Chapter 4

Few days later - in car swayam/rey/sharon-swayam driving

sharon dumped a huge bag in front of rey in co passenger seat and "here , this is for taani"

"but tumne recently uskeliye kuch aur kharida tha"

what rey, that was office wear, wo ab useless hain..this is maternity wear" she said fondly. Rey didnt

look interrested enough, swayam also looking grumpy

" whats up with you?" rey to swayam..sharon laughed , swayam gave her a glare but she ," he s still

upset kyunki taani has been ignoring him completely since we got back and isko bura lagrahaan hain

.."and ruffling his hair," tum khudh hi baat karo na usse"

"shes so childish really ...she didnt recieve my call, tho kaise baat karoon?waise bhi mujhe koi baat nahin karni usse" he grumbled making both rey and sharon exchange smile

"rey , tu.."

Rey"main tum dono ke beech nahin padnewaala hoon...mera aim sirf taani ko comfortable rakhna

hain and if she s comfortable not talking to you tho fine.."

Swayam looked at him irritated for a second and then as he caught the smile, realised he was joking

" but itna gussa! Aur ziddi bhi! sab tumhaari wajah se" he shot at rey," tumne hi usse bigaada hain"

rey gave him a why me look? " itna pamper karne ki kya zaroorat hain?"

" look who s talking! and pointed to sharon who seemed to be enjoying the uncomfortable swayam,

" jitna tum apne wife ko pamper karthe ho na usse tho bohot zyaada kam hi kartha hoon.." and then

smiling,"cmon swayam apologise once she ll be fine, she s hurt not really angry"

"usne kahaan?"

"no but i know shes upset about it ..."Rey smiled at him saying," anyway jab ghar aaoge tab baat

karlena...waise bhi office se nikal kar itne din hogaye usko ki her mood s all back to normal" and

smiled thinking of her in his minds eyes," phir se sweet aur cute, perfect. Koi stress nahin koi tension

nahin, no crying, koi complaints nahin...not even about her chakkar aana ya nausea ya kuch bhi...

jaise hi pata chala usse, she s been so happy thinking about..." he stopped as he caught sight of

both of them grinning at him teasingly , blushed a little making sharon laugh loudly and swayam grin

"my god rey! Kitna blush karthe ho!"sharon teased making rey hit her with the bag of clothes she had

given him and she laughed more

"seriously, jab office jaathi thi tab itna tensed rehthi thi ki..." he shook his head," im never letting her

go near an office again"

Swayam frowned ," but rey thats not the solution, haan abhi ke liye i understand but in future jab tak

wo jaayegi nahin..."

"no way swayam, she ll stay where she s happy ..aaaj , kal ya kabhi bhi" rey interrupted him firmly ,

" and thats her home. Waise bhi usse kisiko kuch bhi prove karne ki kya zaroorat hain? " Swayam

stopped the car as they reached reys place,sharon placed a hand on swayams shoulder from the

other side indicating him not to talk and swayam swallowed the response he wanted to give ...

rey got down saying, andher nahin aaoge?

" No rey, not today..waise bhi aunty aur uncle aaj hi aaye hain tho you should spend some time with them.

Say hi to them " sharon ," but haan , wo call recieve karlena aaj raat ko to tell them about our

change of plans"

Rey nodded," yes and thanks tum log...itne saare adjustments schedule mein.."

"no problem jab hamari baari aayegi tab tum karlena adjustments" sharon replied making swaym

turn to her with a questioning look and rey started laughing at him as he started the car knowing

there would be one long discussion between them now

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Inside rey/taani s home

Peaceful scene - reys dad sitting in front of tv on the couch with the laptop doing something, reys mom

and taani sitting on the side couch talking. Rey walked in , saw them and his face broke into a happy

smile. All three of them saw him and smiled back as he came and giving his mom a side hug , wink

to taani , taani smiled at him looking happy ,fell on the single sofa while taani asked "tea rey?" he

shook his head saying ," no .. you guys are having a wonderful time mujhe chodke"

"no rey ive been left out too..dont worry" reys dad replied smiling at the laptop ," these two have been

gossiping continuously and mujhe ab samaj nahin aarahaan hain ki kaun kya aur kiski baarein mein

baat karrahaan hain!" and the women grinned," plus they also went out shopping"

"arre why are you complaining? I m on a long weekend holiday" reys mom enthusiastically ," and im

so glad ki taani free thi mere saath time spend karne ke liye..." and turning to rey," once she goes

back to work itna free time kahaan milega ? She has to make the most of it now, phir kaam and then

once baby comes..." she was saying something else when taani s smile was wiped out of her face,

rey looked at her frowning and then back at his mom and still leaning back on the sofa

" back to work matlab? " his mom stopped while taani tried to give him will explain later look which he

ignored," nahin mom, taani s not getting back to work. Abhi abhi uski symptoms sab kam horahe hain aur...'

Mom with a smile and eyebrows raised teasing tone," ya ya i know...she was okay today dont worry.

Sabko hota hain rey...In fact mujhe bhi laga ki now that taani ko excuse miljaayega ki wo ghar me hi

rahein she ll prefer staying at home ...but" smiling at taani and patting her shoulder," she said she will

get back once shes feeling better and its good thats theres continuity in the career especially as she

has just started working , she still has a lot to learn" she looked happily at taani

rey stared at taani , taani smiled half heartedly at reys mom and then looked at rey

"and as you are not even looking at the office, someone should..main tho khush hoon..."

"mom before you get extra excited , main batadoo taani kaam karne nahin jaarahin hain. I dont know

what the confusion is but shes..." his voice slightly raising..reys dad looked at him while taani looked

uncomfortable

"rey" his mom started frowning," i dont get you, jab wo ghar mein thi tab tum usse kaam karne keliye

force karrahe the aur ab jab wo karrahin hain..tab bhi problem hain and mujhe yeh batao yeh tum

decide kyun karrahe ho ki taani office jaayegi ya nahin"

"tho kaun decide karega? Aap?" sarcasm

"see, this s what i mean " reys mom looked at taani and then turned half to rey," jab tum ghar mein

rahoge na taani ,tab koi tumhe importance nahin dega, someone else will decide for you, what you

will do, where you will go and how you will lead your life..."equally sarcastic

"nahin mom, i think rey meant.."taani started

"im his mom my dear, mujhe pata hain ki wo kya kehna chahtha hain" she cut taani off ," he s now

trying to say dont go to work because of pregnancy, then he will say because of baby and then because

of another baby and then...tum ghar mein hi rahogi..ek useless housewife banke" she had a bitter

edge to her voice,taani flinched " you will be like ..." she looked around and pointed to the a beautiful

wooden side table ," THAT- a useful piece of furniture with no voice"

For a second all four of them were quiet, taani uncomfortable, rey angry, reys dad thoughtful and

mom irritated

Taani broke the silence," i think dinner time hain, tho main..." and moved towards the kitchen

"whatever shes not going " rey in a final sort of a way moved away towards the room when taani

called," rey listen.."he didnt bother to stop

Reys mom looked at his back and then at his dad irritated ," look at him! Itna rude aur..."

"nahin mom, rey ko bas yeh lagtha hain ki jab main office jaathi thi tho kuch zyaada hi tired thi aur .."

mom shook her head

"what nonsense, sorry but kya tum duniya ki pehli ladki ho jiski baby honewaala hain? Everyone goes

to work..Dont support him unnecesarily...unless tumhe excuse chahiye office na jaane ki" she added

with a dry smile.

Taani heard swayams voice in her head- wo hamesha se kaam se bachne ki koshish mein hi rehthi

hain and looked at her mom in law standing in front of her. She shook her head and said

" main rey ko dinner ke liye bulaake laathi hoon" and moved to the room

Once she was actually out of hearing, reys mom ," why didnt you say anything?" to dad

"because tum baat karrahin thi!" he smiled," seriously kahoon tho agar taani na aaye tho achha hoga

. Wo sach mein tired thi aur koi bhi kaam time pe complete nahin karpaarahin thi"

"give her some easy stuff then...see you know we need one of us in the office here aur agar hum

dono nahin rehsakthe tho atleast taani ko rehna chahiye...she s an insider ,naya naya project hain ..."

he nodded thinking

"i think i ll just tell her she can be with me jab tak main yahaan hoon and then lets see..."

"waise bhi wo ghar baith ke kya karegi din bhar? Kuch tho useful kaam karne do"

He shook his head smiling at her ," tum aur tumhaari ideas ...its her life" she smiled back at him,

" ya but my ideas r right "

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TR room

Taani sitting on the edge of the bed, fidgeting with her dress, rey came out of the washroom,

changed into his home wear . She immediately got up- rey- he ignored her and went to his cupboard

"rey listen.."

"no taani, tum suno. Mujhe pata hain ki tumhe ghar mein rehna hain...so you stay at home. I dont want

to see you tensed and crying again "

"rey suno tho..." she turned him towards herself ," please.." she pleaded. He hated that, he looked at

her," wo mom bohot khush hain rey ..after so many years , shes actually spending time with me and

jab unhone mujhse kahaan ki wo khush hain ki main sab kuch karne ki koshish mein hoon..." he

turned to move away," suno..suno..see aapko yehi problem thi na ki main tensed rahoongi. Agar main

yeh promise karoon main koi bhi tension nahin loongi tho?" he stared at her

"do you know tum typical tv adarsh bahu ki tarah sound karrahin ho?"he asked sarcastically.

She ignored it

" rey please...i promise... main stress nahin loongi. Jitna hosaktha hain utna hi karoongi aur apna khayal

bhi rakhoongi...rey aapne hamesha mera saath diya hain tho ab kyun itna stubborn banrahe ho? "

he was about to open his mouth irritated - he was stubborn? But she continued " and practically

dekho, do mahine ke baad aapka tour hain tho main akeli ghar baith ke kya karoongi rey ...aur koi

free bhi nahin jo mere saath..."

He sharply interru[pted," we modified the tour plans a little taaki main sirf main events ke liye jao

aur baaki time yahaan rahoon ...tumhaare saath"

"but yeh aapki big chance hain aur..."

"its fine taani , aur kuch na kuch aayega " he snapped ..she stared , her eyes starting to fill up, he saw

that and sighing,wiped her eyes," tum yeh sab kiskeliye karrahin ho taani? Tumhe kisiko kuch bhi

prove karne ki zaroorat nahin hain"

"..mujhe prove karne ki zaroorat hain, khudh ko ki main useless housewife nahin hoon. Isliye housewife

nahin hoon kyunki main kuch aur karnahin sakthi, isliye hoon kyunki mera choice hain..ki ...ki main

ek piece of furnitiure nahin hoon " she added frustration in her voice

"oh stop it " he shot back at her moving away ," now s not the time. itne saalon se when i was trying

to tell you tab bohot confident thi , tho ab kyun? Stop trying to impress my mom taani..."

"she s not wrong rey"

"i dont care wo right hain ya wrong, i dont want you to work ab bas" the decision in his tone was final

...they stared at each other for a second when the mobile rang . He looked at it..it was the call which

sharon was reminding him about.

"main...mujhe...rey..i want to go to work"taani spoke up her voice stubborn though soft

"tho jao na ..go to..." and stopping himself stormed out of the room recieving the call

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Sometime later- same room, taani on the bed turning from one side to another , her eyes closed

trying to sleep but not able to sleep. Rey walked in from outside with a tray , placed it on the

side table and watched her , her face strained and tear stains on her cheeks. He sighed , moved

to the bed, sat down near her , stroked her hair with his hand , she opened her eyes at his touch

Sorry- both of them said it together. Taani s eyes filled up and she put her arms out while he bent and

hugged her , her arms went around his neck. Rey held her for a moment and moving back kissed her

forehead, stroked her cheek and said sorry taani

She shook her head, got up and sat leaning on the pillow saying," no rey mujhe bhi chillana nahin chahiye

tha " both were quiet for a second and then said together- rey/ taani- then smiled- pehle aap/ bolo and

smiled again.rey indicated her to speak

She fidgeted with her hands on the blanket and said," rey i know ki aap kya...matlab mujhe pata hain

rey but i want to...aur yeh mom ki wajah se nahin...agar aap gussa karenge tho.."

He shook his head," its ok, go to work if you want but dont tell me ki yeh mom ki inflence nahin hain.

It is because of her" taani was about to speak when he continued," i just spoke to dad, dad ne kahaan

abhi ki unki assistant do offices main nahin rehsakthe tho tum yahaan unki kaam main help karogi..

.so you ll be with him basically..." he stopped for a second and placing her cheek in his palm said,"

dont get tired bas"

Taani s eyes filled up,she wanted to say thanks, she knew he didnt like this at all...he had always

stood by her decisions..he wiped the tears off her face understanding her unsaid words and pointing

to the plate," now eat warna is room se baahar nahin jaane doonga forget working" she smiled

"why didnt you finish dinner before sleeping?"

"aapka wait karrahin thi...aadat haina aapke..."

"tho change your aadat..jaise abhi ek useless housewife se useful working woman banne mein lage

ho" his sarcasm was obvious though he tried to say it playfully. Picking up a spoon of rice , he held

it out for her to eat and said," dont wait for anyone kal se" she nodded and ate feeling slightly

confused ...was she right in doing this now?...pata nahin...

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