Episode 22
What the hell happened to her?
Abhi wondered as he watched Pragya leave the room abruptly.
They were in the middle of a serious discussion and she left…. just like that! He could understand her feelings about not wanting to leave home, but the things she did to achieve it were unforgivable. She made all this drama about going to Canada…. and returned after two days to do an even bigger drama. She returned after two days…
So where was she all this time…?
Pragya went back to her room and slumped on the bed.
Her mind played over the earlier scene in Abhi’s room. Every time she’d gotten herself out of one problem, she found herself heading straight into another one. She had been all set to move on with her life, leaving all relations behind…
Now she was back here married to the man she loved, who clearly didn’t want her…
The next morning, Dadi came to Abhi’s room.
He was asleep in sitting position on the sofa and she found no sign of Pragya.
“Abhi!” she shouted.
Abhi woke up, startled.
He looked up and saw Dadi.
“Dadi? What’s the matter? What are you shouting?” he asked.
“Where is Pragya?” she asked.
Abhi looked around the room, drowsily.
“I don’t know, Dadi.” he said.
“You don’t know where your wife is?” she asked.
Wife? Abhi thought.
And then it all came back it him….
He was a married man now…only the bride was different.
“Go find her!” Dadi ordered and then left the room.
Abhi got out of bed.
He checked all areas of the room but she wasn’t there.
Where was she?
The last thing he remembered was talking to her and then all of a sudden she left.
Whether she had returned to the room or not, he couldn’t really say…
Dadi walked into Pragya’s room and saw her asleep on the bed.
She gently touched her shoulder and Pragya came awake at once. “Dadi” she said sleepily.
Pragya got up from the bed.
“What are you doing here, Beta?” Dadi asked.
“Actually, Dadi…” she started off.
Pragya told her what had happened…minus the intimate details, of course.
Dadi really didn’t need to know that part. “Come with me” Dadi said and escorted Pragya out of the room.
Abhi was about to go to Pragya’s room to check for her there, when she and Dadi walked in.
Abhi glanced at Pragya once before turning his gaze away.
Like him, she was still in her wedding attire. “I need to speak to both of you. Have a seat.” Dadi said and gestured toward the sofa.
“What is it, Dadi?” asked Abhi.
“Look, I know things did not turn out as planned. But sometimes these things happen for the best. You two are married to each other now and I want you to try your best to maintain this relationship…” “But Dadi..” Abhi and Pragya said simultaneously.
“I expect you to maintain it.” she said more firmly, looking at them both. “Do I make myself clear?” Both of them nodded.
“Do I make myself clear?” she repeated loudly.
“Yes Dadi” replied Abhi and Pragya.
“Good.” she said. “Now onto other matters….there are some rituals you are required to perform today and tomorrow evening we will be having a reception to celebrate your marriage.” “Dadi, what is the need for this reception?” asked Pragya. “We are already married.” “I want to show-off my bahu to everyone.” she said. Yeah, Pragya thought. They will be expecting supermodel Tanu and will get ‘tomboy’ Pragya instead. Dadi continued talking about the arrangements while Abhi and Pragya listened silently.
“Understand?” she said at the end of her talk.
They nodded.
“Okay, I will leave you both to get ready now. And one more thing…” she said, looking directly at Abhi. “If for any reason I catch Pragya sleeping in her old room, I will hold you personally responsible. Is that clear?” “Yes Dadi” Abhi agreed.
“I am counting on you both to take care of each other,” she said and left.
“See what you did?” Abhi rounded on Pragya as soon as Dadi left.
“Me?” she asked. “What did I do?”
“She finds you sleeping in your room…and yet I get in trouble!” he said. “Don’t worry, next time I’ll make sure I don’t get caught!” she said angrily.
She turned to leave but Abhi caught her hand and made her face him.
“There will be no next time.” he said firmly. “You will stay here in this room with me. Got that?”
Pragya tried to wrench her hand away from his, but he tightened his grip on her. “I mean it.” he said, looking straight into her eyes.
“And what if I don’t agree?” she asked defiantly.
“This is not up for debate. You will do as I say or else..” “Or else what?” she asked, just to rile him further.
“Just try it and see.” he said warningly. “I’ll tie you to the bed if I have to.” But Pragya wasn’t backing down.
“Is that a challenge?” she asked.
“Take it anyway you want, sweetheart.” he said tauntingly, “But I won’t have Dadi in tension because of us…” Well, he had a point there, she thought. “She wants us to maintain this relationship? Fine, that’s exactly what we’ll do.” Abhi said, “…but only for her sake. In front of everyone we will act as husband and wife…but once we are alone we will shed all pretenses.” “All of a sudden we are acting as a loving couple, when only a day before you were supposed to be married to someone else. Will they believe it?” she asked.
We can tell them we’ve talked it over and decided to give this marriage a try.” he said. “Only you and I will know the truth and I expect it to remain that way. Agreed?”
Pragya didn’t say anything.
“Agreed?” he repeated a little louder.
“For how long?” she asked, ignoring his earlier question. “How long will we have to keep up this charade?” “For as long as it takes…” he said.
“What?” she asked.
She didn’t have a good feeling about this… “But why are you tensed?” he asked. “You should be happy….you got what you wanted…”
Yeah…just what I’ve always wanted, she thought sarcastically. A husband who hates me.
“How long will you keep bringing this up?” she asked.
“Why? Does it make you uncomfortable.” he asked, sneeringly.
Pragya shot him an irritated look.
He walked closer to her and held her by the shoulders.
“Don’t think for one second that I’ve forgotten what you’ve done.” he said menacingly. “Or that I’ve forgiven you…” Pragya looked back at him just as intensely as he looked at her. She will not let him intimidate her. Like Dadi said earlier tonight, she had to stand up to him and that’s exactly what she planned to do… “Seriously, I really don’t care if you forgive me or not…” she said.
Abhi was taken aback by her statement.
“Really?” he asked dryly.
“Really. You can do whatever you want…it really doesn’t bother me.” she said, trying to project an air of indifference. “Now, if you’ll kindly let me go, I need to go get ready for the rituals.”
Abhi let her go only because he too needed to get ready.
But this wasn’t over…not by a long shot.
She didn’t care for him?
He’d make her wish she’d never said those words…
Pragya walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
She leaned against it and let out a huge breath.
She knew she had made him angry with her words and now he must be thinking of ways to get back at her. Well Mr. Mehra, she said to herself. Let the games begin…
Precap: Abhi vs Pragya….who’s side are you on?
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Hi guys!
Sorry, I know I’m a little late…problems with wifi…
Then I ended up re-writing the whole episode…hope you all liked it 🙂
To:
Di, Mukund, Varsha, Riyashri, Haritha, Asmithaa, Aditi, Monesha,
Saranya, Durga, Keerthi, Reshma, Sugan, Abhigya, Maahi & Nirmal.
Thanks for the beautiful comments 🙂
So…what do you all think?