———— PART 2 —————-
Sanskar stayed there, fixing her immense eyes with his dark expressionless gaze. the silky long curls of her black hair falling on her shoulders, shining her angelic face in the last colorful lights of the declining sun… She was beautiful in that red saree with golden pearled motifs draping her delightful body, and that’s it…
Again… again, the urge to hurry toward her and fold her in his arms gains him slowly making him feel weak… vulnerable…
He had been menacing her for the six last months in a sincere intention of making her suffer just like she did. But, here she is, still defying him like if she was reading deep inside his agonizing soul, like if she knows…
Keeping their eye lock, he extends his hand to the bottle of dark liquor on the passenger seat and when he takes a long sip from it, he smiles evilly seeing her lost her patience and turns her back to him crossing her arms on her chest.
But, he frowns immediately like if he finally tastes the bitterness of his forbidden drink. Remembering how slimmer he remarks her being every time they met for the past months. Anger… no, not anger, rage bursts inside him suddenly, he has no problem imagining her cooking for her family, feeding her sister like a child and forgetting about herself.
Facing the horizon, Swara closes her eyes hearing him slam his car’s door loudly, her heart beats fit his footsteps echoing on the ground and she takes a deep breath before she opens them as he stopped face to her.
Suddenly, lightning tore the sky illuminating their two faces, the deafening sound of thunder surprises Swara, making her jump in her place colliding in Sanskar’s chest. Trying to control her heart beats, she immediately backs off making a step behind her, his car in her back stops her.
Swallowing, she looks everywhere but to him and gripping her saree more tightly, she clears her voices trying to apologize:
“- s… I’m … I’m sor…”
But he stops her putting his long finger on her lips; she raises her eyes to his…
“- no sorry… ok?”
With his reddened eyes, his husky voice, some strands of hair covering his forehead and his few days beard, he doesn’t look like the Maheshwari son, he looks like a villain guy from bad districts… contrasting with that new business man look all in black.
Swara could distinct the alcohol smell melted with his s*xy virile perfume, she glances to the bottle in his hand then looks aside angrily which makes him smile. Signing her to wait a moment, he leans on her to put the bottle on the car’s hood just behind her.
At that moment, her phone rings, she picks up saying:
“- hallo… m… ”
Suddenly, Sanskar snatches it from her hand and throws it on the ground making Swara scream from surprise. She hits forcefully on his chest making him take a step back and yells at him:
“- how dare you Sanskar Maheshwari!!!???” She hits him again adding:
“- it was maa, she’s s… aah!”
She screams as he captures her wrists abruptly and joining them in her back he pushes her back until she feels the metal of his car in her back. She was in his embrace, immobilized by all his body weight on her not giving her a chance to free herself, every tentative to move makes him grip her harder. Wincing, she looks up to his angry eyes and stops resisting.
“- maa… papa… chote bhai Ayush … badi maa… badi papa… mum… dad… behen… Laksh … Uttra… six months, two weeks, three days and five hours!… you had… you had more than one hundred ninety seven days to give them all your attention… your care… your… your love… four thousand, seven hundred and thirty three hours you’re beta, you’re behen, you’re bahu… you’re a business a woman, you’re a happy independent woman… you’re everything Swara… but Swara Sanskar Maheshwari nahi!”
His voice has started low and menacing but he finishes shouting at her face, tears fill his eyes when he adds between tight teeth:
“- I’ve spent every two hundred… eighty three thousands… nine hundred… and eighty past minutes… every moment, just fulfilling the promise I gave you that day… can’t you give me a damn moment now I succeeded!?”
Under his penetrating gaze, all Swara’s anger deserts her… letting her just with her opened wounds, shattered heart and him… for a moment, she wasn’t the sister trying to preserve her sister’s life, for a moment, he wasn’t the man who tried to kill his own brother… he was just her Sanskar, the man who is mad at her because she doesn’t understand his love… and she was all his.
“- you’re hurting me, Sanskar”
She whispers, two heavy tears rolling on her adorable face. She immediately feels him free his grip on her wrists.
Closing his eyes, Sanskar backs off taking a deep breath like if he was counting to ten to calm down then he bends to the ground, picks up the phone pieces , assembles them and set it on. The wallpaper appearing gives him a smile… a selfie of them the day he proposed to her… his memories plunges him back to that time they used to be happy, when he was able to close his eyes and sleep peacefully because Swara’s saans were cuddling him in a secured world… when he didn’t need his bad companion to lost his conscience in long nightmare nights.
He’s snatched from his thoughts by the clinking of his sharab bottle on the car hood, Swara hits it unintentionally when she tries to mass her numb wrists. She frowns looking back and the moment she’s about throwing it on the ground he grabs her hand.
Swara looks up to him angry, when he gives her back her phone, she can’t stop herself asking as he was turning his back to her:
“- If I’m the one to be punished, why do you drink that poison, Sanskar?”
Fuming at his indifference, she drags on his elbow forcing him to face her.
“- answer me, Mr. Sanskar Maheshwari! You came here driving alone!”
She was almost shouting at his ironic smile, he crosses his arms on his chest detailing her with interest before replying:
“- ha tho..?”
“- you’re drunk!”
“- ha tho…?”
She growls gesticulating with her hands to express her frustration and rising her eyes to the dark sky.
Suddenly, Sanskar catches her hands and drags her closer to him making her scream of surprise. He looks in her eyes without a word for a long moment, just savoring the delicate perfume of her perfect skin and the warmness of her body against him… he misses her so much, her closeness, her care, her childish pout when she’s angry with him…
“- be careful Mrs Maheshwari, I can believe you’re really worrying about me”
“- of course I do!”
“- why? And why do you think that you have the right to worry about me?”
“- because you’re drunk and I’m your wife… I have all rights!”
Before she realizes what she has just said, he frowns taking her by her arms and replies on a severe tone:
“- you’re skinny and I’m your husband… but you denied me the right of worrying for you since you conditioned our marriage with shart”
Manhandling her shoulders, he lets go of her abruptly which makes her almost fall if his car wasn’t just behind her.
Thunder growls again announcing the approaching storm. Wind had risen while darkness replaced slowly the twilight, the twinkling spotlights of the landing pad were wrapping Swara and Sanskar like in an isolated light cocoon far from the world.
He makes some steps away tightening his fists to control his anger as recalls the moment she turned her back to him and what happened after that. He looks back to her and says:
“- I drink to forget you…”
He returns back to her and adds just at her face:
“- is that what you want to hear Mrs. Maheshwari?”
He has a small sad laugh seeing tears shining in her big eyes and points a finger to them saying:
“- to forget your silent cries every night behind the locked door of your room…”
He turns around her detailing her from toes to head then adds facing her again:
“- to forget that no one at your parents home noticed that every night you’re the first leaving the dinner table just to clean your dish barely touched before anyone else see it”
He narrows his eyes as she is about saying something muting her and continues turning around her again:
“- to force myself to stop spying you in the dark like a mad man… to leave you before your sleeping pills effect finishes… to return to our home once more alone… to enter to our room still fragrant with your perfume… to forget all the torturing memories haunting me there… to let my exhausted body lie on that sofa… to avoid looking to our empty bed… to close my eyes without recalling all house personal, company employees, family, neighbors… looks, whispers and even pity smiles…”
His voice breaks and when he faces her again, she’s horrified to see him crying. Instinctively, she hurries to him approaching her hand to his face but he pushes her back and points his menacing finger at her face again:
“- don’t even dare touch me!!!”
He wipes his nose with the sleeve of his jacket like a small lost boy, Swaras’ lost Sanskar… tears drown her face helpless.
“- why will you console me now?… I’m fine”
He takes a deep breath pressing his eyes with his palms before brushing his hair off his forehead then looks back to her smiling:
“- … bilkul fine!”
He frowns at her shattered state faking surprise
“ – arree… why are you crying like that?… I’m really fine, why don’t you believe me?… another skill of my new companion”
He bends over her and whispers in her ear:
“- if you want, you can take a sip to feel better… no one is here to see…”
“- how dare you!?” she stops him horrified at his proposition.
Furious, she turns her face away and hits on his chest pushing him away which makes him laugh loudly, she looks back to him heartily laughing a hand on his belly… one of those laughs of the old Sanskar, her Sanskar.
Coughing, he tries to take his breath approaching her:
“- much better, princess… I can handle angry Swara, not sad Swara”
Her heart skips a beat hearing him calling her princess again, tears run on her cheeks again when she says:
“ – I’m SO sorry Sanskar… mujhe maaf kaar to…”
Her tone was begging, recalling him when long time ago, he rejected her and refused her love heartlessly, afraid that she might hurt him again… that was the beginning of their love story.
“ – what did I say? No sorry… no sad Swara”
he gently takes her angelic face in his hands and wipes her tears with his thumbs surprising her. Realizing what he did, he withdraws his hands embarrassed and starts searching in his pockets.
“- sorry princess… no handkerchief… sleeve?” he proposes before frowning
“- no, not the sleeve… used tissue… take the shirt” he finishes pulling the fabric to her by buttons which makes her smile at his childish air, tears still drowning her face as she remembers all those bad times he was there, a tissue in his hand just for her.
She comes closer to wipe her eyes and nose in the most un-lady manner he ever imagined, she was sure. Trying to resist to the urge of just enlace him and stay here near his beating heart for the eternity, she says:
“- by the way, you’re not respecting your own rules!”.
Sniffling in his poor new shirt, she hears him sigh in frustration.
Her closeness was hell to him, he closes his eyes trying to maintain his self control before replying:
“- I was disappointed, I told you, i can’t handle sad Swara… neither playful Swara… h… have you finished!?”
“- hogaya!” she announces smiling at him before adding:
“- so you think, you can handle angry Swara…?”
His gaze darkens suddenly; he turns his back to her ordering his cloths and replies:
“- I thought that… until an angry Swara decided that if I’m not a good brother, then I’m not a good husband!…”
Swara gapes at his statement, she supports herself a hand on his car as her legs turn jelly when he adds almost to himself:
“- I wonder what my lack of elder bhai responsibility had done to her so she was so angry with me”
She closes her eyes remembering that day awful when her life turned a heap of ruins.
— FLASH BACK —
Six months, two weeks and three days back: