Please read this piece with a BIG pinch of salt. I think I have crossed over into crazy... At least this one is not very long, so you won't waste a lot of time 😕
Shagun is in the Bhalla house. She's been brought to their home by Ishita because Ishita found her drunk and not in a position to drive anywhere. It's late at night. Shagun was given one of the many unused bedrooms in the Bhalla house. But she cannot sleep. She's is not drunk any more, Toshiji and Ishita gave her lots of water to drink and some lemons to suck on too. So, now the nasha is gone and she is actually feeling hungry. She stumbles about in the darkness of the living room, and ends up in the balcony instead of the kitchen. It was so difficult to remember where the kitchen was. At Ashok's house, she didn't even know where the kitchen was. Shagun grimaced, she did have a tough life, how could she keep up with so much.
When at the balcony, she just rested her elbows on the ledge and started thinking about her future. "Ashok must be wondering where I am. Although Suraj would have told him not to care about me, I bet Ashok will be super-jealous when he finds out I spend the night at Raman's. He doesn't have to know any details no?" She texted Ashok. "Spending the night at Raman's. Car broke down. Raman kind enough to give me lift her. was missing Ruhi anyway. Good Night" she typed on her phone and pressed Sent.
She was biting her nails, the reply wasnt coming... she was now worried. What if Ashok was doing Aiyyashi with some one else. What if Suraj has Ashok's phone and what if Suraj deletes my txt message before Ashok sees it. That's when she heard a sound and saw her good friend Param coming.
"Param ji, aapko bhi neend nahin aa rahi hai?" she asked him
Param, as we all know, is a smart guy. He remembered how swiftly she arranged for 60,000 rupees for him, so he started thinking "Parmeete, Simmi Bank to band ho gaya. Saale saaheb ulta paisa maang rahe hain mujhse. Chalo koi nahin, Shagun Bank ko switch maar leta hoon. Jab tak Shagun hai, tab tak Ashok ka bank equals Mera Bank". He was, however, surprised to see her here.
"Arre Shagun ji, aap yahaan? Sab theek to hai na?" she asked with only half-fake concern. If Ashok kicked her out too, then he really was bankless, which is worse than homeless.
Shagun then narrated the incident of the night to him, and because he was the only bestie she currently had, she also shared with him the nervousness about Ashok and her unreturned text. Param being the good, decent man he is, held her hand and took her to the couch in the living room. They sat there for some time, and Param was consoling Shagun who was close to tears.
He kept saying "Arre Shagun ji, main hoon na. Jab tak I am here, you not to fear" (sorry folks, Param's english is an unexplored territory for the show, so I had to come up with my own grammar for him) But her sighs continued.Finally, Param put his hand over her shoulder, and patted them, "Main sab theek kar doonga. Aap chinta mat karo"
"But Paramji, what about Simmi?" Shagun knew Simmi hated her. Well, some times Simmi did help her plot, but in general, Simmi was a Shagun-hater
"Arre Shagunji aap Simmi ki fikar na karein. Usko bahut saari cheezein nahin boli hain maine. And agar baat nikal ke aa hi gayi, to main usko ghumaa doonga. Simmi is like the ungli-pe-naachne waali types. She wont find out about you and me, EVER"
Thats when the lights came on... all the couples in the Bhalla household, plus Romi, plus Simmi had come out of their respective bedrooms and were staring at Param and Shagun holding hands, and they had all obviously heard only the last part of the story.
Simmi was the first to talk "Bhai, Mummy, Papa, Ishita... aaj koi nahin bolega. Maine sab dekh liya hai, sun liya hai, aur samajh bhi chuki hoon. Mera Pati Nikamma hi nahin, besharam bhi hai. Isne humaari family ki kisi bhi aurat ho nahin chhodda." She then wiped her tears, and stared at Param and pointed a finger towards the door."Param ji... please leave and never come back into my life. or our baby's. Mere liye aap mar gaye ho. Get out"
"Arre Simmo, baat suno na. Shagun ji bahut upset thi. Main sirf unko Ashok se patch-up karwaane ki baat kar raha tha. Shagun ji to meri behen jaisi hain. Simmo, you know You are the only one I love" Param was now really worried.
"Shagun, aapki behen??? waise hi jaise Ishita bhi aapki behen hai ??? come on Paramji... main dumb dikhti hoon. but hoon nahin... please jaayiye, iske pehle hi bacchhe uth jaayein. Aur haan, apni is behen ko bhi le jaayiye" Toshiji had never been so proud of her daughter before.
Shagun was ultra-scared now... she wished she hadn't sent that text... She looked at Raman, but Raman was looking at Param.
So... Param and Shagun walked out in the middle of the night, their walk lined with shame, guilt, disbelief and obviously worry about the future. The one time in their respective lives that they hadn't cheated on their spouses, they got caught... well "Karma is a B****" both of them thought together.
In the Bhalla house, Ishita was smiling widely and thinking to herself "See, everyone was so worried when I invited the leech back home. But I had faith in my Murugan. Finally ho gaya pardafaash" and she promptly looked up and thanked Murugan
Raman on the other hand was thinking "I am ashamed of myself. Shagun has only been here for a couple of hours, and that kameena Param is already holding hands and giving side hugs to her... and look at me... I was SO Effing close last night, darn it... what are the chances we could find the same carpenter again? "