Once Upon a Midnight Part II - Page 63

Watched me walk away😭

He left for Chicago a week later, his plans to wind up shelved.

Parul was devastated to see him go. Gagan was stoic. He had met Shubhra at her office the day after the family argument

Nothing came of it

Shubhra was devastated and heart broken as well

she told Gagan honestly “I never expected to marry such a gorgeous man. it was too good to be true”

Gagan had tried to convince her to come home one last time

She shook her head tearfully and had refused

“I dont think its a good idea. Maybe for one evening it might be wonderful to... umm.. u know... see him.. but.”

“MILO please” Gagan had begged with hands joined

“Jee... umm.. Gagan no” “I dont know if I can live with a person who wont mind taking my father’s life”

“GUSSA hai usko, JAANTI ho tum usko” Gagan cringed

He was not at Khan Market

He hadnt heard

“No” she shook er head crying like a child

“Suno beta”

“I am prolly as old as your sister, I am 31 now” she explained

That number was weighing on her since she had returned the ring

“Woh bhi bacha hai mera to aap bhi ho”

“No Jee”

“I can still be your Jeeja” he nodded

“Its so painful for me I probably blew the only chance I had to get married

“AISA kyon keh rahi ho aap?”

“Tapan knows... I am not exactly marriage material in Punjabis”

“Pagal hai woh, USNE kaha tumse?”

“Oh no... no... he didnt he has been very... umm.. he is a (adorable?) he is never mean”

“To kya problem hai?”

“i didnt want to marry Pawan, I wanted to marry Tapan”

“Wohi to main keh raha hoon aapse”

“Jee.. Gagan he is straining under the weight of outrage, I am straining under the weight of kindness. I cannot bear to see my Dad hurt... he has been, he is very loving”

“To theek hai apne aap ek do saal mein sab sulah ho jaayega”

“NAHI HOGA” she whispered vehemently

“his hatred is so visceral”

“He lost his arents so suddenly, uski sagai ko do mahine hue the? shaayad? sanchita se... shaadi bhi jald thi... 22 se pehle (chuckling) saal ke andar pehle sab kuch khoya, sagai tooti papa guzre phir Ma” Gagan found himself tearing up

“My Dad cannot have caused so much destruction”

“You KNEW. Usne aapko kaha tha...”

She nodded shutting her face with her hands

“I know... I know... I was greedy and selfish I wanted to be with him, he is too umm.. intoxicating main sochna nahi chahti thi tab”

“abhi phir?”

“It dawned on me when he said he wont go home with me even for a visit”

“Aap sab se chhupkar Chicago gayin”

“I know... I wanted to forget everyone in my family and just be with Tapan”

“Ab woh feeling khatam?”

“I dont know” she pulled her hair back confused

“do you love him?” he asked grimly

She blushed... and turned away

“I see”

“He hates my Dad... and Mom... but he hates my Dad”

“Eh”

“He doesnt hate my Dad he wants to annihilate him” Shubhra sat down dejected

“time ke saath theek ho jaayega”

“Tapan? You don’t know him” she scoffed She had fallen in love a year ago and she already knew him too well

Gagan smiled at that ack

“haan bhai... saale saab hain” he smiled

“He is focussed, direct and resolute.. and too possessive” she meant about Parul

“Aaapke liye possessive hona chahiye” Gagan was delighted

“Umm.. never mind” she mumbled not revealing much

“Ek baar chalo aap chai peene agar main khali haath ghar gaya Parul mujhe bhaga degi” he laughed

“You sound like Arya” she giggled and then began to cry like she was demolished

“I am going to miss her”

“Tapan se mil logi aap?” Gagan asked pensively

“Mmm..mm” she shook her head sobbing “I.. won’t” “When I took it off he didnt say ONCE... “you shudnt have Shubhra..” “why are u doing this”

“Bande mein ego bahut hai, jaanti ho aap” Gagan was exasperated

“Uske liye main kuch nahi hoon” “He loves his cause more than...”

“Aisa nahi hai”

“He is so good looking u shudnt be talking to me, bas Parul shud find him a gorgeous girl”

“Galat”

“U know its the truth” she snorted and dabbed her face to cool it off

“He loves you”

“He watched me walk away” she couldnt get over the grief

Shubhra is right in her place. 🤕 He does love his cause more than her and that’s highly visible. If that isn’t true he will have work hard to prove it to her.

I doubt this time if she's going to be on a flight to Chicago soon. It's a stalemate . Wondering who is going to be the ice breaker .

This time I think tapan will show his reckless side and is gonna come back and stand in front of her...

She laments 'he watched me walk away. He laments ' she was the one who broke away when engaged '. Nothing came out of gagan's mediation and now it's their combined ego that has him board a flight to Chicago, all plans stalled .

How did it all come to this ? It's demand or expectation however we would like to call it .

Tara Grover'a battle with shubhra is her expectation Of vanity that she wants fulfilled from her daughter. The burden of asking her daughter to be who she was not has driven her daughter away from her.

Tapan's love for shubhra prior to their engagement did not Place a demand that shubhra be anyone she possibly couldn't be. He saw beauty in whatever she chose to do, whatever she chose to wear. He did not need her to be any which way she wasn't comfortable to be. That love drew them towards each other. Their relationship thrived .

Cut to post engagement, love started placing its demands asking them to be people they possibly weren't ready to be. Her love's demand and expectation was that he holds her hand when she wants to meet her parents .His love for her demanded a fulfillment that she leaves her father for good, asked her to possibly be someone she wasn't . It's this resentment , the egoistical love's demand and need unfulfilled that has made them break away when engaged

Originally posted by: Errrantnomad

She laments 'he watched me walk away. He laments ' she was the one who broke away when engaged '. Nothing came out of gagan's mediation and now it's their combined ego that has him board a flight to Chicago, all plans stalled .

How did it all come to this ? It's demand or expectation however we would like to call it .

Tara Grover'a battle with shubhra is her expectation Of vanity that she wants fulfilled from her daughter. The burden of asking her daughter to be who she was not has driven her daughter away from her.

Tapan's love for shubhra prior to their engagement did not Place a demand that shubhra be anyone she possibly couldn't be. He saw beauty in whatever she chose to do, whatever she chose to wear. He did need her to be any which way she wasn't comfortable to be. That love drew them towards each other. Their relationship thrived .

Cut to post engagement, love started placing its demands asking them to be people they possibly weren't ready to be. Her love's demand and expectation was that he holds her hand when she wants to meet her parents .His love for her demanded a fulfillment that she leaves her father for good, asked her to possibly be someone she wasn't . It's this resentment , the egoistical love's demand and need unfulfilled that has made them break away when engaged

The way you decode their situations and relationship is really commendable. 👏👏

This egotistical demand that they are making from each other is the main reason for their breakup.

Shubhra has thought this through and seen the problems facing them. I am so glad to see that Gagan at least tried. Until these two can come to some terms that they can agree on, they can not progress.

She laments 'he watched me walk away. He laments ' she was the one who broke away when engaged '. Nothing came out of gagan's mediation and now it's their combined ego that has him board a flight to Chicago, all plans stalled .

How did it all come to this ? It's demand or expectation however we would like to call it .

Tara Grover'a battle with shubhra is her expectation Of vanity that she wants fulfilled from her daughter. The burden of asking her daughter to be who she was not has driven her daughter away from her.

Tapan's love for shubhra prior to their engagement did not Place a demand that shubhra be anyone she possibly couldn't be. He saw beauty in whatever she chose to do, whatever she chose to wear. He did not need her to be any which way she wasn't comfortable to be. That love drew them towards each other. Their relationship thrived .

Cut to post engagement, love started placing its demands asking them to be people they possibly weren't ready to be. Her love's demand and expectation was that he holds her hand when she wants to meet her parents .His love for her demanded a fulfillment that she leaves her father for good, asked her to possibly be someone she wasn't . It's this resentment , the egoistical love's demand and need unfulfilled that has made them break away when engaged

[/QUOTE]

Kalpana, very well put together 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Egotistical behavior - in this case, the self centered behavior of Tapan expecting Shubhra to be away from her family is not agreeable. He lost his parents to fate. How can he expect her to walk away from her parents? That’s an unfair ask.

Shubra walks away from Tapan. She is expecting him come behind her. She wants him to tag along when she visits her parents. It’s not a normal situation to expect from each other. Who is to blame - it’s not like they have fallen out of love but fallen into self centered 💕

Grow separately without growing apart

“I don’t have enough people to go pick clients up at airports” she explained on the phone as she shared her numbers with a business consultant

“Concierge service realty is all about pleasing the real estate client, we can approach your bank to see if they can finance adding HC”

“I already added two people to show houses in the last two months”

“Do u have a good pipeline of homes?”

“Umm.. hmm”

Her Dad was still “supplementing” her pipeline

She had over 50, from him

She had a dozen from the expat relocation services, but those client were very picky and it took forever to get a good deal

Her Dad’s referrals were more simple though more wealthy, they loved the high touch service her agency offered

“Its not just one new hire right, Concierge service realty acc to the links you sent means I have to offer end to end service from shortlisting restaurants, luxury movers, finding luxury spas for the spouse, schools and everything”

“Dont worry we have companies we can hook you up with they will partner with you”

“What % fee do they take

“It depends on what deals you close when they offer their services. Its usually a one time commission plus a % of rent”

“Ouch that’s a lot”

“We can work it out, but you see when YOU build the capabilities, they will part ways and YOU offer everything end to end”

“I have to run many numbers”

“I know, I can send an accountant over”

“I almost got sued not too long ago” she said in a low voice

“Whatt?”

“Yeah unwittingly my employee took pictures of a Okhla property and posted it for rent on my web page, the lady hadnt agreed to list it with us”

“Yikes”

“Yeah... but jaise karke bhi”

She thought of Tapan at that moment and wanted to cry

She was exhausted of being brave and trying to throw herself into work

Her shoulders hurt from holding them stiff all day long

She had not ventured into arul’s building even one time

They would bump into each other at the complex store that evening

“Kaisi ho?” Parul smiled and hugged her

“I am good”

“You look great” Parul smiled

“well I went to the spa yesterday” she admitted softly

“You have lovely skin it looks luscious” Parul smiled

“Thanks... Shubhra rubbed her red cheeks self consciously”

“Arey rey theek hai mat pocho aise” Parul giggled

“How are you?” Shubhra asked wistfully

“Bhaagti rehti hoon, Vyas Bhai gaye abhi Kedar aaye hain, he has TWO boys... ghar mein aafat” she giggled

“Nice, so Arya is... n(ot missing me?)... is busy?”

“Umm.. hmm” Parul immediately understood where Shubhra was going with that but didnt want to hurt her “U know kids”

Shubhra waited to receive an invitation

She missed the friendship

In fact Parul was her only live friend... and it all died with the broken engagement

there was so much lost in all this

Incalculable damages

“Tum kaisi ho?”

“I am OK, just trying different things to stay afloat I guess” she muttered

“sab theek hai na?”

“Hmm” Shubhra nodded

She was afraid those kind words would breach a dam in her tear glands

There was something so genuine about this family

No more holding hands for no reason,

I never walked a busy street with him

I never walked along the lake in downtown Chicago on a cold blustery evening, Burberry scarf flying sideways

Those cheesy pretzels from the street carts

Or a cinnamony sugary syrupy treat

“I have thoughts about how I would clean it off your face” he had told her one night in Chicago

“I am trying to sell homes or trying to do rentals a different way”

“You are so brave” Parul smiled

“You always say that... I am 31”

“Well to me you will always be brave, I am not a working woman”

“I am not a successful one... not very actually”

“Hmm”

Parul did not ask about her parents

Shubhra did not check on Tapan

The silence hung heavily between them

“Navaratri mein Vaishno Devi jaane ka soch rahi hoon” Parul said quietly

“Oh... thats long ways”

“Gagan theek hue na to jaana padega” Parul nodded

Shubhra sighed at her devotion, there was so much love, such intimacy between the two

“Achha hai tum old fashioned nahi ho, Gagan mujhe kehte hain kahan phas gayi Parul you are clearly smarter than me, speak English more fluently, aur dekho mandir ghar karke padi ho”

“You love it dont u?” Shubhra smiled encouragingly

“I DO, If I cud home school Arya I would” she laughed

“I dont blame you” Shubhra smiled

“God she is irritating sometimes”

“Can she sleepover tonight?” was going to be Shubhra’s next question

“Tum bhi nahi ho warna bhej deti” Parul read her mind

Shubhra smiled trying not to break down

“Bye” she muttered walking away

“Suno,” Parul hollered

“ Did u see? Even your sister calls me back” her mind voice taunted Tapan Shubhra wiped quick tears turning around

“Good to see you... umm... u shud come home” Parul said it finally

“Oh I will try” she nodded unable to speak between tears

Title Courtesy: Elizabeth Foley

I am taking Friday and Monday off work

I could ABSOLUTELY write at night but I dont remember my password😆

So if I log off this home PC, I dont know how to log back on my travel laptop

Strange problem