distance between them with every step he took as she backed into a wall. When her back hit the solid wall she knew she was cornered.

"You say you know I am hurt but you cannot see the wounds you have given me Preet," he whispered in her ears, his breath sending a warm tingle down her spine and every time he took her name it felt like a fervent prayer, so sincere and so full of love it took her breath away.

"You didn't answer me Preet. Why do you care?" he asked her placing his hands on either side of her to stop her from making an escape, whereas she looked anywhere but at him.

"Why?" he insisted.

"Of course I would Raj..." she replied averting her gaze and added "you are my friend."

Leaning in closer he placed a finger below her chin to lift her face up forcing her to look in the eye.

"Would that be all soniyo?" he said in a soft voice. "Am I just a friend of yours?"

If only he could be just that - a friend she wished despairingly, life would have been so much smoother. Ever since Raj had confessed his feelings for his soniyo, she had drowned in a vortex of emotions daring to hope for the impossible. To be his soniyo for the rest of her life but the kalgi on her turban weighed like a thousand pounds and she found herself being crushed beneath it.

Mannu sagged her shoulders in defeat. They had gone about this conversation a gazillion times already and every time it had shattered her to break his heart with the same monosyllable for an answer but yet he never gave up.

"Raj please," she begged him, tears streaming down her cheek.

"I don't want to lie and neither will I be able to say the truth," she wept, her tears piercing his heart like a thousand daggers.

He cupped her face bringing it closer to his, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Just answer me this once soniyo and I promise you I shall never bother you again. I am leaving Gaguwal tonight to never return again. Give me the truth soniyo, give me this closure," he beseeched her.

"You are leaving? Raj, no you can't..." she said shocked to know he would be leaving Gaguwal. Leaving her. You are the one who pushed him away Preet a snide voice echoed in her mind. If he had decided to leave her and move on, she would not begrudge him that and he could move on only if she let him go. She tried to disentangle from his hold but he gripped her tightly pulling her to him.

"I need to know Preet. I get it we can't be together, yet I can't help but wonder. If I were not a Bajwa and you, a Pawaniya - if I was just Raj, a boy hopelessly in love with his soniyo, Preet... would you still deny me this answer? If we were not bound by the shackles of animosity and vengeance would you have embraced my love? Would you have been this Raj's Preet?" he asked her earnestly.

"Raj it will only hurt you," she told him, her eyes pleading him to let go of it. The truth would only destroy them both leaving behind a fantasy that would haunt them for the rest of their lives, never letting him move on. Her fate was sealed by a vow but Raj could have a future.

She closed her eyes envisioning a future for Raj where he walked hand in hand with a woman whose face she could not see yet, into the sunset, a blissful look on his face. Raj would eventually find a woman who would reciprocate his love without any fear or insecurity and he deserved that. Maybe this woman was her. And then, a little girl's face swam before her eyes who had the sunny disposition of her father with soft curly hairs that were vaguely familiar. As she came running behind the happy couple, Raj turned backwards scooping her into his arms as she squealed in delight. The woman laughed, her voice a lilting melody embracing the father-daughter duo and that's when she saw the face of the woman. The mirage of a reflection that had taunted her existence all her life, smiling away at her.

She opened her eyes with a start like she had been doused with cold water. How could she let go of Raj when her heart failed to let go of a dream he had shown her? She bit her lip down nervously hoping Raj would not be able to see past her anguish.

"I got my answer," he replied with a sad smile releasing his hold on her.

Unbeknownst to them, someone else had been privy to their conversation. Standing outside the store room, gazing through the gap through the door that was left ajar, Amba Pawaniya stood rooted to the spot unable to comprehend what she had just heard. Rajveer was none other than Raj Bajwa, the youngest son of her sworn enemy who had lived under her roof all these days on the pretext of being a wedding planner. Had Harjeet been aware of this fact all along? Had he played along with his son to uncover the secret she had guarded for the past 18 years? And here she was, empathizing with the man who had killed her daughter thinking he had lost everything but Harjeet had instead thwarted her using his youngest son to trap Mannu just the way he had used Raman against Simmi, Amba seethed.

As she saw Mannu embrace the Bajwa boy, a hatred so intense coursed through her consuming her and an image of her Simmi flashed before her eyes bringing forth the ugly memories to the fore. She vowed to avenge the Bajwas and this time it would be Raj who would pay for this folly.