Chapter 10
Note: Made the last chapter into one part finally and posted it. This chapter contains lots of songs yet please don't consider this as a song fic 
Chapter 10 (Last Chapter)
She looked at him intently. He pulled her by hand, made her sit besides him and put his head on her lap. He didn't cry nor did she. She gently caressed his head and looked at the crushed newspaper on the floor.
The country's one and only Rockstar, Mr. Abhishek Prem Mehra, fondly called as Abhi by his fans, seems to have lost his spell. There is a rumour that the Rockstar has been depressed because of his last album not hitting the charts. If sources are to be believed, Mr. Mehra has been undergoing treatment for depression in Pune as he was been spotted at a hospital in Pune along with his wife.He told her how people used to think it as a high privelege to get his contract.
"Even
now it is so", she said.
"Haan.
That's why Mr.Gupta declined our deal", his voice was clearly filled with disappointment.
"Just because one person doesn't like the song doesn't mean everyone will"
"Even I don't like that song Pragya"
"Then why did you.."
"Because that was the best version I could come up with at that moment"
***
All those days, she wanted to know what was bothering him so that she could solve it or atleast make him feel better. But after she came to know it, things didn't become better, instead they became worse. He used to smile or atleast pretend to be happy when she didn't know what happened. But after she came to know, he didn't have the compulsion to act happy in front of her. He was totally sad all the time. She couldn't bear it more than two days.
"Let's go home", she said as soon as she came from college.
"Where?", he asked as he followed her into the room.
"Our home", she replied sternly.
"This is our home", he said.
"This is not. Our home is in Mumbai"
"Oh... yeah I know that but we can't go there now"
"Why?"
"Because you are working here"
"The semester has almost ended. Exams have started. What's the problem in me resigning now?"
"I don't want you to resign"
"Why?"
"I don't want you to sacrifice your career for me"
"It's not a sacrifice."
"It is"
"I... I didn't"
"Don't tell me you joined this job only for time pass and you don't really enjoy it"
"It's not like that. I enjoy teaching but you have passion for music"
"You being a Professor is no less than me being a Rockstar. Don't compare things Pragya"
He went inside and came out with a scrapbook. Pragya was surprised to see it in his hand.
He opened and showed a piece of writing to her.
"We
can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,
There's
something for all of us here.
There's big work to do, and
there's lesser to do,
And the task you must do is the near."
"Be the Best of Whatever You Are by Douglas Malloch", she said in a shocked tone.
"When did you read... How did you find ?""Well that's the side effect of having your husband as a homemaker. I found it last month while cleaning the bedroom"
"You cleaned the bedroom?", her wides wide opened.
"Why are you getting shocked too much You were unwell that day. You vomitted but you were also sleepy because of the medication and slept after vomitting on the floor. So I cleaned the mess and this book on the shelf caught my eyes...", he stopped as he saw her looking at him intently.
"You know what? You always distract me from what I wanted to say", he said as he was annoyed.
"Thank you", she whisphered in strangled voice.
"For being a homemaker?"
"No... wait, you are not a homemaker"
"Why? I stay at home. So I am a homemaker"
"Homemaker is one who manages a home. It's not just about staying at home"
"Okay Professor. The point is this. I don't want you resign your job for me. I love you and I want you to do what you love"
"So this is how it is going to be from now on? We are going to stay in Pune", she asked in a questioning tone.
"You think I don't want to go to Mumbai. I very much miss my Daadi. In fact, I even had thoughts about asking her to come and stay with us but that's not right na. Family is not just you and me. It's Tayaji, Taiji, Akash, Raj Bhaiyya and everyone else."
"Then"
"We will go back to Mumbai but not before you get a Professor job in Mumbai"
"But that would be time cons..."
He poked her nose and told her not to talk about that anymore.
***
"Uff... Nothing comes to my mind", he said placing his guitar on the sofa."Don't stress yourself na", she said bringing him a cup of coffee.
"You don't how this world works. If you disappear for some time, you are at the risk of disappearing forever. My last album was a flop. So it has been almost 8 months since I gave a hit."
"I understand but you are not a robot, right? You are a human being. No single person can keep winning. Its okay to lose.", she said holding his face.
"But it's not okay to keep losing", he said getting his face away from her hold. Both of them remained silent for some time.
"Can you sing for me?", she asked breaking the ice.
"I know you are trying to distract me", he said sadly.
"Hello Rockstar! Did I ask you to compose a new song? I just told you to just sing a song for me. You can't even do that. I thought I could promote you from friend to boyfriend. It's okay if you are not interested", she said teasing him.
"Teri ankhiyon ka waar jaise sher ka shikar
Tera husn
dhuyendaar jaise jaltaa cigar
Tere pyaar ka nasha kabhi aar kabhi
paar
Tera pyaar pyar pyar hookah bar"
Her reaction wasn't good so he changed the channel.
"dekh tera rang saawla hua baawla
laDki nahi hai tu hai garam
maamla
bolti bandh meri, kahoon kya bhala
kuchh bhi kahaa nahi
jaaye"
This time she was frowing at him and got up. He grabbed her hand and started singing,
"Mere sapnon ki rani kab aayegi tu
Aayi rut mastaani kab aayegi tu
Beeti jaaye zindagaani kab aayegi tu
Chali aa, tu chali aa"
He pulled her into his lap and asked her "Does this song deserve a promotion?"
"Of course, it does", she replied with a kiss on his cheek.
***
"Did you see my phone?", he asked as he looked for his phone.
"I think I saw it on the desk besides the bed"
"I already searched there"
He wondered what was she writing so sincerely that she didn't even look up to answer his question. If it had been any other day, she would have left her work, went to get his mobile and returned with his mobile. But here she wasn't even responding properly. He thought she was busy with some college work and sat on the sofa.
"Dont give up on your hopes.. Keep clinging to the ropes.. Argh... This doesn't sound good", she murmured and striked somethingon her notepad.
"Mmm... No...", she striked the paper again.
He wondered what was she doing and tried to sit besides her but she hid her notepad from him as he went near her.
"What is that?", he asked curiously."Something personal", she replied quickly.
"Personal? What is that I shouldn't know?", his curiosity increased double-fold as he heard the word 'personal'
"I told you na it's personal", she said mildly angry.
"OK Fine", he said and started walking away and she kept the notepad on her lap again. He quickly came back and snatched the notepad. She told him to give it to him but he held it away from her.
"Give it to me"
"No, I won't until I read it"
"You shouldn't"
"Why is that?"
She tried to get it from him and then started a tom and jerry chase around the room. He fell on the bed losing his balance and finally got to read what she had written. The lines are were not related to each other but the common things was that they were all striken.
"Here comes the rockstar... the star of all stars...
Dont give up on your hopes.. Keep clinging to the ropes...
He will steal your heart... Don't.."
She snatched the notepad before he could read further.
"Pragya", he said her name but couldn't continue talking because he was busy laughing while she was sternly staring at him.
"What are these?", he said finally finishing his loud laughter.
"I tried to write a song", she said sitting near him.
"I thought you were a fan of meaningful songs", he said resting his head behind his arms.
"I am a fan of your songs too"
"So you are saying that my songs are meaningless", he said as crossed his arms and looked at the ceiling. He expected her to apologize to him but she was smiling at him.
He sat up and asked her, "This is your plan right?"
"Plan? What Plan?", she said pretending to be angry.
"Writing these lines in front of me... not showing them to me... all these are you plan to make me smile. Isn't it?", he asked her.
"Nothing like that. Don't give yourself too much importance", she said as she got up but he was in no mood to believe her and hence pulled her by wrist making her fall by his side. He went closer to her to tuck her hair behind her ears and whispered, "Why do you want me to be happy?"
She looked at him with a question mark in her face.
"Is it because I am your husband?"
"It's because you deserve happiness and well also because you are my husband", she said caressing his cheek.
"Hello Daadi", he said as he hugged his Daadi.
"Glad you both came to stay for the weekend", she said with teary eyes. After some chatting with Daadi and Daasi and the heavy dinner, both of them go to their room."Let's see if it works out here", she said.
"Come-on Pragya. I have already tried writing many lines"
"But this is your room na? It would be different"
"I told you I tried this too when I came here to meet that client last time. I am going to sleep now", he said with his head resting on the headboard.
"These lines...", she picked up his diary.
"They are old... Wrote it last year", he said as he saw the page.
"Why haven't you used these lines in your song yet?"
"Song?", he looked surprised.
"I just wrote my feelings. It was not meant for any song. Leave it. Give it to me"
"You wrote it when I came back claiming your properties. Didn't you?"
He sensed that her face was going pale. He asked her not to talk about the past and tried to take away the diary.
"But these lines are good...", she said firmly.
He looked into her eyes and she was serious about what she was telling.
"Are you serious?", his eyes asked her.
"I can't believe you were writing those silly lines inspite of having these lines."
"Silly? But you said that they were good", he raised his eyebrows.
"That... That was to encourage you", she replied looking down.
"And now you are saying these lines are good"
"This is REALLY good", she said with her eyes beaming.
He took the diary in his hand and read the lines aloud. He complained that there weren't enough lines to make it into a song and it also looked incomplete. She asked him to complete it then. 3 hours passed but the song was not yet completed. Whatever lines he wrote, either he or she had something against it.
"I give up Pragya. I can't complete it."
"Arrey you can't give up like this."
"Listen, I really can't write anything", he told her before leaving to sleep.
She looked at the lines again and again and somehow she couldn't stop herself from blaming her for letting experience such pain. She tried to write something along those lines but she couldn't write it to her satisfaction.
He woke up at midnight after not finding her besides him. He found her sleeping on the couch. He wondered why was she sleeping on the couch as if it was few months ago.
"Aren't things better between us now? Why is she...?"
He saw that she was holding onto his diary. He carefully took the diary away and placed on the shelf. Just when he kept the diary at its place, he realized that there was a pen inside. He opened the diary and saw that she has written some lines after his lines. He smiled and covered her with a blanket.
After the weekend, they returned to Pune.
***
10:01 AM Abhi: I can't come to your college today. Can you come by a bus?
11:00 AM Pragya: Yes, it's fine. But what happened?
11:10 AM Abhi: Meeting with a client. If this succeeds, I ll be doing a concert probably next month.
11:14 AM Pragya: All the best
Pragya was walking to the bus stop but suddenly Abhi's car comes by her side.
"You
said you won't be coming", she said as she got inside the car.
"Happy News", he said smiling widely.
She looked at him with joy and just told one word, "Concert?" and immediately when he nodded yes, she went to hug him."Oho oh Pragya! I am driving", he said and parked the car. She moved away from him awkwardly.
"Baby, I parked the car now. You can hug me", he smirked at her.
Somehow seeing him smile widely after so many days made her heart fill with happiness and she gave him a quick peck on his lips surprising him.
***
"You know what? This is going to be your best album Abhi. It's so good", said Purab enthusiastically. Abhi who was sitting on the sofa opposite to Purab told him that he believed that this song would surpass all his songs so far. Just then they heard vessels falling down from the kitchen.
"Oye! Rockstar is already suffering from losses. Be careful with the vessels. What if they break?"
"Professor can buy new vessels if needed", came her reply from the kitchen making Abhi laugh.
Purab asked Abhi what was happening. Abhi told him that he didn't share the song with Pragya yet as he wanted to keep it a surprise so that was the reason for Pragya being mad at him.
"Do you guys keep finding new ways to fight with each other?", Purab said with a sigh.
"OK
Abhi. I have to go now. I have to check whether the arrangements are
okay. Just one more day remaining", saying this Purab left. He knew what he should do to save the vessels.
She was cooking in the kitchen when he came inside with a song playing on his mobile.
"I'm sorry for the fact that I am not aware
That you can't
sleep at night when I am not there
Because I'm in the streets like
every day
I'm sorry for the things that I did not say
Like how
you are the best thing in my world
And how I am so proud to call
you my girl
I understand that there are some
problems
And I am not too blind to know"
She took the phone from his hand and stopped it.
He looked at her asking why did she stop. She didn't stop but
fowarded to a portion of the song and played it.
"I'm just a singer trying to
entertain
Because I love my fans I'll take that blame
Even though the blames on you
Even
though the blames on you
Even though the blames on you
I'll
take that blame from you"
"Professor is getting smarter these days", he said hugging her from the back and she replied that her Rockstar had taught her.
"If you want to know the song, I wil..."
She put her finger on his lips making him silent.
"If you want to surprise me, I want to be
surprised too", she said smiling.
***
Concert started and he was going to sing. She was so nervous and tensed. Had it been any other concert, she wouldn't have been so nervous but this one - she knew how important was it to him. Not only that, she was also excited about the surprise because she was like the thousands of fans around her. She didn't know anything about the song even though she was his wife. She was already surprised to know that there was a female singer in the concert. He always did his solo songs.
"Is this going to be a duet? Oh God, this must be the surprise he was talking about"
Her thoughts broke as the music started.
ik daur wo tha mujhse bhi
zyada
unko fikar thi meri...
kehte thhe mujhse rukhsat na
honge
milke dobara kabhi...
ab to ghairon se mera haal
poochha jaata hai
yahi dard-e-dil mere dil ko rulaata hai
wafa
ne bewafaai.. bewafai..
bewafai ki hai
wafa
ne bewafai..
meri aashiqui ye, rab ke
hawale
rooThe yaar ko bas, koi mana le
yaadon ki sooli dil
mein, gaD jaati hai
veeraniyan jab had se, baDh jaati hain
ik
daur wo tha mujhse bhi zyada
unko fikar thi meri...
kehte the
mujhse rukhsat na honge
milke dobara kabhi...
ab to gairon
se mera haal puchha jaata hai
yahi dard-e-dil mere dil ko rulata
hai
wafa ne bewafai, bewafai
bewafai ki hai
wafa ne
bewafai..
The lady singer came to the stage and as started singing, there were tears on Pragya's eyes. She wrote them. She wrote those lines but she didn't show it to him. How did he find them? He read and liked the lines?
"This is his surprise", she was astonished.kuch baatein aisi hoti
hain
jinko bayaan karna..
lafzon mein, namumkin hota hai
jab
wafa mein, wafa hoti hai
koi na koi, wajah hoti hai
koi na koi,
wajah hoti hai
kyun faaslon mein, nazdeekiyan hain
kyun
zindagi mein, tabdeeliyan
kyun tanha dil ye mera mujhse kahe
ye
silsila bas yoon hi chalta rahe
jaane kya hua hai jiski wajah
se
manzilein judaa si lag rahi
anjaani raah pe dil ye kyun
khud
ko paata hai
yahi dard-e-dil mere dil ko rulaata hai
wafa
ne bewafai, bewafai
bewafai ki hai
wafa ne bewafai.
As the song ended, the sound of the applause that was deafening. He must be so happy, she thought. After some time, Abhi told Purab to handle the press for some time and asked him to send Pragya to the backstage.
"Suniye", she said aloud as she couldn't find anything but darkness there.
"Liked the surprise?", he came in from behind her after switching on the light."Very much", she said with tears still welling up her eyes.
"So where is my gift?"
"Gift?", she asked him giving a perplexed look.
"The concert was successful. You didn't buy me any gift for that?"
"Uhh actually concert ended just few minutes ago na. I didn't buy any gifts yet."
"What do you mean by only few minutes ago? So you didn't believe that my concert would be successful. All those words you said to me before my concert was just a bluff", he said pretending to be angry
"Arrey.. Why do you talk like this?"
"I won't talk to you unless I see my gift"
"I told you na. I really didn't buy any gift yet", she said trying to convince him. When she found out a smile trying to escape his lips, she decided to play along with him.
"Actually, I have a gift but you spoiled my mood."
He was surprised at her statement. He was just teasing her but she really got a gift for him.
"What's that?", he asked.
"No, I don't want to give it now"
He grabbed her shoulders and looked at her eyes. She couldn't resist after that.
"What's the gift?", he asked her slowly.
"Promotion", she said.
"Promotion?", his face distorted as he heard the word and felt that she was just playing him just like how he was playing her.
"Promotion from boyfriend to husband", she said coyly and those words were enough to stop him from going anywhere away from her.
Posted the last chapter :) Waiting to read your thoughts guys!!
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