Episode 40
For Rabul’s Girl…
“How can he be your son-in-law when your daughter married me?!”
Purab’s outburst left everyone in shock!
Immediately after saying those words, his eyes sought Bulbul, who was a bit dazed at his confession.
He finally remembered… Bulbul thought, her mind happily trying to process that piece of information.
His gaze connected with hers and it looked as though he wanted to say something to her…
“What the hell are you talking about?!” Bulbul’s father shouted after his initial shock, breaking their connection.
“Well Sir, it’s the truth.” Purab said, turning his attention back to her father. “Your daughter and I got married last night…”
Mr. Mishra looked up the temple stairs at his daughter and then back at Purab.
“Is this some kind of joke?!” he asked in temper.
Purab shook his head.
“Oh, I get it!” her father said. “This is just some lie you made up to keep my daughter from marrying Suresh.”
Purab shook his head once again. “Do you have any proof that this marriage took place?” her father asked. Purab reach into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him.
It wasn’t an official marriage certificate… they had to wait a little while for that yet… but this was the next best thing. It was a certificate from the organizers acknowledging their marriage and accepting it as legal until their real marriage certificate could be produced.
Bulbul’s father took the paper and scanned through its contents.
“I don’t accept this!” her father yelled.
He was about to tear the paper but Purab pulled it away from him before he could. “Whether you accept it or not, Bulbul and I are married.” He said again.
“Bulbul is my daughter!” Her father shouted. “My daughter will get married to a husband of my choice!”
Were these people so desperate to marry their daughter to Suresh that they would willingly overlook the fact that she was already married?! “You are her father and I respect that.”!” Purab said as calmly as he could. “But there’s no way I’m letting my wife get married to someone else!” “This marriage does not exist for me. You don’t have any concrete proof!”
“You want concrete proof?” Purab asked.
“Can you provide it?” her father asked with a sneer.
“I’ll provide something even better.” Purab replied, looking at his wife. “What does that mean?” her father asked.
Without answering, Purab ran up the temple steps towards Bulbul.
He held her hand and looked directly into her eyes.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
Bulbul nodded.
Still holding her hand, Purab took her inside the temple, knowing her parents would definitely follow them.
He could have bet anything on that.
“Punditji, please start the mantras…and don’t stop till it’s completed.” Purab requested.
“Stop this at once!” her father shouted.
“Bulbul, what are you doing?” her mother asked.
But neither Purab, Bulbul nor Punditji paid any attention to them….and Suresh was nowhere to be seen.
After completing the rounds once again, Purab then applied sindoor.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the mangalsutra, which Bulbul had given to him last night.
“I think this belongs to you.” he said softly to her, before fastening it around her neck.
When the marriage was completed, Purab turned to Bulbul’s parents. “Won’t you bless us?” he said to them. “….or do you still need proof?” Mr. Mishra stared at him angrily.
“You must have known she was from a wealthy family and tricked her into marrying you.” he accused. These people were really unbelievable! Purab thought with a shake of his head. But he really didn’t care what they thought of him.
His only concern was Bulbul.
“Admit it!” her father said. “You married my daughter for her riches!”
“Maybe….” Purab replied. “But there’s nothing you can do about it now. We are already married.”
What was Purab doing? Bulbul wondered. Why didn’t he tell her father the truth?
Her parents and Suresh might think themselves to be rich, but it was nothing compared to what Purab was worth. His parents had died when their plane crashed, leaving him a small fortune…which he didn’t really care for… and Khanna Promotions was currently flourishing beyond his expectations.
But even though Purab was very successful, he was a simple guy who was more interested in nurturing relationships than amassing wealth. “Dad, Purab didn’t marry me for money!” Bulbul said, defending her husband and then she felt him squeezing her hand lightly, stopping her from saying anything further.
Purab didn’t want her to say anything to them.
Let them think whatever they wanted.
He turned to look at Bulbul and she nodded in understanding.
Her father gave her look that said, ‘Yeah, right! I’m not believing that one!’
“How could you do this to us?!” Bulbul’s mother cried, turning to Bulbul. “We had so many high hopes for your marriage to Suresh! How will we face our friends now?!” This was her mom…always full of drama….more concerned about her friends than her only child. She would have been perfect in a TV serial.
Her mother’s words were not lost on Purab as he immediately spoke afterwards. “Do you even love your daughter?” Purab asked, looking at both of them.
“What kind of question is that?” she retorted. “Of course we love her.” “Really? You people really have a strange way of showing it.” he said.
“What are you insinuating?” her father asked. “I’m saying that as long as you get what you want, her feelings don’t matter.” Purab said. “Your friends… reputation…status….all these take first priority over Bulbul…. and your so-called parental love only exists when you need her.” “Purab, don’t!” Bulbul said, her eyes pleading with him not to say anything further, but Purab didn’t back down. “Why not?” he asked her. “Will you always let them treat you this way?” “I…” Bulbul tried to speak but nothing else came out and Purab continued. “They surprised you with an engagement announcement, which made you jump into the cold ocean in the middle of the night. You could have drowned! Then that fool came after you.” he said referring to Suresh. “They promised to respect your wishes and then had you kidnapped, tried to force you into marrying the creep, and stubbornly refused to accept that you already had a husband just so they could marry you off to him!” Purab stepped closer to her.
“They keep screwing up and expect you to keep being okay with all their mistakes…and now you don’t want me to say anything to them?” She knew he was pissed, but it made no sense as his words would fall on deaf ears.
Her parents cared about nothing but themselves and getting their own way. Purab turned back to her parents.
“You should be arrested for kidnapping!” He threatened.
They looked at him in shock.
“But I won’t…” Purab continued and they breathed a sigh of relief. “Only because of Bulbul. She won’t want to see her parents in jail.” Mr. and Mrs. Mishra remained silent.
“I hope one day you’ll realized the depth of your mistakes.” he said to them. “Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to take my wife home…” Purab then turned to Bulbul.
“Come on, let’s go” he said, grabbing her hand and leaving from there.
“Are you ok?” Purab asked the minute they were inside the car.
Bulbul nodded, her mind distracted.
It had just started to hit her exactly what happened back there. She had married Purab…again!
“You sure?” he asked, looking closely at her. “Yeah. I’m good.” she replied, still trying to let everything sink in.
They got married…again…this time both of them in their right senses…
Where did that leave them? Would they live a normal life as husband and wife…or would they just forget everything and go their separate ways? She loved this guy next to her and didn’t want to be away from him.
He was a hero in the truest sense….her hero. She was about to bring up the topic of their marriage and what it meant for them, when Purab spoke before her. “Look, Bulbul, I’m sorry for everything that happened back there…” He said. “I didn’t expect things to turn out the way they did. If I could undo all of it…I would. ”
What? Bulbul thought, feeling as though she had been slapped in the face. He was sorry?
“I regret so much that I didn’t stop…” He started to say, but his voice trailed off as he heard his phone ring. Regret what? She asked herself.
That he didn’t stop himself from marrying her? As his ringtone continued to play on, Purab debated whether he should take the call or not. He wanted to talk to Bulbul, without any distractions. He turned to look at her, and saw a melancholy expression on her face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
He just told her he regretted marrying her…and then had the audacity to ask what was wrong?! “Nothing” she replied, trying to curve her lips into a smile. The phone stopped ringing… for about five seconds and then it started again. “You should answer it.” she said in a choked voice.
“Bulbul, I…” he said.
“Answer it” she said again and this time he complied.
Without looking at the caller id, he answered. “Purab!” Abhi’s voice rang in his ear as soon as he said ‘hello’. “Where are you, man? Do you have any idea how long we’ve been waiting for you.” “Sorry Abhi.” he apologized. “I, um, got caught up with something else.” he said looking over at Bulbul. “And what would that be?”Abhi asked curiously.
“You’ll find out soon.” Purab replied.
He needed to let the Mehras know about his marriage to Bulbul.
They were his family and before they heard it from anyone else, he needed to tell them himself. How they would react…he really didn’t know.
“Okayyy…” Abhi said, sounding really interested now.
“I’ll be over soon.” Purab promised.
“Well don’t take too long, ok?” he said.
“Ok.” he replied and hung up.
“Sounds like you have somewhere important to be.” Bulbul said to Purab after he cut the call.
“Yeah” he replied.”At Abhi’s house. They are already waiting.”
“You can drop me anywhere close and then head over there.” “Why?” he asked confused.
“I need to speak to Sarla Maa…let her know what’s going on.” she responded.
Then she would gather her things and go stay with her cousin Aniket and his wife. She didn’t want to be a burden on a guy who was sorry he married her. “We will both talk to her… but afterward, you’re coming back with me.” he said seriously. “What? No!” Bulbul disagreed.
“Yes!” he countered. “NO!” she shouted this time.
What was the matter with her?
“YES!” Purab stated more firmly this time. “Else, we’re going straight over to Abhi’s house right now.” “Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“What do you mean, ‘Why am I doing this?” he retorted. “You have a problem going to Abhi’s house?” No! Bulbul thought. I have a problem with you!
He regretted what happened? No problem.
She was about to make this really easy for him. “Purab, last night was a mistake. We were drunk and didn’t know what we were doing!” she said. “We thought it was a game!” “And just how drunk were we, a little while ago, that we ended up making the same mistake?!” he asked, his voice rising a notch. What was wrong with him? Bulbul wondered. Didn’t he just say he regretted everything that happened? “You did that to save me from my parents and Suresh.” she said.
Purab blew out a breath. Was that the only reason she thought he did that? Purab thought frustratedly. “It was just all a mistake… and it’s best if we just forget the whole thing.” He heard her say. Purab could feel his anger rising, but he didn’t say anything. What happened to her? Purab wondered.
Why was she acting like this?
She was fine a little while ago.
Was it something he did…or said?
Did she really think all this was a mistake?
How did this argument even start?!
This girl made him so damn crazy!
But he didn’t want to fight with her right now.
“We’ll talk about this later.” was all he said. They needed go over to her parents house and then Mehra Mansion, otherwise Abhi would keep calling over and over again. Afterward, he and Bulbul would talk. He wasn’t letting her go, no matter what lame excuse she came up with. Bulbul was his and soon he’d make her realized that she belonged with him…
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Hi everyone…me again….the extremely late writer/updater.
How are you guys? Missed you all so much!
I know this was supposed to be the last update for Purab and Bulbul’s story, but I kinda got a little carried away with writing, and the update became too long, that I had to split it into two episodes. The next part will be updated today itself.
Sorry for any mistakes… hope you liked it!
Let me know what you think!
Till the next update… take care!