"Revenge a Dish best served Cold..."
The storm was raging outside shaking the closed windows, making people aware of its presence. There was a stench of raw revenge in the air that no matter how much one tried to avoid it, it still made them feel uncomfortable to the core, it was as if the necklines of their dresses grew smaller and were slowly choking them.
Prerna looked fierce yet cold, her dead eyes scanned the room eyeing everyone who betrayed her, stabbed her in the back and dared to stand in front her as if nothing happened, if only it was just her who suffered at their hands she would have still forgiven them but her daughter, the innocent being who knew nothing, who didn’t even have the whiff of life was burnt alive.
She took a deep breath, swallowing the tears that clogged her throat and turned only to come face to face with the man responsible for her misery, the cold-blooded murderer of her daughter and her love. The bile rose in her throat and her jaw clenched along with her fists, slowly she relaxed her stiff posture and brought a mocking smile on her face
“Still couldn’t believe your eyes Basu...” she asked with a raised eyebrow
Anurag scoffed “No! I just couldn’t believe your infatuation and craziness with me Woman, it seems like you don’t appreciate your life Prerna…”
Prerna sneered “Oh I do appreciate my Life Basu, otherwise how would I be standing here in front of you to return the mighty favor of yours…” she took a step further stepping into his comfort zone, looked him in the eyes and whispered, “And believe you me Basu when I say this, snatching that land was just the beginning of my Craziness wait till you see the interval of it…”
Anurag swallowed looking into those eyes trying to find any emotion other than revulsion, detest and he failed, there was no glimpse of old Prerna in there, those eyes were dead. It was as if instead of living being a carcass full of hate and rage was standing there.
She stepped back to turn around when she heard him “You will regret this Prerna…” Anurag tried one more time.
She let out a dry chuckle “Trust me Basu you are my biggest regret and nothing else can top that…”
**************
Bajaj stood against the pillar watching the exchange between the ex-lovers now rivals, He saw the power of aura surrounding Prerna, she wasn’t the old love-sick fool, the one who would sacrifice herself in the name of love anymore. She was a mother who lost her baby, she was a wife whose husband betrayed her moreover she was a Person who was never treated like she deserved.
He felt a tug at his heart. She reminded him of his old self the vengeful one, the one she hated, she was walking on the same path he has walked upon, but could he stop her transition, when kuki was injured and hospitalized he thought he would go mad if anything happened to her, so as a parent he can imagine the gravity of pain she went through when she lost her only child. He has seen her broken self; he has heard her screams her cries; it was as if she went through all seven stages of grief in front of his eyes. She couldn’t even mourn the betrayal of her husband when the news of tragic death of her newborn came her way, the very fire that snatched her baby burned everything inside of her and turned her into ashes, he had to give her something to live for, something that keeps her going despite her loss and at that time revenge was the only thing she desired so he went along with that to buy some time so that he could make her independent and self-reliant. He was aware of the very fact that how revenge shapes one person but that was the only path she wanted to choose.
The only thing he could do for her now is to not let her turn herself into a self-destructive person like him, when he was going through the dark phase of his life there was no one to hold his back, he had it rough but for her, he was ready to be the anchor she can rely upon. She had her guards up, the walls around her heart have grown stronger, he knows that maybe she will never reciprocate the affection he has for her, but it’s fine, he can do that much for her “anything for her’
He sighed watching her clenched fists, her nails digging inside her palm and walked up to her to stand by her side. He gently took hold of her fist and unclenched it all the while staring into the eyes of Anurag Basu as if challenging to him say any viler things to her.
She let out a sigh and turn to look at Mr.Bajaj, only he has the power to calm the storm inside of her, he was the one to witness her vulnerability yet she never saw him pitying her for that. He turned to see her and in that one moment, she saw a trail of emotions care, faith, confidence, pride, reliance passing through those eyes. She nodded at him understanding the message in those eyes and left.
Anurag felt a pang of jealousy hit him, it has been long since he felt like that, a fire started to burn inside of him, the look, the warmth that occupied Prerna’s eyes while watching Mr.Bajaj used to be there only for him, the understanding she shared with Bajaj was the one she shared with him. She was addressing him as “Basu” she never called him that and now she can’t even bring herself to utter his name, he was just another Basu for her, he wanted Prerna to hate him but now he realized he couldn’t find in himself the strength of bearing it.
He saw her leave and the mask of indifference dropped. He felt vulnerable, a strong wave of disgust hit him in the pit of his stomach, He saw Bajaj and sanity started to leave his side.
Mr.Bajaj stuffed his hands in his pocket and smirked at him, the very arrogance and ruthlessness that are the part of his personality started to take over his form. His eyes that were scanning Anurag’s form turned cold yet menacing.
“Playing Knight in the shining armor are we…” Anurag took a jibe at him.
“Bad Basu, this isn’t how I thought you will welcome me and my dearest wife…” mocked Bajaj.
Anurag seethed “Aren’t you reading too much into lines Mr.Bajaj, this overconfidence of yours you never let it go do you?”
Bajaj smiled “Isn’t that amazing Basu even my overconfidence buys me a better position than that confidence of yours…”
“You knew it didn’t you, you were there, you took her away and made into what…” Anurag whisper yelled his jaw clenched.
“Oh no no no Basu….” Bajaj interrupted him while wagging his index finger at him “Here is where you are wrong, yes I knew the most part of it but I didn’t make her into what she is today, that whole fault lies on the shoulders of you and that petty wife of yours, she sees you as a rival that’s also your fault…” Bajaj pointed finger at himself and continued “What I did was to help her change her despaired self into independent one and talking about the knight in the shining armor thing then trust me, Basu, she didn’t require one…She isn’t your Prerna anymore…”
Anurag closed his eyes and took a deep breath “Weren’t you in the Plane crash?” he asked
Bajaj shrugged his shoulder “Got lucky I guess never took the flight…” then he stepped closer to Anurag “What did I say Basu about keeping Prerna happy, one task and you couldn’t even fulfill that...”
Anurag clenched his jaw, frown marring his forehead “You know it’s better to shut your mouth about the things you do not know and Mr.Bajaj you should be the last person in this world to lecture me about my virtues and vows…”
Bajaj chuckled “Look at you Basu going again into your holier than thou form, I’m a man of my word Basu,I told you if you didn’t take care of her I’ll come back and look I’m here…”
Anurag seethed “You shouldn’t have taken her…”
Bajaj scoffed “You know Basu what I regret now more than anything is waiting, waiting for you to handle things, you think I didn’t know what Prerna was going through, I knew everything but I waited for her to call me, I was just a call away but she never did, she was going through so much and I didn’t dare step up because I had no right to…”
He shook his head “I have always doubted your capabilities Basu, I use to think what is so special about you that Prerna doesn’t see anyone else other than you, it use to intrigued me but anyway I trusted Prerna that if she has chosen you then she might have seen something that I’m missing, so I left you guys alone with your lives and that is when I heard the news of her getting hit by a bullet while trying to save you…”
Anurag listened to every word with bated breath
Bajaj closed his eyes “That was time I couldn’t stop myself from coming to see her and thankfully she was fine… “He sighed “I saw you by her side holding her hand but still I just couldn’t get rid of that uncomfortable feeling so instead of leaving the city I thought about staying for some days and would have left once I made sure she is going to be fine…”
Bajaj then opened his eyes and the menacing look came back “By the way no matter what your excuses are you shouldn’t have pushed her Basu…” he seethed.
“I had no other choice…” Anurag hissed.
Bajaj snarled “Oh really all you can do was to throw her off the cliff and leave her at the hands of your imprudent divers… you didn’t care Basu did you, she could have been seriously injured, hell she could have lost her life…did you see what she went through after that, did you hear her pleas, her screams, you were busy flirting with your wife while she was reliving your damn betrayal…” Bajaj raged with a closed fist trying to hold himself back from hitting him.
Anurag went all silent, He wanted to scream that there was no other choice, for eight years he consoled and defended himself by saying all he did was to save her but at what cost, Prerna never really moved on as he thought, she wasn't even the same Prerna anymore, she was just dragging herself through each day just to seek revenge from them.
“I…” he choked on his words
“Save it Basu…” Bajaj raised his palm at him “Save it as you are going to need it… you asked me why I took her away because I was right about you Basu, you weren’t capable of keeping her safe hell you couldn’t even ensure the safety of your own daughter…” Bajaj sniped.
Anurag swallowed the lump in his throat "His Daughter...". Bajaj didn’t know the whole thing but even if he did would it make any difference. He himself created the distance of pain and hate between him and Prerna. He has pushed Prerna to the edge where even having an expectation of apology seems impossible.
Bajaj looked over Anurag's shoulder only to see komolika approaching them and mockingly smiled “Your dearest partner is looking for you Basu, comfort her now for I can’t guarantee how long that comfort will stay with you guys…” with that he stepped back and left.
Anurag saw him leave walking towards Prerna who was descending down the stairs. Bajaj held out his hand towards her and he can see how clearly the warmth returned to her form as she took his hand.
‘ThornBird” he recalled as Komolika stood next to him “Thornbird…”
Index
Part 1 pg 1
Part 2 pg 2
Part 3 pg 3
Part 4 pg 9
Part 5 pg 15
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