The difference a day makes.
"Everything changes in my life, and the world stays the same."
Cassandra Clare, City of Ashes
It has been three days since he has had a chance to get back at work, three days since he last came to his office.
Any other time in similar circumstances he would have buried himself deep in his work by now, been lost in files and figures to not even hear the sky collapse around him even if it did. But today he cannot bring himself to concentrate on the work try as he might.
He is in his cabin, seated on his chair and despite all the work piled in front of him, he is least bothered. The workload does not even make the slightest difference to him. Right now, his mind is preoccupied with the happenings of his life over the past three days but particularly this morning.
Over the weekend, he was away in Mumbai owing to the deal with the American firm TVC, and the Monday thereafter was chaos personified. He can easily count it amongst the worst and the most unforgettable days of his life, and with the kind of days, he has seen that is saying something.
Never in his wildest dreams or nightmares did he imagine the scenario that literally had all hell breaking loose in his living room late on a Sunday night. He never imagined there would be a day he would be walking in his home only to find himself questioned by his family about spending the night in a hotel room with Shagun and later find his wife is missing. He had been pissed off as it is; Ashok had had the nerve to think he was with Shagun... had spent the night with her. As if he would ever do that again, not even in his nightmares, not even if she were the last woman alive would he touch her again. On top of it all, Ishita' phone had been unreachable since the morning. He had tried calling her up perhaps hundreds of times but to no avail, finally not being able to take anymore of the tension he had asked Mihir to check on her.
Mihir had came back with a very vague report but the one thing that stood out was him stating she was silent, lost from the looks of it and if he knows one thing about his wife it's that she is never silent. Heaven knows he has been on the receiving end of the woman' non-stop blabber so many times to know that truth so very well. When they first met, never in his wildest imagination did it occur to him a woman would have him gulping pain meds just to get rid of a headache, all because she talked too much - this while he has grown up with his mother and Simi for company. His wife is anything but silent.
Therefore, to hear Mihir claim she was quiet had unnerved him - more so than the conversation they had on the call the night before. He had had an inkling something was wrong, seriously wrong for her to be this timid, this withdrawn in a way. He cannot explain why or the how of it - all he knows is he has begun to understand this woman, her temperament, her mood swings, her likes and dislikes and he already knew her gall to put up a fight. Hence finding her behaving out of character had immediately set the alarm bells ringing in his head. He got his flight preponed and was home earlier than expected - only to find in reality he had been too late for many things.
Too late to learn that his wife was being harassed by his brother-in-law for days on end now, to learn she had been nearly molested twice over the weekend in his own home, to learn that his mother and sister did not believe her, to stop the humiliation flung upon her character and even late in stopping his sister from slapping his wife.
He could not even find the strength to stop her mother from taking her away after all that- from his home, his family, his daughter and him.
He could merely watch as she looked back at him with tears in her eyes that still carried the hope he might stop her, believe in her, say a word, act, do something anything at all and not merely stand and watch the show still as a statue.
But he couldn't not until he had cleared her name and brought her perpetrator to justice.
He has known enough of this woman by now to know the things she is capable of and the ones she is not. Being a characterless, immoral woman who would approach another man to satisfy her needs clearly is not on the list of her dos. He may not know her well enough to answer any trivia about her and score full marks, but he knows the character of this woman, her goodness better than anything, has seen her closely to know that.
The way she loves his daughter, takes care of him, looks after his home, respects, and loves his family is enough for him to know the integrity of her character - the moral fibers she is made of. He has lived under the same roof with this woman for barely two months now but he can vouch that his father had it right when he selected her for him. He could not have found a better woman for his family if he tried.
It wasn't enough for him to have her back in his home, his room, his life anymore - he had to have her back with her dignity restored and that had to be done as soon as possible since he had learned that leech was planning to flee as soon as possible.
Therefore he had set about to do his work with the mission on his mind come next morning. It had not been as simple as he had thought it would be but for this woman he would go to the ends of the world if it meant he could do her justice and he did. Sarika opened up to him and he got her to spill the beans on the snake that had taken residence in his home.
His mother and sister are still furious with him, but he cannot find it in himself to care. He cannot alter their primitive mindsets - cannot make them realize that the love that is blinding them is poisonous. It will only end up ruining them even more. What matters the most to him is that Ishita is back, his family is complete, his peace and her dignity restored.
Yes, she is back.
He smiles at that, a smile that overtakes his face.
After he had had the satisfaction of beating up that smug bas***d to his heart' content and having him arrested, he had seen her console Sarika even when she herself was so unhappy. It had warmed his heart to see this woman - this beautiful, beautiful woman - his wife caring even then for someone who troubled her so, forgiving her and even becoming a shoulder to cry on for that very woman.
She does this to him - every time whenever some unexpected events occur, things that might make lesser mortals cower and hide - she makes him proud of her. She makes him proud to say he is her husband and that she is his wife, Mrs. Ishita Raman Kumar Bhalla. She is his.
Soon after the fiasco, he had had Mihir drop off Sarika to her home with a promise her mother would receive the best possible medical care and that she can rely upon him for any and all the help she needs - she only has to stay firm on her stand. She is not allowed to turn tail and hide anymore. The girl had been in tears and ever so grateful to him but all that mattered to him was his wife' name was cleared. Her reputation restored.
Her parents - her mother in particular had taken her away again.
When he had returned and thought she had left his home because she was hurt over him being with Shagun - his mother had asked him to get her back. He had found it odious to even think that he had to resort to this - explain himself - his actions to a woman who is his wife only on paper.
It was strange how the notion of doing that very thing filled him up with a sense of excitement and contentment this time around. There was a surge of joy in his heart at the prospect of having her home again - back where she belongs - in his family, his home, his room and his life, with him.
Her parents were not surprised when he had walked in minutes later - her mother was thankful and sorry but he would not have any of it. All he wanted was to speak to her. That stupid Trisha had even tried to waste his time by trying to get him to see her trousseau and he had been bummed out enough to ask her to stop bothering him with the nonsense, his wife is more important to him than this crap.
She had been shocked to say the least but he had more pressing issues at hand then to apologize to a foolish girl.
She was in her room at the time, standing with her back to him. It occurred to him he had been here - in this room -that one time when Amma - Appa' anniversary party was being celebrated but he was unaware then it belonged to her. It seemed strange to invade a space that though not foreign to him seemed different now.
He shut the door behind him to ensure their privacy will not be disrupted as had walked up to her. She had not turned around at the noise of the door shutting or his footsteps.
Only when he was behind her, and had turned her around to face him by holding her shoulders could he see the effort it was taking on her - this thing and the end of it. She was crying, her tears rolling down her cheeks and he had brushed them off with his hands.
She had not yet looked at him at all, and it bothered him. He needed to look at her, see her eyes. Slowly and gently he had placed a finger under her chin to get her to look at him, the moment she did - no words were spoken between them yet they had conversed regarding everything that mattered.
Words were useless, unimportant and trivial in that moment.
She had finally let out a sob that ripped his heart out and before he knew it she was in his arms.
They stood there for a long, long time. He had let her cry her heart out; let her get it all out. He knew she needed this so very much. She had to let go off the pain and the anguish she had been holding onto since last night.
Finally when she was all cried out, he had held her shoulders and asked her to return, but the woman obstinate as ever had declined, when he asked her what was the matter she cited his sister as the reason. She could not bear to hurt Simi with her presence not so soon after what happened or have his mother be sad over the misfortune that fell upon her daughter by presenting herself time and again.
All it had done was irk him and he had steadfastly asserted his authority as her husband and told her nothing of that matters - the truth is out now and he is there for her, with her to support her but she would not budge. He then had to use the last excuse he wanted too to have her back - he had used Ruhi' name. Reasoned with her how her absence of a few hours from his home was enough for someone like Shagun to play games and try to take Ruhi back from them.
She relented then, of course she did. He cannot say it would surprise him if this woman walks willingly barefoot over hot coals for his daughter, their daughter. That just makes him lo... No, be in awe of her even more.
The thought makes him remember this morning.
Last night he had a hunch based on which he had asked her to sleep on the bed and took the sofa himself. Ruhi slept the night in her room on his insistence and he was right.
She had woken up terrified and literally spooked out by a nightmare she had owing to the incident that happened.
He had calmed her down, made her drink water and had sat with his arms around her after that for almost an hour since she would not sleep. She narrated the gruesome nightmare to him and all the events where she had been harassed in the privacy of their room. Despite best efforts exhaustion won at last and before they knew it they were asleep.
He woke up to find her asleep in his arms.
Her head pillowed on his shoulder, her arm flung across his stomach and a leg of hers hitched over his thigh. She had not only hogged the blanket and the bed, but she had him captive with the position.
Had this happened before... he is sure he would have given her the rudest awakening of her life, one which she wouldn't have forgotten ever.
Today though it had made him smile, to have this strong, confident woman in his arms - soft and warm - trusting him.
He never figured he would see this day again ever in his life. One where he would be waking up with a woman in his arms again and be happy about it.
There was nothing sexual in their embrace, nothing platonic about it either, but it meant something to him all right.
This intimacy was more emotional than physical, more comforting than arousing.
He had let her in, as did she. They were finally opening up to one another, letting their guards down one by one.
He had stayed awake staring at her sleeping form for a long while. As much as he had wanted her to look him in the eye the night before, he found himself admiring her relaxed features too. He cannot understand what it is but something made it impossible for him to look away from her.
She cuddled close to him after a while and he could swear his heartbeat had been erratic then.
The moment he felt her stir more consciously, found her waking up he had pretended to be asleep in a nanosecond.
It would not do to embarrass her about something like this - not so soon - after the horrific incident and her comeback.
She gently, very quietly and slowly detangled herself from his arms as he literally held his breath while she did so.
As soon as she was out of the room he let out the breath he had been holding back. God knows what a struggle it had been for him to allow her to let go when all his instincts, his mind and he thinks even his heart were screaming at him to pull her back in again. Hold her in his arms and just lay there, on their bed.
He cannot allow her to feel vulnerable and terrified always. He found himself unable to even cope with the thought of watching her walk away from the safety of his arms - even in his own home then.
Somehow though he managed to do so, by reminding his traitorous mind every time that he cannot keep her locked up even if he would like nothing more than to do that, have her safe and secure in a place where no harm would befall her. A place where there would be only him, her and their Ruhi.
Of course that is not only impossible but also highly illogical not to mention it would be considered downright caveman behavior from his end.
He had not asked her to slap that foul bas***d just to allow her the peace of mind and justice she so needed but to ensure that she shows it to that scum that women - especially his wife are definitely not the weaker sex and he cannot get away with anything he does. He wanted that son of a bitch to realize exactly what a woman is made up off and who better than his Jhansi Ki Rani to do the honors. He has been on the receiving end of her slap so he knows without the shot of a doubt - it must have stung. Good for him, he wishes it even leaves behind imprints on his cheeks like the ones he had the morning after.
He finds it amusing - that he is taking a perverse pleasure in the strength of the woman he branded - Dara Singh' granddaughter that day based on the impact of that slap he had unexpectedly received.
The strength he muses served its purpose after all, and he cannot help but think the slap he received was milder, much milder compared to the one doled out by Ishita to Parmeet. That dog deserved as much after not just what he did, but what he said - to think he had the gall to point a finger at Ishita and Bala' relationship - something which he respects himself knowing the beauty and purity of it.
He had been unable to hold back any longer - had been unable to stop from thrashing that bas***d after that despite the repeated pleas by his mother and sister.
He finds it strange a day has changed so much in his life.
He has gone from being annoyed at the mere thought of the woman to waiting onto the moment he might see her again.
It is not strange for him to find her on his mind per se, not really. She has overtaken his life, his mind and even his home and family ever since she made an appearance.
What is strange is in his musings he no longer is irritated at her anymore.
What is different is he is not pissed off at the notion of having to face her anymore.
He is not waiting to get away from home and her, to be more specific - rather he cannot help but glance at his watch every few minutes just so that he might get away from here - his work and office so that he can see her again.
He finds himself waiting the moment he can be with her again, just so that he might glance upon the face that does not annoy him anymore.
Edited by EkPaheli - 11 years ago
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