Chapter 7

ananya.2

@ananya.2

Part 9

Suman had called Raavi to meet her. Raavi came almost immediately and went to Suman’s room. She sat down beside her bed. Her palms were sweaty and she was nervous. Why had Suman kaki called her? Kaki always made her feel intimidated. Raavi cleared her throat and spoke. 

“Aapne bulaya tha kaki?” Raavi asked.

“Haa.” Suman said. “Woh kagri aayi thi tere aur Dev ka rishta leke.”

Raavi flustered. Could she directly say no to Suman kaki? Or would that be rude? But if she didn’t, Shiva would murder her. “Suman kaki, woh actually, Maasi ne mujhe bataya nahi tha ki woh rishta leke jaa rahi hai. Dev ke liye waise waale feelings mere bachpan mein the. Abhi nahi hai.” Raavi said. “Aap please bura mat maanna.”

Suman was elated. Raavi wasn’t in love with Dev. That just made her plan so much easier. It was probably going to work faster than she’d expected. Suman had already decided her role in this stint. She was going to play the role of the villain. Raavi didn’t know that Suman knew, and Suman was going to take advantage of that fact. 

“Chalo achha hai. Uss kagri ke parivaar se koi connection hi nahi rakhna hai.” Suman said. “Tu achhi ladki hai Raavi, par humare parivaar ke beech jo hua uske baad hum tujhe apna nahi sakte. Yeh toh achha hua tu khud hi peeche hat gayi.”

Raavi was hurt by Suman’s words. She didn’t want to marry Dev, but she had no idea they had already decided to reject her. She held back the tears which threatened to spill out. Being rejected by the Pandya family really hurt. 

“Tu khud jaake uss kagri ko mana kar de ki tu iss ghar ki bahu nahi ban sakti.” Suman said. “Chal ab mujhe bahar leke chal. Ladki wale aaye hai.”

“Ladki waale?” Raavi asked. 

“Haa. Meri saheli ki beti hai. Main aur Dhara uske paas Shiva ka rishta leke gaye the. Bohot achhi ladki hai. Pandya parivaar ki bahu banne layak. Bohot sundar hain.”

Raavi had no choice but to take Suman. She was already feelings this myriad of feelings. Listening to Suman kaki describe this girl made her even more upset. Even she was worthy of being a Pandya family bahu, and she was beautiful too. How could they not see? She would become the best bahu of their family, because she knew Pandya family inside out. There was no better fit than her. 

There was also a curiosity to see the girl. The girl was sitting with Dhara and talking to her, while Gautam was speaking to her mother. She stood up as she saw Suman and hugged her childhood friend. Raavi stood there as they all talked. She felt like an outsider. 

Raavi wasn’t normally one to get jealous. But her emotions weren’t in check at this moment. This girl already had the whole family fawning over her. What if she won over Shiva too? She could not bear losing Shiva. Raavi imagined Shiva engrossed in talking to her, completely ignoring Raavi. From there her mind moved to an image of them getting married. She realised she was already crying. 

“Raavi, tu thik hain?” Gaumbi asked. “Kya hua Raavi?”

Raavi wiped away her tears and ran away from there. Gaumbi kept on looking at her shocked. 

“Maa, aapne kuch zyada hi rula diya meri bachhi ko.” Dhara whispered to Suman.

“Jhatka dena zaroori tha. Ab dekh kaisi iski batti jalegi.”

“Raavi ko kya hua Dhara?” Gaumbi asked. 

“Pata nahi Gaumbi.” Dhara feigned surprise. 

Suman went to her friend and her daughter who had come to meet them after almost eight years. This was just a reunion. She had cleverly decided to flip the story for Raavi. Dhara’s talk of finding a girl was useless. Suman made it happen, and gave Raavi a glimpse of it. Now that she had planted a seed, she just had to wait for it to grow. 

***

Raavi ran to Shiva. He was working in the store when Raavi just came out of nowhere and hugged him tightly. With the customers giving him a weird look, and Raavi crying, Shiva asked Kaka to take over and took Raavi to the back room. 

She kept sobbing into his chest. Shiva asked her what the matter was several times, but she couldn’t formulate any words. He peeled her away from him and wiped off her tears. “Kya hua bolegi? Kisi ne kuch kaha tujhse?”

Raavi realised she was going to come off as an extremely jealous person when she would share her feelings. What would she say? That she wanted Shiva and his family to herself? She couldn’t bear to see him get married to any other girl. Just the thought of him with another girl made her sick. She realised she wouldn’t be able to live if that happened. 

“Raavi, kya hua?” Shiva cupped her cheeks with both his hands. 

She couldn’t lose him. Raavi leaned in and kissed him on the lips. It lasted only a second, but both of them were horrified at what just happened. Raavi’s heart was thudding and she tried to come up with an excuse for what she had done. Shiva was going to murder her. She couldn’t control her jealousy and look what happened. 

It finally dawned on her. She gasped loudly. She had been in love with him all this time and she never knew! How come she never knew? How could she have been so dumb? She ran back home, leaving an extremely confused Shiva behind.