Chapter 12

Later in the night, taani on the bed in their room/ rey in his room videochatting

Achha nahin dikhtha hain rey.aap samaj nahin rahe ho..mom kitni taang kheench rahin

thi meri

Arrre ask her dad ne unka kitna khayal rakha tha..ek tho i keep missing you, tumse baat

nahin hopaathi roz

Rey hum log din mein atleast ek ganta videochat karthe hain, pata nahin kitne msgs

bhejthe hain aur

Sweetheart din mein 24 hours hothe hain aur tum remaining 23 hours mere saamne

nahin hothi

Rey! You dont have to feel so guilty she stopped him justifying his stupid behavior.

He turned his face away from her rey she called out again, he looked at her on his

screen...aapka bhi rehersals hain, shows hain chaar din baad rey. Mera bhi kaam hain.

Aap aise hi rahoge tho ...she put her hand out and stroked his cheek on the screen

He smiled and blew her a kiss , she laughed i know ,i know ...you know jab tum housewife

thi tab hi achha tha. Tumhaara time tumhaara tha, you could have just joined me here

rehearsals main shows ke liye she smiled slightly but he continued dont get me wrong,

i m happy ki tum office mein adjust hogayi ho bas...he sighed bent closer to the screen

and said i miss you in sab mein

She blushed , he spoke up- waise taani mujhe laga tha ki tum mujhe zyaada miss karogi

but tum tho mujhe miss hi nahin karthi ? She shook her head, he made a false sad face

and then she laughed and said,aap miss karne ka mauka tho do.

He frowned and said , fine aaj se , abhi se im not calling you . Jab tum mujhe miss karogi

tab call karlena and before she could say anything went offline.

Hey krishnaji, inhe ho kya jaatha hain! And the baby kicked making her look at it and say

kya? Main complain bhi nahin karsakthi? And laughed

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next day,rey in rehearsals , went to drink water and caught sight of taani s calls

he smiled feeling happy but then didnt call back ..as if on cue she called , grinning he

recieved it

So mrs taani singhania missing me? He asked his tone all flirty

Huh? Rey ? Taani looked at the phone ( sitting on her bed in their room, laptop and some

notes in front of her ) wondering at his tone and said aap busy hain? kahaan ho?aapne call recieve kyun nahin kiya?

Rehearsals the, aashi ke saath hoon...kya hua?

Achha..aashi hain wahaan? Usne bhi mera itna saara calls recieve kyun nahin kiya?

Mujhe kya pata? Ussise poochlo...waise wo bhi rehersals mein hi thi, so maybe thats why.

But Whats wrong? Tum itni hyper kyun ho? Mujhe laga ki mere sweet si wife ko meri yaad

aayi aur ..smiling and looking very hopeful

Offo rey! Waise aaj ki baat suno, main aapko sach mein miss karrahin thi ...mera sar ghoom

rahaan hain, kal ek business meeting cum dinner hain , ek partnership keliye , maine uska

preperation sab karliya tha and dad assumed ki main bhi jaaoongi , ab dad kal nahin

aarahe hain tho he assumed ki main ...mujhe akele jaana hoga she stopped

rey waited and when she didnt continue asked so, mujhe kyun miss karrahin thi?whats the problem?

problem haina rey...main akeli kaise jaasakthi hoon kisi unknown person ke saath, ajeeb

lagrahaan hain

He spluttered on the water he was drinking seriously? What the hell are you talking

about? Tum dinner date pe jaarahin ho ya business dinner pe? He laughed

kis zamaane ki ho taani? He scolded

Rey aap mujhpe haso mat...five years..paanch saal nahin almost che saal se main kisi aur

ke saath baahar dinner par nahin gayi hoon, aapko chodke ...obviously im ...

He smiled , that was true.she hadnt stepped out without him ....uncomfortable ho. Cmon

taani, parties mein tho gayi ho na...she fidgeted with her pen...okay, Think of it as a

meeting bas office mein nahin outside

But rey, abhi tak teek tha office mein mom dad hain, its familiar but outside ...us aadmi

ko main sirf ek baar mili hoon aur main ...she looked down at herself ...aur ...itni ...funny

dikhthi hoon

Tum pregnant ho.why are you so conscious? He laughed and added it ll be fine sweetheart

just concentrate on what work you have with that man and do that without getting consciou

she was quiet, and tum sharon ne jo maternity wear hain wo

Haan...she brightened ...i can use that.waise bhi do aur dresses hain which i havent used

she cheered up a little...thanks rey..aap sach mein bohot achhe ho

He laughed god was she cuteee achha? Agar itna achha hota tho tum mujhe aur zyaada miss nahin karthi?

Rey!

And i thought ki tum mujhse baat karne keliye wait karrahin thi ...she bit her lip

Nahin rey, matlab haan...but this ..yeh dinner mujhe freak out karrahaan tha.

See taani if dad s letting you go for a business dinner by yourself uska yeh matlab hain ki

wo tumhe trust karthe hain..she relaxed immediately...so unke trust pe trust rakho and

...just...do it. She smiled , someone called rey from behind, he nodded to that person and

then..hello?

Haan bolo

Baad mein, ive gotta go now. Love you. Bye waited for a sec and was about to disconnect

Rey, rey rey he stoppedsmiling hopefully wo aashi ko bolo mujhe call back karene ke liye

he frowned and said taani tum kya seriously mujhe miss nahin karthi? Kabhi aashi kabhi

dad kabhi koi aur dinner date

Dinner date nahin , wo bas business dinner hain

Whatever one more person called him again but he was bugged ran his hand in his hair

messing it up i cant believe it, tum itne asaani se ... He sounding hurt

Rey aap kya chahthe ho? Kya aap nahin jaanthe ki main aapse door nahin rehsakthi...

He stopped running his hand in his hair...its just that...she sighed and holding the pen

tight in her hands said, jab tak aapse baat nahin hoti, aapki awaaz nahin sunlethi sab kuch

...confusing lagtha hain, darr lagtha hain in fact...agar main aapke baare mein sochna

shuru karoon tho kuch nahin karpaaoongi, naahin aapko kuch karne doongi... Her eyes

filled up...she ran her hands on the empty side of the bed and said....aap ...

Kya? He prompted feeling stupid he brought it up, she didnt reply , he sighed and shaking

his head, ok fine, im sorry, now dont cry, she wiped her eyes, im sorry ...main pata nahin

kya soch rahaan tha...

Kuch bhi mat socho, rehersals pe chalo kitne baar bhulaana padega? Proffessionalism

naam ke koi cheez hain ki nahin aashi s voice came in loud and clear through the phone ,

taani heard it and wiping her eyes said rey aap jao. Main baad mein baat karthi hoon

rey gave aashi irritated look and said to taani Haan but sure ur ok? She nodded now smile

... Aashi smiled fakely at him , he frowned at her and turned , taani smiled at her end

and said bye ab jao...rey smiled ...rey..love you. He smiled broadly and disconnected

Turning to aashi he asked tumne taani ka call and stopped as her face changed what?

She immediately covered it up and said chalo rehersals started. And walked off.

He followed her wondering what was wrong with her..but taani was cute...he smiled

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Some restaurant, taani looking nervous though pretty sitting with three men and eating

talking...Blah blah blah

taaniin her mind Yeh log yeh saare baatein subah office mein kyun nahin karthe? Itna time waste, ghar

mein kaka ne itne achhe se roti aur sabzi banaya hoga aur yahaan main pata nahin kya

kya khaa rahin hoon. Do ghante mein ek bhi useful baat nahin hui hain...and looking at

the man opposite to her, smiled apprehensively ...aur mujhe tho is aadmi ke saath kaam

karna bhi achha nahin lagrahaan, sighed changed her position to feel slightly more

comfortable i wish rey bhi hothe yahaan, itne saare log hain and looked around at

evryone looked very important par rey kyun yahaan honge and frowned mentally wo tho

apne rehersal hall mein honge

Mrs Singhania ? Are you okay? One of them asked

She looked back at that man and suddenly smiled Mrs Singhania, she loved it and nodded

aapne kuch kahaan? She asked in her soft voice sorry i was lost

Nahin we were just wondering ki you must be tired tho if you want we could finish this discussion

later...i understand you are new to this and maybe it would be better if your father in law

was also here...so kal raat ko dinner pe milthe hain?

His voice was soft but taani caught the patronising tone, his look which clearly said he

didnt think she was important enough to discuss with them...good for her, she could get

our of this suffocating place but something in the looks that these men exchnaged got

her angry...she shook her head and then remembered, this was exactly how the gang had

behaved with her when she was GS...like she was useless and didnt know anything...

only these guys were being more smooth...plus she remembered how much she had

worked for this stupid presentation..she heard rey say just do it

there was a big kick her son/daughter gave her ...she looked down at the now clearly

seen bump covered by one of sharons beautiful materity gowns ...would she let herself

be bullied again? For how long?

So shall we call it a day? They decided by themselves can i drop you somewhere

Mrs Singhania?

No, she snapped, they looked surprised at her sudden reply, she took a deep breath,

picked her glass of water and said, Humne discussion shuru kahaan kiya ki finish karenge?

Waise bhi we have wasted do gante in this getting to know each other business..now i

think we should get down to proper business ...her tone now as falsely smooth as theirs

had been

The man looked at others and said we were only thinking of your comfort really

She smiled thats very sweet of you. For that i think...she held her hand up and called the

waiter, he came near them, kya aap humein ek comfortable seating de sakthe hain for

say looked at her mobile an hour , like a sofa or something where i can sit with my legs

stretched ...he looked surprised but then nodded and went away , she turned back to

them and said there, main comfortable hojaaoongi and took another sip of water , till

he comes i think i ll start explaining ki what we, thats me and my father in law and our

team had in mind...she smiled her real smile forcing them to smile back at her and then

continued blah blah blah

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Two hours later, the four ppl seated on the sofa taani her legs stretched a little

discussing

So this and this and this...umm ...fine enough...blah blah

Ok im glad we got this done today one of them said looking satisfied with the work and

then turning to taani so we ll see you tomorrow Mrs Singhania? The tone markedly

different with a little respect

Taani looking happy nodded and received a big big kick from inside...she smiled as she

stood up and walking towards the car, patted her tummy,she couldnt wait to tell rey ..

.but he had his first big show tonight..she sighed disappointed she couldnt run to tell

him but then there was a series of kicks haan haan got it, pata hain ki aap ho mere saath

meri khushi mein, aur kick kiya tho gir jaayegi mamma, stop karo... She mentally told

the baby, the baby kicked again making her laugh and the men looked at her happy face

wondering if it was the same person who had blackmailed them into listening to her for

one hour completely...she looked very simple and normal now and happy

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Next evening dinner table...reys dad with taani eating and watching tv screen

Taani smiling more eating less at the screen where there was a rerun of d3 s performance

on some music channel

...it was easy today , tumne jo kal sab kuch discuss karliya tha tho...dad kept talking and

asked her something...no reply..he looked upto see her staring at rey on the screen,

spoon in midair ...he didnt know whether to laugh or get angry...here she was ek love

struck teenager ki tarah aur aaj us project mein hamare hisaaf se deal karwaadiya, isko

koi farak nahin padtha ki isne itna mushkil kaam kiya hain? Bas us idiot ki dance dekhkhe

khush horahin hain...TAANI he called

She turned startled out of her trance, spoon neeche rakho ya mooh mein he said.

She looked at the spoon embarrassed and ate ..

Ab can i talk? Dad asked as she turned to the dinner table during a break...she actually

wanted to say abhi break hain phir se aayega but he continued...see for the next tow

months we should be concentrating on blah blah...she listened keeping an eye on the

screen, something dad was explaining ...okay? He asked

She nodded and added but mujhe ek baat kehni thi aapse...this man XYZ wo achha nahin

haina?

Dad smiled and nodded i know hes not trustworthy par...is time pe hes the only one who

can benefit as much as us...so he wont cheat us now. She kept quiet though her face

showed she didnt agree...reys dad smiled at her and said agar tumhe koi aur idea hain

tho we can think of dumping him. She shook her head - she didnt have any other idea...

the dance started again distracting her ...she watched looking at all of them ...reys dad

turned to watch.this was only the team without their students or others...just them and

inspite of all these years of watching them she loved them...she smiled as rey came on

screen twirling aashi around in some odd way but both looking so graceful , Pata nahin

itne graceful kaise he wo as they stopped

Very Impressive! Whos that? Rey ki girlfriend hain? Reys mom was standing behind taani

s chair, taani and reys dad turned to her...she looked at them and sitting down next to taani serving herself said unapologetically chemistry dekho! Kaun hain taani?

Aashi hain mom, meri best friend! She replied back irritated, reys dad gave his wife a

look, mom shrugged giving him a small smile of its okay and taani continued itne

saalon sab ke saath dance karrahen hain tho chemistry hoga hi na? But, she turned to

screen, rey ke saath sabki chemsitry achhi hain..dekho...and they turned to see rey with

neha doing some of their fusions with classical dances...they looked wonderful...taani

turned once it stopped and said hes just good and jo bhi unke saath hain unko kheenchke

leke jaathe hain bas unki dance ki world mein she smiled still in her rey rey land

Both reys parents smiled at her exchanging glances , she was so much so completely in

love with him it was almost...funny if not beautiful

Really? Tho tumhe kyun kheenchke leke nahin gaya dance karne ? Reys mom pulled her

leg and then stopped in the middle of her grin, taani s face had changed in an instant ...

all the joy that had been there a moment before wiped out. She was back from her rey

land...She got up and saying main sone jaarahin hoon and walked out

Taani! Reys mom called out but she walked off a little faster than usual ,

mom turned guiltily to face her husband,

U know tumhe ek filter ki zaroorat hain apne dimaakh aur mooh ke beech mein

I was just pulling her leg, mujhe pata nahin tha ki kuch aur story hain iske peeche bhi

she replied looking guilty and feeling bad