143. OS: 6: An Unwanted Wife (Part 9-)

Section 9

Khushi was happy for her Jiji, very happy. She ran up and down the stairs fetching and carrying everything her Jiji might need, giving the Guptas daily updates of Jiji’s health, cooking everything her Jiji fancied. Her face had a big smile which hurt Nani, Anjali and Mami.

“They got married on the same day,” Nani muttered.

“Payalji is happy. Akash is a good husband to her. But our Chotey...’ Tears dripped down Anjali’s cheeks. “Poor Khushiji...”

“Will hamre Arnav bitwaa ever forgive us? Will he accept Khussi bitiya some day?” Mami asked.

When Khushi was alone, she too worried. Not about forgiveness as she had no idea who had to forgive whom and for what, but about why Arnavji slept a mile away from her in their bed, hugged his pillow as though scared that she would attack him at night. She and Jiji had gotten married in the same mandap on the same day. They had entered this house on the same night. Now Jiji was pregnant while her own husband ran a mile if she touched him.

The phone in her hand rang.

 Arnavji.

“Arnavji?” she asked, her voice slightly shaky.

“I will be home late tonight. Don’t wait dinner for me, Khushi,” he said, handing over a signed document to Aman.

“Ji,” she said slowly.

He cut the call. Aman was already holding the door open for him to leave his office and go to the conference room.

Khushi looked at the expensive phone in her hand. Arnavji had given it to her two days back. Thrilled, she had hugged him and pressed her lips to his cheek. He had stiffened and turned his head away.

 Her eyes filled with tears. What was wrong? Didn’t Arnavji like her as husbands liked their wives? She had wondered if something was wrong when Arnavji had shown no interest in holding her hand or stealing a kiss when no one was looking as Jiju did with Jiji. Di’s husband was in the US, but he stayed in touch with her regularly, cooing sweet nothings to her. Then why was Arnavji alone so distant?

She had pushed her doubts to some dark corner of her head, telling herself that everything would be fine given time, that she shouldn’t complain, that life was never perfect, that she was lucky to be married to a gentleman like Arnavji....

But three months had passed and she and Arnavji were exactly where they had been when they started out. She was by nature an optimist, but even her optimism could not ignore the facts any longer. There was something wrong. Something was seriously wrong.

She would have to talk to Arnavji.

Akash came home for lunch and saw Khushi’s pale face. He said, “Why don’t we all go out for a movie and dinner?”

The Raizadas were delirious with joy.

“I will wait here for Arnavji,” Khushi said. She had no desire to watch a movie.

“No way, Khushiji. We are all going. Waise Bhaiyya won’t be home for dinner. He has to meet the representatives of  Regal Textiles for dinner,” Akash said.

Khushi nodded reluctantly. Her confused and overwhelmed mind could come up with no more excuses.

All of them dressed up and went to watch a Hindi movie.

Akash sat with Payal, Mama with Mami, Di with Nani. Khushi sat at the far end of the line, looking at the screen as her head whirled with uncomfortable thoughts.

The heroine flirted with the hero. Khushi thought of her husband.

The hero played tricks on the heroine. Khushi thought of her husband.

The hero fought the villain. Khushi thought of her husband.

The torture finally came to an end and Khushi left the theatre complex with the family.

“Khushiji, did you enjoy the movie?” Anjali asked.

“Ji,” Khushi smiled, hoping that her smile looked genuine. She also hoped devoutly that they wouldn’t ask her to narrate the story of the film. What was the title of the movie? She frowned. She couldn’t remember.

Akash drove to an upscale restaurant where he had booked a table for their dinner. As they took the seats shown to them, Anjali excused herself to use the restroom. Mami, Payal and Khushi joined her.

Mami and Payal returned to their table. Khushi sat waiting for Anjali to freshen up. She walked to the glass wall and looked out at the chic and trendy areas of the five-star hotel that housed the restaurant. The green lush plants, the sparkling fountain, the marble floors, the lights...she drew in a deep breath. If only Arnavji were here with her...

She stopped short.

As if her thoughts had conjured him up, she saw him leaving a room with four or five others, Amanji included.

Her face split in a huge smile. She raised her hand and called his name to attract his attention, only to realise that he couldn’t hear her through the glass wall.

She quickly pulled out her phone from her bag. She looked up  before calling him, only to stand shell-shocked. The phone fell from her numb fingers to the carpeted floor.

A fashionably-dressed lady was clinging to Arnavji’s arm, her head with lush dark hair resting against his shoulder. As Khushi watched with tear-filled eyes, she saw him nod at something the lady said, his eyes and face soft, tender.

 He led the lady out of the hotel.

Khushi moved along the wall, leaning as far as she could for a look at the lady’s face, but failed to catch even a glimpse. She stood there, panting, her limbs trembling, feeling hot and cold at the same time.

“Khushiji, I was looking for you. Kya hua?” Anjali asked on seeing Khushi’s pale face.

“Nothing, Anjaliji,” Khushi whispered.

“Are you crying?” Anjali asked anxiously.

“No,” Khushi smiled with difficulty. “Something fell in my eye.”

“Your phone,” Anjali bent to pick it up from the carpet.

“It fell. Shukriya,” she whispered.

The others had a merry meal.

 Khushi looked at the soup before her, her fingers trembling too much for her to hold the spoon. So this was why Arnavji did not want to have a baby with her, did not want to touch her. He loved someone else...

Her heart clenched in pain.

But why had he agreed to marry her? Why hadn’t he told her that he loved someone else? At least she wouldn’t have hoped for.... dreamed of.... prayed for...wished desperately for a life with him. He must have been very unhappy with her, must have longed to see her gone, must have wished he had been able to marry his lover...why hadn’t he married the girl he cared for?

Amanji knew her. The other employees knew her. She had been formally dressed in dark trousers and coat. Maybe she was a businesswoman, someone Arnavji had met through work and fallen in love with. Why hadn’t he talked to Naniji and married the girl he loved?

Why had he come to Lucknow and married the fool who had thrown in her lot with him, sight unseen? Why had he stayed with the fool, who had been so busy mothering him to even wonder why he didn’t want her to be his wife?

Her marriage was over.

Her heart sank to the lowest level possible.

Her life was over.

No Arnavji, no husband. No marriage. No family. Back to square one.

Section 10

ASR returned home to find that his family was out.

 He frowned.

Why hadn’t Khushi called him to inform him of her plans? She normally told him everything that happened at home, even if it was something as inconsequential as her dupatta flying off the clothesline to land on his plants.

“Akash bhaiyya was saying that they will watch a phillum and then eat outside, Arnav bhaiyya,” HP explained.

ASR nodded and walked up to his room. He looked at the phone? Could he call her? But how could he disturb her during the movie?

The family returned an hour later.

Khushi walked in to her room to see her husband working on his laptop.

 Her heart wept tears of blood.

Maybe he was not working. Maybe he was chatting with his lover. Maybe that was why he was forever stuck before the laptop, she thought, her chest aching with unshed tears.

She looked keenly at his face. He looked tired. He must be, she thought. After all, he was forcing himself to live with his unlovable wife while all his thoughts were with his girlfriend.

She swallowed hard.

Arnav looked up to see Khushi standing by the door, staring at him.

She looked pale, tired. As he watched, she silently walked in to the room, to the wardrobe and then to the bathroom.

Why hadn’t Khushi spoken to him? On any normal evening, she would have pulled a chair to sit close to him and would have begun to give him a blow by blow account of the movie she had watched.

He waited till she exited the bathroom in her night clothes.

“Khushi, kya hua?” he asked.

“Did you have dinner, Arnavji?” she asked in a low voice.

“Yes, but...” he began.

“My head is hurting. May I sleep early tonight?” she asked.

“Of course. Why do you need to ask, Khushi?” he asked, his eyes worried. “Shall I get you a pill?” He stood up.

“No, I need to sleep,” she mumbled as she moved to her customary side of the bed. He watched as she got in and covered herself with her blanket.

He quickly dimmed the lights and shifted his laptop to the table in the garden by the pool.

He sat down in the black recliner and looked at Khushi through the glass door.

She was curled up like a ball under the blanket. He wanted to go to her and rub her forehead and sit with her as she slept. But she looked and sounded so distant that...

Hours later he joined her in bed, his eyes lingering on the faint shadows under her eyes, the pinkness of her lids. What was wrong?

Had someone compared her to Payal and suggested that it was time she too became pregnant?

Section 11

Khushi woke up late to see that Arnavji had already woken up and left the room.

 She looked at the clock.

 It was almost ten in the morning. He must have gone to the office, she thought. She would have to speak to him in the evening, ask him what his future plans were. She had no desire to hang around his neck when neither he nor his family belonged to her.

She set aside the blanket and crawled out of bed. She stood up and saw herself in the mirror. She looked like a witch. Her cheeks were pale and her eyelids puffy. She swallowed hard. Maybe Arnavji’s girl friend was very beautiful. No, there was no maybe about it. She must be beautiful. Otherwise how could she catch Arnavji’s eyes?

She blinked to clear her eyes. She couldn’t stay in the room forever. She would have to go down and face the others, maybe say good bye to them in her own way.

What would Buaji, Amma and Babuji say when she returned to Lucknow? She placed her hand on her heart to still its terrified leap. Her life was spinning out of her control and she was helpless to stop it.

She freshened up and went down.

“Nani, Chotey asked us not to disturb Khushiji today morning. What do you think happened last night?” Anjali worried.

“He looked very sombre today at breakfast,” Nani ruminated.

“Something ijj wrong, Saasumma,” Mami stated.

“Everything is wrong, Manorama,” Nani sighed. “We should never have forced Chotey in to marrying Khussi bitiyya.”

Khushi stood frozen outside Naniji’s bedroom, the words ringing in her ears.

“I lied to Khushiji that he was wlling to marry her. Tabhi jaake she said yes to the proposal,” Anjali fretted.

Khushi sat down weakly on the floor, feeling her head spin.

“We knew very well that he had no plans of getting married, ever. That he mistrusted the emotion called love,” Anjali wept. “And we know why he is like this. We should never have interfered and spoiled two lives.”

“We should not have blackmailed him in to marrying that sweet child,” Nani dried her eyes. “What is going to happen to her now?”

“How will I look at Garima’s face, Hello Hi Bye Bye?” Mami lamented.

Mami’s phone rang.

Khushi managed to stand up by clinging on to the wall. Slowly she made her way up to her room and collapsed on the bed, sobbing uncontrollably.

She was not just the unlovable wife. She was also Arnavji’s unwanted wife!

A long time later, she wiped the tears off her cheeks and got up. It was time to leave Delhi. She would have to phone Tiwariji to arrange a ticket to Lucknow.

But before that she would have to inform her family.

Section 12

Khushi took the phone to call Buaji in Lucknow. She had to give them adequate warning that she was returning to her maikka as her marriage that was no marriage had fallen apart, collapsed around her ears.

The phone rang.

Arnavji.

“Hello,” she whispered.

“Khushi? How are you? Is your head still aching?” he asked, setting aside his work.

“I am better,” she said softly. If she spoke loudly, he would figure out that a few minutes back she had been bawling in to her pillow.

“Did you go for a movie yesterday?” he asked, frowning. She was normally very cheerful. Had that idiot Akash taken her to see some tragedy? Had her kind heart been overcome by the trials and tribulations of the heroine? Had she cried at the cinema?

“Yes,” she said.

“Did you enjoy the movie?” he asked.

"Yes," she whispered.

"Khushi, did someone say anything? I mean..." he paused.

Khushi drew in a deep breath. “Arnavji, I was thinking...”

“Yes, Khushi?” Concern laced his question.

“I..I want to see Amma, Babuji and Buaji. I..I miss them. So...I was thinking of visiting them,” she choked.

“Oh..” he exclaimed. “Hang on a moment. Let me check my schedule...”

Khushi gasped.

“Will next week do, Khushi? We can stay over for two days,” Arnav said.

“Arnavji...Arnavji...you don’t have to come. I mean, you have your work.. I will manage. I will go alone,” Khushi said.

“Khushi,” he began.

She continued, “I will book the ticket. Aap chinta na karein.” She cut the call.

How could he behave in such a considerate manner to his unwanted wife when his heart belonged to another girl? Tears poured down her cheeks.

ASR panicked.

He could understand her desire to see her family, but why was she hell-bent on leaving her husband behind?

How could he stop her from going to Lucknow? He paced his office thinking furiously.

He quickly called the Guptas.

“Damadji, how are you?” Amma asked.

“I am fine. Aren’t you visiting us in Delhi? Payal and Khushi will be very happy to see you,” Arnav invited them.

“Bitwaa,” Amma demurred.

“Payal can’t travel in this condition. If you come over, she will be pleased,” he added.

“Yes, yes, I will talk to Jiji and Payaliyya’s Babuji...” Garima began.

“Are they there at home? If they are, why don’t you discuss it with them NOW and tell me when you are ready to travel? I will send a car for you,” he offered.

Amma talked it over with the others and then said, “Tuesday, bitwaa. Will that do?”

“That is perfect. I will send Mohan to get you,” ASR smiled.

“You are very kind, Damadji,” Amma gushed.

“Payal and Khushi will be delighted to see you,” ASR said, his heart dancing with happiness.

He called Khushi.

“Arnavji?” she asked.

“You don’t have to go to Lucknow, Khushi. Your parents and Buaji will be coming to our house on Tuesday,” he proclaimed, relieved.

There was shocked silence at the other end.

“I surprised you, didn’t I?” ASR asked, a small smile on his lips.

“You can say that,” she whispered.

Maybe she could return with her family after their visit, she thought, her heart thundering in her chest.

Section 13