PART 6
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As I got out of the Bathroom, saw that, my clothes were neatly folded and kept on the bed along with a bath towel, comb and Talcum powder. Both the doors to the room were closed and the window curtains were drawn. I wiped myself dry and tried on the Kurta she had bought for me. The size was right , just perfect. It was light blue cotton Kurta with white Pajama. Again, she had chosen my favorite colour. I kept wondering if it was coincidence that she knew most of my likes and dislikes, or did she get all this information from Rohan?

I walked out of the room and She was in the kitchen cutting vegetables.

"Hi , Its perfect . I liked it."

"Glad you liked it!!"

"I thought you are done with your work in the kitchen?"

"Nope , I am cutting vegetables that need to be cooked for tomorrow. Chachi does that every day and keeps it in the fridge. Now that she has gone for the wedding , I thought I will do it. And then , need to clean the vessels and kitchen . After that my work will be done."

"Do you do this daily?"

"Cleaning vessels and kitchen , its mine and Preethi's task. Today I have to do both ."

"Why don't you watch TV while I finish with all this quickly? And you can have another cup tea. "

"Thanks Naina.

I took the cup and came to front room to watch TV. As usual , my eyes were on her more than the TV. She seemed so at ease doing household chores. She was enjoying it . I felt I was already married. Isnt this , how things are going to be after marriage. The only difference from now and after marriage would be that , now I am sitting here watching her, after marriage , I would have gone and stood in the kitchen hugging her from back and kissing that beautiful neck of hers and making her at ease with me. God !! I cant wait. Its not about being intimate with her, it was about being close to her in every way. I wanted to be "The person "in her life . Her first priority!! I knew I was getting possessive of her..but whats wrong Everyone is possessive of their spouse. I know she likes me , cares for me as a friend and have slowly started opening up. I wonder if she will be possessive about me after our marriage. Will she love me the way , I am able to love her?

By the time , she finished all her work and freshened up it was 7:15 in the evening . She was wearing a light blue cotton top and white Patiala bottom. Her hair was tied neatly into a bun. Her face was devoid of make up and she wore no jewelry. She then went to Pooja room lighted the lamp and did arthi. She called me and gave me prasad.

"Are you the one who does this every evening ?

"Most of the days. When I can't Chachi or Preethi would do."

"What do you mean , when you cant ??"

Suddenly a blush crept on to her cheeks , that's when I realized and I didn't know how to back track my words. She then quickly answered "There are some days when girls don't do Puja, those days they will do.

Now it was my turn to blush!! All I could manage was "Ah Ok"

I liked the fact that she considered me close enough to discuss, a tabooed topic of discussion between a girl and boy. But the thing is , we were going to be husband and wife. Sooner or later we would have talked about it . Call it a man's mind. Now I was curious to know her date. Would she let me know after marriage?? Well she has to !! I wondered how long it would take for us to throw away all the barriers and unite??

No wonder , people say "Men will be men...cant help , when you have such a beautiful soul like her coming into your life which man would live a life of a saint.

"Sameer, why do you have that smile on your face??"

That's when I realized, she was still there looking at my face. WOW!! Me and my day dreams are going to put me into trouble.

"Nah...just that , ...mmm..how do I say...its nice we spoke about it. I mean,... at home its always mom, who does Puja. Deepika most of the time is away at the boarding school. And then its us boys , so don't know about these practices. You don't worry , mom knows it all."

I knew I was blabbering but had to say something. I am HER MAN!! And to be head of the family. Didn't want to act shy in front of her, though reality was different.

"You know what Sameer...aunty was right you look cute when you blush!! "

I knew I was caught red handed. She shook her head with a suppressed laugh and then walked into the kitchen.

"Back to Kitchen??!! Girl , I thought you are done with your work and we could talk for sometime.

"Work done , but are you not hungry? We need to have our dinner ...around 7:30?"

"Naina, its ok. I will go home and have."

"I know , I am not good in cooking , not anywhere close to aunty's cooking but I am sure you can have something along with me. I am hungry. If you didn't realise , I haven't had anything since afternoon.

"Sorry Naina , it just skipped my mind"

"Come , sit with me in the kitchen."

I loved the idea, I sat on the kitchen slab and she started heating Parathas . Then she handed me a plate ,placed a neatly rolled paratha and a bowl of paneer curry on it.

"This is how you like it rt ?? You start eating "

"Naina , how did you know . I am sure no one knows all these details other than my family. Though mom hates it when I role these Parattas"

"Keep guessing... "I knew she was not going to tell me..so didn't bother to ask further.

"Are you not going to eat? I thought you were hungry.

"I will eat , you start eating baba. Let me heat up the rest of it. Parathas are good when its eaten hot"

"Fine" , I took the role and brought it next to her mouth . "You first !!"

She smiled and then asked "Am I a kid?? "

"Why?? My mom feeds us even now."

Her face changed suddenly and I understood the reason behind it, situation at her place was so different from mine.

"Well , I don't have a mom and Chachi has so much of work , that we have to feed her sometimes. She loves me and Preethi equally. In fact, more than Preethi." I understood what she was trying to say. I knew , her Chacha Chachi loved her like their own daughter. They had never shown any difference between their kids and her.

"Hmm, but that isn't an excuse of not eating from my hand. If you are not going to take a bite from this role then I wont eat. Naina , sometimes I am very adamant. I will feed you today. Common , like a good kid , eat your Parattas."

She didn't argue any further, quickly grabbed a bite and then I took a bite. We continued in this way, while she worked in the kitchen and talked about our school days. This way our dinner was done.
Of all the dinners I had with my friends, this was the best. With her I have always felt at home even during school days. Whenever , I sat next to her for combine studies , I used to feel relaxed , never tensed about exams or projects which I never got from the gang I used to be with. Mostly , Raghav and Kamya would be with me. Those are the two people whom I got close to when I joined PVKM. I was happy to be with them as they were very popular in school , so being with them was helping me to be popular, though I never got the warmth of friendship. I realise it now , true happiness was always with Naina, Munna and Pandit. Munna and Pandith were very happy , when they knew about my break up Kamya. They had told me "God loves you a lot brother. You are saved.


"Sameer!!"

I noticed her holding a tiffin, in her hand.

"What are you thinking?? There is Gajjar Ka Halwa in this. You take this home and share it with everyone at home. I heard Rohan likes it"

"Did he say that you ?"

"Nope , Preethi told me.

"Preethi?? When did Rohan speak to Preethi?"

"He was here with your parents , so I guess ..then..I am not sure.""

"Ah ok"

"Naina , I need a carry bag to carry my used cloths .

"I have already washed it , and put it for drying ."

"What !!?? Why did you do that ?

"Its ok..anyways all this is going to come to me ..rt ?? So thought of starting early. She winked.

"Lady , at our home you won't have to do all this. There are people to do it. Only coordination and management job for you. Got it?? !!"

"And what if they are on leave??"

"Naina , sometime you talk like mom. I had thought at least the lady I bring home won't be as smart as my mom...but looks like you are no less...!!

No wonder mom loves you !!

I looked at the watch and it was 8:45 PM.

"Sameer , if you are getting late , you leave. Aunty will be worried. And its not safe to drive at this hour. Roads will be disserted by now."

"NO !! I am not leaving till they come and mom will be worried if I left you alone...especially after what happened at vegetable shop..we have no clue what Karan is up to. Rohan and I normally go for a ride at this time, ...sometimes even later. Besides , its best if I leave after meeting Chacha Chachi, else your neighbors will start making another story. I am not hiding and meeting you Naina. Let it be clear to the world. Come let's sit in the living room and about my cloths, keep it here. Will take it some other time."

"OK!!"

We sat in the front room with another cup of black tea. Even she preferred tea. I was glad about it . Some similarity had to be there , else we would have to make tea and coffee at the same time. This was a business man thinking about the day to day operational troubles. These days my mind did wander on how to make her life easy and happy. I had to accept, I was falling in love with her.
That's when I noticed she was wearing the same colour combination as I was.

"Blue and White , did you wear that on purpose.

"Finally, you noticed!! Yes!! When we were kids, we always loved to dress up with same colour combinations. It gave us this "One team...same family feeling. So today, I thought why not do the same with you."

"Sometimes you are like a kid. Do you realize we won't be able to meet for next two days??"

"Yeah, I know. I just have two more days here in this house. She was sad thinking of leaving her home. I wanted to cheer her.

"Our house is just 30 min away from this one. You can come whenever you want, no one is going to stop you."

By then the bell rang and she got up to open the door. Her family was back from the wedding reception. They were surprised to see me.

"Sameer , you are here?? Hope all ok? Asked Chacha ji .

"Oh yes!! I came to drop her and that's when I realized she would be alone. After what happened , I didn't think it was safe to leave her alone."

"Naina , what happened ?" She looked at me and then at Arjun. I knew, I had to get it straight to her family. In fact , I was waiting for her dad to join the party.

"Karan has been following her. Today when we got down at Kufli joint , he was there too. That's when Naina told me about it. Arjun was the one who saved her last time. He is insisting on getting married to her.

Chacha ji was furious "Why did you not tell me about this, Naina?? Arjun , whats this ...you should have told me."

"Did Rakesh stop you from telling us??", Asked Tauji.

Arjun's scared face and lowered eyes made it clear that his dad had reprimanded him.

"Sameer beta, you can't blame Karan and Naina. We had nearly fixed Naina's marriage with him , that's when your proposal came. So it will take some time for Naina and him to come out of it "mouthed Tayiji.

This statement really pissed me off and I knew what she was inclining at. If there were two people who hated Naina, was her own father and this lady. I knew their intention was to make her look like a lady with less moral values and then get me to call off the wedding. In this way, they could get her to marry Karan, which also means Arjun getting lots of dowry by marrying Karan's sister. I was not going to let it off that easily. Now she has raised fingers on my girl , my wife, I was not going to tolerate it. Being an elder woman of the house doesn't mean she can speak anything she wants!!

Luck was in my favour , the very same moment my dearest father in law walked in. Looking at our faces , he understood something was wrong .

"What happened Sameer, finally you decided to call of the wedding?? "

I looked at Naina, saw her eyes brimming with tears and Preethi was holding her hands , trying to calm her. That moment, I understood the depth of the relationship shared between them.

"Nope, I am here to talk to the elders of Naina's family. Two more days till she is married to me. In those two days if I hear anyone harming her emotionally or physically . I will not tolerate it.
Tayi ji, as far as Karan and Naina's marriage goes , I know the truth. Naina hates him and I know , Chacha ji had said NO to the marriage. I also know , that my Naina will never do anything that brings shame on her Chacha Chachi . She sees them as her parents. If you think , by talking bad about Naina , I will call the wedding off , you are absolutely wrong.

Naina , next two days you are not stepping out. Got it ?? "

"Yes Sameer !!"

That moment , he was like an angry young man. It was the first time , I was seeing Sameer this angry. At school, he used to get into fights... most boys did...but this side of his character was new to me.

"If you need anything just let me know , will get it done for you.

He then looked at Chacha ji and requested "Chacha ji , please don't leave her alone. I know you care for her a lot . Karan is a dangerous guy. He is a drug addict and is involved in lot of criminal cases like theft street fights etc. I have spoken to my parents too. We will solve it but just take care of her till she is married to me.

He then walked to window and looked out.

"Good , we have the guards outside your house!! They will inform us , if anything goes wrong."

"Tayiji, Naina was MINE, is MINE and will be MINE!! I know how to take care of what is MINE."

Hearing this, Tauji and Chacha ji stepped in and assured him , that they would keep me safe and nothing would happen to me. My dad was quiet but I knew there was something running thru his mind. I knew , he wanted me to marry Karan as his father had offered lots of money and a job for Arjun Bhaiya. It was like a ticket to success without effort. All his plans crashed when Chacha ji and I did not agree to the alliance. And now with Sameer around, it was an impossible task.

"Good night Naina , don't worry , I will take care of it "and winked.

I smiled . I couldn't believe what happened. Preethi was so happy for me. Poor Tayiji, she had supported dad as she thought I was unlucky for the family, she hated me. She never had liked seeing me happy.

"Alright then meet you all on the day of the wedding."

As he was leaving he turned back and said "Naina , will call you once I reach home . See you soon
I mustered the courage to say "Ride carefully. "Talking to "to be husband in front of elders was considered to be a big no no...but I wanted to ..

He looked at me ran his finger thru his hair and winked with a naughty grin. That look ..god !! I knew he is soon going to unlock my heart and push all those feelings back to life.

Chachi and Chacha ji was so happy for me. They said , he is the best thing that ever happened to me. Was I happy ? I was but , there was also fear slowly creeping into my mind, as I knew I was not his love. His love was and will be Kamya.

I agreed to this marriage as I didn't have a choice , I had to get married soon else poor Preethi's marriage would delay.

Agreeing to this marriage was agreeing to live with fear of loosing him to Kamya. Later in life if Kamya walks back into his life, I might have to move out. I know he married me for his mother. I will always be his responsibility and never his love. It's not easy to love a person and be his wife knowing that the love of his life is someone else. Now to think of it , I didnt know , if it was right for me to agree to this marriage and if I had the courage to go thru this pain ..because for me he was , is and always will be my love...MY ONLY LOVE!!


PS: Happy Weekend. Hope you all will like this part. Do let me know your views/thoughts on the same.WeRockTheWorld2018-05-04 23:29:36