Finally, the character everyone has been waiting for makes an appearance!
Chapter 3 - A Beautiful Mind
Kabir sits at his desk in the office, furiously typing away on his laptop. He stops after some time, his eyebrows furrowing as scrutinises his own work.
"Didn't I tell you? This senior position is too much for you," a woman's voice taunts. "You only know how to take orders, not give."
Kabir gives no indication that he is listening. It seems his attention is firmly fixed on the laptop screen.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you, Kabir Mittal," she demands. He spares a glance at the woman sitting on the other side of the desk. She is dressed in a formal jumpsuit and has her legs up on the table, as though she is the owner of the company. Her gaze is piercing.
"Sir, may I come in?"
Kabir jerks at the sound of a distinctly different voice. In his peripheral vision, he notices that he is now completely alone in the office.
Kabir clears his throat. "Yes. Come in, Gloria."
"Sir, ma'am has requested that all employees be let out earlier today. Including yourself." Her eyes trail down to the skin peeking through the undone buttons of his shirt.
"And is there any reason for this?" Kabir waits for a response before realising where her attention has shifted. "My eyes are up here, Gloria. You were saying?"
Not at all embarrassed at her behaviour, Gloria responds "Sir, it's your six month marriage anniversary. Ma'am is throwing a party in your honour."
Kabir sighs. "If that's all Gloria, you may go now." Gloria leaves, but not without one last glimpse of her boss' chest.
'Now what new drama is this? Who celebrates at six months? No doubt, she must be up to something,' Kabir thinks. He leans back in his chair and closes his eyes for a few moments. 'I might as well pack up now. This project will have to wait until tomorrow.'
"Normally, girls are very attentive to special dates like this. You're married now, Kabir. You should be aware of these things," the woman berates. "Although, it is a different matter that I myself can never remember these dates. I barely remember my own birthday. But it's nice to be appreciated on those special occasions. I'm sure, you didn't even buy a gift."
Kabir involuntarily smiles. He opens his eyes to see her laying on the sofa in the corner, with a magazine in hand.
"Why are you staring at me? Hurry and go!" she urges.
"I'm going, I'm going," he can't help but reply. He stands and moves around the desk to put his laptop in his bag. As he's about to step out of his cabin, he looks back at the sofa corner. There is no one there.
On his way out of the company premises, he is stopped by a voice calling out, "Kabir baba!"
"Hey Vijay. Are you leaving work early as well?"
"Yes, Kabir baba. Ma'am has invited us to the function too."
"Ugh. Vijay, how many times have I said, do not mention her. You ruined my good mood."
"Sorry, Kabir baba."
"You don't sound very sorry. But hey, you can just come with me if you're heading to the party now."
"In these clothes?" Vijay asks incredulously, looking down at his dirty uniform. "No, I think I'd rather go home first."
"Then we'll go by your place on the way," Kabir insists.
"Kabir baba. Please, go without me. You also have to get ready."
"Okay, only because you said please. See you tonight."
Kabir opens the door of his car and sits in the driver's seat. His hands grip the steering wheel tightly for a moment, before they loosen as he lets out a deep sigh. He starts the car and makes his way to the house.
He pulls up into the driveway of Ashok Nivas. The doors of the house are wide open, as guests have started arriving. He exits the car, gives the keys to the valet for the night, and walks up to the entrance. He hesitates to take another step, for he doesn't want to enter the place that has become his very own hell on earth.
He feels a soft hand intertwining with his own. He looks down to see the woman standing by his side, this time adorned by a heavy saree. Her eyes peer directly into his soul. Her small hand tugs him forward, into the house.
"Sir," a servant calls to him, breaking his gaze. He turns his head to look at the servant expectantly. "Your clothes have been prepared for you." Kabir dismisses the servant with a nod. He makes his way up the stairs and into the master bedroom, keenly aware that there is no one by his side anymore.
He stands in front of the mirror, wearing the new outfit. He decides to give himself a final pep-talk before he joins the guests downstairs.
'Why? Why does that witch love torturing me like this? I bet this suit matches whatever she's wearing. Gross. Why did I ever marry a woman like her?'
Six Months Ago
'Today is the day,' he thought to himself, already dressed in his gold sherwani.
He was about to walk into Pooja's room, to make sure that she'd complete her end of the deal, when Amma walked out of her room and closed the door. She startled at seeing Kabir in front of her.
"Kabir, what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to make sure that Pooja was getting ready-"
"Listen, Kabir," Amma cuts him off. "I know this marriage isn't happening under the most ideal circumstances. But there are some rules that you must follow. After all, the rituals and customs must be respected. You cannot make a joke out of them by doing whatever you please."
Kabir was confused by Amma's words. 'Here I am, trying to teach her crazy daughter about the seriousness of marriage, and instead this lady is trying to lecture me?'
"You will not look at her, touch her, or even try to talk to her before you two are married," Amma said.
"Isn't that a little bit old-fashioned?"
"Many find that religion itself is old-fashioned. But you are the one who wanted to enforce all the rituals. You cannot pick and choose what you want to follow, Kabir."
"Alright," Kabir conceded. But Amma had more to say.
"Another thing. This is a personal request. Not from Pooja, but from me. Pooja will keep her ghunghat over her face at all times until the two of you are in your room."
Kabir was alarmed, immediately suspicious of this 'request'. "No way! What are you two up to?" Kabir tried to go past Amma to open Pooja's door.
"Kabir, please listen to me," Amma stopped him. "I know my daughter very well. She will not deign to act fine for a farce of a wedding like this. And when I look back on this day, I don't want to remember her unhappy face."
"And instead you want to remember that she has no face?" Kabir raised his eyebrow.
"Try to understand, Kabir. No one is truly happy with this marriage. Not me, not your family members, not Pooja. This isn't a marriage to be proud of in any way. The amount of shame that everyone, except maybe you, will undoubtedly feel today is humiliating on its own. Don't make this worse for Pooja."
"Your daughter needs to face reality."
"You may be an army man, Kabir, but I think my daughter has seen more harsh faces of reality than you," Amma said curtly.
"I'm sorry but there's no way-"
"Kabir, this is a request from a mother to a son. Yes, I may not be her biological mother, but my protectiveness is no less than a real mother's. I beg of you," Amma brought her hands together and lowered her head, "please, allow me to protect her from the world one last time."
Kabir brought his own hands up to Amma's to push them down, feeling ashamed. He stayed quiet for a while, to think over her words.
"Okay," he finally accepted her condition. "Only because I respect your love and your dedication to her, I will allow her this reprieve." Amma gave him a tight smile.
"Thank you, son."
Present
Downstairs, many familiar faces are present amongst the guests milling around. The Mittals are there, if somewhat isolated, and look very uncomfortable. Somewhere else stands Mr. Chopra and his idiotic son, Ranjit, talking to unnamed business partners. Even Chanda's old friends are there, gossiping away like the aunties they are. From manual labourers to the elite, this party is for them all.
Kabir quickly makes his way down the stairs and into the crowd, being careful to draw little attention to himself. He looks around, sees Mr. and Mrs. Zhi and approaches them for some small talk.
"Ladies and gentlemen," a loud voice suddenly calls out. The lights dim, and a spotlight is directed to the platform on the stairway, where Rani is standing in her sparkling glory, with a microphone. "I hope you are all enjoying yourselves. I want to take a moment to thank all of you for joining my husband and I on this special occasion. If you're wondering where my husband, I'm sure he's somewhere in the crowd. Husbands, they're always so eager to talk to women who aren't their wives, am I right?"
There is some laughter from the guests. Rani slowly walks down the stairs, continuing her speech. "The real reason as to why I've called everyone's attention at the moment, is because I want to share with you all the spectacular surprise gift I have arranged for my dear husband." Rani stops walking when she reaches the middle of the main room. "So everyone, please put your hands together for tonight's surprise guests of honour!"
There is a silhouette of a man and a woman where Rani had been on the stairway. When the spotlight shines on them, those who are unaware of the Mittal family's problems, and Ranjit, start clapping. Others are in various states of shock, except for Kabir, who gives no reaction.
'For the first time, I am imagining her in the place of someone else. But I have got to hand it to my imagination, she looks amazing in her simplicity,' Kabir thinks to himself.
"Let me introduce, or rather, re-introduce you all to my husband's older brother and his wife, who is also my older sister, Dhruv and Pooja!" Rani finishes her speech.
Kabir's eyes widen. He realises that he is not imagining anyone this time.
"Pooja..."
End
Just in case you weren't waiting for Kabir, I also put in a whole bunch of other characters LOL
Now you know how Kabir was tricked into marrying Rani. Thanks Amma, for making this fic possible. Gloria continues to be the number 1 Kabir fangirl, Vijay is that one really nice co-worker, and Ranjit is as oblivious as ever.
I'd recommend re-reading if you didn't realise that Kabir has been hallucinating Pooja this whole time. Personally, this chapter was a bit hard to write, and I don't think it turned out too well. :(
Let me know what you thought of it!
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