Strangers- Part 2

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Part 2

His father would not have taken more than a couple of steps when all of a sudden the woman swooned and crumbled to the floor. Both his father and he rushed to her side in alarm. He took her on his lap and tapped her cheeks but she did not regain consciousness.
“Ramu kaka, please get some water,” he shouted out.
Ramu kaka rushed in with a glass of water and handed it to him. Taking it, he sprinkled some water on her face. She slowly fluttered her eyelids open and looked around. As he made her sip the water slowly, his father asked him to take her to his room. Absent mindedly he nodded his head and carried her to his room and laid her on his bed. She sprung up almost immediately, rushed to the bathroom and threw up yet again in the basin. By now his father was very concerned and asked him to call the doctor. He whipped out his cell and called their family doctor. Within twenty minutes the doctor was examining the young woman he brought home.
“How is my bahu, doctor?” asked his father, concern written all over his face.
“Congratulations, Mr.Mehra. You are going to become a grandfather.”

The two men were taken aback hearing the news. Recovering first, Mr.Raghav Mehra hugged his son tight with tears of joy in his eyes.

“Abhi, you are faster than I thought! I have been troubling you to give me a bahu for a long time and you not only brought home my bahu but are now giving me a grandchild as well! Not that I am complaining!”

From over his father’s shoulder Abhi stared at the young woman, who stared back at him petrified. For a minute his brain froze, refusing to act. When he could finally think again he realized there was no way out now. He had to continue the pretense for a little while longer till he can get to speak with her in private. He cannot break the truth to his father just yet. His thoughts flew back to how he got into this situation in the first place.

His father had been pestering him to get married ever since he went abroad to complete a course on advanced business administration after working in their family business concern for five years. However, he himself did not have much faith in the institution of marriage. In his twenty eight years of existence he had seen far too many unhappy or broken marriages among his friends and was unwilling to give up his cherished bachelorhood for it. So when his father gave him an ultimatum, saying that he was arranging his wedding as soon as he gets back to India, he lied that he was already married to one of his juniors in college. He told him that she will not be able to join him for another couple of years as she had to complete her studies. Although his father was annoyed with him at first, he accepted his lie, asking him to bring home his bahu as soon as she completes her studies.

Now you may wonder what he will do at the end of two years. Well, Abhi was an impulsive guy who never thought through his acts. He has always lived his life dangerously. This was both a boon as well as a bane. While he could immediately circumvent the problem at hand with his spur of the moment decisions, he ended up creating a hundred other problems in its wake but he always managed to come out with equally ingenious quick fix solutions to them as and when he faced them. So he was confident of wriggling out of his self-created problem when the time comes to face it. Little did he think that he will end up tying himself in tighter knots.

His father walked up to the woman and sat on the bed. He gave her his blessings, even as she stared back at him in shock.
“Pragya beta, don’t worry about anything. I know your parents are no more but we are there to take care of you. Aren’t we, Abhi ?” he turned to face his son.

Abhi nodded his head and gave a sheepish smile. Getting up from the bed, Raghav asked his son and his bahu to freshen up before they can have lunch together and left them to their privacy. As soon as they were alone, Abhi walked up to her purposefully.
“Who are you?” he asked her bluntly.
She kept quiet and bent her head down. He took hold of her shoulders and shook her.

“Answer me dammit. Who are you and why did you attempt to take away your life? Is the baby the reason? Are you an unwed mother-to-be? Why are you dressed up like a bride? Did you run away from your wedding? Why?” He raised his voice in annoyance.
She continued to maintain her deafening silence, frustrating him further.
“Will you not answer me?” he yelled and lifted her chin roughly so that her eyes met his. He saw her tormented eyes brimming with tears. He knew then that his guesses were quite close to the mark. The woman was in more serious problems than he initially assumed her to be in. If he were to reveal the truth to his father, she will have to leave the house and in all probability she may end up trying to kill herself again and this time may even be successful in it. Maybe he can send her off to some social welfare organisation for destitute women but then what will become of the child? Would she be forced to abort it? Even if she brings it into this world, what will be the baby’s status other than that of an illegitimate child? Although he barely knew the woman, somehow he was uncomfortable with both the possibilities. He did not want the baby to lose its life or be brought up as an illegitimate. He thought for a moment and in his typical style came up with another spur of the moment decision.

Sitting beside her he said in a gentler tone, “Look here. You do not have to answer any of my questions but can I atleast know your name?”
“Pragya,” she whispered, looking intently at the pattern on the bedspread.
“No, not what my dad called you. What is YOUR name?”
She gave him a baffled look. “My name is Pragya. Pragya Arora.”
He threw up his hands “I don’t believe this. Talk of coincidences.” She did not understand what he was saying. Actually when he lied about having married his junior in college, his father had wanted to know the name of the girl. Just then someone was calling out to a Pragya in the campus and he blurted it out into the phone, not realizing then that the woman he will one day bring home will possess that very name. Not elaborating further he then told her that she will stay with him as his wife till the birth of her child. That way the baby can take his name as the father. Soon after that he will pick up a huge quarrel with her and she can leave the house in that pretext. He will ensure that the baby’s future is secure by setting aside enough funds for his/her upbringing and education.

She looked at him shocked not knowing what to answer him.

“I know what you are thinking. You are wondering what is there in this for me,is it not? Don’t worry I am not expecting you to fulfill any wifely duties. Inside this room we are perfect strangers. I can assure you that I will not violate you in any manner whatsoever. My father was desperate to get me married. I am not the marrying kind but I lied that I am already married to get him off my back. He now thinks you are the girl I married. I do not want to disillusion him. If he continues to believe what he does now, I am safe for atleast a year. After you leave I can always cite that as an excuse to show how I am not cut out for marriage as I could not hold on to one good woman. That way I can continue to remain single. Hopefully the old man will not hound me after that.”

She looked at him skeptically. He continued, “Well, I need to have a bath. Take your time mulling over my proposal. When I come out you will hopefully give me a positive response.”
Abhi left the room in the pretext of bathing to get some peace of mind and to think over his moment of this decision which is going to be life changing.

Hii all so this is it.. how is it pls tell me ur views it energises me always. Now reply time
Yeshwanth :thank u for liking it
Nannu : thank u dear glad u find it interesting
Priyanka : thank u dear hope u like this sweety
Anessa : thank u so much hope u like this too
Abhigya : thank u abhigya
Reshma dii : thank u so so much dii love u
Prabhigya : thank u sweets have been reading urs really nice and glad u find it good keep supporting
Prathi dii : thank u so much dii yaa poor abhi but he too have his reasons yup raghav is one cool father hope u like this too love u dii
Lokha :thank u so much dear.. glad u find it awesome… yaa all liked raghav’s reactions.. thank u so much I am so happy that u remembered my marsk I am blessed thank u again
B_ani (my ammu ): thank u so much ammu raghav u will see more of him.. yaa many people come like this only like this ticket collector.hmm u have a good on sight ammmu.. glad u liked this abhi.. I love this guy.. hmm u will see more of him now thought to give him a new dimension.. awww love u so much ammu that was a cute comment cant tell u in words darling love u
Saranya akka : awww thank u so much akka so happy that u find abhi as perfect I loved him too.. ok I wont say u r right but I want to give it as a perfect one coz its diff right so mind is under process.. ok akk I wont worry love u too take care
Abhigya : thank u so much dear… glad u like it.. hope this one too love u..

So that’s all love u all stay blessed ad haan don’t forget to comment ur views with love, signing off from u all…