PART- 1
Fateh gritted his teeth as his phone buzzed again with a new message. He pressed the open message option on his phone
" Fateh I know you still love me but you haven't forgiven me still now. Give me a chance I will make everything alright and we can live happily ever after as always.
Only Yours
jasmine "
As soon as fateh read the message, he deletes it and blocks the number. This is the tenth message jasmine has send through some unknown number today and frankly fateh was annoyed with her behavior. He had already blocked ten different numbers. Right now, he had no mood to play games with Jasmine. The last few days the tension between his mother and tejo ji had only increased, inspite of him finally getting rid of Nimmo maachi all thanks to his cousin who understood how troublesome Nimmo maachi can be and called her back faking his accident, Nimmo maachi had left unhappily and hopefully will not come back for a long time but still his mother had not softened towards tejo ji which worried him a lot. So finally seeing that he needs to have a proper talk with his mother about her treatment with his wife, he was waiting for her in the balcony. Mahi had already promised him to keep everyone away from the balcony for at least half an hour in exchange for only ten thousand rupees.
" Fateh " his mother's voice shakes him out of all other thoughts.
" Mummy " fateh exclaims.
" what are you doing here? " his mother asks him.
" woh kya hai na mummy, Mein socha kitne din ho gaye hamane theek si baat nahi ke toh Kyun na aaj hum dono bahut saare bateein kare " fateh flashes his charming smile which always works on his mother.
As usual it worked, " if it's anything to related to tejo I don't want to talk "
Fateh sighs, " why mummy? Why do you have so much problem with tejo ji? You were ready to accept jasmine with open arms who was adamant on taking me to Canada away from you all then why can't you accept tejo ji who has sacrificed to save our family reputation and who is trying to win your heart so hard? "
Gurpreet's face hardened hearing her son's questions, " Because whenever I see tejo's face I remember how her sister broke your heart and how sandhus insulted us "
Fateh scoffed, " so you decided to take out your anger which you have on jasmine and her family on tejo ji who had no fault in this whole matter. How is it fair mummy? "
Before his mother could open her mouth to say something else, fateh continued " you think tejo ji was happy to get married to me? She was as devasted as I was but still my pain and hurt was given priority but no one looked at tejo ji's pain. Tejo ji was excepted to adjust and give me space to heal but she was never granted the same. She has been two times emotionally blackmailed into institution of marriage by her own family. One guy married her to loot money from her family and another guy married her to save his family's reputation. She had been taunted and mocked by the society simply because she trusted her family. After everything she has gone through, tejo ji still never blames anyone and has always been respectful. I understand your emotions mummy but please don't make it more hard for tejo ji, don't take her goodness for granted"
Fateh stunned his mother into silence with his words. Gurpreet felt remorseful and guilty hearing her son's words and realized that her son had been right and she had actually wronged tejo. How had she became so bitter that she kept hurting the girl who was trying to pick up the broken pieces of her son's heart and heal her son completely from his heartbreak.
" I'm sorry, I did not realize how harsh I had become against her" Gurpreet says in a low voice.
" I know mummy, I know. You would never be cruel towards tejo ji intentionally. I know once I make you see things differently you will understand " fateh says to his mother as he puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.
" I will try to make amends" Gurpreet promised him. Fateh nods at his mother and kisses her forehead affectionaly. He sighs in relief that his mother realized her mistakes sooner than he thought and he was sure once his mother opens a little bit of her heart to tejo ji , tejo ji will make her way into his mother's heart without his mother herself realizing . He was thankful the umpteenth time that Nimmo maachi was not here to make things difficult and prayed she doesn't come for a long time again. His mother now that she has decided to make amends with tejo ji will not be able to resist her charms for a long time, his own father who is full of principles and so strict adores tejo ji so much, he was sure in no matter of time his mother is going to do the same thing.
Later, Mahi caught up with him while he was walking towards his room with a triumphant glint in his eyes.
" Mission accomplished veer ji ?" mahi asks in her concerned voice
" Mission accomplished chote Singh " fateh confirms smilingly. Mahi squeals in excitement, hifives with him and walks away happily towards her room after collecting her fees for keeping everyone away from the balcony. Fateh sighed looking at his sister's retreating figure and thinks how he has only Amrik to deal with and then tejo ji can be peaceful here. He knows preaching Amrik about tejo ji's pain and goodness will not work, so he has to strictly warn his brother to not trouble his tejo ji with his delusional jasmine bhabhi speeches. If Amrik wants to leave in his delusional world, he is more than welcome to do so but forcing his delusional world on others will not be tolerated especially when it upsets tejo ji. Fateh virk Singh had realized it recently he can never see his wife upset over anything.
Tejo looked at the broken photoframe half upset and half scared. Fateh had still kept jasmine and his photoframe with him inspite of claiming that he wants to move on. Tejo had found it while cleaning his side of the room and dropped the photoframe in state of shock. Did their increasing closseness towards each other meant nothing to him? Did he have no feelings at all for her? Him wanting to move on from jassu was a lie? Does he still love her?. Tejo had so many questions spinning around her head, that she did not even realize that her husband had entered their room.
" Tejo ji, why are you standing here? Here are glass pieces. You can get hurt, don't you realize? " Fateh scolds her and pulls tejo away from the broken photoframe pieces afraid that she will get hurt.
" Fateh I am sorry. I spare I did not do it deliberately. I did not break yours and jassu's photoframe ...." tejo stutters while speaking and she was half scared that fateh would lash upon her and blame her.
Fateh looks at the troubled face of his wife and feels guilty. He had really been a jerk initial days of their marriage. He was so drowned in his own grief and heartbreak he did not think about her. He kept on fighting with her and hurting her without any proper reason. It was only his fault if tejo ji is still insecure in their marriage. So he did the only thing which could lessen up her troubles, he picked up the broken pieces of the photoframe and threw it in the dustbin with the photograph. He should have done this long before, he had forgotten about the photoframe otherwise he could have thrown it out the moment he realized how precious tejo ji was for him and how jasmine did not matter anymore.
Tejo blinked her eyes in shock seeing Fateh's actions and felt her pain lessen a little. Maybe she was wrong, maybe fateh was really moving on. Her eyebrows knit in confusion as fateh made her sit in front of the dressing table inspite of her protests. Tejo's breath hitched when he moved her hair from the back, his hand touched her bare back which was covered by her hair before. She felt him removing her mangalsutra before she could ask something, fateh had pulled out another mangalsutra chain from his pocket and held in front of her, her eyes widened realising this was the same design which she had liked when fateh had showed her the designs of different mangalsutra few days claiming that it was for his friend's fiancee. He tied the mangalsutra around her neck. Her eyes teared up and she was overwhelmed by such thoughtful gesture. She had never voiced it out or never complained but she knew how the mangalsutra she wore before was specially made for Jasmine, everytime she tied it around her neck or looked at it she was reminded how she was replacement of her sister in Fateh's life. It was such painful realization and here were times when she wanted to just tear the mangalsutra from her neck and throw it out but she never did.
Dekhiye na tejo ji, This mangalsutra suits you better. It is simple and elegant as you are " fateh says to her as he gazed at her passionately.
Tejo still doesn't say a word which tenses him up, " you did not like it? "
He asks her sadly.
" Fateh I loved it, it is beautiful " tejo sniffed back her tears as she stared at the mirror in front of her wearing her new mangalsutra. Her old mangalsutra lies on the table. She no longer felt like replacement for her sister. This mangalsutra was only hers and Jasmine can no longer snicker looking at it she realized happily.
" I should have done this before, then I was clearly busy being a jerk tejo ji but not anymore. I will make everything alright and I have already started. I have spoken to Mummy as well and she is ready to start afresh with you and I will deal with Amrik as soon as possible " Fateh assures her kneeling in front of her.
" Are you doing this out of pity and sympathy fateh " tejo asks him coldly.
Fateh shrugged, " No, I would never pity you . You're a very strong woman tejo ji and I have always respected you for that. I will never pity you and insult the respect I have for you nor hurt your self respect. I'm doing this because this is my duty which I failed to fulfill at the beginning" fateh pauses and studies tejo's face for a moment, " also because I have started to like you more than a friend. I really want to give this marriage a fair chance which it deserves. Tejo ji I assure you are no rebound for Jasmine, I have healed from jasmine's betrayal and I would never use you to move on not in that way atleast tejo ji. I genuinely want to work on this marriage because I have real feelings for you "
Fateh watches the various emotions playing on her face as he waited for her response. He had almost addressed about everything which could have made her back off from giving this relationship a chance.
" Are you sure about this? " she asks him after a moment still giving him a option to step back.
" More than anything " he tells as he rests his forehead on hers. His heart skipped a beat at the smile which crept up on her face. He realizes he always wants her to look at him with a smile on her face.
" Tejo bhabhi " mahi's voice interrupted their moment, tejo pulled away from him realising that she had promised to help Mahi with her college project.
" I forgot I promised to help mahi with her college project " she says and rushes out of the room before fateh could even try to stop her. Fateh groans in frustration and cruses his sister for spoiling his moment with tejo ji, he was atleast aiming for a cheek kiss.
His phone buzzed again and he was not even suprised now when he got a new message from another unknown number. He clicked on the message to see what new rubbish jasmine has typed.
" Anger is also a form of love. I will never give upon you.
Sirf tumhari,
Jasmine "
Fateh snorts after reading the message and blocks the number. He looks at the old mangalsutra lying on the dressing table and thinks what to do with it, if it did not cost one lakh he could have thrown it in the dustbin. He did not want to give it to Jasmine, he was sure she could take it in a wrong way . After contemplating a bit, he decided he will give it to his younger sister to sell the chain and keep the money with herself in exchange for her to play cupid between him and tejo ji. He picks up the chain and puts in his packet and walks towards mahi's room.
It only took ten minutes for Mahi to rolls her eye in annoyance as she sees her brother trying to get more closer to her bhabhi by faking that he has a doubt in drawing something. Tejo bhabhi seems so obvious to her brother's cunning ploys and keeps falling into it. She now regrets making a deal with her brother who had come to her room and first offered his help too with her project which she refused at the beginning and pushed him out realising his intentions but later when he had texted that he would give her one lakh rupees if she plays the role of cupid between him and bhabhi she melted and brought him back much to her tejo bhabhi's shock. Now she was left watching her brother's stupid attempts to keep touching tejo bhabhi and tejo bhabhi getting flustered whenever her brother touches her and apologizes that it was unintentional.
Suddenly A very devious scheme flashes in her mind, why was she supposed to be the only one to suffer watching this. Mahi took her phone and clicked photos of her brother who had wrapped his hand on tejo bhabhi's upper arms for god knows for what reason but tejo bhabhi had slipped her arm away from his grasp after a moment and now fateh veerji was sulking at a corner doing his work and tejo bhabhi was too concentrated in her work to notice her brother's sulky mood but anyway she had got enough good photos. She posted it in her Instagram account with the hastag couple goals and wrote a small caption line how perfect they look. Now satisfied that jasmine wherever she was could see it and suffer more than her, she patted herself on her back for her plan and continued to write her project ignoring her brother who had once again come near her bhabhi with some new reason.
Book Talk
Aami Daakini
