PART 15

After what seemed like a 5 mins ride from the gate we reached the farm house. There was a small pedestrian path leading to the front steps of the house. On either side was small garden which had daisies and roses and small pond on one side which had lilies and a small birth bath jutting from the center. The house looked more like an English cottage with its tiled slopping roof and large French windows. It had huge verandah in the front spanning from one end of the house to the other end. He took the key out of his pocket and unlocked the front door. It was neatly maintained. The front room had comfortable sofa with lots of cushions and a very low center table. There were three bedroom , dining cum family living , kitchen and store.

"It is very nicely maintained."

"Yes Naina, one of our old house keeper and his wife in the outhouse which is , lil away from here. They take care of the entire property. I never liked coming here but mom likes it here. After I grew up, I have just come couple of times..

Come , I will show you my room. Its not the same as what it was when I was a kid. Nanu and I
changed it after I graduated from college. So now it has a matured look. "

"This room looks very similar to our room, except that there isn't any sofa and TV"

"Well, If you like it here, then we can plan to have that soon ."

"I love it. It's a place where people can come and relax. I love the greenery around it. Are we going to come here regularly?"

" I don't know. Anyways you can come with rest of them...Ever since we got married , I have been thinking of bringing you here. Other than you , I have never brought any of my friends here."

"Look!! there is a small swing on the mango tree."

"Yep, once upon a time that used to be my favorite spot. Whenever I missed my mumma and papa I used to go and sit on this swing as my papa had tied it just for me. I lost my papa when I was around 6 and after a year and half Nanu got mom married to Mr. Somani. I was nearly 8 yrs then. And within in few days mom left to Bombay with dad because one of his aunt didnt like me, she couldn't take me along with her. I cried a lot and I hated them. During those days I hated every one and somehow I don't think I have actually got out of that wound. Even today when I thinking of it I hate them for what they did to me. They could have ignored that lady but no , they didn't . Its true that they came back after two months to pick me ..and I know they feel guilty about it now and many a times they have brought in the topic to discuss with me but I have always avoided it...reality is I was wounded and scarred for life.

I guess that's why I don't like coming here. But I had to bring you here , to give you a glimpse of my childhood. Everything in life can't be about good times rt?? As my wife you also need to understand that I have a wounded past too"

"Sameer in those 2 months , you had your nanu who took care of you. At least you didn't have to hear things like ..you were unlucky and a burden . Not only that your mom and dad came back with in two months to get you ..rt??

In my case even the day before our wedding I was cursed by my dad and Tayiji. So, you are way luckier than lot of people. Whenever I feel bad, I would think of people who don't even have what I have in my life, which will make me realise that I am lucky in one way or the other.

Life is not about what you want that will make you happy Sameer, Life is about how you can find happiness with what you have."

He was silent for few mins , he moved his gaze from the Mango tree with the swing towards me and I realized there were tears in his eyes. He then walked towards me , without taking his eyes from my face and hugged me tightly.

"Sorry dear , I didn't mean to remind you of your past ."

"Its ok Sameer. It doesn't hurt me anymore."

With that , I pressed my lips against his and kissed him as if there was no tomorrow , pulling him into a whirlwind of passion. All he could do was to get drawn into it and we made love passionately at the farm house. I was exhausted but there was happiness written on his face and that's what I wanted. I wanted him to make peace with his past by trying to create new memories of peace and happiness at this place so that he would want to come here with the rest of the family.

"Love you Naina!!"

"Don't worry Sameer, every thing will be fine."

Later , Sameer introduced me to Ramu kaka and his wife and we all had dinner together. Sameer insisted that they eat with us. Ramu kaka's wife had prepared roti and vegetable curry. By 9:00 we started from there, the ride back was faster as there was not much traffic on the road , by the time we reached the city , my back was hurting , so I asked him to stopover to stretch myself. He stopped little away from our favorite Kulfi Joint. In the week prior to our wedding , we came here regularly in the evenings.

"Sameer , isn't that Preethi and Rohan??"

"Where?? "

"Look!! On that bench next to the Rain tree."

"Ahaaa, niceee...so we were right . They are dating. At least the body language doesn't look like FRIENDS...this looks more than that."

"Lets go and talk to them."

"No Naina, lets go from here. Let them not see us . I don't want them to feel pressurized . We need to understand , they both have not settled in their profession , so we need to give them time to decide.
"Hmmm...You are right , but I heard from Chachi , that they have already started searching , good alliance for Preethi. So if they are serious about it then ...you know what I mean ...rt??"

"Yep!! But I am not worried about it , you know why?? Because Preethi is very different from you Naina. She might even threaten the guy to say a "NO to the alliance ."

"Agreed , if she is really in love with Rohan , then she can do anything to stop the marriage. I guess any girl would."

"Would you have done that , Naina??"

"YES!! If I had a boy friend like you then ofcourse , I would have done anything to stop it. Its just that I didn't have anyone like that till I met you..."

"Love you!! come lets go."

We reached home around 10:45 in the night. Rohan had not reached home. I was worried for both of them as I felt it was not right for them to stay back so late. That's when the phone rang.

"Hello Naina??"

"Preethiii!! Where are you calling from ??"

"Why do you sound so worried??"

That's when I realized that I was supposed to act as if we had not seen them together , but my worry for her safety was more because of which I was not able to hide my emotions.

"Nah...tell me , is something wrong ?? What made you call this late??"

"I am fine, I called because I had to tell you something..first promise me you are not going to shout at me. You will hear what I have to say and then give your opinion...promise??"

"Ok baba, PROMISE!! Now tell me.."

"I am in love and guess who is the person?? "

"You tell me ...I don't want to guess.."

"Rohan"

"Does he feel the same about you ??"

"Yes , he proposed with a ring...can you believe it ??!! "

"Really ?? That's so lovely . Shall I call Sameer."

"NOOO!!, Rohan wants to speak to him first, just like I wanted to speak to you...so he will speak to jiju when he reaches there. He just started few mins back from here."

"You are at your friends place?"

"NOPE!! At home . He dropped me."

"What ??!!"

"Yes!! , he told mummy and papa that he saw me waiting for a Rik and didn't think it was right for me to travel alone at this time , so he dropped me. "

"No one had any issues?"

"I don't know, I didn't wait for Tayiji or Tauji to start their gyan , I rushed to the bathroom and stayed in there for sometime.

Naina, do you remember , how I used to joke saying that you should marry a guy with a younger brother so that I could marry him and then we will be in the same house for life...looks like it might come true...I know marriage is going to take some time as both of us have to settle in our carrier...also he feels some of his dad's relatives might cause some issue...but he said he will work it out before he leaves for US.. even then to think , it has come this close to our dream...oh ...Naina I am so happy"

"Me too Preethi , We will support the two of you. Don't worry . Now go and sleep before Tayiji comes with her Kiki kiki and O Bai"

"Good Night Naina."

"Good Night Preethi"

"So my dearest brother proposed !!"

"You were not supposed to hear that conversation. It was between two sisters...Sameer is a bad boy!!"

"No way!! We wont hide anything from each other. Even if Rohan had told me not tell you , I would have told you . Promise that you will tell me everything and never hide anything from me ...silence ??...Naina , I am waiting .."

"Sameer , I wont promise that because people trust us and tell us their secrets , so sharing with our spouse is not right...but I can assure you that if it has anything to do with the two of us...I will never hide it from you . You will be the first to know...is that fair ??"

"Fine ..if you don't want to say , you don't say ...but I will tell you everything. For the first time in my life , I have found a person with whom I can share everything without being judged. Besides I feel you are a part of me , so tell you is not like telling some one else..."

"Its so true when people say that when a man truly loves a woman , she becomes his weakness!!"

"Yes , Naina you are my weakness and I am enjoying this weakness!!...by the way what happens when a woman loves a man?? Do people say anything about that ?? Gyani Naina??huh??"

"Yes , When a woman truly loves a man , he becomes her strength , just like how you are my strength!!"

The moment I said this , I knew I had allowed him to see a lil bit of my true feelings for him , that was locked in my heart. All the while he thought I liked him , cared for him and was trying to become a typical obedient wife. I know he is still waiting for the world famous sentence between lovers..and I on the other hand was not able tell him that , I still feel I need time to settle in this relationship before I can say. But this sentence is going to change the essence of relationship. I was allowing him a lot more closer to me at a pace that I couldn't imagine. When it comes to Sameer all my resolution vanishes into thin air...

"Sameer, don't look at me like you have not seen me before."

"I was just trying to decode what you said."

"Somethings have to be understood Sameer , everything cannot be worded out."

"True Naina , but the happiness one gets when their dear ones word it out is very different ..."

"Havnt you heard the saying "Actions speak louder than words, Sameer saying so I moved towards him and was about to kiss him , that's when we heard...

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So that's it from me for this part. I hope you all will enjoy reading it. Do let me know your thoughts and comments. Eagerly waiting to read them.