Chapter 59 Frozen hearts...will they melt by Deepti

Chapter 59

Shoving her belonging into his pocket he looked around to make sure that he wasn’t being watched and then went to join to rest who were standing close to the mandap. As her eyes fell on him she wondered what took him so long and when their gaze met he couldn’t help but think how she would react when she comes to know what’s lying in his pocket.

While he stepped aside to check on the dinner arrangements, on Sakshi’s instruction, Kushi and her friends picked up the plates which were filled with rose petals and went around offering them to  the guests so that they can shower those on the couple who would be taking their marital vows in the next few minutes. As her plate became three fourths empty, saving a significant amount for herself, Kushi came back to the place where she was standing previously and grabbing a handful of petals she waited for the couple to take their vows. On his return he noticed the petals in others’ hands and came to the girl who was standing close to the mandap with the plate in her hand. “Can I have some?”, he whispered from behind which made her turn around and finding his gaze on the petals in the plate, ” No, I need them”,  she replied, pulling the plate closer to herself.

“What will you do with so many?”, he inquired for which she said, ” What kind of dumb question is that? What else would anyone do other than showering them on Di and her husband”.

“But don’t you think what you have is too much for you alone to shower on them? Why don’t you share some with me?, he asked eyeing the quantity in her plate.

“In the first place what I have isn’t like a lot and even if it is.. I would prefer dumping the rest on myself rather than sharing them with you”, she replied and turned to face the mandap.

Before he cold react, he was approached by Pragya who had a plate filled with petals and this brought a smirk on his face. As she offered the plate to him, ” Can I have them all?”, he asked her in a tone which was audible to Kushi too and this made Kushi  look behind.

“Of course you can. After all it’s your sister’s wedding”, replied Pragya passing the plate to him.

“Not many get that part”, he taunted looking at Kushi while taking the plate from Pragya.

“Thanks for these. Someone was not ready to share even a handful, and you gave me everything you had. I really appreciate it”, he said very formally which brought a smile on Pragya’s face.

Seeing the blush which was fast seeping into Pragya’s cheeks, ” Now if you are done there, will you come here and see the wedding”, ordered Kushi who was infuriated seeing her friend in conversation with Arnav.

Not understanding why she was so mad at her while Pragya nodded her head and came and stood next to her, Kushi gave one last stare to him and the plate in his hands and gritting her teeth turned away. As the smirk on his face grew  wider seeing how annoyed she was with him, he looked around to figure out where the rest of his family were standing and on finding them scattered on the other three sides of the mandap, he was glad to be left alone on the fourth side with just the two girls who were standing ahead of him.

As a naughty thought crossed his head he picked few petals and implemented his thought right away when everyone else started showering the petals on the couple who started taking their marital vows by circumbulating  the sacred fire.

She was throwing the rose petals at Anjali and Karan when she felt something soft hit her back and as her blouse had a deep neck at the back, her skin sensed the delicate touch of the petals. She stood still as her back became his target and as the attack of the petals continued, she shook her head and turned around narrowing her gaze at him.

“What are you doing?”, she asked looking straight at him.

“What am I doing?”, he asked innocently to infuriate her.

“Don’t try to act smart. You know what you are doing and so do I”, she replied.

“Is it?”,he asked.

“Stop throwing  petals at me”, she ordered hearing which he acted surprised.

“Excuse me! What made you think I’m doing that. I was just throwing these at my sister and brother in law. And if you are coming in my way then there is nothing which I can do about it”, he replied coolly.

“Don’t bluff. I know that you are doing all this on purpose”, said Kushi showing her right index finger to him. And as he glared at her finger she instantly pulled it back.

“Why would I do that and even if you think that I am, why don’t you just get out of my way”, he said challenging her to switch places with her friend knowing that there was no place for her to move aside with the shrubs and bushes in that area.She had only three options, either to leave her spot and go to the other side of the mandap leaving Pragya alone with Arnav, switch her spot with her friend or stay just where she is, enjoying his sweet attack. And just as he anticipated she chose the last option and turned around throwing her braid behind.

As she continued throwing the rose petals at the couple, he continued worshiping her back and this made it hard for her to hide the blush which was fast seeping into her cheeks. Though she bit her lower lip in an attempt to control  her smile and tried her best to make it look like nothing was happening behind her, Devyani did notice that something was wrong with the girl and she titled her head to see who was behind Kushi. And on finding her grandson right behind her with a smile lingering on his face, she was elated.

Soon the wedding came to an end and as dinner was being served in the other part of the lawn,  people started moving towards that section after  greeting the bride and groom. The meeting and greeting session lasted for a while and this made Kushi restless as she was waiting to see the expression on Karan’s face when he finds his footwear missing.

And like someone heard her prayer, soon the bride and groom were asked to have their dinner hearing which a smile lit up on Kushi’s face.

“Now starts the fun”, she muttered rubbing her hands in  excitement while Arnav just smirked seeing her.

As the bride and the groom went to the spot where they had left their footwear Kushi kept watching them and while Anjali instantly found hers and slipped her legs into her
stone studded sandals, Karan kept looking for his sandals which were nowhere to be seen.

“What happened? “, asked Anjali, as she noticed Karan looking here and there.

“It’s my sandals.I remember leaving them here but now there is no trace of them”, replied Karan as he continued searching and hearing this Anjali instantly knew whose work it could possibly  be. As she lifted her head and looked around she found Kushi grinning and this confirmed her doubt.

Tapping on her husband’s shoulder, “It’s for sure  her work”, she said gesturing him to look at Kushi and when he did look at her he understood where his sandals were.

“Okay! Can I have my sandals back?”, he asked coming straight to the point as Kushi approached the couple.

“Of course you can. But for a price”, replied Kushi resting her chin on Anjali’s shoulder.

“How much?”, he asked taking his wallet out but before Kushi could respond, his cousins interfered and took the responsibility of finding the sandals on their shoulders. Soon they scattered and started searching for the sandals while Kushi enjoyed the show.” Search search! But trust me, you will never find them “, she openly challenged them  and raised her eyebrows twice when her eyes met with Arnav’s asking him to witness her victory.

As he smiled and shook his head, she didn’t understand what was so funny.But as now was not the time to dissect the reason behind his smile,she ignored it and started cheering for the people who were looking for the sandals. Even after fifteen minutes when Karan’s troop had no luck, “Give them back Kushi, at least for my sake. I’m starving”, said Anjali.

“Of course I will,Di.But first.. let your husband pay me for that”, she replied to Anjali and then turning to Karan, she said, ” What is this? It hasn’t been even an hour since you got married and is this how you treat your wife? Poor soul is starving and you aren’t even bothered”, teasing him.

Understanding that she is the only one who could return his sandals, “Okay fine! How much”, he said taking some  bills out of the wallet.

“Twenty five thousand”, replied Kushi beaming with happiness as the groom’s side gave in.

“What? Isn’t that too much?”, reacted Karan.

“It is, we can go and get at least 10 pairs for that amount”, added Abhay.

“Ya, do that. Go shopping and let your sister in law starve for one more hour”, taunted Kushi as she folded her hands.

“Looks like you have targeted me for your shopping expenses”, said Karan counting the bills hearing which , “Now that’s a great idea. I will be leaving soon and there is a lot to shop. I don’t think twenty five thousand will be sufficient for that. Let’s make it one lakh”, teased Kushi.

“No need. I’m happy with the first one”, replied Karan who fell short of the amount which Kushi demanded.

“I have only 15 thousand in cash”, he said showing the thousand notes to Kushi.

“No problem. I accept card too”, replied Kushi, with a broad smile.

“No thanks…given that,I’m sure you will leave no balance in it and complete your entire shopping with it”, responded Karan. He borrowed the amount from Abhay and after counting the 25 notes for one last time and just when he was all set to hand them over to Kushi , Arnav came from behind and placing his hand on Karan’s shoulder he said,  “What’s the rush?”

As everyone’s attention shifted to Arnav, “You are all set to pay her. But what’s the proof that she has your sandals”, he asked addressing Karan.

“Why will I demand money if I don’t have them?”, asked Kushi who got irritated with his interference.

“Who knows!”, he responded and then added, “By the way I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to my brother in law”, keeping his other hand also on Karan’s shoulder.

“Are you from the bride’s side or the groom’s???”, questioned Kushi, placing her hands on either side of her waist for which he said, “Now that my sister is married to him… I’m from both  sides”, folding his hands against his chest.

“He has a valid point,Kushi. What if you fail to return my sandals after I pay you. I need proof that they are with you”, demanded Karan and his cousins gave him their support by shouting the slogan,”We want proof. We want proof”.

“Okay okay!”, reacted Kushi closing her ears.

“You all need proof, right! I will go get the sandals to prove that I have them. But for making me do this you will have to pay me an additional ten thousand”, she demanded, darting her looks at Arnav.

“First you go get the sandals and I  will double the amount you have asked for”, came the arrogant reply from Arnav.

Darting a serious look at him she turned around and huffing and puffing she ran towards the house to get the sandals.

“What does he think of himself. What’s his problem when his brother in law has no issue with giving the money. How dare he ask  me for a proof. Can’t wait to show the sandals to him and squeeze out that extra twenty five thousand from him for making fun of me in front of everyone”, she kept muttering as she took the route to her room. And on entering it she went straight to the wardrobe and pulled out the drawer while cursing him under her breath. And the next moment she stood still with her mouth still open on not finding the sandals where she had hidden them. She rummaged in the drawer and when she found nothing else except for her intimates,” Where have they gone”, she uttered giving up the hope to find them.

She gave it a thought and the next moment she knew who could have got their hands on them. ” It’s definitely HIM!”, she mumbled and got ready to settle her score with him but as she was about to push the drawer close her eyes fell on her intimates and she realized from where he had picked them up.

“DAMN! Of all the places in this huge house did I have to hide the sandals here?”, she asked herself shutting her eyes and as the image of him looking into that drawer  and grabbing those sandals from there flashed in her head, she flushed and shook her head disapprovingly.

“No No No.This shouldn’t have happened. How will I face him now”, she said closing the drawer and she stood against it with her eyes tightly shut. She spent few minutes cursing herself and then realizing that a new drama must be awaiting for her in the lawn, she left a deep breath and walked out of her room.

“He must be waiting to make fun of me in front of everyone”, she muttered as she exited the house and took the way to the lawn hoping to see a bunch a people waiting to laugh at her. Preparing herself to face the humiliation as she reached the lawn, to her  astonishment, gone was the crowd who were supposed to be near the mandap.

“Now where did everyone vanish??“, she wondered searching for them and asked the same to Devyani who was passing by.

“Anjali and Karan went to have their dinner. Why don’t you join them. In fact, they were looking for you few minutes ago”, said Devyani, encouraging Kushi to have her dinner. And when Kushi went to that part of the lawn where the dinner was being served she instantly found the couple who were surrounded by Karan’s relatives. She tried to get a glimpse of Karan’s feet and when she finally did, she gaped seeing him wearing his sandals.

“Surprised!”, a voice from behind alerted her and as she straightened to her full length and shut her mouth, he came and stood next to her.He waited for her to react and was amused seeing the expression on her face.

“Don’t you want to know how he got his sandals back?”, he whispered in her ear while she  stood still with her gaze glued to the ground and her hands  fidgeting with her dupatta.

“I gave them to him”, he said which made her raise her head and  look at him, ” Didn’t I warn you not to mess with me. Now you lost the challenge, 25000 and also the additional 25000 which I offered. Tsk Tsk …what he bad luck”, he pitied her.

She felt like strangling him then and there but controlling her temper as she took a step forward to walk away from him, “Kushi”, he called out from behind. And as she stopped and turned to face him, “Don’t you want to know where I found the sandals”, he asked innocently, which made her flush.

Seeing the naughty glint in his eyes as she ran away from there, he laughed aloud and went to check on the some other stuff thinking what a pleasure teasing her gives him.

Finally after everything came to an end, the time to send off Anjali fast approached and this changed the atmosphere around. As it was quite an emotional moment, it became hard for the ladies to hold back their tears and as Anjali started bidding farewell to them by hugging and taking blessings from each one of them while recollecting the beautiful moments she shared with them, they kept shedding their tears. Though they knew that she was going to be in the same city as they were, and they can visit her whenever they want to, they also knew that post wedding everything will not remain the same like it was till date.The pride of their house is now the pride of some one else’s house too. And with the new role comes the new responsibilities. The princess of their home is now going to be the queen of Oberios’s and they just hoped that the girl who played the roles  of a loving grand daughter, well-disciplined and sweet daughter,and a caring and friendly sister will be successful in playing the two new roles of a wife and a daughter in law.

While the women openly expressed their sorrow, it was tough for the men too to not let their eyes get moist.And when Anjali came close to Aakash he couldn’t refrain himself from bursting as the very thought of his little princess leaving him was killing him from inside. As he hugged her and sobbed, the father daughter duo cried their hearts out. And seeing this as everyone’s eyes became moist, “Calm down Aakash! Control yourself. Look how she is crying. Is this how we are going to send her off?”, asked Shashi, trying to bring his friend back to reality. Getting a hold on his emotions, Aakash took Anjali’s face in his hands and wiping her tears he silently communicated with his eyes saying that he is always there for her. And as he smiled, Anjali too smiled and nodded her head gesturing that she is aware of it.

“Why is that it’s always the girl who has to leave her everything and  go to the husband’s place. Why cant the guy come and live with the girl’s family??”, wondered Kushi getting lost in a thought witnessing the bond between Aakash and Anjali.

“Now where are you lost?”, asked Anjali who came to Kushi, wiping her tears.

“Nothing Di! I will be missing you very badly”, responded Kushi giving a bear hug to Anjali.

“Liar!!! When will you have time to sit and think about me! The moment you land in  London I’m sure you will forget all about me”, teased Anjali making a face which made Kushi call out,”Di!!!How can you say that”,sulkily.

“I was just kidding. I know how much we both will miss each other. But don’t ever forget that I’m just a call away”, said Anjali.

“I won’t. And promise me that you will give me a call daily”, responded Kushi, keeping her hand in front of Anjali as streams of tears flowed on her cheeks

While Anjali placed her hand on Kushi’s saying, ” I will”, “Even if she forgets, I will remind her to. Now if  you both  don’t stop crying I will get the feeling that I’m the cause of all this outburst of emotions. Please don’t make me look like a villain”, said Karan, lightening the moods of everyone.

As the girls smiled and moved apart, Anjali hugged Shashi and Rishi and finally moved towards the car with Karan by her side and her family right behind her.Wait a minute! Not the entire family. Where is her little brother? As she raised her head to look for him,she found him right in front of her. He silently opened the rear door of the car and held it for her to get in. And as she went to him, the siblings just stared at each other and  breaking the silence, he finally said, “Take care,Di”,as his voice quivered . As a new set of tears took root in her eyes, Anjali hugged him and he shut his eyes while he hugged her back,  to get a hold on his emotions. They released each other after few seconds and as he  gestured her to get into the car, Anjali turned around and waved her hand at everyone. As she got in, he helped her by holding the end of her veil and after making sure that  she was all set in her seat, he turned and  looked at Karan.

“Don’t worry… she is hereon  my responsibility. I will never give her a chance to come to you running to complain about me”, said Karan, patting on Arnav’s arm, understanding a brother’s concern for his sister.

“Thanks!”, responded Arnav after pulling Karan into a hug and after he too got in the car, the beautifully decorated Mercedes-Benz took Anjali away from her home to take her to her new home.

Soon the other relatives and guests too started leaving one after the other and after sending off everyone left were the family, who finally assembled in the living room. Though they were glad that everything went well and as planned, Anjali’s departure did affect them.

“By now Anjali must have reached and set her foot in her new home”,  said Devyani opening the conversation while Kushi rested her head on Devyani’s lap and got lost in her own thoughts. The elders took it from there and conversed about the girl whose marital status changed on that day while Arnav, Kushi and Rishi remained as the silent spectators.
He looked at her and knew that something was seriously wrong as though she seemed to be lost elsewhere, her facial expressions told him that soon she is going to have an outburst. She was very much attached to his big sister and with each passing comment about Anjali and her attachment to the family, Kushi’s grief kept increasing. And just as he had expected, she couldn’t handle it anymore and started weeping. The people around her tried to console her saying that everything is going to be fine,  for which she sat upright and attacked them saying, ” What is going to be fine?Nothing! Nothing is going to be fine. Di will no more live with us. How can things be fine then? Why does Di have to go and live with her in-laws? Why cant her husband come and live with his in-laws?”. She asked the last part with such innocence that it made him feel like taking her into his arms.

“Because that’s how it has always been”, replied  Devyani trying to explain her.

“That’s what even I’m asking. Why does it has to be like this always?It is not that only the guy is marrying the girl, even the girl is marrying him. When both play equal roles in this thing called marriage then why is it that it’s always the girl who has to sacrifice? Why can’t the guy do it?? Why can’t he leave his family behind and come and live with the girl’s family???”, questioned Kushi demanding answers.

Devyani just smiled in response and wiping Kushi’s  tears she said, ” It’s because girls are special. They have this special boon with which they fill the house they are born in with happiness. They are so special and so giving that once they get married they spread this happiness in their husband’s house too. And since guys are not so blessed with all this special virtues,  it’s only a girl who can sacrifice her happiness and spread happiness to everyone around her without complaining about her very own pain.That’s the reason why it’s always a girl who goes to the guys place”, and kissed on  Kushi’s forehead.

Hearing this neither Arnav nor Rishi protested as they too were missing Anjali and couldn’t bear seeing Kushi like that. The others too tried to console her and after she seemed little better everyone started dispersing to their respective rooms. Kushi was reluctant to leave the living room and announcing  that she wanted to be left there all alone for some time, she sent everyone away.

Though she controlled herself for the past few minutes not wanting to worry the rest, once everyone was out of her sight her eyes again welled up and she burst open again. And this time since no one was around her, she let out all her sorrow and started crying audibly. Hugging her legs while she sat in the couch crying with her forehead rested on her knees, she fell in the sight of Arnav who came out of the kitchen after grabbing a water bottle. A strange pain shot up in his heart seeing her like that and as that pain traveled to his eyes he couldn’t bear the sight anymore.

“Have some water. You will feel better”, he said offering the bottle to her.

She shot up her head hearing his voice and stared at his face and the bottle in his hand.As he uncapped the bottle and gestured her to take it, she followed his orders and took it.

“I didn’t know you were around”, she said wiping her tears while she sniffed.

“Does that matter. Drink”, he responded.

She lifted the bottle and after taking few sips gave back the bottle to him.

“Feeling any better?”, he asked her putting the cap back on the bottle.

Shaking her head in negative, “I miss Di!!!”, she cried out like a small kid.

“I know. But will your crying make you not miss Di?’, he asked quietly.

“I know it won’t but I just feel like crying!”, she declared wiping her running nose with the end of her dupatta.

“For how long?”, he asked.

“I don’t know. You know what… I hate to cry but look at me! I’m not able to control them today. All I want to do is cry. I miss Di!!”, she started off again between her sobs. He tried to console her saying that Anjali was in the same city and that they can visit her first thing in the morning. But as that didn’t work on her  she kept crying while talking about the relationship she shared with Anjali between her sobs. He patiently listened to her and tried to share her grief but even after fifteen minutes when her crying continued, he felt she had stressed herself enough for the day. He tried to interrupt her but as she was in her own world talking about her  Di and the beautiful moments they shared, he couldn’t break the flow. Looking at her puffed eyes and the tears which were constantly flowing from them, he felt that she  might faint soon if she continued doing the same thing which she had been doing for the past one hour. And all of a sudden when she increased the  intensity of her crying he couldn’t bear it anymore. Diverting her attention from Anjali seemed to be the best solution to him at the moment and he knew what’s that best source that could accomplish his mission.

“Kushi!”, he called out bit loudly to get her attention and when she jerked and came  out of her thoughts and looked at him, ” I need to return something”,said Arnav.

And as she just stared at him blankly, he said , ” Actually, when I went into your room to get the sandals….”, and  paused. While she became all alert hearing his words, ” I picked up this by mistake”, he said pulling out her  maroon color property out of his pocket.

As her eyes grew big in her face she stared at the brasserie for a moment and when she looked at the man who was holding it by its strap, “Aaaaaa”, she screamed aloud.

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Deepti © Myriad of my dreams - Never stop  dreaming

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